Minutes: Common Council: March 2006

Common Council
Regular Meeting
Tuesday, March 14, 2006, 6:30 PM
City Hall, 31 S. Madison Street, Evansville, WI

MINUTES

Mayor Ringhand called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM. Present were: Mayor Ringhand and Alderpersons Aikman, Cothard, Roberts, Hammann, Sornson, Juergens, and Wessels. Absent was Ald. Anderson. Staff present: Mark Kopp, City Attorney; Bill Connors, City Administrator; Dave Wartenweiler, Public Works Director; Kathy Butchen, Assistant EMS Coordinator; Tom Alisankus, Municipal Judge; and Jim Beilke, Clerk/Treasurer.

Approval of Agenda.
Agenda items 6(C)(4), Resolution #2006-6, and 6(C)(6), Resolution #2006-8, were eliminated from the agenda, because the Finance and Labor Relations Committee tabled motions to recommend adoption of these resolutions. Agenda item 7, Unfinished Business, was moved after item 11, Introduction of New Ordinances. The amended agenda was approved.

Approval of Minutes.
Motion by Hammann, seconded by Cothard, to waive the reading of the minutes of the regular meeting for February 14, 2006 and approve them as printed. Motion passed.

Citizen appearances other than agenda items listed.
Tim Deneen, 423 E. Main St., encouraged Council to support 2005 Assembly Bill 287, relating to the minimum number of railroad employees required to be present in the cab of the lead control locomotive when the railroad train or locomotive is in motion.

Perry Folts, candidate for Rock County Circuit Court Branch 7, asked Council for their support in the April 4, 2006 election.

Committee Reports.

Evansville Community Partnership Report. None

Plan Commission Report.
Second reading and motion by Hammann, seconded by Cothard, to adopt Ordinance #2006-4, rezoning territory from Residential District One (R-1) to Community Business District (B-3). Ald. Hammann reported the rezoning of the parcel at 351 Union St. from Residential District One (R-1) to Community Business District (B-3). This parcel is the second parcel south of Symdon Chevrolet. The parcel is occupied by a single-family rental unit, which, for the time being, will not change use. If the rezoning is approved, Symdon Chevrolet will expand its parking lot into the large back yard of this parcel. The parcel was one of several that, on the future land use maps in the Smart Growth Comprehensive Plan, were changed from single-family residential to commercial by a plan-amendment ordinance the Common Council recently adopted. The Plan Commission has recommended adoption of the rezoning ordinance. Motion passed.

Second reading and motion by Hammann, seconded by Juergens, to adopt Ordinance #2006-5, amending the Municipal Code relative to parkland dedications. Ald. Hammann reported the ordinance would change the formula for adjusting the amount of the fee in lieu of parkland dedication for new subdivisions from the increase in the total assessed value of land in the city during the past year to the average increase in the total assessed value of land in the city over the last three years. The Plan Commission has recommended adoption of this ordinance. Motion passed.

Motion by Hammann, seconded by Roberts, to approve Resolution #2006-9, setting a new fee in lieu of park dedication for April 1, 2006 through March 31, 2007. Ald. Hammann reported this ordinance uses the formula in Ordinance #2006-5. Resolution #2006-9 also declares that the city will adopt a new formula for increases in the fee in lieu of parkland dedication by January 1, 2007, to be effective starting with the period from April 1, 2007, through March 31, 2008. The Plan Commission has recommended adoption of this resolution. Motion passed.

