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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL CITY OF OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN MARCH 12, 2019 REGULAR MEETING held Tuesday, March 12, 2019, at 6:00 p.m. in Council Chambers, City Hall Mayor Cummings presided. PRESENT: Council Members Jake Krause, Tom Pech,Jr., Steven Herman, Deb Allison- Aasby, Lori Palmeri, Matt Mugerauer and Mayor Steve Cummings ALSO PRESENT: John Fitzpatrick, Assistant City Manager; Pamela Ubrig, City Clerk; Lynn Lorenson, City Attorney; and Allen Davis, Director of Community Development Council Member Palmeri read the Invocation. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Aimee Zhao from ALPS. PRESENTATION John Holland, Fire Department Community Program Coordinator, shared the various awards that had been presented to firefighters and citizens at the first annual Firefighters Awards Ceremony. Jason White, Chief Executive Officer, Greater Oshkosh Economic Development Corporation (GO-EDC), presented 2018 year in review. Council Member Palmeri requested an explanation of the highlights from the Winnebago County Homebuilders Association. Mr. White stated he had been interested to learn the true cost and policy related to developing a lot in Oshkosh compared to other municipalities. Audra Hoy, Director of Business and Economic Development, GO-EDC, shared details related to the cost. PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL—MARCH 12, 2019 Mayor Cummings questioned if the data was from just the City or also the surrounding townships. Ms. Hoy explained the cost to build in general was quite high in both the City and surrounding townships. PUBLIC HEARING Resolution 19-132 Approve Final Resolution for Special Assessments for Concrete Pavement, Asphalt Pavement, Sidewalk (New & Rehabilitation), Driveway Aprons, Sanitary Sewer Main & Laterals (New & Relay) Water Main & Laterals (New & Relay) & Storm Sewer Mains & Laterals (New& Relay) Relating to Contract No. 19-04/Hazel Street (Washington Avenue to East Irving Avenue) MOTION: ADOPT (Pech; second, Herman) CARRIED: Ayes (7) Krause, Pech, Herman, Allison-Aasby, Palmeri, Mugerauer, Mayor Cummings Travis Brand, 451 Hazel Street, stated he believed the proposed assessments conflicted with the policy that the charge for such assessments shall not be greater than the benefit of the improvements. Mr. Fitzpatrick explained the property owner benefited from the roadway and the utility structure. He stated it was an opportunity to have a working street that was not in disrepair, and provided the ability to improve property value. He explained if there was a home in an area where roadways were deteriorated or had utilities that were several decades old it would be much more difficult for that property to be sold. Mr. Brand questioned if that meant he would be able to sell his home for $11,000 dollars more than what he paid for it after construction was complete. Mr. Fitzpatrick stated the concept was that without regular improvements to the roadways citizens would not have an opportunity to realize the benefit the improvements provided when a home was sold. Ms. Lorenson explained special assessments were completed according to a policy in which the City had determined a way to reasonably make the assessments between the various properties. She stated a copy of the special assessment policy could be provided. 2 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL—MARCH 12, 2019 CITIZEN STATEMENTS There were no citizen statements to Council. CONSENT AGENDA Report of Sills by the Finance Director Receipt & Filing of the Oshkosh Common Council Minutes from February 121h & 261h� 2019 Resolution 19-133 Award Sid to Fortress Fence, Inc. for Fencing Improvements at Rainbow Memorial Park & Spanbauer Field Sall Improvements for Parks Department ($81,565.00) Resolution 19-134 Approve Purchases of Traffic Signal Equipment to TAPCO & Lighting Poles &Fixtures to Enterprise Lighting LTD for the Oregon Street Reconstruction Project 19-05 ($140,558.75) Resolution 19-135 Approve Final Plat known as Casey's Meadow Fourth Addition (Plan Commission Recommends Approval) Council Member Palmeri stated there were references to temporary cul-de-sacs which would result in unique snow removal. She questioned how long they would be in place. Darryn Burich, Planning Services Manager, explained the temporary cul-de-sacs would be located at the edge of the plats and would remain until the future plats to the west were developed. Steve Gohde, Assistant Director of Public