Link to: April 21, 2011 Special Board Meeting Minutes
APRIL 11, 2011
VILLAGE BOARD MEETING
7:00 p.m
Paul Beere called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. with Gary Beck, Chris
Bennett, Ed Chart, Chris Johnson, Bob Lancour, and Mike Weinkauf present.
Betty Novy, Clerk-Treasurer; Christopher Birkett, Public Works Manager; and John
Tierney, Engineer; were also present.
Pledge of Allegiance.
Period for Public Comment.
Gary Schumacher, 35503 Lakeshore Drive, requested an update on the Village Hall
building project with reference to results of the referendum held last April.
Novy reported it had been one year since a referendum was held on the topic with
the choices to purchase and remodel the ProHealth Care building or build a new
village hall. The referendum results were in favor of building a new
village hall and a committee has been working on that for a little less than a
year. The location being worked on is the library site.
Specifically, Gary asked if the Board was going ahead without a referendum for
the financing. Novy clarified a referendum was not necessary. Beere
indicated the reason the Board chose not to pursue the Pro Health Care building
was because the library needs additional space for their summer programs.
If the village built at another site, the village would likely have to build
more space for the library too. By building at the library site, the
library could use the meeting room for their programs. They felt it was
better to do it once, rather than twice.
Schumacher stated his feeling that it was right not to purchase the ProHealth
Care building because there is now a business in there.
Mary Jo Mathers, 35305 Ravine Drive, asked why we need a new village building.
Part of reason noted was because the current municipal building is not ADA
compliant.
Charlie Pietrowski, 108 S. State Street, indicated the ADA performed a
walk-through and found the municipal building was compliant. He
noted the other problem previously stated was parking- which has now been
rectified with the back parking area.
Novy asked that those present differentiate the building as one thing; and the
use of the building as another. The building is grandfathered in regards
to handicap accessibility. However, public entity programs and services
are supposed to be available to all people, including people with disabilities.
After researching several issues with the current municipal building, the
Village Attorney advised the Board to hold all meetings at a handicap accessible
location (the library) after it was discovered that the village was not in
compliance with some provisions of the open meetings law which require full
handicap accessibility.
There was further discussion regarding the necessary investments in the current
building to address bathrooms, heating systems, asbestos abatement, the exterior
façade, mold issues, handicap accessibility, and issues regarding the number of
people working in the building. Board members identified their biggest
issue was investing in the current building. They did not feel they wanted
to invest the money in that location given its limitations.
Mathers continued with her opinion that building a new village hall was fiscally
irresponsible and that this should seem apparent when it is not really
necessary right now. She has a lot of things she would prefer to spend
money on. She continued a lot of people are having hard times and noted a
fund raiser for the fire department. If she had any money, she would
rather give it to the fire department than build a village hall. She also
complained that the roads in Honey Lake are falling apart. She pays
taxes for roads and accused the Village Board of not caring about Honey Lake.
It was clarified that they are private roads. She continued all the Board
cares about is “you”. She complained about paying taxes and that
nothing trickles back to them (Honey Lake) at all.
Beck explained a number of years ago the Town was approached about taking the
roads over in Honey Lake and making them public roads. A study was done.
Once it was found out how many front porches and trees would have to be removed;
and how many roads would be within a few feet of the houses, the residents did
not want any part of it. And, there were federal funds that went into
paving the roads when the fire house was built.
Mathers indicated the Town of Spring Prairie paved all of the roads in Honey
Lake a couple of years ago. Weinkauf corrected only two roads were paved, and
they did it so they could patrol them.
Rhoda Runzheimer, 31641 Washington Avenue, questioned whether audience members
would be limited to talking on this subject now - or whether they would be able
to talk when the agenda item came up. Beere indicated they would be
allowed to talk at that time.
Jeremy Hamilton, 404 W. Wade Street, asked what the difference is between what
it would cost to remodel or rehabilitate the present village hall and a new
building.
Weinkauf responded that the Village had paid an architect over $10,000 to
determine it would cost over $900,000 to bring the current municipal building up
to the standards of a new building- where you didn’t have moisture issues.
If you really look at it, the building has a lot of limitations because it was
built as a fire station- it is a block garage that has bays in it. Every
block wall is load bearing- there are a lot of issues remodeling that for the
use that we have.