Motion by Hammann, seconded by Cothard, to approve the preliminary land division application of John Morning (Application #2006-4) for a two-lot division on Brown School Road as shown on the preliminary certified survey map, based on a finding that the land division is environmentally sound and there are adequate public facilities available to meet the needs of the land division, provided the conditions listed in the staff report and conditions imposed by the Plan Commission are met prior to recording the final CSM with Rock County. Ald. Hammann reported the preliminary certified survey map (CSM) would divide a commercial lot owned by John Morning, located on Brown School Road, into two lots. The Plan Commission recommended approval of the preliminary CSM with the following conditions: (1) Comply with all provisions of chapter 110 of the Municipal Code and state law; (2) Place the following notation on the face of the final CSM, “Depending on the zoning district classification(s) of adjoining parcels, it is possible that a bufferyard may be required along one or more of the property boundary lines to comply with city zoning standards. Where required, the bufferyard shall be installed when the parcel is develop;” (3) Submit a copy of the easement to the city for review and approval that will be filed with Rock County for the shared access between lots 2 and 3 and an easement between lots 1 and 2. At a minimum, the easements shall address long term maintenance of any roadway built within the easement and the rights and responsibilities of each party; (4) Depict intra-block drainages, if any, on the final CSM with arrows indicating the direction of flow along with the following notation, “Arrows indicate direction of drainage swale construction during grading and such swales shall be maintained by the lot owner, unless modified with approval of the city engineer;” (5) Obtain written authorization of the proposed subdivision from the public works department and the water and light department; (6) All on-site electrical, telephone, and cable service shall be placed underground; (7) The following notation shall be placed on the face of the final CSM, “If a commercial building is constructed on Lot 2 or Lot 3, it shall only be occupied when the City Council determines that necessary intersection improvements at J. Lindemann Drive and US Highway 14 have been completed or will be completed within nine (9) months of such occupancy;”(8) Within the next 30 days, the City Administrator must negotiate with D&D Development a written purchase agreement for the additional right of way for drive-by lane, and if that fails the city should move forward with condemnation of the additional right of way; and (9) The applicant must pay for the deferred assessment, if any, for Lift Station No. 5.

After some discussion, the consensus was to delete item 7 regarding the necessary intersection improvements at J. Lindemann Drive and US Highway 14, because Council members are confident the drive-by lane or a four-way intersection including a drive-by lane will be built.

Motion by Hammann, seconded by Cothard, to delete item 7 regarding the necessary intersection improvements at J. Lindemann Drive and US Highway 14. Motion passed.

The original motion, as amended, passed.

Finance and Labor Relations Committee Report.
Motion by Aikman, seconded by Roberts, to approve Water and Light bills and authorize their payments of $533,559.89. Motion passed unanimously on a roll call vote.

Motion by Aikman, seconded by Cothard, to approve the City bills and authorize their payments of $2,039,748.96. Motion passed unanimously on a roll call vote.

Motion by Aikman, seconded by Roberts, to adopt Resolution #2006-5, amending the adopted 2006 city budget to increase the appropriation for converted farmland tax penalty. Mr. Connors reported Resolution #2006-5 would increase the appropriation for payment of the converted farmland tax penalty. Farmland is assessed at a lower value based on “use value.” When farmland is converted to non-agricultural use, the owner of the farmland must pay a penalty to the county, which pays half of the penalty to the city or township within which the property is located. If the property was recently annexed, the city or village must pay half of the amount it receives from the county to the township. In 2004, the city received converted farmland tax penalty revenue from Rock County, but failed to pay to the Town of Union its share of the revenue. Resolution #2006-5 would amend the budget to appropriate money to make the overdue payment to the Town of Union. Motion passed unanimously on a roll call vote.

Motion by Aikman, seconded by Roberts, to adopt Resolution #2006-7, amending the adopted 2006 city budget to increase the appropriation for clerk/treasurer computer equipment. Mr. Connors reported Resolution #2006-7 would increase the appropriation for clerk/treasurer computer equipment by $1,250 to purchase a projector and screen for projecting graphics and text during presentations. Motion passed 6-1 on a roll call vote, with Ald. Aikman voting against.

