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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03. Common Council Minutes P ROCEEDINGS OF THE C OMMON C OUNCIL C ITY OF O SHKOSH, W ISCONSIN J ANUARY 10, 2017 REGULAR MEETING held Tuesday, January 10, 2017, at 6:00 p.m. in Council Chambers, City Hall Mayor Cummings presided. PRESENT: Council Members Steven Herman, Deb Allison-Aasby, Caroline Panske, Benjamin Stepanek, Tom Pech Jr., Lori Palmeri, and Mayor Steve Cummings ALSO PRESENT: Mark Rohloff, City Manager; Pamela Ubrig, City Clerk; Lynn Lorenson, City Attorney; and James Rabe, Director of Public Works Council Member Herman read the Invocation. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Colby Snell from Oshkosh North High School. Mayor Cummings stated there was a group of students present from UW Oshkosh. A student from the audience explained the group was from the Political Science 105 American Government class. Mayor Cummings welcomed the students and stated he hoped they learned a lot during the meeting. P RESENTATION Elizabeth Williams, City Planner, explained ONE Oshkosh, ‘Our Neighborhoods Engage’ was the City’s new neighborhood initiative. She stated over the past year City staff had been working collaboratively with multiple entities including Greater Oshkosh Healthy Neighborhoods Inc., Habitat for Humanity Oshkosh, the Oshkosh and Winnebago County Housing Authorities and ADVOCAP in addition to local resident leaders. She explained ONE Oshkosh was intended to bring together public and private resources to invest in neighborhoods through property improvements and stronger relations among neighbors. She stated the brand that had been developed would identify roles that would 1 P ROCEEDINGS OF THE C OMMON C OUNCIL – J ANUARY 10, 2017 strengthen neighborhoods and achieve positive outcomes in image, market, physical conditions, and neighborhood management. She explained logos had been developed for the initiative and GO-HNI. She stated the strategic plan would be collaboratively implemented over the next three years and would help to achieve Council’s strategic plan goal of strengthening neighborhoods. She explained the strategic plan was developed through public engagement and involving neighborhood leaders. She stated the neighborhood quality of life analysis was an evaluation tool that related to the Council’s strategic plan goal of developing a neighborhood report card system. She explained agency roles and responsibilities were outlined during strategic planning interviews throughout the summer months. She stated City staff was working with Blue Door Consulting to create a dashboard to monitor the progress of the ONE Oshkosh strategic plan. She explained the first outcome area was image which had a goal to maintain or increase resident confidence in their neighborhood and increase outsider perception of Oshkosh by 10 percent over the next three years. She stated the goal would be achieved through marketing, improving public infrastructure, parks and open spaces. She explained this would mainly be accomplished by the City’s Great Neighborhood program. She stated the goal for the outcome area of market was to increase property values and improve socioeconomic diversity in Oshkosh neighborhoods by creating or assisting 100 affordable housing units over the next three years. She explained the City had developed financing tools to assist existing homeowners and landlords with making improvements to their properties as well as assistance to those looking to purchase homes in recognized neighborhood areas. She stated they had experienced success in the Middle Village neighborhood with a total of 5 rehabilitations that had been conducted. She explained the goal of physical conditions was to improve the physical conditions of Oshkosh neighborhood infrastructure and existing housing by completing 30 capital improvement projects and rehabilitating 100 housing units. She stated the City’s role in the physical condition outcome area would be blight elimination, code compliance, providing architectural services on design standards and education. She explained the goal that had been established for neighborhood management was to increase neighborhood based service delivery and resident engagement by 10 percent over the next three years. She stated City staff would continue to participate in the Oshkosh Healthy Neighborhood Alliance, a group of resident leaders from recognized neighborhood associations, and develop neighborhood action plans. She explained City staff would support GO-HNI to fund community building and engagement. She stated metrics had been developed for each outcome area to measure the impacts of the initiative. She explained 23 key performance indicators had been identified throughout the strategic planning process. She stated the impacts of neighborhood revitalization 2 P ROCEEDINGS OF THE C OMMON C OUNCIL – J ANUARY 10, 2017 work would be evaluated through focus group interviews, pre and post perception surveys, quality of life analysis and physical condition observations. She explained the neighborhood quality of life analysis would evaluate true data collected at the block level including assessments, crimes, property values, foreclosure rates and vacancy rates and compared