Common Council - Regular Meeting

All right.

Thank you, clerk. Please now rise for the Pledge of Allegiance and remain standing for invocation offered by Alder DeLee.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

As we near the close of the 25-26 school year, I'd like to take a moment to recognize something special. An entire community of students who showed up, put in work, grew, and pushed forward. From our youngest learners to those taking their next big step, this year mattered. It shaped futures, built confidence, and created momentum. We also need to recognize the people who made that possible. To our teachers, support staff, and school leaders, thank you. Thank you for your dedication, your patience, and your relentless commitment to our kids. You don't just teach lessons, you create environments where students feel safe, supported, and valued. You are mentors, role models, problem solvers, and steady voices in moments that matter more than most people ever see. What you do goes far beyond academics, and our community is stronger because of you. Now as we turn the page into summer, we welcome a different kind of energy. This is the season of ball fields and busy parks, of early mornings and late nights, of kids chasing goals, friendships growing stronger, and families finding time to just be together. It's the sound of games, the feeling of fresh air, and the simple moments that end up meaning the most. Let's make the most of it. Let's support one another, show up for our kids and continue building the kind of community we're proud to be a part of. A community where people look out for each other, where families feel connected and where every kid has a place to belong. And as a city council, this is our responsibility too. We have the opportunity and the obligation to invest in the spaces and opportunities that bring that vision to life. That means supporting our parks, strengthening our neighborhoods, ensuring safe spaces for kids to play and families to gather and continue to partner with schools, organizations and local leaders who are doing the work on the ground every day. It means listening to our residents, being present in our community and making decisions that reflect not just today's needs, but the future we want for our children. If we do that, if we lead, with intention, collaboration, and care, then we're not just talking about a stronger community, we're actively building one. Here's to a safe, active, and memorable summer for our students, our families, and everyone who calls this community home.

Thanks for sharing those words, Alder. Appreciate it. Next up is approval of the minutes. Motion to approve, made by Alder Eck. Is there a second? Seconded by Alder Hinkvis. Any changes? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Opposed, nay. The ayes have it. Minutes are approved. Who will the agenda? Motion to approve by Alder Eck. Seconded by Alder Glee. Any changes here? Seeing none. All in favor say aye. Opposed, nay. The agenda has been approved by the mayor. Just wanted to mention an event that we have every year on Memorial Day at Admiral Flatley Park put on by the United Patriotic Society. Alder Eck has been there in the past. I know others have as well. And so just wanted to invite the city council and all members of the public to join me at Admiral Flatley Park. I think things get going at four o'clock on Monday on Memorial Day. So as you all know, it's not just a long weekend. This is, it's an important event. opportunity for us to commemorate those who have given everything in defense of our country. So again, would love to see you all down there and members of the public as well. So with that, we'll move along to announcements from council. All the profit.

So we have an item later on our agenda that I don't know will necessarily get pulled for discussion. We're allowing the striker team to fundraise to kind of make some improvements to Arnie Wolfe Field. So I'd just like to formally invite everyone to help partake in that fundraising efforts. On June 12th, they are partnering with the Green Bay Rockers for tickets, $15 tickets that come with a Rockers hat. And $7 of all of those tickets goes right back to Green Bay Strikers fundraising efforts for Ernie Wolf. So if anyone needs the link to purchase tickets, I'd be more than happy to share.

We'll allow people to go to Ashwaubenon for that event. Other announcements? All the deletes?

We won't meet before this, but kick off your summer with the first Grooves in the Green concert of the year. Join us at Kennedy Park. It's 2227 Farland Avenue from 6 to 8 p.m. for an evening of great music, good food and community connection. Bring a chair, relax with friends and neighbors and enjoy the sounds of. the rock and blues band Little Cisco. Come hungry, our local food trucks will be on site serving up delicious options. Grooves on the Green is all about bringing music into our neighborhood parks and creating spaces where our community can come together and enjoy some summer right here in Green Bay. There's a full list of dates, times, and locations for the future Grooves on the Green events available online at greenbaywi.gov forward slash guide, where you can find the 2026 summer guide. This concert series proudly presented in partnership with the Tarleton Theater, Green Bay Neighborhoods, and the City of Green Bay.

Excellent. Thanks, Alder. Anyone over here? Alder Morgan?

I'd like to make a personal acknowledgement and acknowledge my wife's mother, my mother-in-law, Rose Lassay. She lives on Fisk Street up near, or excuse me, Liberty, near Fisk, in the same house they built 65 years ago. This Sunday, she will be 100 years old. She's still sharp as a tack, puts me in my place, and physically doing well and mentally doing super well.

That's incredible. Well, happy birthday to her. Other announcements, Ulrich? Okay.

Thank you, Mayor. Yes, I would like to invite everybody out to a blue ribbon baseball game. Yes, it's at Green Bay, yay. And our neighborhood association, the John Muir Park neighborhood is running the concessions. It is a double header starting at four o'clock. Actually, there's a walk to end Alzheimer's before that. So you can come out earlier and you can come out and 50% of the proceeds go back to our neighborhood association. So love to see you all out there.

Nice. What's the date again?

Oh, I apologize, May 30th.

Oh, okay. Very cool. Very well-coached enterprise from what I hear.

Yes.

Any other announcements? All right. Thank you, Alders. Now into Ordinance's second reading for adoption. We have... Maybe a change?

I'm just taking... Yeah.

Motion has been made to adopt... I one, made by Alder Prophet. Second by Alder Presley. Was it changed on one? All right, any discussion? All in favor, say aye. Opposed, nay. Oh, yes we do. Apologies, we'll use the board. And that is adopted unanimously. Now onto I two.

I'd like to make a motion to amend the proposed ordinance by striking section 2.D.2.D in its entirety and amending section 2.D.2.A by revising the phrase, quote, development areas A, B, and C, quote, to read, quote, development areas A, B, C, and F, close quote. Is there any desire for staff to explain the change?

Sounds like a great amendment, but we might need an explanation. Is there a second for that? Second. Second by Elder Proffitt. Director Nierwig or staff?

I think the reason for these amendments is to allow some construction to happen on these sites. And so the setbacks were changed. The size of the setbacks have been changed. So that's tweaking this PUD, which will allow that housing development to happen.

Okay. Thank you. Any other comments or questions? Seeing none, we'll, yeah, all in favor of the amendment, signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed nay. The ayes have it, the amendment has been approved.

Motion to adopt is amended.

Motion to adopt is amended, made by Alder Prophet, seconded by Alder Ritterbush. Any discussion on that? And we'll use the board. All right, that also is approved unanimously. On to the report of the Redevelopment Authority. Motion to approve by Alder Presley. Seconded by Alder Hinkfess. Any items here to be handled separately? Hearing none. All in favor, we'll signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed, nay. The ayes have it. That report has been approved. Improvement in services. Motion to approve by Alder DeLee and seconded by Alder Ritterbush. Items here to be handled separately. Hearing none. All in favor, signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed, nay. The ayes have it. That report has been approved. Protection and Policy Committee.

Motion to approve.

Motion to approve by Alder Prophet. Seconded by Alder DeLee. Items here to be handled separately? Nine. Any others? Hearing none others, all in favor of approving the remainder of that report, signify by saying aye. Opposed nay. The ayes have it. The report has been approved with the exception of item nine. Motion to open the floor made by Alder Prophet. Seconded by Alder Presley. All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed nay. You guys have it. The floor is open. So we have Rick Hireman and John D'Angelo. And then it is our custom to have our guests state their names and addresses. And then you have three minutes for testimony.

Rick Hireman, Whiskey Rose Saloon, 631 Bellevue Street. I heard that they're going to deny my liquor license. Back in 24, when it was a getaway, it had 52 police calls. I turned it around. I took all the drugs out of the place. I had 13 calls last year and half of them were from my business. And the only reason why the police are trying to take my liquor license is because one cop in particular is trying to shut my business down. I done nothing but take all the drugs out of the area. And John, he's been working with Rachel Mayes, the city prosecutor on a couple of tickets that I do have that were basically falsified. I even had to file internal affairs against one cop. And that's why he is going after me to shut my business down. Any other comments? You know anything with what's going on, Rachel?

Attorney John D'Angelo, One Law Group. over in Ashwaubenon, so don't shoot me. Right now, we're still in the midst of working with the citations. We have some negotiations. They're still continuing. Had some communications with Attorney Mays at this point. My client has provided documentation suggesting that a lot of the report that he had to sign, there was a contract that he signed last year with his liquor license. that the officer who the complaint is against hasn't been following exactly and then he gets cited. So we're working on that, trying to work as a business that is productive in the community. And we're just asking that the board reconsider the approval. Thanks. Thank you.