Works, stated it would depend on how fast the next stage of the development moved forward. Council Member Palmeri explained there was a reference that maintenance would be completed on trails and sidewalks by the parks department. She asked for an explanation of the maintenance and what it may cost. Ray Maurer, Parks Director, stated it referred to the short trail connection from the street to the creek area, which would eventually have a bridge over Sawyer Creek to connect to Rusch Park. He explained the developer would be responsible for installing the asphalt path system, and the parks department would be responsible for future maintenance and 3 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL—MARCH 12, 2019 snow removal when the bridge was added. He stated in reference to fiscal impact, it would occur in the future and be similar to any other trail system. Resolution 19-136 Approve Initial Resolution for Special Assessments for Sidewalk & Terrace Trees for Casey's Meadow Fourth Addition - With Signed Waivers Resolution 19-137 Accept&Approve Waiver of Special Assessment Notices &Hearing in Connection with Improvements — Casey's Meadow Fourth Addition Resolution 19-138 Approve Final Resolution for Special Assessments for Sidewalk & Terrace Trees for Casey's Meadow Fourth Addition — With Signed Waivers Resolution 19-139 Approve Developer's Agreement / Casey's Meadow Fourth Addition Resolution 19-140 Accept Pedestrian Access & Temporary Cul De Sac Easements with Maintenance Terms Within Casey's Meadow Fourth Addition Resolution 19-141 Authorize Submitting Application to Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation for Idle Industrial Grant on Behalf of Thomas Masters, Rogans Stores of Oshkosh LLC & Phoenix Realty LLC for the Aviation Plaza; Accept Funds Resolution 19-142 Approve Distribution of Fisk-Gallup Trust Funds by Senior Services Division for Medical Services to Income Qualified Citizens Resolution 19-143 Approve Specific Implementation Plan for a Community Living Arrangement; 3851 Jackson Street (Plan Commission Recommends Approval) Resolution 19-144 Approve Specific Implementation Plan Amendment to Allow Two New Electronic Message Center Signs at 501 East Parkway Avenue (Plan Commission Recommends Approval) Resolution 19-145 Approve Conditional Use Permit to Establish a Pet Grooming Business at 1691 Ohio Street (Plan Commission Recommends Approval) 4 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL—MARCH 12, 2019 Resolution 19-146 Grant Storm Sewer Easements at 1600 Oshkosh Avenue to Oshkosh Corporation (Plan Commission Recommends Approval) Resolution 19-147 Approve Winnebago County & City of Oshkosh Inter-Agency Agreement for Haz-Mat Response Services Resolution 19-148 Approve Green Lake County & City of Oshkosh Inter-Agency Agreement for Haz-Mat Response Services Resolution 19-149 Approve Amendment to 2017 CIP Budget — South Park Lagoon Improvements Resolution 19-150 Approve Agreement with Engberg Anderson Architects for Schematic & Design Development for Modifications to the Steiger Wing ($180,800.00) Resolution 19-151 Approve Appointment to the Transit Advisory Board Mayor Cummings thanked Council Member Allison-Aasby for assisting in recruiting a member to the transit advisory board. He explained it was the duty of the Mayor, Council Members and City staff to help find individuals willing to serve on the City's various boards and commissions, and often proved a challenge. Resolution 19-152 Approve Agent Change for Combination "Class B" License, Special Class "B" License & Operator Licenses MOTION: ADOPT CONSENT AGENDA (Pech; second, Herman) CARRIED: Ayes (7) Krause, Pech, Herman, Allison-Aasby, Palmeri, Mugerauer, Mayor Cummings ACTION TAKEN ON ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS Ordinance 19-153 Approve Closure of Oregon Street from West 16th Avenue to West 21St Avenue, including the intersection of West 20th Avenue/Oregon Street MOTION: ADOPT (Pech; second, Allison-Aasby) CARRIED: Ayes (7) Krause, Pech, Herman, Allison-Aasby, Palmeri, Mugerauer, Mayor Cummings 5 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL—MARCH 12, 2019 Council Member Mugerauer questioned if the closure had been properly noticed on the street. James Rabe, Director of Public Works, explained the contractors had indicated they would do so at a pre-construction conference the previous week, however, he had not personally driven the route. Steve Gohde, Assistant Director of Public Works, stated he could not personally confirm that the signs were in place, although