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Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Minutes; Park Board: April 2009

PARK & RECREATION BOARD MEETING MINUTES
Monday, April 20, 2009, 6:00 p.m.
Evansville City Hall Council Chambers


Meeting called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Chari Ringhand.

Present: Jeff Farnsworth, Fred Juergens, Ron Carlsen, Jerry Krueger, Janis Ringhand, Sue Merritt, Rich Modaff. Staff: Rick Hamacher, Ray Anderson.

Motion to approve the agenda as printed by Krueger/Juergens, unanimous.

Motion to approve the minutes of the March 16, 2009 minutes by Farnsworth/Juergens, unanimous.

No citizen appearance.

SOLE – Gib Wiedenhoeft present, next SOLE meeting Wednesday, April 22. Fish stocking in progress, funds still coming in.

Canoe, kayak & paddle boat rental – Robert Tierney, 125 E. Main St., #2, presented a business plan with details for his proposed business, R & A Canoeing, motion by Juergens/Farnsworth to approve support for the proposal for R&A Canoeing, contract to be completed by city before next Park & Rec Meeting, May 18, 2009, after review by City Administrator and Attorney, unanimous.

Lake Leota Grand Re-opening Event – 4th of July Committee proposed Thursday, July 2, at 7:00 p.m. as a good time for the event. Possible location would be north of the lake, next to the beer tent, alternative location would be by the spillways on the east side. Will invite local dignitaries and those who were instrumental in process of dredging. Consider HS band.

Memorial donation policy – Juergens recommended different styles of furniture for the different parks, will continue to review. Juergens will bring photo copies to the next meeting. A suggest was made that trees are a good donation at a lesser cost.

Wetland Shoreland restoration update – Grant application is ready to be submitted after final review by City Administrator.

Chairs report of city items – clean up from dredging is being addressed by Public Works.

Park Maintenance report – Anderson reported that some minor vandalism has occurred, bathrooms will open the end of next week.

Aquatic Report – Hamacher reported public disagreement with rate increase and resident vs non-resident status at Week of the Young Child Event. He suggested someone from the City be on hand during swimming sign up to explain the rate increase. Final work on the pool drain is complete and approved.

Old Business – a request for response to advertising in the ball field was sent out last week thru the Chamber. American Legion has made contact with Rock County regarding serving food out of the press box, will meet on Tuesday, April 21, 2009, at 9:30 a.m.

New Business – none.

Motion to adjourn by Modaff/Juergens at 7:00 p.m.

Minutes: Economic Development: March 2009

Economic Development Committee

Regular Meeting
Tuesday, March 17, 2009, 5:30 pm
City Hall, 31 South Madison Street, Evansville, Wisconsin

MINUTES

I. Roll Call. Chair Tony Wyse called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm. Present: Tony Wyse, Janis Ringhand, Gene Bass, Dave Olsen, Roger Berg, and James Otterstein. Absent: Rebecca DeMarb and Matthias James. Also present: Mayor Sandy Decker and City Administrator Dan Wietecha.

II. Agenda. Ringhand made a motion, seconded by Bass, to approve the agenda as presented. Motion approved unanimously.

III. Minutes. Olsen made a motion, seconded by Ringhand, to waive the reading of the minutes of the January 20, 2009, regular meeting and to approve as printed. Motion approved unanimously. Ringhand made a motion, seconded by Bass, to waive the reading of the minutes of the February 17, 2009, regular meeting and to approve as printed. Motion approved unanimously.

IV. Citizen Appearances. None.

V. Chamber of Commerce. It was noted that the Heights at Evansville Manor as its grand opening and ribbon cutting tomorrow evening. The Chamber has an After Five meeting on Thursday.

VI. Welcome Signs. Bass reported that they had met with Cary Signs already and had scheduled a meeting with Sullivan Signs; Main Street Signs had been contacted but did not arrange a meeting. The Committee noted that the Grove symbol is the semi-official City logo.

VII. I&E Club. Wyse noted that the meetings continue to be well attended.

VIII. CEAP. The University of Michigan Community Economic Adjustment Program is working with communities that have had automotive manufacturing plant closures. Federal and state agencies gave an overview of their programs and funding opportunities at a workshop yesterday. General categories of funding are: labor, transportation, commerce, energy, and environment. There are no promises, but there are opportunities. Generally, the programs are handled with competitive applications.

IX. New Business: BR&E. Berg suggested the Committee take a downtown tour to stop in and meet with downtown businesses. Similar meetings could be held with other businesses/areas in the future. It would be an opportunity to improve communication with the business community and to hear from them directly about business needs that the Committee could address. The Committee agreed that a stronger business retention and expansion (BR&E) effort such as this was a good idea but would need some discussion about how it would work before proceeding.