Hamilton asked if the current building could be torn down and re-built on the
same site.
That was responded to as a separate issue. The building would then be
limited by the site. The current building is not compliant with setbacks
applicable to the zoning district. The building would have to re-built
smaller than it currently is.
It was noted that the board had looked at several issues and paid significant
dollars to have an architect look at the options for what would be the best way
to invest building funds wisely and for the long term. The direction they
have chosen addresses not only the village hall needs, but the library needs as
well.
Questions arose about building a two-story village hall at the current site.
It was noted that handicap accessibility requirements would mandate the
installation of an elevator. This is a very expensive item.
Johnson noted this project has been under consideration for about ten years.
Terri Bates, 300 E. Spring Street, stated the project should be in the works for
another ten years because the economy is so bad. She questioned why do we
need it now and where is the funding coming from?
It was responded that two hearings were held on this issue in January of 2010
and financing options were presented at that time. Both Town and Village
sewer utilities had surplus funds after consolidation of the two entities.
Half of the cost was planned to come from the sewer utility.
Novy indicated right now may not be a good time in some ways (because of the
poor economy), but in other ways it is an excellent time to build because you
have great competition out there and people in the construction industry need
work.
Rhoda Runzheimer stated we should not be concerned about people in the
construction industry and should only look at what we need. She was also
very upset that the referendum did not have three options and that residents
needed to independently go out and find others that preferred doing nothing.
She believes more people were of that mindset than any of the other. She
questioned why the Board would go ahead with a huge investment of time and money
without having support of the whole community.
Gary Schumacher questioned whether real estate tax levy limits and the state
budget impact the village’s ability to proceed with the project.
It was noted that the village had been counseled that they are still able to
borrow the necessary funds.
Gary also questioned whether the old building was supposed to be sold for $1.
Is that still true?
This was answered no- it would be put on the market.
Joni Beck, 2441 Beck Drive, stated she has come to every meeting since the
referendum and sat at them alone. She questioned where everyone was.
She continued, if you would have come and learned what these men are trying to
do, you would see it is the most economical. She researched the cost to
put an elevator in the two story portion of the library building and it was
$325,000. And, every year you have to get it re-certified (this was
directed to whomever suggested a two-story building).
Meg Webber, 455 N. Maple Lane, distributed t-shirts to Board members to
advertise her recycling project. She reported the city and town of
Burlington have both confirmed that they will also be participating. An
electronics drop off will be held May 7th from 8:00 a.m. to noon at the
Rochester Fire Station. Beck noted Meg had put a lot of time into this
project. All present applauded Meg’s efforts.
Ron Kraus, 1331 N. Browns Lake Drive, questioned calculations on how the village
hall building project would impact the property tax. It was noted initial
calculations were at $7.00 per $100,000 of assessed value, but the true impact
won’t be known until final financing is obtained.
Minutes. Bennett, moved, 2nd by Beck to approve the minutes from the March 14,
2011 meeting. Motion carried.
Department Reports:
Sheriff. Deputy Castillo read a written report showing the
following statistics for March: one accident; eight speeding citations,
two traffic citations, seventeen parking citations and six warnings were issued.
There were three arrests. Complaint statistics were as follows:
twelve complaints originated through calls directly to the Sheriff’s Department;
Deputy Castillo assisted with nine additional complaints, originated forty-one
on his own and performed follow up on forty-one. He reported
twenty-one working days, 172 hours and 1,200 miles driven. Seventeen foot
patrols were also conducted.
Additionally, Castillo reported working on two zoning violations and stepping up
enforcement of rubbish and junk ordinance violations. Beck noted a
rubbish violation at the property on the corner of State Highway 36 and State
Highway 20. Weinkauf also noted a possible junk violations Heritage Road.
Castillo will investigate both instances.
Public Works. Christopher Birkett’s written report was
reviewed follows:
Lift Stations/ Sewer: Testing generators and maintenance of lift stations.
Completed our paper maps with regards to organizing the televising schedule.
Currently working with our municipal neighbors to pool our repairs to make a
larger bid package. I’m also checking manholes in our road project.
Working on a plan to resolve our leaking laterals.
