VILLAGE OF PEWAUKEE - This is one of those stories where you're left wondering...Really? How could something that seems so simple go so wrong?

The Village of Pewaukee got a do-over, but taxpayers got stuck with the bill.

There isn't a whole lot of real estate on the Village of Pewaukee's lakefront to begin with. James D'Antuono works for the Department of Natural Resources. He says every year waves, wind, and floodwaters take their toll. "The shoreline was significantly eroded," he observed.

So to shore things up, village leaders came up with a plan -- rip-rap armoring. Basically, they got a permit from the Department of Natural Resources to lay down tons of rock along the shoreline to keep any more of it from washing away.

"We had a discussion before they even applied about what we'd like to see here, and their application clearly identified the need for field stone," D'Antuono explains.

Phase 1 of the project cost the village, and taxpayers, more than $18,000. But when D.N.R. inspectors came back to look at the work, and the rocks, they didn't like what they saw.

"Yeah, we said, 'Oh my gosh'. What happened? That's not what we had agreed to," D'Antuono says.

At first, the village wound up buying and laying down a bunch of quarry stone instead of the field stone that the D.N.R. wanted. You may ask yourself what difference it makes? Apparently, it does according to D'Antuono. "It's the aesthetics associated with it. It's better for the fish and wildlife habitat. It's a better cushion. It cushions the ice-push and the waves better than the other stuff."

But most importantly, field stone is safer--smaller and a lot less sharp than the quarry stone.

"So, overall it's just a much better product to use, especially in a public venue such as this where there's a lot of people here," D'Antuono warns.

We tracked down the actual permit, and it's pretty clear in writing: The village was to use 'clean field stone 6-24 inches in diameter'.

Village administrator Scott Gosse explains what happened, "There was an interpretation in type of stone, quarry stone versus field stone, the village staff thought quarry stone would be acceptable."

Turned out to be an expensive mistake. Local resident Julie Palbicki is surprised to hear about this. "I think it's surprising that they went through all that work and had to redo the whole thing," she admits.

That's right. The D.N.R made the village rip out and replace nearly all of it.

"It would have been nice to give us the heads up saying, you know, this is what happened, and we have to redo it and, you know, let us know what's going on," Julie says.

But the village didn't, which is frustrating for taxpayers like Mary Thompson, who now has to foot the bill.

"That I say is crazy that they read the permit wrong, because if they are into this type of business, they should have checked it out thoroughly before they got into that kind of bill, and especially with the economy being like it is now," Thompson complains.

Gosse admits he knows why residents are frustrated. "Well, yeah, and it was just basic human error, um, and we're not pointing fingers. There was a mistake that was made. We're all human," Gosse says.

So the D.N.R gave the village a chance to make things right --adding another $4-5,000 and counting to the project cost. Some taxpayers see this as a waste of even more money.

"I wouldn't have known the difference from what was up there before to what's there now," Palbicki admits.

You can bet the D.N.R. will be watching when the village starts work on phase two.

"We've learned from this one and the next one will be done right the first time," Gosse promises.

The good news is the Village of Pewaukee didn't just throw out all the quarry stone. The D.N.R will allow the village to use it as the base for the additional field stone it will buy for phase two.