X. Adjournment. Berg made a motion, seconded by Bass, to adjourn the meeting. Motion approved unanimously at 6:55 pm.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Minutes: ULDC: March 2009

City of Evansville
Unified Land Development Code Committee
Thursday, April 16, 2009, 6:00 p.m.
City Hall (Third Floor), 31 S. Madison Street, Evansville, WI

MINUTES

1. Call to Order.

2. Roll Call. Present: Lori Allen, Michael Pierick, and Roger Berg. Absent: Bill Hammann, Gil Skinner, Mason Braunschweig, and Tony Wyse. Also Present: City Planner John Stockham and City Administrator Dan Wietecha.

3. Approval of Agenda.

4. Code Amendments. The Committee discussed the City Planner’s April 2 memo and recommendations for updating the zoning and land use codes. Overall the ordinances are good, but there are significant areas that could be streamlined and made more user friendly.

Several revisions were discussed as immediate recommendations: clarifying the language about the zoning administrator and designees; allowing administrative waivers for site plan, landscaping, and bufferyards on small scale projects; and housekeeping of the stormwater management ordinance. The Committee advised that any administrative waivers should be documented with reasons for the waivers in the staff report.

Berg made a motion, seconded by Allen, to recommend the immediate revisions in the City Planner memo of April 2, with additional clarification that waivers need to be listed and explained in a staff memo. Motion passed unanimously. The Committee noted that the draft ordinance would also need to be reviewed by the City Attorney.

5. Future Meeting Dates. The Committee discussed a schedule of meeting every other month with lengthy draft ordinance revisions available for review a couple weeks prior to each meeting. The next meeting will likely be in July.

6. Adjourn. With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 6:45 pm.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Minutes: Historic Pres: March 2009

Evansville Historic Preservation Commission
Minutes
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 7:00 P.M.
3rd Floor, City Hall

Present: Rick Schuch, Dennis Wessels, Rich Modaff, Steve Culbertson, Steve Christens, John Decker, Betsy Ahner

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by chair Rich Modaff. Motion by Dennis Wessels, second by Steve Culbertson to waive the reading of the February 18, 2009 minutes and approve them as read. Motion carried.

Applications – Appearances:

a. 127 W. Church St., McKennoh – roof replacement. Motion by Steve Culbertson to approve the application for a roof replacement at 127 W. Church St. Second by Steve Christens. Motion carried and application approved.
b. 16 W. Main St., Consignment Shop application for a sign. Motion by John Decker to approve the application for an exterior sign. Second by Steve Culbertson. Motion carried and application approved.
c. 53 N Second St., no one was present to answer questions regarding insulation, replacement of windows, and siding so a phone call was placed to the homeowners and a message left on their answering machine asking them to call back during the meeting. The Commission completed the remainder of the agenda and then returned to this item. No further information was available. Motion by Dennis Wessels to table the item. Second by Rick Schuch. Motion carried.

Old Business: There was no old business.

Administrative:

Grove Society – John Decker reported that Dave Fellows is working on cleaning and preparing the maple flooring. Volunteers are needed to clean and restore the door and window trim. The mudding and taping of the walls can’t be done until warmer weather, hopefully the first two weeks of April. The ceiling will also need to be insulated. He is waiting to hear from the high school on the handicap ramp. The Park Board has approved the installation of a Baker Manufacturing windmill in the park and the footings for that can be poured at the same time the ranp footings are poured. Some type of barrier will have to be put on the windmill structure to keep children from climbing on it and to prevent vandals from damaging it.

Management of HPC Documents – Dennis Wessels reported this is still on hold.

Landmark and Historic District Discussions – the WI Historical Society is contacting people who are qualified to do the work and compiling a list. We will then be able to choose from that list when we put out our request for proposals (RFP) and we will hire a person in consultation with the WI Historical Society. We will need to hold a public information meeting at the beginning and one public session after the documents are prepared.

Remembrance Day Planning – John met with the Evansville Community Partnership (ECP) Board and they have agreed to co-sponsor this. The school district is interested and so are E-Arts and the Evansville Community Theater. The schools would like activities to be held in September and October so that school will be in session and the children can more readily participate. The steering committee is composed of John Decker, David Ross, Wally Shannon, and Dan Wietecha.

New City Signs – Dennis Wessels reported that the committee has agreed on a design and is submitting it to the City Council for its approval. There will be three signs, one on the north side, one on the east side and one on the south side of Evansville.

There being no further business a motion to adjourn was made by Steve Culbertson. Second by Steve Christens. Motion carried.


The minutes of the Evansville Historic Preservation Commission are not official until approved by the Commission.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Minutes; Finance Committee; April 2009

City of Evansville
Finance & Labor Relations Committee

Regular Meeting
Thursday, April 9, 2009, 5:30 pm
City Hall, 31 S. Madison St., Evansville, Wisconsin

MINUTES

I. Call to Order. The meeting was called to order at 5:30 pm by Chair Tom Cothard.

II. Roll Call. Present: Alderpersons Tom Cothard, Diane Roberts and Mason Braunschweig. Also present: Mayor Sandy Decker, City Administrator Dan Wietecha and Police Lieutenant Jay Koehler.

III. Approve Agenda. Braunschweig made a motion, seconded by Roberts, to approve the agenda. Motion approved unanimously.