a specific block to the city-wide average. She stated City staff would be able to identify blocks that were performing below the City average and allow agencies to allocate resources to those areas. She explained the dashboard being developed by Blue Door Consulting would be a tool to track the impact and progress of the initiative. She stated the next steps would be to finalize the strategic plan, quality of life analysis, and dashboard, obtain agency support for the strategic plan, meet quarterly with agencies to implement the plan, and provide an annual report on the strategic plan’s progress. Council Member Stepanek questioned how neighborhood participation would be tracked. Ms. Williams stated the Community Building and Engagement Program through GO- HNI required residents to report how much time they were investing on events and activities in order to receive funding. She explained that was the data City staff intended to use to track participation. She stated other agencies such as Habitat also tracked volunteer hours which could be attributed to participation. Council Member Panske questioned how the education components would be funded. Ms. Williams explained the majority of the funding had been accounted for in the Community Development budget. She stated the marketing pieces were funded by GO- HNI. She explained additional education and outreach had occurred through neighborhood association meetings and social media. She stated if there would be additional educational expenses they would be reflected in the future budget. Council Member Panske questioned if City staff was actively looking for grants. Ms. Williams stated City staff was continuously seeking out funding opportunities. 3 P ROCEEDINGS OF THE C OMMON C OUNCIL – J ANUARY 10, 2017 P UBLIC H EARING Ordinance 17-01 Approve Amendment to Comprehensive Land Use Maps Changing the Land Use Designation for Properties Located at the Northeast Corner of Harrison Street & East Custer Avenue from Industrial to Commercial (Plan Commission Recommends Approval) FIRST READING; LAID OVER UNDER THE RULES Ordinance 17-02 Approve Rezoning the Northeast Corner of Harrison Street & East Custer Avenue from UMU Urban Mixed Use to UMU PD Urban Mixed Use with a Planned Development Overlay (Plan Commission Recommends Approval) FIRST READING; LAID OVER UNDER THE RULES Resolution 17-03 Approve Final Resolution for Special Assessments – Contract No. 17-17 / Hemlock Court & Fraser Drive - Concrete Paving MOTION: ADOPT (Herman; second, Allison-Aasby) CARRIED: Ayes (7) Herman, Allison-Aasby, Panske, Stepanek, Pech, Palmeri, Mayor Cummings Council Member Herman questioned if this was the subdivision where there had been issues with bankruptcy and if the infrastructure was in place. Mr. Rabe stated the utilities were in place. He explained there may be adjustments required to the manholes and inlets during the street paving process. Council Member Herman questioned if sidewalks were included in the project. Steve Gohde, Assistant Director of Public Works, stated sidewalks had been installed. C ITIZEN S TATEMENTS TO C OUNCIL There were no citizen statements to Council. 4 P ROCEEDINGS OF THE C OMMON C OUNCIL – J ANUARY 10, 2017 C ONSENT A GENDA Report of Bills by the Finance Director Receipt & Filing of Common Council Minutes from November 2 & 22, December 13 & 19, 2016 Receipt & Filing of Oshkosh Public Library Minutes from December 1, 2016 Receipt of Claim filed with City’s Insurance Company A) Mary Flowers for alleged damages to her vehicle from a pothole B) Michael Hetzer for alleged damages to his vehicle from a city snow plow C) Progressive Insurance on behalf of Carolyn Reuman for alleged damages to her vehicle from a fire truck Resolution 17-04 Approve 2017 Software Renewal to Tyler Technologies, Inc. for iasWorld Software as a Service (SaaS) for IT Division ($100,655.00) Resolution 17-05 Approve Private Water Main Agreement with Fair Acres Townhomes LLC & DGB Investments, LLC for Development of Land-Locked Parcels Resolution 17-06 Rescind Personal Property Taxes - Lang & Associates located at 302 State Street Suite C Resolution 17-07 Approval of Initial Resolution for Special Assessments Paving, Sidewalk, Driveway & Utilities / Second Local Street Concrete Paving Program North & West Sides – Contract No. 17-05 Resolution 17-08 Approve Special Event – Otter Street Fishing Club to utilize Menominee Park for their Otter Street Winter Fisheree / February 3, & 4, 2017 Resolution 17-09 Approve Special Event – Battle on Bago Foundation to utilize Menominee Park for the Battle on Bago event / February 24 & 25, 2017 5 P ROCEEDINGS OF THE C OMMON C OUNCIL – J ANUARY 10, 2017 Resolution 17-10 Approve Special Event – UW Oshkosh Student Recreation to utilize City streets for the UW Oshkosh Shamrock Shuffle 5K Run-Walk / March 11, 2017 Resolution 17-11 Approve Special Event – National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Oshkosh & Community for Hope to utilize City streets for the Oshkosh 5K for Mental Health & Suicide Awareness / May 6, 2017 Resolution 17-12 Approve Special Event – Bago Walleye Club to utilize Menominee Park for the Bago Walleye Club Tournament Series / June 4 & 25 & July 16, 2017 Resolution 17-13 Approve Special Event – C. R. Festival, Inc. to