Questions for our guests? Alder Morgan.

I just have one question on our agenda. We're talking about Jamrock. Is that changed the name to whiskey?

No, no, sir.

Oh, yeah.

Are we on the same agenda then?

Oh, okay.

Yeah, good call. So it's in the list that was attached to the report.

Whiskey rose two is it's at the bottom and red, sir.

Good question. Others with questions? Okay. Thanks for your testimony. Thank you. Anyone else on this item? Motion. Motion to close the floor. May I have Elder DeLee?

Second.

Seconded by Elder Proffitt. All in favor will say aye. Opposed nay. You guys have it. The floor is closed. Invite comments from Alders. Alder Ackey.

I'm not seeing any police reports attached to our agenda, and I'm just wondering if we could have maybe PD go over some of their concerns, please.

Yeah.

Yes, absolutely. Attorney Colchart.

Yeah, just really quick from a procedural standpoint. This is on this list as a notice of intent to non-renew. So presumably if approved, a notice would go out to this establishment, and then they'd have an opportunity to request a hearing. And then that would be the point in time which... whether it's be the police department or anybody else's testimony to be provided theirs as well as documents, but it's just a request that we can send the notice out because council has ultimate authority over about licensing. So we have to come and ask for permission for that notice, just for clarification. This isn't a hearing, wasn't planned to be.

Right. So are you advising council that it's probably best not to have a debate about or a conversation about calls for service and things of that nature?

Yeah, I think that's appropriate. Again, it would be appropriate to refrain from having conversation about calls or things like that because we haven't provided information on license holder. Again, this is just a notice of intent based on the recommendation, which I think was probably presented at the PNP or Project Home Policy just based on the police department clerk or inspections, their cumulative recommendation.

Okay.

Very good. Yeah, Alder Prophet?

Just one quick follow-up question for Attorney Cochart. It's my understanding as well that there is a deadline that is given. I believe it was April 15th that would guarantee the applicant the full process before the end of the licensing year. Is that correct as well? So the full quasi, if it were to come to that, will all be fully resolved before the end of the licensing year. Is that correct?

Yes. As long as the application was received by that deadline, we are required to process it by the June 30th. deadline. So if they did, if the notice was given, they request a hearing that'll take place at one of the June council meetings.

Okay. So with that in mind, I'd make a motion to approve the list as we have it presented in front of us.

Alder probably makes a motion to approve the item seconded by Alder. Was it Presley? A discussion on that. Alder Morgan? I just wanted to abstain for the mic.

Thank you. I just wanted to abstain for the part from the that their license for the Green Bay Blue Ribbon baseball team.

Okay.

Thanks, Alder. Any other comments? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Opposed nay. The ayes have it, and that item has been approved. On to police department granting operator licenses. Motion to approve, made by Alder Presley, seconded by Alder Orlowski. Any discussion, abstentions? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Opposed nay. You guys have it that items been approved by Commission. Motion to approve made by all the profit. Second by Alder Presley items to be held separately to any others. And others all in favor the rain of the report saying probably saying aye. Because they guys have it report has been approved with the exception of item 2 and that is to approve a request for conditional use permit at 315 South Jefferson Street with conditions. Motion to open the floor has been made by Alder Prophet, seconded by Alder Shelton. All in favor, say aye. Opposed, nay. The ayes have it, the floor is open. So I have two noted here, people that would like to speak, but if you haven't registered, feel free just to approach the podium after these two speakers are done with their comments. First one is Sarah Hansen. And again, it's the custom of council to require the name and address. So if we could offer that and then three minutes for testimony.

Thank you.

I think we all want fewer people sleeping outside. We want fewer 911 calls for preventable crises. And we want a neighborhood that feels safe and stable. At this point, most of us agree that doing nothing is really not an option.

Name and address.

Oh, I'm so sorry. Sarah Hansen, 2426 Deprey Street in Franken.

Great. Thank you.

A recent point in time counts in Brown County have found roughly 80 to 125 people sleeping outside every single night, even when the shelters are full or near capacity. Many of these neighbors have mental illness or substance use disorders and simply cannot succeed in traditional shelters. Safe Haven Hope Center is designed specifically for that high need group. serving up to 20 adults in a supervised household-style setting. It's a structured home with rules, accountability, and support. The Jefferson Street location is the right size and layout with access to bus lines and downtown services. And to be frank, many of the people we hope to serve are already in that neighborhood, sleeping in parks, bushes, doorways. The real question is whether they remain unsupervised and unsupported or come inside to a small staffed program with accountability and rules. The model we're proposing is not experimental. It's a proven model that's built on national best practices, housing first and harm reduction oriented programming that have been studied across the country. Large evaluations show that they dramatically increase housing stability and reduce ER visits, inpatient stays, police contact and jail time without increasing substance use or neighborhood crime. This is a supervised and accountable program. We're going to continue to work closely with the Green Bay Police Department, Brown County Crisis, and nearby neighbors so concerns are addressed quickly and transparently. We will track any police, EMS calls, and respond promptly to neighbor concerns so we can be held accountable. If there's something that's not working, we are committed to fixing it rather than just walking away. Approving this permit does not mean accepting chaos. It means choosing a proven accountable model. The unplanned status quo that already exists in our city is not acceptable anymore. I respectfully ask you to approve the conditional use permit for Safe Haven Hope Center so that we can move from an unmanaged crisis to evidence-based solutions that make our community safer, more stable for everyone. So thank you for your time and your consideration.

Thanks for your testimony. Any questions?

Sorry.

Thank you. Next up, Binky Alstein.

Hi, my name is Binky Alstein. I do not live in Green Bay any longer. I live in Lena, born and raised in Green Bay, though. I'm going to get right to the point. Safe haven exists because people in Green Bay need a safe place to sleep. That's it. Housing first. We need to take care of the people that need our help. You can't hold a job or manage your health or get back on your feet if you don't have someplace safe to lay your head and feel safe. The people we serve are your neighbors. They're not strangers. A lot of them work and a lot of them are trying hard and they deserve dignity and our respect. There have been concerns raised about the shelter and I take that seriously. We have policies, accountability and structure in place. We're a responsible organization and we take our role in this community seriously. What I don't accept is disrespect and people being treated with hostility. So we need to accept these people and give them the help that they deserve. They're human beings. Safe Haven operates with integrity. We're not going anywhere. And what we're asking from this council is to support us in doing this work. Housing first means people first. And that's what we're here for. Thank you.

Thanks for your testimony.

Alderac?

Thank you, Mayor. Yes, I have a question for you, Vicki. So are you on staff there?

No, I'm on the board.

Oh, you're on the board. Okay. I just wondered because you were saying we, so I just wanted to clarify that. So, all right. That's it. That's it. I made it easy for you. Thank you.

All right. So that's the list of people we had registered. So feel free just to approach the podium, state your name and address. If anyone else would like to speak.

Hello, everybody. My name is Stephanie Guzman, 2711 Melcourt Drive. I'm somebody who has come here for a variety of different things. I feel like I've got to know a lot of you guys in healthy debate, but also in good conversation and working together. And I think that's one of the things that makes Green Bay so special, that although we are on different sides of politics, what is political noise, we actually have something in common and it's that we want people to do well, inherently. I understand that what we have an idea about is how we get there is not gonna be the same for all of us, especially when we have different lived experiences, right? However, I do wanna say that as someone who has had to sleep in places that are unsafe, as someone who has had to find ways to make it in a city like this with no support, as someone who has had Family members who have, let's say, a felony from when they were 17 years old, and then that be used against them for housing, for jobs, to get better, to try to get to the next place. I'll tell you, because I experience it on a daily basis, it is almost impossible. And now that trauma is also going on to the next generation, the kids. And so a lot of these parents, I used to work for Brown County Child Support. I remember wanting to call the dads and saying, hey, can you pay kids? Can you make a payment? It's not for a person, it's for your kids. And a lot of them would be like, I can't get a job. I don't have a place to live. And so I'm telling you from lived experience and from working for the government that we need more places and less hate. We need more safe havens and we need hope. And so if we don't agree on what that looks like, I respect that. But I think that we have talent here to be able to get there. I think we have conversations that we need to be had I feel like there are obviously people here who want to work with us. And I think it'd be actually something against what we all want if we don't take these things seriously. And so I'm really excited to see what comes out of it. I'm coming with it with hope. I literally know Elizabeth Feldhausen. It's nothing to do with the place that we're talking about, but I got my cat from Safe Haven on Broadway. And so the process there was something that, for me, opened my mind that as a community, we can help with the animals. We can help do good things in a small place, like the power of one. So now imagine what we can do when we're talking about human beings, you know, when we're talking about people. And so I think that we're going to be able to come out of this in a better place. I know that there's a lot of people who are worried about, oh, there's needles and there's things. But I promise you, not everybody who's trying to make their life better, who doesn't have a home is a criminal. Not everybody is a bad person. And sometimes they just need a little bit of help. So that's all I want to say. Thank you.