Motion by Aikman, seconded by Roberts, to approve the Proposal for Creating Tax Incremental District No. 6 by Ehlers & Associates, Inc. Mr. Connors reported the proposal from Ehlers & Associates, Inc. is regarding their fees for creating Tax Incremental District (TID) No. 6. Mr. Connors reported territory of TID No. 6 would include the more than 96 acres of land owned by D&D Development, which was applied to be annexed, located at the southeast corner of CTH M and USH 14. To comply with state law, at least half of the territory of TID No. 6 must be zoned industrial. It appears the remainder will be zoned commercial, and the commercial zoning will be adjacent to USH 14. The city intends to use the tax increment generated by any commercial development within TID No. 6 to pay debt service on the cost of constructing streets, sanitary sewers, water mains, and other infrastructure for a new industrial park within TID No. 6. Using the tax increment from the commercial development to pay debt service on the industrial park infrastructure, rather than to subsidize construction of infrastructure for the new commercial lots along USH 14, would reduce the risk the city will undertake by issuing bonds to finance infrastructure construction in the new industrial park. Motion passed unanimously on a roll call vote.

Ald. Juergens requested that Finance and Labor Relationships Committee provide the Park Board a written statement why they tabled the Resolution #2006-6, which would amend the adopted 2006 city budget to increase the appropriation for Phase 1 of the skate park. Ald. Aikman said she would do so.

Public Safety Committee Report.
Motion by Cothard, seconded by Roberts, to adopt Ordinance #2005-52, amending the Municipal Code relative to no parking zones, as amended by Public Safety Committee. Mr. Connors reported this ordinance would, among other things, establish as no parking zones (1) the east side of Exchange St. from E. Main St. to Water St. and (2) the south and east sides of Water St. from Allen Creek to E. Main St. Mr. Connors noted line 35 needed an amendment. He recommended Council insert “both sides,” between the words “Street,” and “from.”

Motion by Cothard, seconded by Juergens, to insert “both sides,” between the words “Street,” and “from.” Motion passed.

The original motion, as amended, passed.

Motion by Cothard, seconded by Roberts, to approve the Bond Schedule. Motion passed.

Public Works Committee Report. None

Water & Light Committee Report. None

Economic Development Committee Report.
Ald. Aikman reported Sortis (Greg Sanders and Wendy Soucie) furnished a presentation on their proposal to establish a "branding" program for Evansville, and to seek grant funding to defray a portion of the cost of the program. Sortis also reviewed other various potential grants for the city.

Evansville Redevelopment Authority Report. None



Parks and Recreation Board Report.
Ald. Juergens reported on activities at Franklin Park, such as, replacing obsolete equipment and surveying the land to locate the park boundaries. The Park Board would like to get the skate park going this year. The Board wants the City Engineer to begin survey work that will allow some grading to take place. The survey should give guidance to Public Works so that grading and initial grass seeding can occur in 2006, in the area where the soccer fields are likely to go.

Historic Preservation Commission Report. None

Fire District Report.
Ald. Roberts reported the Board approved the 2005 Audit Report. Mr. Connors reported he reviewed our Fire District Contributions, Fire Insurance Aids, and User Fees payments. Currently, the Fire Insurance Aids and User Fees are not shown in the Fire District Budget. He requested the Fire District report their revenues and expenditures for Fire Insurance Aids and Users Fees in their future budgets.

Communications and Recommendations from the Mayor.
Motion by Cothard, seconded by Sornson, to waive the seven-day notice requirement and approve the mayoral appointment of Roger Berg to the Smart Growth Implementation Committee. Motion passed.

Mayor Ringhand reported the City of Evansville won an award for their Smart Growth Comprehensive Plan. There were only 3 or 4 winners of this award in Wisconsin.

Communications and Recommendations from the City Administrator.
Mr. Connors reported the city issued only one building permit during February 2006. It has been a long time since the city issued only one building permit in a month. It appears rising interest rates have discouraged builders from constructing as many “spec” houses as they have during the past few winters. However, if the pace of housing construction returned to the level it was in 1999 through 2002, when the city issued 30 to 40 building permits for new single-family houses, rather than 50 to 70 building permits for new single-family houses, as the city issued during 2003 through 2005, that probably would be a good thing. The pace of residential growth needs to slow down a bit if the city is going to meet its goal of having the population grow by no more than 27% from 2005 through 2014.