utilize Sunnyview Exposition Center for the Wisconsin Bike Week event / June 8, 9, 10 & 11, 2017 Council Member Palmeri requested 17-13 and 17-17 be removed for questions. Ms. Ubrig questioned if Council Member Palmeri would like the resolutions removed from the consent agenda or ask questions. Council Member Palmeri stated she did not want to remove the resolutions from the consent agenda and wished to ask questions. She explained on resolution 17-13, related to Wisconsin Bike Week, she noticed staffing for the police department was budgeted at $14,466. She requested an explanation of the cost. Kathy Snell, Special Events Coordinator, explained the cost was in line with other similar events. She stated it would be a four day event with hours that required police staffing from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. due to camping on the grounds. She explained the cost was similar to Lifefest. She stated it was a new event and City staff would be able to adjust staffing closer to the event after campsites had been booked. Council Member Palmeri questioned if the event was for motorcycles or bicycles. Ms. Snell stated it was an event for motorcycles. She explained she had with the police and fire chiefs present to discuss the event as well as the Convention and Visitors Bureau 6 P ROCEEDINGS OF THE C OMMON C OUNCIL – J ANUARY 10, 2017 representative who was working with the event organizer. She stated City staff had conversations with individuals from communities where the event had previously been held to get a feel for what the event may bring. She explained City staff felt comfortable with the projected outcome of the event. Council Member Palmeri questioned if there were any special safety concerns associated with the event. Mr. Rohloff stated the group who organized the event had been cooperative and flexible with the event dates. He explained originally the group had sought out the timeframe during Country USA and City staff had concerns due to the demand the two events would have on staff. He stated the group understood and had changed the dates. Dean Smith, Chief of Police, stated he had reached out to other cities who had hosted similar events. He explained he had a conversation with the Chief of Police in Ironton, Ohio where a similar event had been hosted for nearly fifteen years. He stated the feedback had been that it was a well-run event. He explained he anticipated the event to be a success and would provide the staffing to address any concerns that would arise. Council Member Palmeri stated she was glad to hear the event dates would not overlap with Country USA. Chief Smith stated overlapping of dates was an area that the police and departments were paying attention to as event applications were submitted for consideration. He explained it was important to ensure there would be enough staffing to support an event. Resolution 17-14 Approve Special Event – Otter Street Fishing Club & Battle on Bago to utilize Menominee Park for the Otter Street Walleye Tournament / June 15, 16, 17 & 18, 2017 Resolution 17-15 Approve Special Event – Players Pizza & Pub to utilize South Park th for the 9 Annual Park Dance / July 7, 2017 Resolution 17-16 Approve Special Event – Otter Street Fishing Club to utilize Menominee Park Ames Point for the Otter Street Kid’s Fisheree / August 12, 2017 7 P ROCEEDINGS OF THE C OMMON C OUNCIL – J ANUARY 10, 2017 Resolution 17-17 Approve Special Event – Badger State Out Board Association to utilize Menominee Park Millers Bay for the Shake the Lake Hydroplane Races / September 2 & 3, 2017 Council Member Palmeri asked for an explanation of what time the Shake the Lake event would begin and end. nd Ms. Snell explained the event would take place on Saturday, September 2 and Sunday, rd September 3. She stated the event coincided with RibFest and the two events had worked well together in 2016. She explained the races would begin at approximately 11 a.m. and end at approximately 4:00 p.m. Resolution 17-18 Approve Special Event – His House Christian Fellowship to utilize the sidewalk & North Main Street in front of the 404 North Main Street building for the Over the Edge Oshkosh / September 15 & 16, 2017 Resolution 17-19 Disallowance of Claim by Anna Cannizzo Resolution 17-20 Disallowance of Claim by Mary Flowers Resolution 17-21 Approve Special Class “B” Licenses, Operator Licenses, Taxi-Cab Driver Licenses & Secondhand Dealer Licenses MOTION: ADOPT CONSENT AGENDA (Allison-Aasby; second, Stepanek) CARRIED: Ayes (7) Herman, Allison-Aasby, Panske, Stepanek, Pech, Palmeri, Mayor Cummings A CTION T AKEN ON O RDINANCES AND R ESOLUTIONS Resolution 17-22 Approve Phase III of 2016 Great Neighborhoods Capital Improvement Programs Funding in the Amount of $25,500; 2017 Urban Forestry Matching Grant MOTION: ADOPT (Pech; second, Panske) CARRIED: Ayes (7) Herman, Allison-Aasby, Panske, Stepanek, Pech, Palmeri, Mayor Cummings 8 P ROCEEDINGS OF THE C OMMON C OUNCIL – J ANUARY 10, 2017 C ITIZEN S TATEMENTS TO C OUNCIL There were no citizen statements to Council. C OUNCIL D ISCUSSION, D IRECTION TO C ITY M ANAGER & F UTURE A GENDA I TEMS Mayor Cummings stated the proposed date for a meeting with Council and legislators th was January 30. Council Member Pech explained there was a