Roads: Still working on specifications and getting prices for maintenance and
repairs on the 2nd half of our projects. Still working on sign upgrades and
brush cutting. Potholes are caught up. Shoulder touch ups will be
addressed over the next 2 weeks. We have spent $54,878.00 on snow removal since
1-1-2011. The blizzard in February cost approximately $16,000.00.
FEMA will be reimbursing 75%, State 12.5% of our expenses- or approximately
$14,000.00.
Parks: Clean up is ongoing. Mowing bids are in and will be on April
agenda. Park fertilizing will be getting done this coming week.
Animal Control: More calls as weather improves, mostly cats,1 dog at
large, 1 unlicensed kennel, and 1 horse.
Storm Sewer: Sub-committee continues to meet.
Beck informed Birkett that Waterford High School had performed some work to
ready the ball diamonds at Case Eagle for the girls softball league.
Engineer. Tierney read his written report as follows:
Settlement of Rochester Condominiums: Met with attorney and village clerk
to review outstanding work items based on developer’s agreement paragraphs.
Stoneridge Subdivision Construction Services: Coordination with design
engineer and surveyor for as-built stormwater detention calculations and storm
system topographic information.
Stormwater Utility Feasibility Study: Preparing storm sewer atlas from
record drawings. Soliciting information regarding farm drainage tiles.
2011 Street Improvements- Design: Soil boring complete; awaiting report.
Field visits to measure pavement.
Sanitary Sewer GIS Atlas: Presented work order for consideration at Public
Works Committee meeting.
Johnson reported the fire department had received DNR permission to modify the
dry hydrants in the Fox River. Beck questioned what the satellite unit is
that had been installed on the (CTH D) bridge. Birkett reported the unit
was installed by the Norway-Dover Drainage district by the request of the DNR.
They were working with USGS (United States Geological Service) and it just went
up. It measures the height of the river by utilizing sonar waves and
transmits data remotely to the USGS.
Financial Service and Debt Issue Proposal: Ehlers & Associates
Novy reported on finance committee review and consideration of this item.
The committee recommended entering into a contract with Ehlers & Associates for
independent financial consulting services based on the submitted proposal and
Option #2 in the associated financing report; and to have Whyte, Hirschboeck,
Dudek, S.C. perform bond attorney duties. Bennett moved, 2nd by
Johnson to approve the proposal submitted by Ehlers & Associates; to choose
option #2 on their financing report, which is the 20 year bond issue for the
road project; and to hire a bond attorney from the firm of Whyte, Hirschboeck,
Dudek, S.C. Motion carried.
Gary Schumacher questioned whether he could address the Board. Beere
granted the request. Schumacher indicated the discussion seemed to be
about fixing roads. He would like the Board to give some consideration to
fixing the roads in Honey Lake so the people of Honey Lake are not forced to pay
for everyone else’s subdivision roads and then pay for their own roads
individually. They do not consider their roads private because they do not
close off their roads to anyone. Consensus of the Board was to refer this
issue to the Public Works Committee.
Authorization to Proceed with Raze Order: 208 S. Front Street
Novy questioned whether anyone was present at the meeting representing this
property. No one came forward. She then reported the
first housing code violation notice on this property went out December 16, 2009;
a follow up “Order to remedy defects” notice was sent June 30, 2010.
The first extension of proceeding with a raze order was authorized August 9th,
setting a deadline of October 1, 2010 for a pending sale. The second
extension was authorized December 13, 2010, setting a deadline of March 1, 2011.
As the Board directed at the March meeting, additional correspondence was mailed
March 16th asking that someone attend the Board meeting to provide an update on
what is happening with the property. There has been no response from any of
the involved parties. The house is becoming a home to stray cats and wild
animals. The recommendation is to proceed with the raze order. Beck
moved, 2nd by Bennett to proceed with a raze order for 208 S. State Street.
Motion carried.
Recommendation and Possible Award of Contract for Construction
Management/ Architectural Services (Village Hall Building Committee)
Novy reported on the building committee’s consideration of this matter at two
interview sessions and a meeting held April 6th where they reviewed applicant
scores. The recommendation at the April 6th meeting was to award the
contract to Peter Scherrer Group as the construction management and
architectural service team. Novy reported that there had been an error on
the on the interview tally sheet. Peter Scherrer Group’s fee had not been
updated to reflect a charge for increased insurance coverage. The correct
fee for the Peter Scherrer Group is $127,500; and Anderson-Ashton is at
$122,350- a $5,150 difference. She noted the committee had narrowed the
choice to these two teams and had difficulty choosing because they were very
well qualified to do the work. She polled committee members after the
meeting to correct the error and see if that would have impacted their
recommendation. The majority shifted their recommendation to
Anderson-Ashton.