Anyone else? And feel free to form a line. It might make things a little bit quicker.

Yeah. Hi, my name is Don Radford, 408 South Van Buren street apartment one. Um, I was listening to the radio the other day, uh, WOGB, I think, and on came on a song, um, Fly Like an Eagle. We've probably all heard it. I'm sure we all know the lyrics. It just came across while I was thinking about this. That was all the people living in the street. That song was released 50 years ago. We still ain't got it done. We need to do something. The situation has simply grown untenable. I hear worries about the potential clients for this shelter. Mike, grandfather who was kid during the depression grew up playing in the coal piles over there while his dad was running moonshine through the drop forge uh he owned the hammer in after prohibition is over i don't think it's any mistake that the tavern league has its headquarters right down on the corner so you know some people look at these uh people around here and see problems I see the immediate descendants of people that my family invited into our houses, fed, served drinks, laughed and danced with. I can't just walk away from these people, not in good conscience. And thank you.

Thanks for your testimony. Thanks.

Hi, everyone. My name is Tony Greeno. I'm 315 Jefferson. It's good to be here. I need this. Everybody here needs this. That's with me in a program. Come a long way off the streets, been off the streets for a few months, couple months since he's, and I just wanted to say that being at the cat given when, when I was there, they moved over and they got a little, they went through changes and You know, I got to see how they were damaged too. And I was damaged and all this, you know. Just like the cats, I'm happy right now where I'm at and being with my people, Kathy. I just ask that. If you can keep it going, it will help a lot of us that, you know, aren't felons, but we're all the same in homelessness and humans. Love and all that goes right along with it. And so does the house stability. And, you know, I haven't used in almost, it'll be 18 months. And Kathy. Kathy and Elizabeth and the whole organization have been a big part of that. It's making me realize that I'm able to take care of myself, be myself, and love myself and along with others, along with me as well. So I appreciate your time. Thank you.

Thanks so much for your testimony.

My name is Susan Portula. I'm currently living in the Women's Center. Thank God. There were no, it was a Packer weekend. So all the hotels were filled. Everything was filled. So I didn't have to sleep in the grass again. For two years, my ex-husband wouldn't give me any money. I had none. So I was on the street. So I've personally witnessed what goes on with him. I'm a retired human resources manager at Wisconsin Public Service. Kathy came to the house. The director came to the house or the hospital and visited me, discharged me early and residents helped me at home. They brought things to me. I can't tell you how much that meant to me. I... I can't walk anymore without AIDS. I'm disabled, but my mind is still there. And I can tell you, Green Bay, I did all the equal employment opportunity reports. For the 30 years I was in Wisconsin Public Service, and I'll tell you, Green Bay, the city of, is seriously out of compliance with national and state laws. I'm going to file a $10 million lawsuit against the city of Green Bay to make you change your acts. Thank you.

My name is Kathy Aretto. I live at 102 South Ashland Avenue here in Green Bay. And I love these people to death. And there is just about nothing in the confines of the law that I wouldn't do for them to help them be where they need to be and do what they need to do. I'll tell you, there's some of them that I've worked with for over a year. And in that year, it took a whole year to get some of them just to go to the doctor. Just to go to the doctor. Now, that's important because in that time, they weren't stable. And they were outside and they were sleeping at the pavilion and in the bushes and wherever it was that they could find a place to stay. They've been stable now for three or four months, really stable. And yesterday, that person went to the doctor. That person's also sober for the first time and I don't even know how long. Is everybody gonna stay sober? No, I don't think so. Do I hope and celebrate today for their sobriety? You betcha. And my hope is that they will continue to be sober and they will continue to make strides. Harm reduction has a saying that says any positive change is recovery. We've decided somewhere along the way that recovery looks like this and it's in this particular box. And I would challenge that thinking tonight to say recovery looks like Any positive change. And let me tell you, the whole house is here tonight. And every single person has made positive change in one way or another. I can also tell you that we've been there almost two full months. And there has not been one police call. Not one. And I don't know the stats because I'm not a stat person. That's Sarah and Sunny and other people. They could probably tell you. The police could probably tell you. That's not very common for folks that come from the park. I don't think they go very often without police calls. But we haven't had any. And they tell each other daily, hey, We got to do this. We got to do that. We want this. They want this. We have buy-in and we have hope. And we have people that were committed a promise in January that I have literally gone to the ends of the earth to make sure it was fulfilled. I will continue to do that day after day after day because I take my promises seriously. So understand that when I'm asking you to make a conditional promise to me by letting us be there, I take that seriously as well.

Thanks so much for your testimony. I think.

What?

Oh, oops. Might have some questions. Aldercroft and then Alderick.

So thank you, Kathy, for joining us tonight and supplying a 203, I believe, page operating plan. Sarah did it. Thank you, Sarah. Appreciate the work. It was a very comprehensive document. I had just received some information that maybe there were some name changes within there. So I was just hoping maybe you could kind of address, like, has there been any staffing changes since that was provided in our packet? And has there been, you know,

Yeah, there have been staffing changes almost all the way across the board. When we first filled it out, we had filled it out with some immediate names that we knew we were going to be able to get. help from right away. We have the full staff here minus one, so not the full staff. We have staff here minus one, and they're different, and our therapist will be different as well. So we, in looking at We had our therapist resign, and we wanted to make sure that we have the very best in trauma therapy in the greater Green Bay area, dare I say, northeast Wisconsin. And we are in talks now with her and just working out the details.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

I'll direct and then Presley.

Thank you, Mayor. Yes, a couple of questions. And one was around the therapist and just wondering if it's trauma therapy and is it one person that's trained in trauma and like AODA training?

So all of our staff has what's called lived experience. And today in the recovery world for mental health and or substance use, lived experts are valued. in that arena. And so personally, I would prefer to hire people with lived experience over degrees any day of the week, as long as they've come out the other side. And our staff has. They will also be trained in being trauma informed. They will be trained in recovery coach training, which we're working out now with a gentleman from Appleton to do that through SAMHSA. And so we should have that on the books within the next week or so. Collectively, we're also going to work with the gathering place. Surprise. They don't know that yet. And Amanda's house is, and make it open to the community at large for recovery. So we've got that for peer support. We're also looking to do formal certified peer support training, but that costs about $25,000 to bring a class to Brown County. And there has to be someone willing to flip that bill. If we don't have someone willing to pay that, they'll offer it to whatever counties will. So at this time, we're waiting for Brown County to have openings enough for our staff to get in there because I'd like them all to be certified through the state as I am.

So currently there's, do you have any programming on site?

We do. We have a recovery coach on staff and she currently is working through one-on-ones doing recovery coaching with individuals and making sure that they each have goals, they have plans, they are working towards them and looking at the short term and the long term and making plans for how to get there.

Okay. And then there were a couple things, concerns that were brought up during your different meetings that you had planning and your neighborhood meeting. And one of them was a question of whether you have your own 501c3 separate from Safe Haven Pet Sanctuary. Has that been Great question.

And we clarify this repeatedly, it seems, rightly so. They are completely separate organizations. Safe Haven Pet Sanctuary is this. Safe Haven Hope Center is this. More like sisters, not parent-childs. And so, yes, there are separate 501c3s. At this particular time, we're in process waiting with the IRS. And I don't know if you're familiar with that process, but apparently it can take a minute or two. Okay, so it's in process. Oh, yeah.

Okay, well, because I know if it's a 501c3, you can receive donations. It's hard to... stay afloat without the donors and they usually want to be able to, you know, a tax deduction.

Absolutely.

And then there was also brought up with a concern of drinking on site and residents sleeping overnight. I think that's what my understanding was. Non-residents sleeping overnight. I apologize.