it had been discussed. Council Member Palmeri requested an explanation of how citizens could sign up for information regarding construction projects and street closures. Mr. Rabe stated there was a location on the City's website citizens could sign up to receive weekly email updates on construction projects. Ordinance 19-154 Amend Floodplain Overlay Zoning Ordinance to Adopt Flood Insurance Study Dated December 2017 for Sawyer Creek Hydrology & Hydraulics Analysis; Adopt Letter of Map Revisions date 3/27/2019 for Portions of Sawyer Creek; Adopt revised FEMA FIRM Map Numbers 55139CO215E, 55139CO330E & 55139C0310E; Create Flood Storage Districts (Plan Commission Recommends Approval) MOTION: ADOPT (Herman; second, Palmeri) CARRIED: Ayes (7) Krause, Pech, Herman, Allison-Aasby, Palmeri, Mugerauer, Mayor Cummings Mayor Cummings asked for an explanation of the ordinance. Darryn Burich, Planning Services Manager, stated the purpose was to adopt new flood insurance rate maps. He explained it updated a former study completed in 2003 with updated data. He stated with the study and new maps a number of individuals should receive the benefit of lower flood insurance rates as a majority of the properties lost area from the map flood plain. Mayor Cummings explained the benefit to the community would be lowered insurance rates. Mr. Burich stated he anticipated that to be the case. He explained on the planning services webpage there were before and after maps that reflected dramatic changes. 6 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL—MARCH 12, 2019 Ordinance 19-155 Approve Zone Change from Heavy Industrial (HI) to Heavy Industrial with Planned Development Overlay (HI-PD) at 2661 West 201h Avenue (Plan Commission Recommends Approval) FIRST READING; LAID OVER UNDER THE RULES Ordinance 19-156 Establish Street Grades / Casey's Meadow Fourth Addition (Staff Recommends Waiving the Rules) MOTION: SUSPEND RULES (Pech; second, Palmeri) CARRIED: Ayes (7) Krause, Pech, Herman, Allison-Aasby, Palmeri, Mugerauer, Mayor Cummings MOTION: ADOPT (Pech; second, Herman) CARRIED: Ayes (7) Krause, Pech, Herman, Allison-Aasby, Palmeri, Mugerauer, Mayor Cummings Ordinance 19-157 Authorize Public Construction for Casey's Meadow Fourth Addition (Staff Recommends Waiving the Rules) MOTION: SUSPEND RULES (Pech; second, Herman) CARRIED: Ayes (7) Krause, Pech, Herman, Allison-Aasby, Palmeri, Mugerauer, Mayor Cummings MOTION: ADOPT (Pech; second, Herman) CARRIED: Ayes (7) Krause, Pech, Herman, Allison-Aasby, Palmeri, Mugerauer, Mayor Cummings Resolution 19-158 Rescind Personal Property Taxes —Festival Foods —Titan Fest Inc ($23,331.47) MOTION: ADOPT (Pech; second, Herman) CARRIED: Ayes (7) Krause, Pech, Herman, Allison-Aasby, Palmeri, Mugerauer, Mayor Cummings Council Member Allison-Aasby asked for an explanation of the factors behind the reduction, related to Festival Foods as well as the larger impact it would have. Trena Larson, Finance Director, stated City staff had briefly discussed this topic with the state legislators during the meeting in February, and would follow up with a memo that 7 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL—MARCH 12, 2019 had also been provided to Council. She explained in the 2017-2019 biannual budget, an additional class of personal property, machinery, had been exempted by the State. She stated the legislators' intention was to keep municipalities whole, however, they only funded machinery in scheduled 'C'. She explained there were approximately ten additional schedules, several of which contained machinery, which created a shortfall in revenue. She stated although the legislature funded machinery under schedule 'C', they were not funding any machinery that was now exempted in several other schedules, resulting in an ongoing shortfall. Mayor Cummings explained this was another case of legislators at the State level taking away something from the communities, promising to make the municipality whole, and failing to live up to their promise. Ms. Larson agreed. She stated when it had been discussed with legislators, the response had been that their intention was that the municipality would be made whole. She explained that would have only happened if the exemptions had remained limited to schedule 'C', however, when the attorney general issued an opinion that machinery fell in several other schedules, the City was no longer whole. She stated the City would continue to be shorted as they were no longer required to report the machinery in any schedules beyond what was reported in 2017. She