All Board members that were also building committee members stated their
preference for Anderson-Ashton. Committee member Greg Beck, present in the
audience, also switched to Anderson-Ashton noting an owner of the company would
be on site. Committee member Russ Kumbier, also present in the audience,
stated he would also switch his recommendation to Anderson-Ashton.
Committee member, Peggy Shumway, stated she would switch to Anderson-Ashton
also, but stated she is worried about the temperament in the room with her
fellow villagers about building at all. She questioned whether the Board
could do anything about putting this to a vote – do we build or do we modify
what we have existing?
Ed stated he sees everyone’s concern. But, the Committee and Board spent
six months researching doing something with the current village hall. He
stated the reason the village has lawyers and engineers at their service is to
have someone to go to that you can believe. If you don’t believe them, you
shouldn’t have them as your counsel. He indicated the village has spent
more money on legal fees just trying to compromise. He sees approximately
30 people at the meeting and understands their concerns, but there are 2,500
other people in the village that say they are on the same page. If they
weren’t, they would be here (at the meeting) criticizing. He made no
secret of his support of this project while campaigning to be re-elected to his
position. He feels he was re-elected to continue.
Ed continued stating they had looked at both sides of this issue and did their
due diligence.
Charlie Pietrowski, 108 S. State Street, said they were upset because they were
not given the option to remodel the current village hall on the referendum.
Board members responded they did not have that option because it would cost
$600,000 - $900,000 to remodel and they did not agree this was a good long-term
investment. They also had identified the handicap accessible issue by that
time and realized they had to do something. That was why “do nothing” was
not on the referendum. They were going with what the attorney says.
Someone commented if that was the only problem, it just cost a couple dollars to
put in a couple of bathrooms.
It was noted that it wasn’t that simple. Several quotes had been obtained
on one bathroom, but any improvements to the building would require compliance
with current codes that call for increasing the number of bathrooms in the
building based on its current use. New walls would require penetration of
the asbestos roof decking and concrete floors would have to be busted up to
extend plumbing.
Gary Schumacher stated “mold, bathrooms, asbestos”- these are all just scare
tactics.
Another resident of Honey Lake who did not identify herself stated “we can’t
afford this”.
Chad Chaulkin, 1928 Heritage Road, questioned how many attorneys did you talk to
and why all of a sudden is this a problem? ADA laws have been in
effect over 30 years.
A board member questioned whether Chad was suggesting the Village neglect
handicap accessibility forever.
Chad stated he could not afford the taxes on his house.
Beck stated it will save money in the long run by building something now.
Johnson stated we have a need now. This has been in the works for quite
some time. Now, the lawyer told them the liability implications if
someone falls and gets hurt… that’s a million dollars.
Pietrowski stated information had been gathered from other municipalities whose
buildings are not ADA compliant. Johnson responded all town halls that have
been updated are now ADA compliant. He does not want to put the village at
risk.
Bennett moved, 2nd Beck by to accept the recommendation of the Village Hall
Building Committee and to award the contract for construction management and
architectural services for a new village hall to Anderson-Ashton for $122,350.
Motion carried.
Rhoda Runzheimer questioned whether the Board was concerned about being sued by
the village because they are not doing what the people (at the meeting) want.
She said you still have a group that says do nothing and you are asking them to
spend a lot of money without direct approval from the community.
Bev Zabler, 222 N. Maple Lane, stated a lot of things have changed in the last
four months. There is a lot of uncertainty. There are a lot of “us”
that are state employees. She’s hearing a lot about financing and debt.
She stated maybe it’s time to put just a little halt on the project. She
knows the mold problems at the municipal building because you can smell it when
you walk in the building. She asked the board to consider putting a hold
on this until we see how things work out. She overheard talk about
subdivision lots not selling. She feels the Board needs to be conscious of
all these things and just slow it down a bit. The work up to this point is
valid, but there are concerns now that didn’t exist two weeks ago.