Yeah. So what I'll tell you is that I haven't ever found that to be the case. I haven't heard that from staff. And the truth of the matter is, just being really transparent, we will have people that break rules. If these folks were rule followers, they'd be in other shelters, and there would be no need for a Safe Haven Hope Center. But the fact of the matter is, is not unlike myself and others, they are not really great at following rules. That said, there are consequences if you break the rules. And there are, while we don't eject people, we do for a night. We welcome them to come back in the morning. I'm a person of faith. And so for me... my mercies are new every day. And so I feel like that's what we should offer them too. So if they're found drinking, they will be asked to leave. Their alcohol will be dumped out and they will be ejected and then welcomed back tomorrow to try again. And we will just continue to do that day after day after day.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Alder Presley and then Alder Grant.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And thank you, Kathy, for being here and speaking. It's very clear from all the other testimony how important and impactful your work has been. I know that you would do this for free. And have. Do you have a plan in place to make sure that this Hope Center is financially stable going forward?

Oh, gosh, I sure hope so. We do, actually. We have had a steady funder that has been giving a small stipend. We put out a number of what we needed to run Bare Bones, and we have received that monthly since we've been in the house. And we have several people doing some work on the side. We have fundraisers scheduled. We have grants that we're looking at daily. to try to see if we can qualify for connecting with other people in the recovery world here in Green Bay to see if we can get together and do bigger grants that would satisfy our house and their needs.

Yeah, and I understand you don't have the 501c3 set up just yet, so that is a major obstacle. Do you have people on your board who have experience with this kind of fundraising, or do you have people in the organization that are prepared to take on that?

I believe so. Let me. Yes. They said, yes, we do. So I know that Binky is really good at fundraising. She, I think, did so for John Dewey for the four years that she was president of their board. And I know Sarah, as a former pastor of a church, did considerable fundraising. I did it with her. And I know Sunny has got to have tricks up her sleeve. But more than that, we have had people coming out of the woodwork. I have one person in particular that is an executive director for for quarter appointed special advocates who used to do fundraising as her career for JNC. And she has offered to help me and coach us in any way that we need help.

That's excellent. I know I work in the arts nonprofit world, and I found that the people with the most passion for the subject tend to be the worst at finding money for it. So I'm glad that you have folks who are helping you and are going to help make this work. So it eases my conscience a lot with the vote.

I do.

Appreciate your time. Alder Grant.

Thank you, Mary. Thank you for your testimony and explaining everything today. Just a couple of questions. Is your staff going to be CPR and AED trained? Anyone on site?

That's a fantastic question. I believe that Amanda is. And Brandon, are you? And Sarah is. So all but a couple of us are. And to be honest, I hadn't thought of that. And yes, yes, we will be. And I will be contacting someone this week.

to make sure that that's true. Okay, perfect. And I know in the plan, it does say that a staff member is there overnight. Is that correct? Yes. And I know during the temporary permit, how many nights were you there on site yourself? How many nights? Mm-hmm.

Oh gosh, I don't know. I could go back in the records and look.

I was like a few times, most of the nights, half the time. I just wanted to see how often you were there experiencing everything to see how it was running, to be able to let us know, you know, how many issues are we having and are they getting worked out and things like that. There was concerns of the, you know, management of it. So I just wanted to know how often you were there overnight for that.

10 to 20. I'm usually there from 12 to 14 hours a day. And so sometimes I go home and sleep. I am there on Saturday and Sunday. And I'm grateful that I have staff willing to come in at night. They also know, though, that if any incidents arise, and I mean any incidents arise, that I'm to be notified immediately after 911 if that's necessary first. Maybe one person on one call and one on the other even. So if any incidences of any magnitude have arisen, I've been notified immediately. I actually got dressed one night in my clothes over my nightgown.

Okay, perfect. Thank you. And I know you said that you are licensed. I also saw that this was established in 2026. But you've mentioned that you've been working with people for over a year. So I'm just wondering, like, in what capacity? How are you doing that just voluntarily on your own time or with an organization?

So I used to attend Samaritan's Heart Church and I worked with Jerry Bader to develop what is now known as Warming in the Heart on Sunday afternoons. And from that, got to know several of these folks and several of the people that were outside. So my husband and I would go after an event or somewhere and If we went out to dinner and we'd just bring blankets. And then we started to really kind of connect with them. And I found out that many needed health care. Many needed health care advocates. And then just started connecting with them much more closely.

Okay, perfect. Thank you. And then I was just reviewing your plan. I did see a section here when we call the police or emergency services, just if weapons or credible threats, physical violence, serious medical issues. What about if drugs are found? Okay.

If drugs are found, we will not call 911. That's not an emergency. And I believe in our policies, we have an addendum to what we first originally put in that says that we will utilize... the deter uh system of disposal so that the person if drugs are found they can have the option to leave or stay and if they stay they need to we will get the tear and we will bring it to them and they can dispose of their drugs there and it renders them inactive or they can leave

Okay. And then just one question. How have you handled complaints or concerns from your surrounding neighbors over the past month?

We've only had one neighbor complain so far, and we've handled that quite promptly, I thought, within 24 hours, if not less. And we give 48, I think, in our complaints. our operation manual. So, um, I thought we handled it quite well. As soon as a grief, we have neighbor grievance forms. And as soon as one is filled out and, and submitted to us, um, at that time we coordinate and depending on where it needs to go, the board or myself, we address it.

Perfect. In writing.

Okay. And how many people are on your board right now? We have four. Okay. Perfect. Thank you. Thank you.

Alder Shelton.

Kathy, just want to really thank you for being here. You know, I think probably most of us on this council believe that housing is a right that everybody should have here in the city. Just as a way of summary, we've kind of heard a lot of other folks, you know, testify here tonight. But why is there such a need for a shelter like this in our community?

So St. John's does a fantastic job with a great number of people. I commend them. I commend their staff. I couldn't imagine that many people and trying to corral them. My goodness. I'm hurting cats with nine or 12 or 15. So. But they have very strict rules and their rules are. set in stone. For instance, disrespect. They can expel someone for disrespecting staff. Sometimes when I get angry at home, I get angry and I will say words and I might yell. And my husband doesn't expel me because I vented or I... got animated much sometimes he might want to. He doesn't do that and I don't think neither should we. There have been times when residents and I have had words and that's okay. The only way for people to learn to make to make amends and to learn to correct those things is through working that out. So that's what we try to do. Now, that said, if there were a hundred of them, that would be quite different, I imagine. So St. John's is great for most. New Community is very, very good also for they do a phenomenal job. They are completely sober. So if someone's drunk or if they're still using any kind of substance, they're not allowed in. Additionally, though, we learned that in either shelter, trans people are not allowed either. So we found that gap as well. So now we have both of these gaps that we're filling, which are people that don't fit here and they don't fit here. And in the meantime, they fall through the middle. And so our hope is just to be that safety net that catches them so they don't fall.

Thank you. You're welcome. Alder Morgan?

Do you have stats of how many people are staying there so far that

We have nine people, nine residents.

Nine residents. And are they male, female?

Some of them. We have, I don't know, one, one, two, three. Three. You're not there yet. One, two, three, four. Four females.

So you haven't gotten close to the 20 yet.

No.

Do you have separate facilities then for males and females? Or how does that work?

No. Actually, they cohabitate. On the street, sometimes friendships are made and gender isn't important. And so that's not important to me either. Wherever somebody wants to sleep and they're comfortable, then I want them to be comfortable because that's where they're going to heal the best.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Any other questions?

Alder Hutchinson. Thank you for your testimony. So I'm looking at the applicant narrative and operations document. It's this document? Yes. Okay. I used to work on remediation projects, and we had something similar. It was called a site-safe plan. And you have, it's actually 243 pages, which is not abnormal for a site safety plan. This is the list of your addendums, which is not abnormal for a plan of this nature. Because you can refer to it. You can go to it. I don't know if you know how important this document is because it's your shield and it will be your sword. Okay. If you work according to this, you'll be safe. Yes. If you don't work according to this, you'll be vulnerable. Right. Okay. It's so important. On these projects I worked on, every day we had a site safety plan. It was five minutes. It was the first thing in the morning. And all the workers and all those people who were involved sat down for five minutes and they took one little piece of this and they discussed it. So over the year, you could pretty much discuss this whole thing. Okay. And you get to know it.

I love that.

Okay. I would highly recommend that. And if you're not adverse to that, I would hope you would pick that up.

I'm going to totally steal it right now.

Okay. Thank you. No, thank you.