new senate member representing the Oshkosh area. He stated Oshkosh was the largest municipality in the senator’s area and Council would like an opportunity to meet with him ahead of the budget discussion in Madison to provide feedback on the needs and concerns of the Oshkosh community. Mr. Rohloff stated each of the legislators he had reached out to have indicated they would be available for an early morning meeting. He explained the meeting would be held at the Public Works facility. He stated the proposed topics were the payment for municipal services program and the associated cuts to the program, ‘dark store’ assessment concerns, personal property assessments, the rental inspection program, and the bridge assignment to the City. Council Member Pech recommended a discussion on why the equalized value of the City decreased while commercial development increased. Mayor Cummings stated that was a good suggestion. Council Member Panske stated she would not be present. She questioned if the meeting would be televised or on radio. Mr. Rohloff stated they did not have the technical ability to do so. Council Member Panske questioned if minutes would be available online and how she would be able to receive information from the meeting. 9 P ROCEEDINGS OF THE C OMMON C OUNCIL – J ANUARY 10, 2017 Mr. Rohloff recommended a recap of the discussion to take place at the Council meeting following the discussion. He stated there would be another Council meeting prior to the discussion with legislators and encourage Council to email him suggestions on topics or concerns. Mayor Cummings questioned if the meeting would last longer than two hours. Mr. Rohloff stated he had communicated to the legislators that the meeting would not last longer than an hour and a half. Council Member Herman stated he would not be able to attend as he would be on vacation. Council Member Palmeri presented a bicycle registration form. She stated it cost $3 and took only minutes to complete at the City Collection’s office. She explained in the event a bicycle was lost or stolen it may be recoverable if it was registered. She stated there had been between three and four hundred bikes registered in 2016 and believed there were more bicycle riders than that in the City. Chief Smith stated as of November 4, 2016 there were 142 bikes registered. He explained the police department had given away 32 free bike registrations during Easter break. He stated they had recovered 250 bicycles in the City and only eight were able to be returned to their owners. Council Member Palmeri questioned if the bicycles had been able to be returned due to registrations. Chief Smith stated a portion was due to registrations and others were because of owners having photographs identifying their bicycles. Council Member Palmeri explained that while the City had a quarterly water billing cycle individuals were able to prepay an amount each month which would then show up as a credit on the quarterly bill. She stated individuals who preferred to budget monthly for the bill would be able to do so using this method. Trena Larson, Director of Finance, explained the City was able to receive payments outside of the quarterly billing schedule. She requested that anyone making a payment 10 P ROCEEDINGS OF THE C OMMON C OUNCIL – J ANUARY 10, 2017 include their account number or service address to ensure the payment was posted correctly. She stated a significant upgrade in the works was the ERP program. She explained City staff hoped to transition into a monthly billing process. She stated prior to doing so they would need to perform a cost/benefit analysis. She explained there would be costs associated with shifting from a quarterly billing cycle although she believed there may be benefits that outweighed those costs. She stated she encouraged all residents to make additional payments outside of the quarterly bill if it helped them budget. Mr. Rohloff stated the long range finance committee had discussed the potential uses for vehicle registration fees. Council Member Pech explained there were three different options brought forward by City staff that would be the best use of income generated form vehicle registration fees. He stated no decision had been made regarding recommending implementation of the program. He explained the committee did provide Ms. Larson with feedback and a request for additional analysis. He stated the fees would be a fixed income source over time as there would not be any significant increases in registered vehicles in the City. He explained in the future due to inflation the City would receive ‘less bang’ for their buck. He stated he believed there should not be a decision made until the state budget was complete as that would have an impact on the City. He explained several years ago the state made a legislative change stating if an item was previously levied and then replaced by a fee an offset needed to occur in the levy. He stated the goal was to look at the topic with a long term and proactive mindset. He explained the resulting decision would be in the best financial interest of the citizens as well as the City’s investments and infrastructure. Ms. Larson stated the long range finance committee had discussed hybrids scenarios to provide value for citizens