Finance & Personnel Committee - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Welcome to the finance and personnel meeting. All members of the finance and personnel committee are here except for council member, Kayla, and she is excused. So the first item in under new business is 25Dash1294. Resolution approving the partial vacation of public right away along the western side of the 1800 block of 13th Street South.

Council member Jansen. Move to approve. I have a motion to approve by council member Jansen and second by council member Celeste Nicole. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we'll move ahead with the vote.

That motion is passed unanimously. Moving on to agenda item 25 dash one three one nine. Resolution approving twenty year lease extension with the La Crosse Queen for the business at Riverside Park located at 401 Front Street South. Council member Jansen. Move to approve.

I have a motion to approve by council member Jansen and a second by council member Slesnikow. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we'll move on to the vote. That motion is passed unanimously. Moving on to, item number 25 dash one three two seven.

Resolution allocating town of Madera fire contract escrowed funds to offset new fire station construction cost overruns. Council member Jansen. Move to approve. I have a motion to approve by council member Jansen and a second by council member Slesnico. Is there any discussion?

Director Hawkins.

Thank you, chairperson. Doing some additional calculations, I did notice that we, I would request one amendment to the dollar amount. It was off by $20. So if I could get an amendment to this to $662,351.31, that would be appreciated.

Council member Jansen?

I would move that amendment.

Amendment moved by council member Jansen, seconded by council member Slesnikow. So we're voting on the amendment to change it to $662,351.31. And can we have that vote, please? And that amendment has passed unanimously. Moving back to the, resolution that was moved by council member Jansen, seconded by council member Sesniko.

Is there any discussion on the original, item? Amended. As amended. Seeing none, we'll move to the vote. And that motion is passed unanimously. Moving on to, item number two five dash one three two eight. Resolution authorizing the appointment of an interim La Crosse Regional Airport director effective 10/24/2025. Council member Jansen. Move to approve. I've a motion to approve by council member Jansen and second by council member Northwood.

Council member Jansen, council member Celeste Nicole.

Thank you, chair. I'm wondering if director Fransen can give just give us an idea of the amount of time going through a search for a new airport director? What's the anticipated timeline on that?

Thank you, council member Slesnico. I would anticipate that we wouldn't be looking to have, someone in that role fully until likely May or June 2026. This is strictly based off of we will have the job posting active until December 23. We will do likely around the virtual interviews, within the month of January, and then we'll have in person interviews. But then there's potential that a candidate would need to relocate to our area, and those things take time as well. So that's, an estimate of what I would give you as May or June.

Thank you. Any

other discussion? Seeing none, we'll move on to the vote. That motion passes unanimously. The next item on our agenda is 25 dash one three two nine, employee handbook annual review for 2026. Council member Slesnikow?

Move to approve.

Move to approve by Council Member. Seconded by Council Member Northwood. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we'll move forward the vote. And that motion is passed unanimously. Next item is 25 dash one three three two, resolution approving a lateral transfer memorandum of understanding, MOU, between the city of La Crosse and the International Association of Firefighters, local number 1 twenty seven. Council member Northwood?

I move to approve.

Move to approve by council member Northwood, seconded by council member Sleznikol. Is there any discussion? Council member Sleznikol.

Thank you. I'm wondering if chief Schott might be able to give us an overview on what exactly this means.

Sorry. Oh, the red light was on there. Thanks for the question, councilmember Sleznikow. This is one of three that are coming before you tonight regarding, the last collective bargaining agreement that's that was reached with the Local one twenty seven. The first one involves, some language, with the lateral transfers, and, basically, it was a language cleanup.

So there was confusion, about a step d and a step e when it came to applying longevity. And longevity needs to be earned as you are working for the city for a period of time. Lateral transfers coming in are awarded a step d, which means they're awarded for their prior service coming for a different agency coming to our agency. So there needed to be a distinction in that, and the the wording contradicted itself. So with the help of, director Franzen, we were able to clean up that language and come to an agreement, in the MOU with the local one twenty seven.