I guess I don't have a question after that.

Anything else from the council? Thanks so much for your testimony. Okay.

My name is Carl Knight and I live at 711 South Broadway, Green Bay, Wisconsin, 54304. I'm also the owner of the Historic Charlton Theater located at 405 West Walnut Street, Green Bay, Wisconsin, 54303. Let me start by apologizing for following the headlining act. But thank you to Kathy, Sarah, and the board for their life-changing work. My apologies to any folks who have suffered through my speech in previous meetings. Supporting our unhoused and unsheltered community members is a deeply personal issue to me. Years ago, I lived through houselessness and struggled with participating in our community due to barriers to housing. thanks to the compassion of community organizations very similar to Safe Haven Hope Center, I was provided with opportunities which improved my quality of life and offered me the agency to live, work, and contribute in our community in a meaningful way. Unfortunately, like hundreds of other American cities, Green Bay continues to face challenges in addressing houselessness and housing all of our community members. Local shelters and service providers are regularly operating at or beyond capacity or with waiting lists reaching hundreds of individuals throughout the year. You all know by now the leadership at Safe Haven Hope Center have a proven record of rising to the occasion in our community to provide shelter, mentorship, training, and connection. They've proven Green Bay looks out for one another. Their new facility will represent another vital private investment along with new community shelter in St. John's in the wellbeing and stability of a segment of our community which public services alone cannot fully address. It's our opportunity to support private community partners in alleviating houselessness, an issue which aligns very closely with the city's own long-term planning and development mission. Ultimately, community development and community leadership isn't about being perfect, though it's about being brave. I've worked very closely with their leadership over the last couple of years, and I have absolute confidence in their team to continue leading with compassion. neighborliness, and bravery in improving the overall quality of life in our community and filling a vital resource gap in our downtown. Financing was mentioned. In order to contribute to Safe Haven Hope Center mission to house our community, my team and I at the Tower Open Theater are coordinating with the Safe Haven leadership to organize a community fundraiser in August, 2026. You'll all be formally invited to attend closer to the fundraising date. While a single fundraiser won't support their mission long-term, I know a number of other community partners who have interest in financially supporting the very vital work of Safe Haven as they open their new facility. I cannot tell you the number of times I've been told by local government it's a process. I'm urging you to support the process and approve Safe Haven's application for their conditional use permit. Let's continue to create a resilient Green Bay which works for all of us. Thank you.

Thanks for your testimony.

hello my name is amy zellner i live at 822 pine street and homelessness or houselessness or being unhoused is something that has affected me personally i have a deceased due to, I would say, lack of structure in this community for the unhoused. This person died homeless. And I feel like had they had more support, that maybe wouldn't have happened. So it is personal. And then that those experiences for me, prompted me to go to law school and become an attorney to advocate for people that are unhoused, disenfranchised, unable to have resources. So if anybody needs help with any issues like that, let me know. Yeah, it's unfortunate, and whether it's harm reduction, whether it starts with small improvements in lifestyle, people need a place to do that, and it shouldn't have to be on the street, and we should have some kind of place for people to do that safely. And when they're repeatedly treated awfully by any kind of establishment, they become scared to ask for help. When they continue to receive harsh treatment and lack of support, they stop asking for it, and then they die homeless. So I... hate to see more of that.

Thank you.

Just a note for our residents. I appreciate the applause, but we typically don't allow for that in the audience.

No applause when I step up, right?

No applause.

Jesse Burnett, 612 Stewart Street. I'm the executive director of St. John's Ministries. You know, at St. John's Ministries, we're part of a community network of shelter providers. We're all committed to making homelessness rare, brief, and not reoccurring. A couple of things that came out of this process, and I really hadn't intended on speaking, but I wanted to clarify a few things through this process. So number one, we at St. John's are a low barrier shelter. We have always been a low barrier shelter. This season, we sheltered 140 people per night between the two shelters for our emergency season. Last year was 141. The year before that, 121. The year before that, 102. So we have grown year after year, but fortunately this last season, we have stabilized the numbers, which hopefully is a good sign for our community. I also want to make sure we're clear that when the issue came up for its safe haven when it was the cat shelter on Broadway, when they were sheltering people. I think there is some insinuation that the shelters were at capacity, and I can't speak for any other shelter in town, but St. John's Ministries, we hadn't even reached close to capacity. We're allowed per the permit that you all have approved 140 men per night. The most we had this season was 128. This council approved us to go to 70 women. We peaked at 50. So we had room at the shelters. However, even though we're a low barrier shelter, we do still have some barriers. Number one, can't be on the sex offender registry. Number two, if you have an open warrant, I think it's very reasonable to settle that with the police. We don't want to shelter people evading law enforcement. Number three, and this is often difficult, if a person is not able to provide self-care oftentimes we're not able to shelter them because we don't have medical staff on site and we're not a medical grade facility at any of our locations. Third, fourth, I would add was if a person is transitioning to other shelter options or other housing options because we're a low barrier last resort shelter, We have made, we have kind of followed policy much more strict just so guests have forward movement. We are a emergency shelter. We're not meant to be a long-term place for a person to live. However, we have been sheltering people year after year for several years. That's the chronically homeless population that Green Bay continues to struggle with. And your case coordinators for the city of Green Bay, Pete and Jeremy, have done incredible work. Big fans of theirs. Then fifth, and I want to touch on this because it's important. We have a lot of we extend a lot of grace with the number of people we shelter to say that we just simply exit someone because they're, you know, having to say things to my staff. Yeah, of course, if it escalates to that, we try our best to extend a lot of grace, knowing the conditions that a person presents with mental health issues, drug, alcohol, addictions, sense of entitlement within some of our population we serve. However, if it continues to escalate, then we have to ask a person to leave. And even if we ask a person to leave, we usually allow them back in once they meet with their security director. So when you're sheltering a hundred and 28 men on a night, we can't have continual disrespect towards staff because what that will do is that it will discourage other people from being sheltered by us. Who wants to, you know, be sheltered by an organization that allows, you know, profanity, vulgarity, sexual comments, racial comments that are very inappropriate. So we have to enforce rules, but that doesn't mean that a person's expelled from our services entirely. And then lastly, Supervisor Eric, I said supervisor, I'm picking county government. Alderman Sheldon kind of mentioned this a little bit, and then someone responded. We shelter people regardless of their gender identity. So to say that we don't shelter people who identify as transgender is just simply not true. We do shelter people regardless of gender identity. I think the challenge is where and what shelter. So we have a policy. So I want to make sure very clear that when we have the poll snap that our shelter was available for people as long as they met that criteria. And second of all, if there's any member of our community who is a transgender, just reach out to us because if there is a need that you have, we'll try our best to shelter you with accommodations that would be sensitive to your personal situation.

Thanks for your testimony. Any questions? Ulrich?

Thank you, Mayor. So thank you for coming, Jesse. How many people, I know that you're extending, you've already been doing the men through the summer, and then now you're doing the women. And what are the requirements for that particular?

For the women's shelter expansion? So for newer members of the council, in September, this council approved us to have the women's shelter be a year-round facility, and it was a pilot initiative. We focused on four criteria. One is if you're chronically homeless or very vulnerable and you can't survive on the streets. Number two is if you're in an AODA program, so you're overcoming sobriety. The third would be if you're employed and you just simply don't have enough money saved, but you're continually going to work and we continue to shelter you. And then fourth would be if you were transitioning to a housing plan. So maybe you're saving a down payment, a deposit, security deposit, whatever, and And you just need a simply a place to stay. We started that with a pilot thinking anywhere from five to 20 women. I will say with the support of this council, we have been sheltering since April 30th, 20 women per night. So last night, I think it was 24 women. So we are moving forward with being more of a year round shelter option for our community. And then by having the women go to the women's shelter, we have maintained the safe sleep program at the men's shelter. Historically with the men and women sheltering together, it's just not always a good fit. You know, the co-ed nature of shelter, it's just a lot of intimate things that happen in a shelter environment. So with the women now at the women's shelter, we are able to shelter the men at the men's safe sleep program. And we have average 18 men per night. So So far since April 30th, we've been sheltering 40 people per night here in Green Bay. So good success for us. And so community effort, of course.

Thank you. Anything else? All right. Thanks again. Okay. Thank you.

Any other testimony? Yeah.