and remain cautious with the potential new, static revenue source. She explained analysis needed to be complete to determine how to get the most value out of the potential revenue while providing the biggest benefit to residents. Council Member Pech stated a decision would likely not be made for some time. Council Member Herman stated he presented the topic at the Chamber’s government affair’s meeting and had emphasized the same points Council Member Pech and Ms. Larson had explained. He explained several legislators were present at the meeting and 11 P ROCEEDINGS OF THE C OMMON C OUNCIL – J ANUARY 10, 2017 had been made aware of the different issues cities were facing with revenue sharing. He stated Mr. Rohloff had pointed out that the City had previously received 88 cents per dollar for services to public utilities such as the university, prison, and Winnebago Mental Health facility which had dropped to 38 cents per dollar. He stated many communities had considered vehicle registration as a revenue source. He explained it would be prudent to wait until the state’s two year budget was complete. He stated the City had received 3.25 million dollars which was a slight increase. He explained nearly all of the funds had been allocated to the streets department. Mr. Rohloff stated the City’s street division required nearly all of the funds for salaries and purchases such as salt. He explained that cost did not include central garage, street lights or traffic markings. He stated the City was spending several million dollars for transportation related expenses and the gas tax reversion to the City only provided approximately 3.25 million dollars. Council Member Herman stated the business owners who had attended the Chamber’s meeting received an education and he believed they realized there was a problem with transportation infrastructure. He explained the same education would need to be passed on to the citizens including the need for a program and what the funds would be used for. He stated Council had not taken any official action and was still in the exploratory stages. Council Member Pech stated he believed the business community felt positive on the potential for the program. He stated as he understood it the state statute specifically exempted commercial vehicles over 8,000 pounds. Mr. Rohloff stated any vehicle over 8,000 pounds would be exempt. Council Member Pech stated the fee would be attributed to individuals and their automobiles not business trucks. Mr. Rohloff stated there had been critiques of the vehicle registration fee program at the Chamber’s meeting including that the program was regressive as an individual with a low-cost vehicle would pay the same fee as an individual with a more expensive vehicle. He explained there were pros and cons to each option City staff had provided to Council and that there was no perfect answer to the problem. He stated federalism was 12 P ROCEEDINGS OF THE C OMMON C OUNCIL – J ANUARY 10, 2017 responsible for the budget concerns Council had been struggling with for some time. He explained communities had the ability to institute a vehicle registration fee since the 1960’s but the program had only begun accelerating as municipalities lost funding from state and federal levels leaving them with few revenue options. Mayor Cummings stated the choice was being forced on the City by Madison. C OUNCIL M EMBER A NNOUNCEMENTS & S TATEMENTS There were no Council Member announcements or statements. C ITY M ANAGER A NNOUNCEMENT AND S TATEMENTS Mr. Rohloff explained there was a memo in Council’s packets detailing the annual computer purchase. He stated they were in a cooperative purchase agreement with the state and the cost was $36,290.40 and covered the normal replacements for the year. He stated City staff was actively working on the Buckstaff site demolition although weather conditions took crews away from the site. He explained although the City does not formally own the property yet they were allowed to perform demolition and remove debris from the site. He stated there was no word from investors regarding the Bucks so City staff was unaware if a decision had been made. He explained on Wednesday, th January 11 at 5:00 p.m. at the Oshkosh Convention Center the investment group would be presenting plans for the arena. He stated the plans would only move forward if the team awarded the contract to Oshkosh; the investment group needed to continue to move forward due to the large number of steps required if the deal were to go through. He explained there would be displays along with the opportunity of questions and answers in place of a formal presentation. 13 P ROCEEDINGS OF THE C OMMON C OUNCIL – J ANUARY 10, 2017 MOTION: THE COUNCIL MAY CONVENE INTO CLOSED SESSION PURSUANT TO SECTION 19.85(1)(C) OF THE WISCONSIN STATE STATUTES TO DISCUSS THE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION AND COMPENSATION REGARDING THE CITY MANAGER AN EMPLOYEE OVER WHICH THE COMMON COUNCIL HAS JURISDICTION AND EXERCISES RESPONSIBILITY. (Allison- Aasby; second, Pech) CARRIED: Ayes (7) Herman, Allison-Aasby, Panske, Stepanek, Pech, Palmeri, Mayor Cummings MOTION: ADJOURN (Panske; second, Palmeri) CARRIED: VOICE VOTE The meeting adjourned at 6:56 p.m. PAMELA R. UBRIG CITY CLERK 14