Paul stated they (the Town) used to budget $125-$150,000 a year just for roads
before consolidation. Now, they are putting projects together in five year
packages. They are doing it all at once to reduce interest rates on
borrowing and hopefully get better costs by putting the projects out in a larger
package. Roads have to be maintained, just like when you have a house- you
need to maintain it.
Zabler stated the community is on the verge of hurting. There are a lot of
things going on in the economy that we can’t predict. Construction prices
are good, but you need to take that into consideration. These are
precarious times, with much uncertainty around us.
Beck stated all indications are it will be quite some time before a shovel goes
in the ground.
Recommendation and Possible Award of Contract for 2011 Park Mowing
Contract
Birkett reported on Public Works Committee review and recommendation on this
item. There were 19 bids. The committee recommended awarding the
contract to Forrest George at a rate of $275 per mowing. Bennett moved,
2nd by Johnson to accept the public works committee recommendation and award the
contract to Forrest George. Motion carried.
Recommendation and Possible Award of Contract for 2011 Shouldering
Projects
Birkett reported on Public Works Committee review and recommendation on this
item. The committee recommended awarding the contract to Andy’s
Excavating for $27.65 per ton of material picked up, trucked, placed, graded and
compacted, subject to a $315 per site mobilization charge. The Village is
to direct pay for materials. Beck moved, 2nd by Bennett to accept the
public works committee recommendation and award the contract to Andy’s
Excavating. Motion carried.
Recommendation and Possible Award of Contract for 2011 Sewer Televising
Project
Birkett reported on Public Works Committee review and recommendation on this
item. The committee recommended awarding the contract to Ace Sewer
Cleaning for televising approximately 8,900 feet of the sewers at .90 cents per
foot. Weinkauf moved, 2nd by Bennett to accept the public works committee
recommendation and award the contract to Ace Sewer Cleaning. Motion
carried.
Recommendation and Possible Award of Contract for creation of a Sanitary
Sewer GIS Atlas
Birkett reported on Public Works Committee review and recommendation on this
item. The committee reviewed two proposals: one from
Ruekert-Mielke for $25,000; and one from Baxter-Woodman for $6,000. The
committee recommended awarding the contract to Baxter-Woodman. Bennett
moved, 2nd by Johnson to accept the public works committee recommendation and
award the contract to Baxter-Woodman. Motion carried.
Recommendation and Possible Award of Contract for Municipal Building
painting and door replacements.
Birkett reported on Public Works Committee review and recommendation on this
item. The committee recommended awarding the contract for painting the
current municipal building to Jacob Andrews Construction for $2,673; and the
contract for replacement of two exterior doors to Greg Beck Construction for
$1,658. Beck moved, 2nd by Johnson to accept the public works
committee recommendation and award the contracts to Jacob Andrews and Greg Beck
Construction respectively. Motion carried.
Review of proposed “Complaint and Grievance Policy” to ensure compliance
with Collective Bargaining Law; and legal service proposals for review of the
Employee Manual
Novy reported on some requirements of the Collective Bargaining Law that was
recently passed by the State legislature. Certain provisions of the
bill require the Village to have several adopted workplace policies in place by
June 1, 2011. She reported that a draft of an employee manual was approved
by the finance committee in 2009. That manual addressed most of these
requirements, with the exception of a complaint and grievance policy.
A grievance policy was drafted for addition to the manual, but the entire manual
requires legal review. Due to budgetary concerns, this was not
accomplished in 2010. The Village Attorney did not feel comfortable
reviewing the handbook because she does not specialize in employment law and the
cost for her to research all policies is prohibitive. Two proposals were
solicited from attorneys that specialize in employment law. One from
Atty. Nancy Pirkey estimated costs at $1,200; and one from Atty. Kyle Guyla
estimated costs between $1,100 and $2,000. Johnson moved, 2nd by
Bennett to have Atty. Nancy Pirkey perform the work. Motion carried.
Schedule Special Meeting to discuss legal issues involving “Millgate
Development, LLC” and “The Settlement of Rochester, LLC”
Novy reported a request by the Village Attorney to schedule a special closed
session meeting to discuss the legal issues involving Millgate’s claim of monies
owed and closing out The Settlement. A meeting was set for
Thursday, April 21st at 7:00 p.m.
