HomeMy WebLinkAbout03. Common Council Minutes
PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL
CITY OF OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN
OCTOBER 12, 2021
REGULAR MEETING held Tuesday, October 12, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. in the Council
Chambers, City Hall.
Mayor Palmeri presided.
PRESENT: Council Members Aaron Wojciechowski, Lynnsey Erickson, Michael Ford,
Matt Mugerauer, Courtney Hansen and Mayor Lori Palmeri
EXCUSED: Council Member Bill Miller
ALSO PRESENT: Mark Rohloff, City Manager; Pamela Ubrig, City Clerk; Lynn Lorenson,
City Attorney, and Kelly Nieforth, Director of Community Development
Council Member Wojciechowski read the Invocation.
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Council Member Wojciechowski.
PROCLAMATION
Mayor Palmeri proclaimed the month of October 2021, as Hispanic and Latinx Heritage
Month.
Pastor Jose Robles, Light of the World Church, read the proclamation in Spanish. He
thanked the Council for their acknowledgment of the Hispanic and Latinx Heritage and
the UW Oshkosh student advisor from the Student Organization for Latin (SOL) thanked
Council for the proclamation.
Mayor Palmeri proclaimed October 15, 2021 as White Cane Awareness Day which brought
awareness of the achievements of people who were blind or visually impaired and the
important symbol of blindness and tool of independence, the white cane.
PRESENTATION
Jessie Miedel, Manager of the Downtown Oshkosh Business Improvement District (BID),
described the various program initiatives and shared the impact the BID had on the
community.
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Jeff Mazanec, Project Manager and Senior Consultant, RA Smith, provided an overview of
the special assessment alternative transportation utility process. He stated the
transportation fee would be administered through the utility billing system. He explained
the charge would be determined by the total number of trips per property, the size and
scale of the property and the land use for the property using the Institute of Transportation
Engineers (ITE) trip generation manual.
Council Member Ford asked how many land use models were available.
Mr. Mazanec explained there were 240 different land use models determined by the ITE
trip generation statistics and Oshkosh used approximately 160 of those models.
Mayor Palmeri asked why the manufacturing model would be different than the single
family home model.
Mr. Mazanec stated the method to generate the number of trips was based on the size and
purpose of the facility. He stated there were different sets of statistics based on the type of
models.
James Rabe, Director of Public Works, explained the study revealed how many trips were
taken on an average day for each property.
Mayor Palmeri asked for an example of a property that does not generate trips.
Mr. Mazanec explained parcels that were undeveloped, had structural improvements that
were vacant or a parking lot adjacent to a building.
Council Member Ford asked how many other municipalities in Wisconsin used the model.
Mr. Mazanec explained there were a handful of other municipalities that used the model.
He stated the most recent municipality was Pewaukee.
Mayor Palmeri mentioned that the City of Appleton had looked use the model to add onto
their wheel tax model.
Mr. Mazanec explained that the City of Appleton had asked RA Smith to develop a model
for their Council to consider.
Council Member Ford asked if the proposal would only use the model instead of actual
usage.
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Mr. Mazanec explained the proposal was parallel to the use of the impervious area as a
proxy for proportionate share as used in the storm water runoff fee.
Mr. Rabe stated the model used the data that had been developed over decades by the
Institute of Transportation Engineers.
Council Member Ford asked if the study had taken into consideration household size.
Mr. Mazanec explained the study did not specifically know the household size instead it
provided an average.
Council Member Erickson asked the amount a typical single family household would
expect to be.
Mr. Mazanec stated the annual cost would be somewhere between $30 - $150 and the
amount would be based on the municipalities total repairs needed.
Deputy Mayor Mugerauer stated the amount per household would vary due to the
amount of assessment dollars needed. He explained the City’s needs were greater than
surrounding municipalities and asked about the use of the model within the marketplace
in terms of transportation projects.
Mr. Rabe explained the data was what the City had used when reviewing development
projects for traffic impact analysis, which focused on how many trips and the road
configuration. He stated the data had been narrowed and applied to all the properties.
Mr. Mazanec mentioned the manual being used had over 3,000 pages and the data
included statistics for peak time trips.
Deputy Mayor Mugerauer asked if other municipalities used the data.
