The town board of Greenville is investigating a ditch dredging project.
Outagamie County Zoning Administrator Tim Roach said the dredging project should not have gone forward, because the “karst” was protected under a 2005 agreement between the county and the town of Greenville.
Roach said the unique part about this feature is, it's a stream that disappears as it flows into a "karst", which is a break up of bedrock.
He said he noticed changes to the stream in January when soil and rock materials were removed making it deeper and significantly changing it.
"It could be bad where there would be more ground water at a higher flow opening into that 'karst feature,' which could impact the ground water and wells in the area," said Roach. "People have wells, private wells in the area, and that's a real concern of possible contamination or impact to those wells."
Town of Greenville Chairman Jack Anderson said the project was paid for by the town, but not approved by the board.
"Myself nor none of the other town board members knew of this project," said Anderson. "There's particular town staff that were aware of this project that carried it forward without town board approval."
He said disciplinary actions could be taken.
Roach said the owners of the farm did not get the proper permits for the project from the county, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Army Corps of Engineers.