Hello, my name is Tim Turlett. I'm at 315 South Jackson, Green Bay, Wisconsin, 54301, which is the Safe Haven Hope Center. I've been there since day one. I just want to touch on something this gentleman said about St. John's. Obviously, I stayed at St. John's myself, and you, as being homeless and being on the streets, you're thankful for it. You can go there to eat, you can go there to shower, you can go there to sleep. So I'm not up here to bash them. However, as far as this gentleman speaking about his policies and how they work at St. John's, I was woken up after two hours and kicked out in the middle of winter at St. John's. I watched a guy get caught with a nicotine vape, kicked out for 45 days from St. John's. So I'm not saying that St. John's doesn't do any good, but we don't do that at St. Jalen Hope Center. You know, you're not going to get in trouble if you need a cigarette. Go outside and have a cigarette. It's simple things. St. John's had a policy where if you're on the streets and it's cold, you can come to the door, ring the bell, and ask for a blanket. I was denied numerous times. It's supposed to be a policy if you're hungry. Same as at the women's shelter, Wellspring. Come press the doorbell. And we'll bring you a plate. St. John's doesn't do these things. Do they house people? Absolutely, 100%. You know, I'm sure that everybody that stays there, at least hopefully most people are grateful for that. But to have to sit back and hear as somebody who's to stay there, that they're doing all these great things. They're kicking people out. for the pettiest things that they can find on a daily basis. And at Safe Haven Hope Center, we don't work like that. There, in that amount of group of people, we're like a family. Are we gonna have arguments? It's gonna be who ate my chips, you know, whatever it is. It's gonna be that, but we haven't had any serious incidents this day. And You know, I don't know. Father Paul?

Good evening. Father Paul Demuth, 413 St. John Street. Green Bay, Wisconsin, downtown across the street from St. John's Park. Lived in the community for over 40 years and lived downtown, many of those. I am one of the great cheerleaders for St. John's Shelter. They do a terrific job. But I also look out my front window quite often And there is that segment of men and women who just don't fit in because of various reasons. And I think that the safe haven is an alternative that's going to be very, very good for the community and for the individuals who just need a little bit more time, some nurturing in a family style kind of thing. And I've been there three or four times since they've opened. I've had a couple of suppers with them and pretty darn good. And I just, the atmosphere in the place so far that I have been able to determine is very good. Kathy is doing a great job along with her, her team. And I just want to affirm them in their new ministry. It's going to have bumps. That's for sure. It's adjusting to the neighborhood. But I think it's not half bad that it's across the street from the police department parking lot. You know, if you've got to have a location that if there are issues, someone can come readily. and work with them, I think is a good thing. So I speak in favor of the shelter and wish them the best as they work out all of the issues that they are going to need to and keep inviting me for supper.

Thanks for your testimony.

Anyone else?

My name is Christopher Pearson. I live at 315 South Jefferson Street. I was struggling with, I got lost in addiction for a while. You know, I don't have any family left. They're all passed away. But this house has welcomed me with open arms. They've helped me find groups to go to. I'm sober now. I've been able to accomplish a lot of things that I haven't been able to do in the last, I'd say at least two years. And I've gotten it done within two months here at the house. So they've really accepted me as part of their family there. And I really appreciate that. Yeah. Keep it short and sweet. Thank you guys.

Thanks for your testimony.

Hello, my name is Sarah Laubert. I live at 900 Clement Street, apartment 6. I have volunteered at the Hope Center. I haven't had the joy yet of meeting everyone, but I have walked in one time with food in my hands and looked in my eyes and asked, can I get you anything? Are you thirsty? Are you hungry? How are you? And I think about that a lot, that These people who need these supplies the most will see me ready to eat, ready to go, drink in my hand, bag in the other, and ask, what help do I need? I think constantly. Man, I'm bored. What can I do at the Hope Center? It's so nice there. And maybe that's just who I am, but I feel it speaks volumes that I, as a volunteer, am constantly thinking, ooh, what if we did that? Would they like all these colored pens I have? What if I, ooh, what if we had like a spa day? And all these ideas and all these everything to... make this house feel more like a home than they've already made it. And I think it's very important to recognize that a lot of us in this room are one leg break, one car malfunction away from being cold and being on the street and needing to ask for help. And Safe Haven so far has answered those calls for help and I I'd ask you guys, when and if you need help, where would you like to go? Wouldn't it be nice to have somewhere like this to go? God forbid, should anything happen. Thank you.

My name is Sunny Lang. I live at 1815 Cormier Road, which is a Schwabna, so don't come for me. And I know y'all love to see me up here. I am on the board as the secretary. So right now I kind of just take notes and hang out. My thing isn't necessarily housing, it's food. I have a food ministry at my house. I rent, it's mobile, pull it in and out of my garage every day. So I just put some non-perishables and fresh produce that I grow in my community garden plots every year out for free. And I have really enjoyed working on this project. It's truly grassroots. This is kind of backwards, to be honest. A lot of other projects I've worked on have already had a plan in place before the doors have opened. So as I understand it, conditional use permit means that we got to come back to it and make sure everything's going well, right? That's a genuine question. Yeah, so nobody's expecting it to be perfect right away. I already was really connected to my community, but working on this project has been a little bit different because last time I spoke at city council, I came up here staunchly opposed to short-term rentals, and I still am. But you know who reached out to me and said, what can we do to help? The Short-Term Rental Alliance. So now they're having ideas about what can we do to help fill this need too. Housing first is housing first. It comes first. Yeah, so that's all I have to say. Thank you.

Thanks for testimony.

Anyone else?

Hi, my name is Lizard King. I live at 611 Abrams Street, Green Bay. And I'm a transgender man. So I wanted to speak on that gap that was mentioned. And I do want to take a moment to say St. John's is fantastic. The fact that they have that structure allows them to help a much wider or larger amount of people. But for people who need that additional help, you need smaller scale harm reduction type things. It's the same as with schooling. People are different. They have different needs. So if we want to get people to the same place, successful in society, healthy, sometimes that means different solutions, you know, so it's not a competition, it's people working together. To my understanding, when I volunteered at St. John's, it was that transgender people were put in the shelter aligning with their gender at birth, assigned gender at birth. Is that still correct? So if you're a transgender woman, you would be put in the men's shelter? Okay. Okay. I really appreciate that change. That's a step in the right direction. But say a transgender woman has an ID that still identifies them as male. Statistically, we know that transgender women are one of the most at risk populations for violence. Putting them in men's shelters, in men's prisons puts them at risk for violence. And I'll also say, you know, poverty, trauma, being homeless, it's very dehumanizing. And being transgender, you often get dehumanized. And there is really good intentions, but just not enough education. And I appreciate you. I don't mean to put you on the spot. But, you know, saying a transgender, transgender is an adjective. It's just stuff like that where it's the way I was spoken to as a volunteer at St. John's. There was an incident and they did come to me as staff and say, like, this person shouldn't have been saying those things about transgender women. But to my knowledge, no further action was taken. And it's when these things happen, it makes it hard as a transgender person to want to stay in that shelter. It makes you feel even more dehumanized, even more in danger. And so for many of us, if a place doesn't fully understand where we're coming from, it makes it harder to accept that help. And I think, again, I love St. John's. You guys do amazing things. It's just that there are so many different people. We need different solutions to help everybody get to the point where they can be happy and healthy. And so I think Safe Haven is going to be an amazing addition to our community. And, you know, that we don't need to have a single homeless person in Green Bay. And statistics show that it costs less to just house people than the ER visits and police calls and all of the other steps we have to take to take care of people on the street. And I think it would be amazing if we got rid of homelessness in Green Bay and put the city on the map and created a solution that could be used in other places. So I really appreciate your time and I love everything about this community and everybody stepping up to try to solve this problem. And yeah, again, I don't want to criticize St. John's. You guys do really great things, but you know, as a, as a transgender person, it can be an additional barrier in receiving help from these places and St. John's could be a way, you know, we could, we could have a small shelter like St. John's just for great people. So I think that this is a great step in the right direction for our community. Thank you.

What's your testimony? There isn't anyone else.

Motion to close the floor.

Motion to close the floor. Opposed by Alder Prophet. Is there a second? Second by Alder Hinkfess. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed nay. The ayes have it. Motions. Alder Prophet.