Mr. Rabe stated the ITE manual was used by everyone and explained the data had been
accumulated for years.
Mr. Rohloff explained the concept had been in place all over the country for over 40 years.
Mayor Palmeri asked if having the report would save time on the time impact analyses.
Mr. Rabe explained each analysis and process were different.
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Mr. Rohloff stated a different analysis would be used depending on the land use.
Mayor Palmeri asked if the timeframe was for the City or for RA Smith.
Mr. Rohloff explained that RA Smith was prohibited by law to review utility accounts to
implement the study.
Mr. Rabe stated he had worked with Ms. Lorenson regarding RA Smith and explained that
RA Smith would not have access to the utility accounts until the study reached a certain
level of analysis.
Mr. Rohloff mentioned that there would be a public outreach and education on the topic.
He mentioned the chamber had reached out to schedule a meeting to discuss the topic. He
urged Council to gain as much information to make an informed decision.
Mr. Mazanec stated RA Smith would assist staff to prepare a draft ordinance as well as
education the community.
CITIZEN STATEMENTS
There were no citizen statements to Council.
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON AGENDA ITEMS
Resolution 21-513 Approve Donor Recognition Sign for Donated Liberty Elm Tree at
George Washington Triangle (Advisory Parks Board Recommends
Approval)
Robert Haglund, 365 Baird Creek, Green Bay, stated he was present to answer questions
of Council.
CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS
Resolution 21-499 Approve Setting Public Hearing Date for Partial Right-of-Way
Vacation of the West Side of South Main Street between West 8th &
West 9th Avenues (Plan Commission Recommends Approval)
Report of Bills by the Finance Director.
Receipt & Filing of Oshkosh Public Library Minutes from August 26, 2021.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL – SEPTEMBER 28, 2021
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Receipt & Filing of Oshkosh Public Museum Minutes from August 5, 2021
Receipt & Filing of the Common Council Minutes from September 28, 2021.
Resolution 21-500 Approve Budget Transfer & Award Bid to Treeo’s & Gabe’s Top It Or
Drop It Tree Services LLC for Ash Tree
Resolution 21-501 Approve Cash & Investment Reports for July & August 2021
Resolution 21-502 Approve Professional Services Agreement with Kerber Rose for
Auditing Services ($164,025.00)
Deputy Mayor Mugerauer expressed his appreciation to staff for their work on the request
for proposal (RFP) regarding audit services.
Russ Van Gompel, Director of Finance, explained the last time that the City had done an
RFP for an accounting/auditing firm was 2007. He explained that 5 bids were received,
staff evaluated and Kerber Rose was selected.
Greg Pitel, Partner at Kerber Rose, explained the audit process with Kerber Rose and
introduced Dave Minch, Senior Manager who would assist in the process.
Mr. Van Gompel stated that Mr. Pitel had experience with the City’s audit through a prior
company.
Resolution 21-503 Disallowance of Claim by Debra Hughes
Resolution 21-504 Approve Combination “Class B” License, Class “B” Fermented Malt
License, Special Class “B” License, & Operator Licenses
Council Member Hansen asked how many liquor licenses were available.
Ms. Ubrig stated she would provide the exact number to Council, she believed 6 or 7
licenses were available.
Deputy Mayor Mugerauer asked to pull Resolution 21-500.
MOTION: ADOPT CONSENT AGENDA EXCLUDING 21-500 (Wojciechowski;
second, Erickson)
CARRIED: Ayes (6) Wojciechowski, Erickson, Ford, Mugerauer, Hansen, Mayor
Palmeri
PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL – SEPTEMBER 28, 2021
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Resolution 21-500 Approve Budget Transfer & Award Bid to Treeo’s & Gabe’s Top It Or
Drop It Tree Services LLC for Ash Tree
MOTION: ADOPT (Mugerauer; second, Ford)
CARRIED: Ayes (6) Wojciechowski, Erickson, Ford, Mugerauer, Hansen, Mayor
Palmeri
Deputy Mayor Mugerauer asked why the expense was not included in the 2022
operational budget.
Russ Van Gompel, Director Finance, explained the forestry department had recent safety
concerns about the ash trees in the right-of-way areas. He stated the fund balance was not
part of the 2021 budget and mentioned a detailed analysis would be provided in the
budget book. He stated the City was over in the fund balance per the policy.