Possible use of Municipal Hall for Pet Vaccination Clinic- Western
Racine County Health Dept.
Bennett reported the Health Department is looking for a location to hold a pet
vaccination clinic on a Saturday morning in May. They haven’t made any
decisions yet, but he would like the Board’s consent to offer the back hall of
the Municipal Building if they would like to hold it there. Consensus of
the Board was to authorize use of the municipal building for this purpose.
Reminder of Upcoming Meetings: Regular May meeting: Monday,
May 2, 2011; Emergency Operations Plan meeting: Wednesday, May 4,
2011; Board of Review: Thursday, May 26, 2011
Novy reminded the board of the upcoming meetings.
Correspondence was read as follows: transmittal of
the 2010 Annual Report by the Rochester Public Library; an invitation to a
strategic plan meeting by the Western Racine County Health Department; an
invitation to an animal control meeting by the City of Racine Health Department;
and a thank you letter regarding use of the Rochester Public Library by
Debra Psicihulis.
Committee Reports:
Public Works Committee: Johnson reported all items had
been acted on during the meeting. Birkett reported continued work by the
storm water utility subcommittee to identify drainage areas. Russ Kumbier,
present in the audience, offered his son’s services to plant flowers around the
flagpole in Pioneer Park in advance of Memorial Day festivities. An
additional flat is needed to adequately fill in the area. Birkett
will arrange to have the flowers available when they are ready to do this work.
Kumbier also noted that Eagle Scouts are often looking for community projects.
If help is needed on any village project, he can bring coordinate that with the
scouts.
Ordinance Committee: Beck reported the committee
met with the zoning administrator to work on business districts in the municipal
code. Weinkauf questioned signage on Evergreen Drive and noted those
business owners would like some type of directional signage on the corner of
Evergreen and Beck that would direct customers to their businesses. Zoning
has been a barrier to this in the past. Jim Hurst, owner of the
Millgate Development, was present in the audience. Hurst also reported a
problem with signage at the corner of Millgate and Washington Avenue.
Beck will talk to Schattner about accommodating these types of signs in the
code.
Village Hall Building Committee: Chart reported all items
had been covered in the meeting. The committee will next meet when
Anderson-Ashton is ready to begin the design process.
Western Racine County Health Department: Bennett reported
predominant discussions at health department meetings lately involve animal
control services. Other than that, he had nothing to report.
Honey Lake Protection and Rehabilitation Board:
Weinkauf reported on the March 15th meeting of the district board. He
indicated the district levied $29,868 for the year to address maintenance of
their parks, private roads and beaches. Current issues are the lake
equalization project; dam maintenance; riparian rights; vandalism;
emergency evacuation plans; and updating the by-laws. John Lutz was
re-elected chairman. As a sidenote, Weinkauf indicated the district had
obtained costs of $90,000 to resurface Honey Lake Roads on the Rochester side.
Their members voted against paying for the repairs.
Finance Committee Report: Beck reported the
recommendations of the committee to approve all disbursements listed on the
check detail dated March 15 – April 11, 2011. They also recommended
reinvestment of two certificate of deposits for the sewer utility which are
coming due for $201,000 and $202,000 at the best rate of interest available for
up to seven months. All other recommendations had been previously
discussed during the course of the regular meeting. Weinkauf moved, 2nd by
Chart to approve the finance committee’s recommendations. Motion carried.
Bennett moved, 2nd by Beck to adjourn at 9:08 p.m. Motion carried
Respectfully submitted,
Betty J. Novy, CMC, CMTW
Clerk-Treasurer
APRIL
21, 2011
SPECIAL BOARD MEETING
7:00 P.M.
Paul Beere called the
meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. with board members Ed Chart, Gary Beck, Chris
Johnson, Chris Bennett, Mike Weinkauf, and Bob Lancour present.
Betty Novy, Clerk-Treasurer;
John Tierney, Village Engineer; and Marcia Hasenstab, Village Attorney
were also present.
Beere moved, 2nd
by Chart to adjourn at 8:48 p.m.
Motion carried.
Betty J. Novy, MMC CMTW
Clerk-Treasurer