New Business.
Motion by Hammann, seconded by Sornson, to adopt Resolution #2006-10, making findings regarding vehicular access from USH 14 to land owned by D&D Development. Mayor Ringhand reported this resolution would show the city’s intent regarding the existing three-way intersection of USH 14 and J. Lindemann Drive and make it a four-way intersection to provide vehicular access to the land near the intersection, which is marked by Smart Growth Comprehensive Plan for commercial and industrial purposes. Motion passed.

Introduction of New Ordinances.
First reading of Ordinance #2006-3, annexing territory to the City of Evansville, Wisconsin (D&D Development Property).

First reading of Ordinance #2006-6, amending the Municipal Code relative to replacement of damaged nonconforming structures so as to comply with 2005 Wisconsin Act 112.

Unfinished Business.
The Council discussed the condemnation action to acquire additional right of way on the south side of USH 14 for a drive-by lane opposite J. Lindemann Dr. and to authorize the City Administrator to hire legal counsel recommended by the City Attorney to represent the city in the condemnation action. They questioned if this was necessary.

Mr. Connors reported he must negotiate with D&D Development a written purchase agreement for the additional right of way for drive-by lane, and if that fails the city should move forward with condemnation of the additional right of way, per Plan Commission and Council instructions. This instruction was approved by Council in agenda item 6(B)(4) regarding John Morning’s preliminary certified survey map. Mr. Berg reported D&D Development wants a four-way intersection from state Department of Transportation (WisDOT). They are concerned that if the city pushes forward with the drive-by lane, it will reduce WisDOT’s willingness to approve a four-way intersection. Several Council members said they are confident D&D Development will be cooperative regarding sale of additional right of way for the drive-by lane. They feel condemnation action would not be appropriate at this time. The consensus was to leave the motion to commence the condemnation action on the table.

Several Council member said they were not aware that the conditions they approved on the two-lot preliminary CSM for John Morning, agenda item 6(B)(4), included condition number 8, which requires the City Administrator to negotiate a written agreement to acquire the right of way for the drive by lane within 30 days, or else the city would commence a condemnation action. Mr. Connors said the Plan Commission added conditions 8 and 9 to the 7 conditions that the City Planner had recommended to the Plan Commission. Unfortunately, the only document about this agenda item in the Council packet was the City Planner’s report to the Plan Commission, which was written before the Plan Commission meeting, and thus did not include the conditions added by the Plan Commission. Mr. Connors listed all 9 of the conditions in his separate memorandum about selected agenda items, and all 9 of the conditions were listed in the Plan Commission minutes.

Motion by Cothard, seconded by Roberts, to reconsider agenda item 6(B)(4) regarding the preliminary certified survey map. Motion passed.

Motion by Cothard, seconded by Juergens, to eliminate condition 8, which provided that within the next 30 days, the City Administrator must negotiate with D&D Development a written purchase agreement for the additional right of way for drive-by lane, and if that fails the city should move forward with condemnation of the additional right of way. Motion passed.

The original motion, as amended to eliminate conditions 7 and 8, passed.


Closed Session.
Motion by Cothard, seconded by Roberts, to convene in closed session pursuant to Sec. 19.85(1)(f), Wis. Stats., considering financial, medical, social or personal histories or disciplinary data of specific persons, preliminary consideration of specific personnel problems or investigation of charges against specific persons which, if discussed in public, would be likely to have a substantial adverse effect upon the reputation of any person referred to in such histories or data, or involved in such problems or investigations, and will not reconvene in open session. During the closed session, the Council will discuss the recent discipline of one of the city’s police officers. Motion passed unanimously on a roll call vote at 8:00 PM, and the Council immediately convened into closed session.

Adjournment.
Motion by Wessels, seconded by Sornson, to adjourn the meeting at 8:36 PM. Motion carried.


Prepared by:
James Beilke
City Clerk/Treasurer

The Minutes are not official until approved by Common Council at the next regular meeting.