I'll start. I'm sure there'll be more comments to follow. First thing, though, that I want to say is I just want to really appreciate the nine residents. I see Chris walking back in and I know we lost one, but I will never forget the first time I came to a city council meeting and I sat and I held the wall and got so nervous to come up and speak. So I just want to appreciate you, Chris. You're like the cheeriest person ever. So I keep up that cheer. I really appreciate it. I do think there is a middle ground, as Kathy mentioned, where some folks are just unfortunately slipping. This is a small home with a max of 20. I think we have, I'm glad I was corrected, 243 pages. So a very robust plan in place that I think, again, directly next to the police department as well within, I mean, we could throw a rock and it would hit their property.

So that makes me feel comfortable as well.

So again, just want to thank the residents. They welcomed me into the home as well, and it was very nice to get a tour of the facility beforehand. I do have an amendment I'd like to propose. It would be a seventh addition to staff recommendations. So I would make a motion to add that the applicant shall appear before the Common Council approximately six months following the approval of the conditional use permit to provide a status report regarding operations and compliance with the conditions of approval.

Is there a second for that? Seconded by Alder Preston?

Any other comments?

All right.

Comments on the amendment from Alders? Seeing none on the amendment. Sure.

Alder.

Thank you, Mayor. Okay. So just making clear. So coming back in six months, giving a report. Basically, that's what you're asking for. Okay. All right. And I was going to make the motion for 90 days. So I guess I will compromise.

Thank you. Sounds good. All in favor will say aye. Aye. Opposed nay. You guys have it. That amendment is adopted. Alder Hutchinson makes a motion to approve as amended, seconded by Alder Ritterbush. Discussion on that. Alder Grant.

Question for the police department. Are they required to contact non-emergency or someone if they are in possession of drugs?

Well, the way the Wisconsin's drug possession statutes work, it is possible for a staff member to be, I guess it is conceivable at least, that a staff member could run afoul of our drug possession laws by being in possession of drugs and disposing of them. There's a whole section, and I'm certainly not I don't want to give anyone legal advice, but there's a whole section on drug disposal programs and some exceptions to the drug possession rules and the Wisconsin statutes around 961-337 that I don't think would apply here because, as I understand this, there has to be a federal permit. But there are other options. We don't have to charge someone for every amount of drugs that we C's for destruction, for example. So, you know, maybe a way to make it a little safer for everyone would be for us to get together. You know, this is the first I'm hearing of this part of their plan here. But, you know, I think it might be a little bit better for law enforcement to dispose of that stuff. And we do that for people already all the time. I mean, we collect prescription medication in our lobby.

Mm-hmm.

So we might be able to work something out that would keep them from running afoul of that.

Okay. I guess the next question for staff is that something that we can make part of the PUD that they are required to work out a program or system with our police department for disposal of drugs? Director Nierwig?

Absolutely. We could add that as a condition.

Okay. And then one last question. If they have a licensed recovery coach, does that require them to be licensed as any sort of like treatment facility when we're offering services like that?

No, we don't believe so. Other shelters have additional services that are provided. So I get it's a gray area, but no.

Okay. All right. Then I would like to offer an amendment to add as part of the PUD that they work with our police department and all drug confiscation must go through our police department.

Seconded by Alder Profit. The motion, sorry, the amendment was made by or offered by Alder Grant. Seconded by Alder Profit. Discussion?

Alder Hutchinson. Okay. In their 243 page document, there are the words that any attempt to bring in illicit substances, drug paraphernalia, or medication for the purposes of misuse will result in the confiscation of items and may require police involvement. Consistent with SHHC's weapons, contraband, and safety policies. So there's already words that connect this type of incident, connecting it to the police department.

clarification says may so i would like it to be required okay if it involves specifically illicit substances is that what you're talking about yeah i mean it's all in words and so first well i mean even prescription are illegal if someone were to get their hands on prescription drug that isn't meant for them it could be dangerous So like the police department said, they have the option for every regular citizen to hand over those without any questions. I just would like to make sure these are properly getting disposed of. I'm not looking for a punishment or anything like that. I just want to make sure that these are properly getting disposed of.

Gotcha. Okay.

Thank you. Chief Davis, any comments on the wording that's been offered?

Yeah, I think if you change it to, just that they work with us to dispose of drugs that are found on site. I didn't read the whole 247-page document, but I do see in here where there's a plan.

It's on page 84.

There's a plan that's in the agenda item here that specifically says that basically staff, and I think we heard that from one of the folks who spoke earlier, for staff to use these drugs. destruction pouches and that's where you know again let's be realistic i don't see the green bay police department going and initiating a criminal investigation um into drug possession by the staff at a facility like this but uh you know we also aren't the only police agency in town um So I can't speak for other agencies that have jurisdiction in our community. But I think a safer way of doing that is just to require that we take it for destruction. We'll have to have some discussions about the details of how that works, but I don't even know why we would need to know who it came from. We found this in our facility someplace. I think we'd be sufficient. We can take it, put it in the property room, and we send truckloads of drugs off to be safely disposed of.

Okay, great. So you're comfortable with the amendment? Yeah. Great. Yes. Any other comments on the amendment, Alderac?

Forgive me, Mayor. Thank you. It's not directly on this amendment, but I feel like it's something that needs to be said that Green Bay has done a lot for the homeless. You know, just kind of talking about some of the comments that were made and we've come a long way. I think there's a lot of different organizations, not one better than the other. they each have their strengths, they each have their weaknesses. So I would like to recognize that and I appreciate all of the organizations for where they fit within our community. So I just felt really strongly that I needed to say that because I don't want this, you know, comparison. It's just not helping anything. And I do also want to point out something that was brought up. Actually, I had gone to Ashwaubenon when they were They had certain ordinances that they were considering. And they did talk about homelessness being a regional problem. And it is a regional problem. And so far, if we look around, The cities, the towns around our area within Brown County, Green Bay is the only place that has homeless shelters. So yay for Green Bay. And I appreciate all of the work that our staff does. Steve and, I mean, Pete and Jeremy and Josh went on a ride along with them. I learned a lot. They're doing great. Just tremendous work. So I just want to do a shout out to all of our staff and all of the organizations within Green Bay. And I'm putting out a challenge to the areas in this region to step up. Thank you.

Thanks, Alder. Anything else on Alder Grant's amendment?

Alder Press. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Can I just hear the text of the amendment again? Alder Grant.

Do you mind repeating what you said, Chief Davis? I would, yeah, be fine with your guidance.

I think Clerk Jeffries maybe has it.

Sure. Excuse me.

Essentially giving a couple things you said. To amend the PUD to change may work with PD for drug confiscation to shell. Perfect.

Anything else? All right. Any more discussion on the amendment? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed nay? The ayes have it. That amendment is adopted.

Motion to approve as amended twice over.

Alder Prophet makes a motion to approve as amended. Seconded by Alder DeLee. Any discussion on that?

I do just want to make one statement to that. You know, thank you all for echoing what our community does. And I agree, I am a little disappointed in our surrounding communities for not stepping up the way we have. You know, I am a little concerned about how people were treated in opposition of this. I've seen... some pretty nasty comments and how people were treated on social media in person people who expressed concerns and constructive criticism um were not treated very well and even the city itself was portrayed pretty negatively when a warning letter was sent versus a citation when we very well could have just sent a citation um i think when we lead with that it causes tension immediately. If that is how this project is going to continue to be worked together on, I don't feel confident in it. We need to be able to communicate and hear each other's concerns and not treat each other with disrespect because we have a difference of how this problem can be solved. Thank you, Steph Guzman, for saying that. It's not necessarily that people are against helping the homeless population. Sometimes we have a difference in ideas of how to address it. That was perfectly said. And I do believe that, you know, a lot of these shelters have rules not just for getting people back on their feet, but for the safety of the residents and the staff themselves. If we don't have staff and volunteers able to work at these facilities because of the way they're being treated or their safety, how are any of these places going to be successful? And I think we all want to see success. I appreciate the amendment of the six-month period. I do wish it was 90 days. I am very concerned that a lot of the... you know, concerns or treated with disrespect. And I am nervous about the ability of this organization to, you know, make this successful and a safe environment for all people. Thank you.

Anything else? I think with their guidance document, And if they do go through it in a daily basis and communicate internally. And I think if there's a dialogue between the city and Safe Haven, I think it increases the potential of being successful. I think we want it all to be successful. And I think we can take their anchor and settle it down and have it more helpful. I think we can all come together I think as we have and make this work. Those are my final words. Thanks. All the problems.

Just one brief comment on the amendment. I talked to staff about their recommendation number four first before deciding to add the number seven. So if at any point within the next six months, council, plan commission, our development director want to bring it forward before that six months, we all have the capacity to do that. So that's why I recommended six months because if for some reason someone wants to bring it forward, they have that within their purview according to number four. So that's why I did six months.