explained the City would experience significant lost revenue. Council Member Herman stated he understood this was different than the dark store concern and asked for an explanation of the difference between the two topics. Ms. Larson explained the exemption was not related solely to big box retail stores;it could apply to local businesses as well. She stated businesses created their own personal property schedules. She related it back to when several years ago when the legislature exempted tax exempt computers and had created a revenue stream to replace what municipalities had lost from that exemption. She stated the concern with the new exemption was that only one schedule was exempted and funded when the broad definition of machinery could relate to several other schedules. She explained it was being communicated through various leagues that business belonged to, encouraging them to file for the exemption and request refunds, including local businesses. Council Member Herman questioned where the funds would come from to pay the refund. He explained in her memo she had indicated that the total refunds may be approximately$82,000 dollars. She stated that was a rough estimate. She explained the process took the City's total 8 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL—MARCH 12, 2019 assessed value, which included personal property, and reduced it by $7,800,000 dollars. She stated it changed how the tax rate dollars could be spread, which would impact business and residential properties. Council Member Allison-Aasby stated she understood the $82,000 dollars was a conservative estimate, and had heard the actual total may be closer to $250,000 dollars. She questioned if that was spread out over several years, and if or when the City would be made whole. Ms. Larson explained there was no current indication from the State that these funds would be repaid to the City. She stated when she had brought the topic up at the meeting with state legislators they had seemed surprised, and she was hopeful that after receiving her memo they would reach out to the City for additional information. She explained businesses were no longer required to report machinery, so it was no longer on a schedule for any machinery purchased after 2017. She stated her staff was unable to track what would be lost in personal property value as it had been exempted. Mayor Cummings explained personal property referred to a business related expense, and as a former small business owner,believed it was difficult to keep track of. He stated it could encompass chairs, tables and other office equipment and was a costly bookkeeping task for a small business. He explained he understood that was part of the reason for the exemption, however, there had been a promise from the State that cities would be made whole. Council Member Pech stated he understood there was an intent for the City to be made whole, which had not happened and there was no guarantee that it would ever happen. He explained it resulted in tax relief for one area that caused tax increase in other areas, specifically residential property owners. He stated the tax burden was being shifted to homeowners. Mr. Fitzpatrick explained he agreed with Council Member Pech. He stated it was different from the dark store concern, however, the City and taxpayers were impacted in the same way. He explained there had been dialogue with legislators for some time regarding personal property, and he agreed that it was a laborious process to go through logs of the items a business had. He stated that the legislators had been informed the City did not have a problem if it was exempt as long as they were made whole. Council Member Palmeri explained she believed with the dark store concern, the estimate tax burden shift had been approximately five percent. She questioned if there was an estimated tax burden shift related to these exemptions. 