Bill Sturm, Landscape Operations Manager, mentioned the concern was the mortality of
the ash tree and the liability to the City. He stated the City needed to rapidly mitigate the
situation that was well above the capacity of staff to remove all the trees.
Mayor Palmeri asked if the process was to remove and not replace the trees.
Mr. Sturm stated ash trees made up 9% of the trees within the community and the City
had worked to reduce the amount of ash trees and planted a variety of trees instead.
Mr. Rohloff explained the League of Mutual Insurance Board approved $20,000 in grants
to parks which would be used to plant new trees. He stated there was a lot of work to
restore the urban forest.
Mr. Sturm mentioned the parks department preferred to replant as soon as the trees were
removed.
Mayor Palmeri asked for clarification on the grant.
Mr. Rohloff stated the grant was from an insurance company and not from a claim.
ACTION TAKEN ON ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS
Ordinance 21-505 Cancel December 28, 2021 Council Meeting
FIRST READING: LAID OVER UNDER THE RULES
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Ordinance 21-506 Amend Parking Regulations on Designated Streets & Alleys
MOTION: ADOPT (Mugerauer; second, Erickson)
CARRIED: Ayes (6) Wojciechowski, Erickson, Ford, Mugerauer, Hansen, Mayor
Palmeri
Ordinance 21-507 Amend Parking Regulations on South Main Street
MOTION: ADOPT (Ford; second, Erickson)
CARRIED: Ayes (6) Wojciechowski, Erickson, Ford, Mugerauer, Hansen, Mayor
Palmeri
Mayor Palmeri stated the parking was restricted on both sides of the street.
Ordinance 21-508 Restrict Left Turns from Northbound Jackson Street to Westbound
Nevada Avenue & Remove the Left Turn Restriction from Jackson
Street to New York Avenue from 3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
MOTION: ADOPT (Mugerauer; second, Wojciechowski)
CARRIED: Ayes (6) Wojciechowski, Erickson, Ford, Mugerauer, Hansen, Mayor
Palmeri
Council Member Ford praised the improvements on Jackson Street and stated this would
be the next step.
Ordinance 21-509 Designate Bicycle Lanes on West 9th Avenue (West of Oakwood Road)
MOTION: ADOPT (Mugerauer; second, Erickson)
CARRIED: Ayes (6) Wojciechowski, Erickson, Ford, Mugerauer, Hansen, Mayor
Palmeri
Ordinance 21-510 Amend Chapter 9 Emergency & Disaster Planning & Response
MOTION: ADOPT (Erickson; second, Hansen)
CARRIED: Ayes (6) Wojciechowski, Erickson, Ford, Mugerauer, Hansen, Mayor
Palmeri
Mayor Palmeri asked for a summary of the change.
Ms. Lorenson stated the chapter was updated.
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Ordinance 21-511 Amend Ordinance for Lead Service Line Replacement to Include
Galvanized Lines Downstream from Lead Water Service Lines
MOTION: ADOPT (Mugerauer; second, Erickson)
CARRIED: Ayes (6) Wojciechowski, Erickson, Ford, Mugerauer, Hansen, Mayor
Palmeri
Mayor Palmeri asked for a summary.
James Rabe, Director of Public Works, explained the amendment would update the local
ordinance with the lead and copper rule. He stated that service laterals that were made of
galvanized iron needed to be replaced due to the propensity to absorb lead particles that
dislodge from the lead service.
Mayor Palmeri asked if the update was just the private side.
Mr. Rabe explained the update would be done on the service lateral not interior plumbing.
Resolution 21-512 Approve Tax Increment District No. 41 Project Plan; Designate Tax
Increment District No. 41 Boundaries; Create Tax Increment District
No. 41 Smith School Redevelopment (Plan Commission Recommends
Approval)
MOTION: ADOPT (Erickson; second, Wojciechowski)
CARRIED: Ayes (6) Wojciechowski, Erickson, Ford, Mugerauer, Hansen, Mayor
Palmeri
Resolution 21-513 Approve Donor Recognition Sign for Donated Liberty Elm Tree at
George Washington Triangle (Advisory Parks Board Recommends
Approval)
MOTION: ADOPT (Wojciechowski; second, Erickson)
CARRIED: Ayes (5) Wojciechowski, Erickson, Ford, Mugerauer, Hansen
Noes (1) Mayor Palmeri
Mayor Palmeri stated an updated resolution was provided to Council. She explained the
plaque would be a deviation from the typical signage. She asked about the request process.