Thank you.

Any other discussion? Seeing none, we'll move forward with the vote. Thank you, chief Schott. And that motion passes unanimously. Next item is 25 dash one three three six resolution resolution allocating unspent capital funds from CIP twenty twenty four eight fifty six Cottonwood Trail Culvert replacement project and CIP twenty twenty five and twenty twenty six five fifty one Marsh Hydrology Study and Implementation to CIP twenty twenty four eight fifty seven Grand Crossing Trail reconstruction.

Councilmember Jansen. Move to approve. Move to approve by council member Jansen, seconded by council member Slesnikol. Is there any discussion? Council member Jansen. I'd appreciate if maybe Jim could come up

and just explain what what's happening here.

Brett? Thank you. Because this project is on a relatively tight timeline in 2026, we wanna make sure that we have enough funds allocated to it so that in January when we put it out to bid, we can award that bid between the various environmental phases and the DOT. It has to be done in segments through that year. So we wanna make sure we have enough funds to do that. And with moving these funds, we should be able to accomplish that.

Thank you, Jim.

You're welcome. Any other discussion? I just wanna say thank you to you and to Leah and to Sammy. It's good to see that these projects are being completed because it not only helps the marsh, but it helps the trails and it helps flood mitigation on the North Side. So we No really appreciate further discussion.

Let's move ahead with the vote. That motion passes unanimously. Our next item is 25 dash one three five two. Resolution authorizing the mayor and city clerk to sign state municipal agreement for the reconstruction of La Crosse Street from 7th Street to 12th Street. Project ID numbers 7575Dash09Dash012171.

Council member Northwood. Move to approve. Move motion to approve by council member Northwood, seconded by council member Sleznikow. Is there any discussion? Council member Jansen.

So I won't be, supporting this project. This is a prime example of, the residents and the business owners, being ignored, and asking to keep street parking. And so, for that reason, I won't be supporting it.

Is there any further discussion? Thank you. Let's move on with the vote. This motion passes three to two. Next item on the agenda, 25 dash one three five seven, resolution allocating $2,000,000 to the employee trust employee benefit trust fund.

Council member Newberry.

Move to approve.

Move to approve by Councilmember Newberry, seconded by Councilmember Schlesnikow. Any discussion? Seeing none, we'll have the vote. And that motion passes unanimously. Item number 25 dash one three five eight.

Resolution encumbering additional funds from previous allocations for the Rose Street streetscape and the Saint James Street reconstruction projects. Contract capital c, capital u, capital r, capital b, twenty twenty four dash zero two nine. Council member Jansen.

Move to approve.

Move to approve by council member Jansen, seconded by council member Northwood. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, go ahead with the vote. That motion passes unanimously. Our next item is 25 dash one three five nine. Resolution authorizing the mayor to file application for transit operations and capital assistance for 2026 with the Federal Transit Administration. Council Member Slesnikow?

Move to approve.

Move to approve by council member Slesnico, second by council member Newberry. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we'll move on with the vote. And that motion passes unanimously. Next item on our agenda is 25 dash one three six zero resolution authorizing the mayor to file for 2026 transit operations and capital assistance with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

Council member Newberry.

I move to approve.

Move to approve by council member Newberry, seconded by council member Schlesnikow. Is there any discussion on this? Seeing none, go ahead with the vote. And that motion passes unanimously. Next up, 25 dash one three six four, resolution approving a vacation conversion memorandum of understanding, MOU, between the city of La Crosse and the International Association of Firefighters, IAFF local number 127.

Council Member Sleznikow?

Move to approve.

Move to approve by Council Member Sleznikow, seconded by Council Member Newberry. Chief Schott, do wanna come up and give us just a quick update of what this means? Thank you.