9 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL—MARCH 12, 2019 Mr. Davis stated his estimate would be approximately two percent. He explained if personal property were to become completely exempt the City could easily lose an additional $100,000,000 dollars in value. Council Member Allison-Aasby stated she believed when Council had met with the legislators, they had been genuinely surprised at what the local impact would be. She explained she was hopeful they would take that information and share it at the State level. COUNCIL DISCUSSION, DIRECTION TO CITY MANAGER &FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Mayor Cummings stated there was a joint workshop with the Oshkosh Area School Board scheduled for Wednesday, March 201h at 5:00 p.m. at the Oshkosh Area School District Administration Building. Council Member Palmeri explained an event titled 'A Night at the Shelter' was being planned for Wednesday,May 29th,depending on availability, at the Day by Day Warming Shelter to spread awareness. She stated it was a locked sleep-in which simulated the experience of homelessness. CITIZEN STATEMENTS TO COUNCIL There were no citizen statements to Council. CO UNCIL MEMBER ANNO UNCEMENTS & STATEMENTS Council Member Allison-Aasby congratulated the UW Oshkosh men's Titan basketball team for their successful weekend and wished them luck in the final four, in addition to Lourdes varsity basketball team who would soon compete in Madison. CITY MANAGER ANNO UNCEMENTS & STATEMENTS Mr. Fitzpatrick explained a vehicle had been purchased for the parks department in addition to a professional services agreements for the museum and building plan reviews. He stated there was a free family bingo event scheduled for Sunday, March 171h at 1:00 p.m. at the Senior Center. He explained State of the City was scheduled for Monday, March 181h at 6:00 p.m. at the Oshkosh Convention Center. He stated there was a professional services agreement with the SmithGroup for the Lakeshore Park Master Plan. He explained it was a new vendor and City staff planned for citizens to provide input in regards to the plan. 10 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL—MARCH 12, 2019 Ray Maurer, Parks Director, stated nine quality firms had submitted proposals for the project. He explained the SmithGroup had stood out amongst the other candidates due to their experience with similar projects, the quality of their staff, the deliverables and 3D imagery and their public input process. He stated City staff planned to have significant public input through sessions with various boards and commissions as well as standalone public input sessions. He explained he anticipated the initial meeting with the firm to take place within the next two weeks;a timeline of events would be established with the anticipation of a final plan submitted to Council in late September or early October. He stated appropriate portions of the plan would be incorporated into the CIP. Council Member Palmeri questioned if the public could expect to be invited into the public participation component within the next two months. Mr. Maurer explained the first public input meeting could occur in April. He stated there would be a kickoff meeting with City staff and the various departments who had been involved with the project. He explained a site analysis would be conducted and POLCO questions created to survey to the public. He stated at that point public input meetings would be scheduled. Council Member Palmeri explained she understood residents could provide input via email to the parks department or to Council at any time. Mr. Maurer stated yes; City staff would also work with the firm to update the parks department webpage with a section dedicated to Lakeshore. Mr. Fitzpatrick explained an employee who worked for SmithGroup had family in the area and was looking forward to working on the project. She planned to fly into Oshkosh to attend State of the City to engage with City staff and citizens. Mr. Maurer explained her name was Kathleen Duffey and additional staff from the SmithGroup would also attend State of the City. He stated there would be comment cards for citizens to provide initial input on what they would like to see in the park. Council Member Herman explained he hoped that City staff would not 'steer the ship' as the public had been kept out of the loop in regards to the sale of the golf course. Mr. Fitzpatrick stated he respectfully disagreed with Council Member Herman as he did not believe the park had been taken away from the citizens and understood there had been numerous opportunities for the public to participate during public information sessions. He explained he believed public discourse took place and the citizens spoke 11 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL—MARCH 12, 2019 clearly about what they were interested in, resulting in an educated decision from Council. He stated he believed it was important to move forward and continue to make progress in the community. He presented a fire department recruitment video created by Oshkosh Media. MOTION: ADJOURN (Allison-Aasby; second, Pech) CARRIED: VOICE VOTE The meeting adjourned at 7:17 p.m. PAMELA R. UBRIG CITY CLERK 12