Minutes; Common Council: January 20, 2006

Common Council
Special Meeting
Friday, January 20, 2006, 5:30 PM
City Hall, 31 S. Madison Street, Evansville, WI

MINUTES

Mayor Ringhand called the meeting to order at 5:35 PM. Present were Mayor Ringhand and Aldpersons Aikman, Cothard, Roberts, Hammann, Juergens, Sornson, and Wessels. Absent was Ald. Anderson. Bill Connors, City Administrator, also was present.

Approval of Agenda.
The agenda was approved as printed.

Approval of Minutes.
Motion Roberts, seconded by Juergens, to defer the reading and approval of the January 10, 2006, minutes until the next regular Common Council meeting on February 14, 2006. Motion passed.

Citizen appearances other than agenda items listed. None

Reports of Committees. None

Unfinished Business.
Motion by Cothard, seconded by Roberts, to approve a final certified survey map (CSM) for property owned by the City of Evansville and MJ Properties, LLC (boundary line relocation), Application 2005-25. Mr. Connors reported that the Plan Commission passed a motion recommending that the Council approve this final CSM, along with a new easement agreement, at its meeting on January 3, 2006, but that the approval of the CSM was inadvertently omitted from the agenda for the January 10, 2006, Common Council meeting. Motion passed.

New Business.
Motion by Roberts, seconded by Cothard, to approve providing financial assistance to Nelson-Young Lumber Company for a decorative fence along Union St., in the amount and form as recommended by the Evansville Redevelopment Authority. Ald. Sornson said it was his understanding that investments of tax increment are supposed to generate a large enough increase in value to allow the investment to be recovered over time, and it appears this will not happen with the proposed investment in the fence. Mr. Connors responded that some TIF investments generate a large enough increase in value to produce more revenue than was invested, some TIF investments barely break even, and others consume more tax increment than they produce. He said it was anticipated that that the investments in the Grange Store for the Evansville Pharmacy building and the façade improvements to Pete’s Inn will not generate as much tax increment revenue as these projects consumed. Ald. Juergens said it is his understanding that TIF is used only to pay for public improvements. Mr. Connors responded that TIF is used to pay for both public and private improvements, and the city used TIF to pay for part of the cost of enlarging the Stoughton Trailer plant, which is a private improvement. Ald. Aikman said at the Redevelopment Authority meeting on January 19, 2006, John Decker gave an eloquent summary of why he supported the proposed investment, and asked Mr. Decker to repeat what he said. Mr. Decker, 143 W. Main St., said that cost of construction is one of the factors that assessors take into account when determining the value of a property, so the cost of the new fence should have some upward impact on the assessed value of the property. He said that he supports the proposed investment because, among other reasons, it would help integrate Union St. with the downtown and signal that Union St. is a location poised for redevelopment.

Mr. Connors said that even if the improvement of the appearance of a property does not directly cause a measurable increase in the value of the property, improvements to the appearance of many properties in an area would increase the value of all of the properties in the area.

In response to a question, Brad Fahlgren, Nelson-Young Lumber Co., said the company intends to construct only part of the fence now, because how much additional fence is needed will be determined by where the company locates its contemplated new building, and the company is not ready to start on that part of the project at this time. The company needs to construct this part of the fence now. Mr. Fahlgren said he does not know what kind of fence the company would choose to construct if it does not receive any assistance from the city. In response to a question, Mr. Fahlgren said an all wrought-iron fence would be less expensive, but less sturdy than a fence with brick posts and wrought iron sections between the posts, because of the long span of the fence. Mr. Fahlgren noted that the company is in the process of expanding the showroom area at its Evansville location, which will generate tax increment, but the company has requested no tax increment assistance with that expansion.

Mr. Connors reported that the Redevelopment Authority recommended that the Common Council approve a grant of one-third of the actual cost of the fence or $11,000, whichever is less, with payment to occur after Nelson-Young Lumber Co. provides invoices or other documentation of the costs actually incurred to construct the fence. Motion by Hammann, seconded by Wessels, to amend the motion to specify that the form of assistance shall be a grant and the amount of the grant shall be one-third of the actual cost of the fence or $11,000, whichever is less. Motion passed.

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

Alderpersons asked Mr. Connors to provide an estimate of increased value for all future applications for TIF assistance.

Adjournment.
Motion by Wessels, seconded by Sornson, to adjourn the meeting at 6:05 PM. Motion carried.


Prepared by:
William E. Connors
City Administrator

The Common Council Minutes are not official until approved by Common Council.