Again, appreciate the questions on this one. Is it the way that it reads, it can be a little bit complicated. Our people that work for the fire department either work on shift, which is the majority, and then there are some that are on days. And the whole goal is to have a ratio of time off and the vacation schedule that is equal on both sides. As it was discovered going through this last contract, we discovered two things.

One, the vacation the ratio of time off for people on shift versus time that are people on days is not equal. So we had to remedy that. The second thing we realized, and this is not just me, this is the Local one hundred twenty seven, also human resources, trying to find the correct conversion factor in order to, allow that ratio to be fluid back and forth between days and shift. So when someone goes on light duty or they're transferred to the inspection bureau or they're in the training department, if they go back and forth, we need to have an equalized conversion so that that time is equal and the and the ratio is is the same. So this MOU is agreed upon, again, by the local and by human resources and is gonna be hopefully, make things a lot clearer not only just for the the members themselves, but also for for finance and payroll when it comes to that.

So I know it it can be a structured agreement. It can be difficult to kinda wrap your head around, but that's gonna make things a lot easier for us to make sure that the CBA is is fair and equal to all.

Thank you, chief Schott. Any discussion? Any questions for chief Schott? Seeing none, we'll move ahead with the vote. Thank you, chief shot.

That motion passes unanimously. Next step is 25 dash one three six seven resolution approving a collective bargaining agreement between the city of La Crosse and the Amalgamated Transit Union, local number 519. Council Member Jansen? Move to approve. Move to approve by Council Member Jansen, seconded by Council Member Slesnikow?

Any further discussion? We'll move ahead with the vote. And that motion passes. I just needed clarification. Did I miss a something on the agenda? And which number is it? Thirteen sixty six. Thank you. K. We're gonna kinda jump around here.

25 dash one three six six, resolution approving a sick leave and person personal business days conversion memorandum of understanding between the city of La Crosse and the International Association of Firefighters, local number 127. Council Member Slesnico?

Move to approve.

Move to approve by Council Member Slesnico, second by Councilmember Northwood. Is there any discussion? Councilmember Slesnikow.

I just wanted to thank the Chief and Rebecca for the work to do to try to make sure this is worked out to the to the benefit and agreement of of all involved. I know it can get to be kind of challenging. It sounded like conversion. It you know, things like that get complex to try to make it work. So to come up with a solution or solutions that meets everyone's needs, I I appreciate the work that goes into that.

Any other discussion? Seeing none, we'll move ahead with the vote. And that passes unanimously. Next step is 25 dash one three seven one. Resolution authorizing the stormwater utility to reallocate unused funds from closed capital projects and appropriate additional funds for capital project needs.

Council member Slesnico?

Move to approve.

Move to approve by council member Slesnico, second by council member Newberry. Is there any discussion? Council member Jansen. I think

helpful if staff came up and helped the public understand why we have money left over from projects from 2020 and 2021.

Thank you, council Councilmember member Jansen. Yes. So the I have three resolutions before you tonight. So this will kind of, relate to all three. So at least twice a year, I work with the, engineering staff to review previously approved capital projects and capital equipment budgets, Managing water, sewer and stormwater systems is, of course, no small task and the capital project planning and budgeting process is very complex. Oftentimes, projects are scheduled. They may move from year to year depending on the needs that may change. Once we've got it in the budget, something can change. So sometimes we come in under budget. Sometimes we come in over budget.

Projects can be canceled or delayed due to finding more pressing needs. So these resolutions allow us to take budgeted funds that have already been approved by the council and adjust where we need them to be spent at this time. So in some cases, we may end up with budgeted funds that can be completely eliminated and reallocated. We may not need to, add additional funding for them, but in some cases, we'll have situations where we do need additional funds. And while I'm up here, I want to take an opportunity after Monday's Board of Public Works meeting.

There was some information in the media that kinda made it sound like the utilities had this extra money and and maybe how it would relate to the city's budget. So I wanna make sure, everyone understands that the three utilities are enterprise funds, and meaning that we operate like a stand alone business. So, our funds are completely separate from the city. So utility capital projects are funded by the utilities, not by the general fund or by the city's general borrowing. And because they are are separate, these projects do not impact the city budget.