Right. Alder, Ritterbush, then Presley.

I just want to touch on Alder Grant's comments. This came at the most vulnerable time in our city when it was so cold that they decided to do what they did. You know, yeah, they didn't get the permits, but I think we got to forget, forget. We got to look out for the best interest of all of our citizens. So to pin them in a corner to say that they broke the ordinances back in january when it was 30 below zero i don't think that's proper to to make those kind of comments i think they're going to do a wonderful thing i thank them for stepping up every shelter has stepped up and yeah we have work to do in our county side to get them to help us but i don't get straight i don't think it's fair to to make comments like that that when we're in the most vulnerable time in the winter that's all i got to say thank you the press thing

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yeah, I'm inspired by the work that this group has done, and I'm very happy to vote. for this CUP and I hope it goes through unanimously because I think, you know, what Alda Grant and what Steph Guzman said, we all see a need and we may have different ideas of how we're going to get there, but like these people saw a need and worked really, really hard and based it on the passion that they have and then built the expertise behind them and the forces for the fundraising and for the drafting their, their plan and getting the professionals that they need. That passion has driven them so far. And now this is where we can add on to that. We can give them another thing that they need to drive that passion forward. I've not seen people as passionate as the people who spoke tonight, who spoke at the plan commission. We're at that, neighborhood meeting. There's just a real fire behind this. And I'm glad that this body has the opportunity to continue to build that fire. I'll just say as a piece of advice from a fundraising perspective, this is probably the most press you're going to get unless something goes terribly wrong. So roll that into a fundraising pitch, please. Get your funders out there. Get that bag. But yeah, thank you. Thanks, Alder. Alder Shelton?

Yeah, I just want to say that I think I can speak for everybody on this council when I say we want this to be successful. And I'm really, I think, to me, this is what makes our community great is that people step up for each other. And to echo what Alder Presley said, like, That's what this shelter was about. You can see that in the passion with which so many people came and spoke in support of it. And I'm really proud to support this with the amendments. I think we've had a very good conversation tonight where we've added two really strong amendments that will help ensure that this effort is successful. So thank you.

Thanks, Alder. Anything else, Alder Grant?

Just for clarification on Alderman Rush's comment, I did not speak illy about the organization for their actions during the cold temperatures. I spoke illy of their reaction of when the city said, in order to operate like this, you must do it in the correct way with a warning letter and explaining how to move forward properly. Thank you.

Anything else? Now the motion is to approve as amended. All in favor say aye. Opposed nay. You guys have it. And that item has been approved as amended. Thanks to you all for coming and for your advocacy and all the great work. Report of the Finance Committee.

Motion to approve.

Motion to approve. Maybe Alder Profit. Seconded by Alder Presley. Items to be handled separately.

Five.

Five. Any others? I think that's the one.

Yeah. She's good.

Yeah. Any others? Hearing none others, all in favor of approving the remainder of that report, signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed, nay. If the ayes have it, the report has been approved with the exception of item five, Alder Hinkvist.

Thank you. During our meeting, we had some very robust discussion on this. And then based on some conversations that I've had with staff, I think we should, I want to make an amendment that we go ahead and we approve the key, what is it called? The key cafe. Not understanding during that meeting that this was all kind of, goes together with the GPS and everything like that. If we wait, we cannot do it till January 1st, which we lose six to nine months of debt. So I want to make an amendment and that I recommend approval for the key. Just a motion to approve? Motion to approve.

Motion to approve. Maybe Alder Hintz seconded by Alder Prophet. Discussion? Yeah, Alder Hintz.

Thank you. Alderhan, because you mentioned data on collecting, monitoring it. I just have a question for staff. We approved GPS tracking in the vehicles. What kind of data can we collect from that that's different than this?

I guess I can start. I'm definitely not the expert at GPS or Key Cafe, but the difference is that the GPS is going to collect, I guess, the routes and also it has like a fault code in it so that mechanics know what's wrong with the vehicle. This is going to be a scheduling software, which we can't, don't have in the gps system that's what the biggest difference is in the gps system can we see you know roughly how often a vehicle is utilized like 50 of the time or 90 of the time i think you could but what you don't what you can't do is you can't assign the vehicle and you don't know when it's available or not that's the biggest difference the availability of the vehicle

Okay, and then I guess if any staff want to speak to this, because there's many departments here, how many times have you needed a vehicle and there was a shortage besides going to lunch?

Sorry, I didn't mean to say lunch. It wasn't for lunch. No, I misspoke on that. So what I would say is, I think most departments can say that when they need a vehicle, like police and fire work well together with like different vehicles, they usually know who to contact, they know who to call. And I think some other departments at City Hall don't really have a system to really know what vehicles available or not. They just kind of know who to go to, and they just hope that vehicle's available. So if there's any other department that can speak to it, that's just my understanding. Well, just on that, I mean, it's...

we're trying to move to is is a situation where there's less of a kind of scarcity mindset right where every department is kind of siloed off from every other one and so you know parks needs five vehicles and dpw needs six vehicles and uh you know community economic development needs five you know whatever it is right we want to get to a point where you have a real shared motor pool and ultimately you could bring down the number of vehicles that you purchase Because with the AVL, you're actually tracking how much mileage is going on each one. And then with the Key Cafe, you have this motor pool that everybody can go to. And you don't necessarily have to have X vehicles for each department. So really what we're trying to do is reduce spending overall with the number of vehicles that we have within the city.

Sure. And I do support that. And I guess that's the reason why I was questioning utilization. Say a parks department has an SUV that's used 50% of the time, and so does DPW. Can they come together and say, hey, look, we have two vehicles at 50% of the time. How can we share these or reduce our stock? So that's why I'm just wondering if we're accomplishing some overlapping goals. And like I said at the finance meeting, committee. I'm not against this idea. I would just like to see if this is something that's going to have ongoing expenses and be worked into the budget. For the price that it's at, I would like to see if it can be worked into the budget. I understand our ARPA pool is big, but once it's gone, it's gone. And I just know there's a lot of needs within our city. So that's the only reason, again, I'm not against this project. I just would like a different funding source.

Excellent. Anything else? All direct?

And thank you, Mary. I would like to reiterate what Alder Grant is saying. And I think that if it's something that's going to be an ongoing thing, that it should be in the budget. So I am against referring it to staff and I would like to have it looked into adding to the budget. Thank you.

And I appreciate that. The real value, though, of this fund is that, in my opinion, is that it is outside of the budget. So it allows for us to respond more nimbly when somebody within a particular department or the organization has an idea to actually make things more efficient. We don't have to wait for the full-fledged budget cycle to play out so we can act more quickly, hopefully to create more efficiencies within the city. So that's one of the driving reasons behind establishing this in the first place. Any other comments? All in favor will say aye. Aye. Opposed nay.

Nay.

You guys have it. That item is approved. Park Committee.

Motion to approve.

Motion to approve, made by Alder Prophet, seconded by Alder DeLee. Items here to be handled separately. Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed nay. You guys have it. Personnel. Motion to approve, made by Alder Presley, seconded by Alder Ritterbush. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed nay. You guys have it. That report has been approved. Informational items, building report, and municipal court report in your packet.

Resolutions.

Motion to suspend the rules.

I was just looking.

Oh, we'll just. Yes, motion to adopt number one made by Alder Presley. Seconded by Alder DeLee. Discussion on that? Seeing none, all in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, nay. You guys have it that resolution. Oh no, we need a board vote. Board vote on resolution one.

Yes.

It's approved unanimously. Resolution two.

Motion to amend to approve condition seven that was added.

Motion to approve is amended as reflected earlier in the agenda. Made by Alder Prophet. Seconded by Alder Presley. All in favor will say aye. Opposed nay. The ayes have it. And the resolution is amended.

Motion to adopt as amended.

Motion to adopt as amended. Made by Alder Prophet. Seconded by Alder Hinkfess. Yes, Alder to Baker on that motion.

Did we not have a second amendment on that resolution?

Right, so the amendment was to amend the resolution to reflect all of the changes that were made earlier on in the process.

Okay, that's everything. Yeah.

All right, thank you.

Yes.

Any other comments? Seeing none, we'll use the board. All right, and that is passed 10 to 2. Adjournment. Motion to adjourn. Made by Alder DeLee. Seconded by Alder Ritterbush. All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed nay. The ayes have it. We're adjourned. Thanks, everyone.