Minutes; Common Council: April 18, 2006

Common Council
Re-organizational Meeting
Tuesday, April 18, 2006, 6:30 p.m.
City Hall, 31 S. Madison St., Evansville, WI

MINUTES

Mayor Ringhand called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Present were Mayor Ringhand, Alderpersons Cothard, Juergens, Aikman, Hammann, and Roberts. Absent: Ald. Anderson, Sornson, and Wessels. Staff present: Jim Beilke, City Clerk/Treasurer, and Bill Connors, City Administrator.

The Clerk administered the Oath of Office to Mayor Decker. Then, the Clerk administered the Oath of Office to Ald. Juergens, Wyse, and Braunschweig.

Roll call was taken of the new Council: Mayor Decker, Alderpersons Wyse, Braunschweig, Cothard, Juergens, Hammann, and Roberts. Ald. Sornson and Wessels were absent.

Motion by Roberts, seconded by Braunschweig, to nominate Ald. Cothard as Council President. There were no other nominations.

Motion by Hammann, seconded by Juergens, to close nominations for Council President and direct the Clerk to cast a unanimous ballot. The motion carried unanimously.

Motion by Hammann, seconded by Cothard, to appoint The Evansville Review as the City of Evansville’s official newspaper for a term of one year.

The Council reviewed circulation of the newspapers to the residents of Evansville: The Janesville Gazette is delivered to 250 to 300 in the City of Evansville, and The Evansville Review is delivered to 1196 in the City. There are approximately 1500 to 1700 homes in Evansville.

Then the Council reviewed the price of publication service by The Evansville Review. Currently, the city is charged $850 per month for publications (the city splits this bill $650 per month to the city and $200 per month to the water and electric utilities). Kelly Gildner from The Evansville Review reported they would like to raise the price to $900 per month because of the increased volume of monthly publications.

Motion by Cothard, seconded by Roberts, to amend the motion to increase the payments to $900 per month for The Evansville Review. Motion passed unanimously on a roll call vote.

Ald. Wyse expressed concerns on how The Evansville Review reports the news. Kelly Gildner and Tammy Pomplun from The Evansville Review discussed how the news is reported. The consensus was to use The Evansville Review as the official city newspaper. Ald. Cothard called for a vote on the motion to appoint The Evansville Review as the official city newspaper. The motion to appoint The Evansville Review as the official city newspaper for one year, as amended, carried.

Motion by Cothard, seconded by Juergens, to waive the seven-day notice on aldermanic and citizen appointments. Motion carried.

Committee Aldermanic Appointments.
Mayor Decker asked motions under agenda item 7, Committee Aldermanic Appointments, be moved as one motion unless someone wants to separate and divide any motion or motions. Ald. Cothard asked that agenda items 7(A), Finance Committee; 7(B), Plan Commission; and 7(E), Fire District Board, be voted on separately.

Motion by Hammann, seconded by Cothard, to approve the Mayoral appointment of Ald. Roberts as Chair and Ald. Juergens and Ald. Braunschweig as committee members to the Finance and Labor Relations Committee.

The Council discussed concerns regarding a conflict of interest when a Finance Committee member working in the bank industry votes on the City’s banking issues. Additionally, Council discussed concerns about how freshman alderpersons on the Finance Committee may struggle with the complexity of the city’s budget. Finally, Council discussed how a conflict of interest might arise when a member of large budget departments (such as Public Works and Parks) is on the Finance Committee.

Motion failed unanimously on a roll call vote.

Motion by Cothard, seconded by Wyse, to take a five-minute recess. Motion carried.

After the recess, Mayor Decker announcer her appointment of Ald. Cothard as Chair and Ald. Juergens and Ald. Braunschweig as committee members to the Finance and Labor Relations Committee

Motion by Hammann, seconded by Braunschweig, to approve the Mayoral appointment of Ald. Cothard as Chair and Ald. Juergens and Ald. Braunschweig as committee members to the Finance and Labor Relations Committee. Motion passed on a roll call vote. Ald. Roberts voted against. Ald. Cothard, Wyse, Braunschweig, Juergens, and Hammann voted in favor.

Motion by Hammann, seconded by Juergens, to approve the Mayoral appointment of Ald. Hammann and Ald. Roberts to the Plan Commission.

Ald. Roberts stated she does not want to be on the Plan Commission.

Motion failed unanimously on a roll call vote.

Motion by Hammann, seconded by Juergens, to approve the Mayoral appointment of Ald. Braunschweig and Ald. Wessels to the Evansville Fire District and Ald. Sornson and Ald. Cothard as alternates.

Ald. Cothard recommended replacing Braunschweig with Roberts. Thus, Roberts could be on the Fire District and Braunschweig could be on the Plan Commission. Ald. Braunschweig was in favor of the Cothard’s recommendation.

Motion failed on a roll call vote. Ald. Hammann, Wyse, and Juergens voted in favor. Ald. Cothard, Roberts, and Braunschweig voted against.