IV. Minutes of March 5, 2009 Meeting. Cothard made a motion, seconded by Roberts, to waive the reading of and to approve the minutes as presented. Motion approved unanimously.

V. Citizen Appearances. None.

VI. Water & Light Bills. Cothard made a motion, seconded by Braunschweig, to approve the Water and Light bills in the amount of $765,823.19 and authorize their payment. Motion approved unanimously on a roll call vote.

VII. City Bills. Cothard made a motion, seconded by Roberts, to approve the City bills in the amount of $1,081,563.13 and authorize their payment. Motion approved unanimously on a roll call vote.

VIII. Unfinished Business:
a. Lake Leota Bond Sale. Wietecha explained that the sizing of the note anticipation notes had included $255,000 in contingencies. About $50,000 of the contingency has been needed. Since the project is not complete, he recommended keeping an additional $50,000 reserved in contingency. The remaining $155,000 would then be used to reduce the amount of the bond issue. The result would be a lesser impact on the tax rate and a shortened payment schedule; the interest would be about $116,000 less than had been projected over the life of the bonds. Terms have been negotiated with Banker’s Bank, partnering with several local banks, for the bond sale. Cothard made a motion, seconded by Braunschweig, to recommend to Common Council, approval of Resolution 2009-06, Authorizing the Issuance and Sale of $1,205,000 General Obligation Refunding Bonds, Series 2009. Motion approved unanimously on a roll call vote.

b. WWTP Clean Water Fund. Cothard made a motion, seconded by Braunschweig, to recommend to Common Council approval of Resolution 2009-07, Declaring Official Intent to Reimburse Expenditures for Clean Water Fund Project. Motion approved unanimously.

c. Main and Madison Finance.
i) CWF Representative. Wietecha said about $500,000 of the Main and Madison Street projects was eligible for financing at 2.7% through the Clean Water Fund. Cothard made a motion, seconded by Roberts, to recommend to Common Council approval of Resolution 2009-08, Authorized Representative to File Application for Financial Assistance from State of Wisconsin Clean Water Fund Program. Motion approved unanimously.

ii) Budget Amendment. Wietecha noted that the Madison Street project overall was about right on budget; however, individual portions of the project had great differences with some being well over their portions of the budget. He recommended reviewing the final costs with the Finance Director before bringing a budget amendment to clean up the differences.

d. Police Station Remodeling. Wietecha said that the original budget of $75,000 was unrealistically low and would need to be increased for the project to proceed. The Committee questioned the inaccuracy of the budget and encouraged better attention in future budgets. It was noted that although the plans included a detached garage it could be removed depending on the construction bids. Cothard made a motion, seconded by Roberts, to recommend to Common Council approval of Resolution 2009-10, Amendment to 2009 Capital Budget. Motion approved unanimously. The Committee directed Wietecha to prepare a memo for the Council outlining potential sources for the additional money.

IX. New Business:
a. CHRP Grant Application. Wietecha explained that the COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP) grant would pay the costs of an additional full-time officer for three years. Since the city would then be committed to that additional officer, the Common Council should be making an informed decision rather than just applying for the grant. To bring the matter before the Council, Cothard made a motion, seconded by Roberts, to recommend to Common Council approval of application for COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP) grant for additional full-time police officer. Motion approved unanimously.

b. Cemetery Fees. Wietecha noted that the Public Works Committee had proposed a number of revisions to the fee schedule for the Cemetery but a few of the existing fees had not been addressed. Braunschweig and Decker proposed filling in the blanks with fees that either kept the old rates or made increases consistent with the rest of the proposal. Cothard made a motion, seconded by Roberts, to recommend to Common Council approval of Resolution 2009-11, Amending the City of Evansville’s Fee Schedule, with additions. Motion approved unanimously.

c. TIF Interfund Loans. Wietecha said that formalizing the interest rate for interfund loans and advances to the tax increment funds had been recommended by the City’s auditor. Cothard made a motion, seconded by Braunschweig, to recommend to Common Council approval of Resolution 2009-12, Memorializing Interest Rate for Interfund Loans and Advances to Tax Increment Funds. Motion approved unanimously.

X. Adjournment. Braunschweig made a motion, seconded by Roberts to adjourn the meeting. Motion approved unanimously at 6:00 pm.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Minutes; Evanville/Union Impementation: March 2009

EVANSVILLE/UNION IMPLEMENTATION MEETING MINUTES
Wednesday, March 18, 2009, 6:00 p.m.
Evansville City Hall


Cal to order at 6:00 p.m. by Chair Ringhand.

Present: Don Krajeck, Bob Janes, Eric Larsen, Janis Ringhand. Absent: Tom Cothard, Bill Hammann.

Agenda accepted as printed on a Krajeck/Janes motion, unanimous.

Minutes of the February 18, 2009 meeting were approved as printed on a Larsen/Janes motion, unanimous.

Discussed current inventory of available lots to build on in the city limits, not known, will try to determine.

Next meeting April 15, 2009, 6:00 p.m. at City Hall.

Adjourn at 6:15 p.m. on a Janes/Larsen motion, unanimous.