Minutes: Evansville Common Council Meeting of the Whole: Saturday: April 5, 2008

Common Council
Special Meeting as Committee of the Whole
Saturday, April 5, 2008, 8:00 a.m.
Union Bank & Trust Building, 2 East Main Street, Evansville, WI

Minutes

1. Call to order. Mayor Sandy Decker called the meeting to order at 8:02 am.

2. Roll call. In addition to Mayor Decker, Alderpersons Braunschweig, Cothard, Juergens, Roberts, Sornson, Wessels, and Wyse were present. Alderperson Barb Jacobson was absent. Alderperson-elect Janis Ringhand, City Administrator Dan Wietecha, Public Works Superintendent Dave Wartenweiler, EMS Director Mary Beaver, City Planner Tim Schwecke, Water & Light Superintendent Scott George, City Engineer Dave Sauer, Police Chief Scott McElroy, and Municipal Judge Tom Alisankus were also present.

3. Approval of Agenda. Roberts made a motion, seconded by Wessels, to approve the agenda as presented. Motion passed unanimously.

4. Minutes of March 11, 2008. Juergens made a motion, seconded by Braunschweig, to defer the reading of the minutes of March 11, 2008, Common Council meeting to the next regular meeting. Motion passed unanimously.

5. Citizen appearances. None.

6. Legal refresher. Wietecha reviewed a couple procedural concerns for conducting public hearings. In a quasi-judicial role, the Plan Commission or Common Council should not be deliberating on the merits of an application until after the public hearing has been closed. This can be addressed by changing how public hearings are presented on the agenda. The Council’s decision on an application is independent from the Plan Commission recommendation; therefore, the Council should explicitly document its findings before making a motion to approve or deny an application. This also can be addressed by changing how public hearings are presented on the agenda.

7. Topics for Discussion.

A. Madison Street Construction. Sauer gave an overview of the construction for Madison Street this summer. The City has started upgrades to the underground utilities; this includes replacement of several sanitary sewer manholes, new sanitary sewer forcemain, and a larger water main. It is scheduled for completion in early June. Then the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) will construct the surface improvements under a separate contract. This involves a mill and overlay south of Church Street and a street reconstruction north of Church Street. The intersection at Water Street will be widened, and the intersection at Old Highway 92 will be re-aligned. WisDOT’s portion is scheduled for completion in late summer.

There is a detour for through traffic, but the contractors will try to keep access for local traffic as open as possible during construction. A group of local businesses is meeting weekly during construction to address business concerns that may arise. The City is also holding regular construction meetings to stay abreast of the project’s status. Information will be updated on the City website throughout the construction.

B. Wisconsin Office of Energy Independence. Decker said she had recently met with Judy Ziewacz of the Office of Energy Independence. The Office was created a year ago to advance the Governor’s goal of generating 25% of the state’s energy from renewable resources by 2025. The Office recognizes the importance of community involvement in order to succeed in the 25x25 goals and is seeking local adoption of a resolution of support.

Evansville already exceeds many of the items in the three-star level of Energy Independence Community Partnership and could be one of the lead communities for the Office’s project. It was noted that Evansville had been the lead in the state’s creation of Focus on Energy and that we have some excellent local expertise regarding energy. Continuing to lead by example has the potential for additional state and federal grants and funding. There is a lot of upside for Evansville to participate in the Energy Independence program. The Committee agreed a supporting resolution should be on the Council agenda next week.

C. Wastewater Treatment Facility. Sauer said that the City’s wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) had been built in 1982, designed to last for 20 years with a capacity of 600,000 gallons per day. We are currently around 80% of capacity, but nitrate and chloride concentrations above state standards are driving the need for upgrades to the WWTF. The facility planning process has been started; construction may start in late 2008 or 2009 and be completed in 2010.

The least expensive option would add insulated covers to the lagoons and install a moving bed reactor for around $1.85 million. This may meet the City’s needs for the next 5 to 10 years but would not allow for future expansion.

The other options would involve constructing a mechanical plant with aerobic digester for around $2.25 million. In addition to addressing the current treatment needs, this would increase the WWTF’s capacity and meet the City’s needs for the next 20 years. The design would allow for future expansion when needed. The mechanical plant would also have lower operating costs.

The possibility of a mechanical plant with anaerobic digester was discussed. This type of infrastructure is very expensive and not cost effective for a city of Evansville’s size. However, it could be an attractive option with grant money to offset the capital costs.

The Committee agreed that the most cost effective option in the long run would be a mechanical plant and indicated this should be included in the facility planning. Noting that 50-60% of the WWTF operating costs are energy, the Committee indicated that any opportunities for energy conservation should be explored for the new facility.

D. Stormwater Utility. Sauer reviewed the outline of an ordinance to create a stormwater management utility. Based on the average amount of impervious area on single-family residential properties, an equivalent runoff unit (ERU) would be established at 3000 square feet. Nonresidential properties with larger amounts of impervious surfaces would pay for several ERUs. Credits may be allowed for any property which maintains a private stormwater pond wholly on its own property. One of the benefits to the utility is that it assesses costs to properties in proportion to the burdens they place on the stormwater system.

The Public Works Department is currently spending about $55,000 per year in general maintenance expenses related to stormwater. Adding an annual amount for stormwater capital improvements could double the figure. The preliminary estimate is under $60 per year per ERU. It was noted that, when preparing its next budget, the City will need to make sure that this does not result in both taxing and charging fees for the same expense.

The Public Works Committee anticipates reviewing the draft ordinance at its April meeting, so first reading could be at the May Common Council meeting. Sauer also noted that a master stormwater plan has started being considered for commercial and industrial development on the City’s east side.

E. North Prairie Productions. Wietecha presented a copy of a November 13, 2007, memo. He noted that North Prairie is not in default on the development agreement nor is the City pulling the plug on the project. However, with construction still suspended, North Prairie will either need to resume construction or revisit the development agreement soon to avoid becoming in default.

Although the City committed approximately $2,355,000 to support the biodiesel project; funding was set to be made as construction progressed. At this point, the City has incurred about $600,000 toward the project; about two-thirds of which is securable by special assessment levies against the property.

The overall project notwithstanding, there are two specific issues that the City will need to consider in the immediate future. Anticipating $250,000 in state grants for the project, the City bonded for less than the construction costs on County Road M. This will result in a temporary cash-flow problem this spring. The City had intended to provide about $1.9 million as a development incentive. With construction on hold, the City is incurring unnecessary interest expenses on these moneys. The City will be paying off the associated State Trust Fund Loan to avoid the interest expenses; new funding can be secured when construction resumes.

Wietecha said that while the biodiesel project has been on hold, a soybean crushing facility has been gaining momentum and now looks quite promising. Although the North Prairie agreement did have a number of safeguards to minimize the City’s exposure; the City may want to negotiate a pay-as-you-go arrangement on future tax increment projects of this magnitude.

8. Motion to adjourn. It was noted the next Committee of the Whole meeting would be around July or August to address capital planning prior to the budget. Braunschweig made a motion, seconded by Wessels, to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed unanimously at 11:10 am.