Motion by Hammann, seconded by Juergens, to approve the (1) Mayoral appointment of Ald. Wessels to the Historic Preservation Committee; (2) Mayoral appointment of Ald. Cothard as Chair and Ald. Sornson and Ald. Wessels as committee members to the Water & Light Committee; (3) Mayoral appointment of Ald. Hammann as Chair and Ald. Sornson and Ald. Juergens as committee members to the Public Works Committee; (4) Mayoral appointment of Ald. Juergens and Ald. Wyse as committee members to the Economic Development Committee; (5) Mayoral appointment of Ald. Juergens as Chair to the Park and Recreation Board; (6) Mayoral appointment of Ald. Cothard as Chair and Ald. Roberts and Ald. Sornson as committee members to the Public Safety Committee; and (7) Mayoral appointment of Ald. Hammann and Ald. Wyse as committee members to the Redevelopment Authority.

Ald. Braunschweig expressed concerns about the disparity in the number of committees certain alderpersons are being appointed to.

Motion carried on a roll call vote. Ald. Braunschweig voted against. All other alderpersons voted in favor.

Citizen Committee Appointments.
Motion by Juergens, seconded by Cothard, to approve the (1) Mayoral appointment of Gil Skinner for a 3-year term to the Plan Commission; (2) Mayoral appointment of Mike Anderson for a five-year term to the Board of Review; (3) Mayoral appointment of Kent Englund and Eric Pease for a three-year term to the Board of Appeals; (4) Mayoral appointment of Ron Carlsen and Barbara Jacobson for a three-year term to the Park Board; (5) Mayoral appointment of Karen Aikman for an unexpired two-year term and Wally Shannon for a five-year term to the Police Commission; (6) Mayoral appointment of Cheryl Dickert for an unexpired two-year term, and Gene Bass and Roger Berg for three-year terms to the Economic Development Committee; (7) Mayoral appointment of John Decker for an unexpired one-year term, and Steve Culbertson, Steve Christens and Louise Keely for two-year terms to the Historic Preservation Commission; (8) Mayoral appointment of Chris Eager for a five-year term to the Redevelopment Authority; (9) Mayoral appointment of Paul Miller for a five-year term to the Housing Authority; and (10) Mayoral appointment of Eloise Eager for a three-year term to the Library Board. Motion carried unanimously on a roll call vote.

Communications and Recommendations from the Mayor.
Mayor Decker said agenda items 7(B), Plan Commission, and 7(E), Fire District Board, will be deferred until a special meeting on a later date.


STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS

I will be brief. I know our Council members want to conduct business efficiently, and my “State of the City” address is set, by ordinance, for next month's Council meeting.

First, I wish to thank Mayor Ringhand, Alderperson Aikman and Alderperson Anderson for their service to our community. I congratulate our Council members and citizens on the confirmation of their appointments. Letters will be going out this week to all of the citizen appointees, advising them of their confirmation, and informing them of committee meeting schedules and rosters.

Second, I will be consulting with our staff and with committee chairs to find every appropriate method to expedite our Council business. I will be happy to have suggestions from Council members and city staff along these lines.

My objective is to have the best-informed decision-making we can have for our citizens. I want written materials to reach council members as far in advance of our meetings as possible, though I recognize there will be times (including tonight) when the press of business will not permit much of a “heads-up” or much time for advance consideration. I will try wherever possible to streamline formalities and routine matters, so that we can devote our time to citizen input and the deliberations of the citizens’ elected representatives.

Third, and finally, I can tell you that the past week has been a full one for me, just in taking care of two items of business. The first was the committee appointments, just approved. I consulted widely in making the appointments, including, where appropriate, with city department heads. I am very grateful for the input I received.

The second item I gave attention to was the question of access to Hwy. 14, east of County Trunk “M.” This is an urgent and vital matter (thus the next item on our agenda). I will be meeting tomorrow afternoon in the Governor's office, with members of Gov. Doyle's staff, representatives of the Department of Transportation, and State Rep. Brett Davis, who arranged the meeting. It will be of considerable assistance to have the Council's approval of the next item for purposes of tomorrow's meeting, and time is of the essence.

New Business.
Motion by Juergens, seconded by Cothard, to authorize Foth & Van Dyke, City Engineer, to perform a traffic impact analysis study regarding development north and south of USH 14 east of CTH M at an estimated cost of $18,500. This traffic impact analysis is a standard requirement before the state Department of Transportation will consider approving any new intersection on a state or U.S. highway or a subdivision adjacent to a state or U.S. highway. Mr. Connors said the city would use tax increment to pay for the cost of the study, if the city creates Tax Incremental District No. 6. If TID No. 6 is not created, the city will have to pay for the cost of the study out of operating revenues. Ald. Wyse asked whether it would be prudent to wait to see if TID No. 6 is created before starting on the traffic impact analysis. Mr. Connors said it would be difficult to determine the zoning, street layout, and extent of TIF-financed costs on the D&D Development property, which would make up most of TID No. 6, until the traffic impact analysis is complete and we know where the state Department of Transportation will allow intersections.

Motion by Hammann, seconded by Roberts, to replace the words “City Council” with “Public Works Committee” on page two, item number six. Motion carried.

The original motion, as amended, carried unanimously on a roll call vote.

Adjournment
Motion by Hammann, seconded by Cothard, to adjourn the meeting at 7:34 p.m. Motion carried.

Prepared by:
Jim Beilke, City Clerk/Treasurer

The Minutes are not official until approved by Council.