Robert Haglund, 365 Baird Creek, Green Bay, explained similar plaques were installed
throughout the country.
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Mayor Palmeri asked if the membership for Sons of the American Revolution was only
allowed if proven to have direct lineage and male.
Mr. Haglund explained that was correct and that females would be a part of the Daughters
of the American Revolution.
Mayor Palmeri asked about the violent history associated with the tree.
Mr. Haglund explained that there had been an effigy burned into a tree of a tax collector
and that tree was where the Boston Tea Party happened along with various other non-
violent events.
Council Member Ford asked if Oshkosh was chosen due to the uniqueness of the George
Washington statue.
Mr. Haglund stated that was correct.
Mayor Palmeri asked if there was communication with the staff before the signage was
made.
Mr. Haglund explained the information would not fit on the granite plaque.
Mayor Palmeri mentioned that the neighborhood adjacent did not approve of the plaque
format.
COUNCIL DISCUSSION, DIRECTION TO CITY MANAGER & FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
Deputy Mayor Mugerauer suggested to add a follow-up on the special assessment
presentation to a future agenda and requested an update on the status of the State of
Emergency.
Council Member Ford stated he agreed with moving forward with both topics.
Mayor Palmeri reminded Council of the all-day budget meetings on October 18 and 19,
2021 at City Hall.
Mr. Rohloff stated Council was provided a copy of the budget.
Council Member Ford asked if the budget workshops would be televised.
Mr. Rohloff stated the workshops would be televised and thanked Council for their time
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in regards to the budget.
COUNCIL MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS & STATEMENTS
Report of Council Liaison for Boards & Commissions
Mayor Palmeri
Advisory Parks Board
Donated Memorial
Impact Report by Ann Schaffer on the Park Department
Review of the Tree Analysis
Deputy Mayor Mugerauer
Long Range Finance Committee
No meeting due to a lack of quorum
Promoted citizens interested in board or commission to complete an
application
Mayor Palmeri explained there are several open positions and on various board and
commissions information was on the City website.
CITY MANAGER ANNOUNCEMENTS & STATEMENTS
Mr. Rohloff explained the City extended the professional services agreement with Tyler
Technologies, Inc. for the annual maintenance the commercial assessment services for
$51,900.00.
Mr. Rohloff stated that Council had received the outstanding issues list and mentioned
that he met with the representative of the Tiny Homes Project. He explained the
organization was in the process to prepare a proposal to submit to the City for a location
at Packer Avenue between Jackson Street and Main Street. He expressed to the Tiny Homes
Project group his concerns regarding the sustainability of the project.
Mr. Rohloff explained the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) facility assessment had
been completed and a meeting was scheduled to review the assessment.
Mr. Rohloff stated he would be meeting with the Convention and Visitors Bureau to
discuss next steps from the tourism assessment.
Mayor Palmeri asked if the outcome would come before Council for consideration.
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Mr. Rohloff stated yes.
Mayor Palmeri asked about the housing study.
Ms. Nieforth explained the housing study was in the final review stages and a draft would
be presented to Council next month.
Mayor Palmeri asked if the timeline had changed.
Ms. Nieforth stated that staff decided to include data from the census that delayed the final
review.
Mr. Rohloff mentioned the tour of the water filtration plant scheduled for October 13, 2021
and explained the presentation would begin at 5:30 and the tour would start
approximately at 6:30 p.m.
James Rabe, Director of Public Works, explained the tour would use the gate on
Washington Avenue.
Mayor Palmeri asked if the presentation and tour was open to the public.
Mr. Rohloff stated both were open to the public.
Mr. Rohloff mentioned the following upcoming events: zooloween boo would be held on
October 16, 2021 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., the farmer’s market trick or treating would
be on October 30, 2021 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and City wide trick or treating would
be held on October 31, 2021 from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
MOTION: ADJOURN (Mugerauer, second, Hansen)
CARRIED: VOICE VOTE
The meeting adjourned at 7:46 p.m.
PAMELA R. UBRIG
CITY CLERK