Our goal is to be proactive in our infrastructure to try to reduce risk of catastrophic failures. Of course, denying funding for these type of projects could lead to significant risks, including water main breaks and sewer main collapses that can lead to, more expensive emergency repairs and ultimately increase cost to our ratepayers. So the end, I wanna say maintaining this infrastructure, you know, not only protects our residents, businesses, and the city's long term stability. But if you have any other further questions, I'll try to answer those.

Council member Janssen? So just a little better understanding. Do you, do you, like, a once a year review, like, before the CIP process even begins so that you know what money you have left over for when projects have been completed?

I try to do this twice a year. So this is not the this is the second time this these types of resolutions have come through this year.

I guess so do you do it, like, before you start asking for more money in the CIP?

Projects are reviewed, but many times they're already in process, and so there's we may not have the information available to know that it's going come in under budget or over budget at that time. It's fluidly moving all throughout the year. So we do review it at capital budget time, but then we review it at operating budget time and I review it at year end to make sure that when we're moving forward into the new year, that we don't have any projects sitting there

underfunded. So for the public's perspective, it's not unusual for a project to take four years before you know if you have any leftover funding?

In the past, the process would be, you know, we put it in the budget and what would happen, there are times there may not have been enough staff time to develop the actual project and get it moving forward. So there are projects that are sitting out there that we internally, it's already in the capital budget, it's approved, but as a staff and we evaluate all of our projects as more and more projects are added each year, we may evaluate it and determine that this project is not as critical as another, so we'll delay it even though we may be planning on still doing it. So that's why you will see numbers from like 2020, 2021 still being in the budget, but we may not have actually began construction until 2024 even though it was approved in 2020.

The question I have, I guess, is it's not very transparent or clear to me where this money is being reallocated to. So are there projects that you are intending to work on or or capital needs that you see that are just not listed here?

So it's it's in the resolution. So the first section shows what the projects are that we're taking the money from. And then the second section will show, in this case, like, for example, if I look at the I'll I'll pull up the stormwater. That's the one up right now. Let's make sure I have the right one. Yeah. So the first section shows where we're taking the money from. So those projects will be closed and no longer impacting our cash flow forecast in the future. Then we're adding to the number six eighty three. So that's a project that, in this particular situation, is one that was on the 2023 capital improvement budget, for 2025, and then it somehow fell off in or in for 2026.

And forgive me. I'm I'm I'm not trying to but we're looking at 25Dash11371, and this this is all broken out for 23Dash1372.

Well, I'm looking at 2315 or or 251371, the stormwater one that's up right now.

Okay.

So for that one, we had a total of 1,497,000.000. That was from projects that are now closed or we came in under budget, whatever the case may be, then that money is now being used to appropriate another $600,000 for the Green Meadow Storm Lift Station, that is needed for that project to be able to complete that project. And for this particular situation, the remaining $897,000 will now be removed from our budget and no longer impacting our cash flow forecast. It will not get spent and is not being reallocated. We are not budgeting for it any further.

Okay. I appreciate that. That that makes more sense. Thank you. Thank you very much.

No problem. Is

there any further discussion? Seeing none, we'll move forward with the vote. And that motion passes unanimously. Moving forward to 25 dash one three seven two resolution authorizing the sanitary sewer utility to reallocate unused funds from closed capital projects and appropriate additional funds for capital project and equipment needs. Councilmember Newberry?

I move to approve.

Motion to approve by Councilmember Newberry, seconded by Councilmember Slesnikau. Council member Northwood? I'd like to make

a motion to amend, to the proposed resolution that was posted posted on LEGISTR today with the amendments. And I would like to ask, Tina Erickson to come up and explain the amendments.

Yes. This this is for the sanitary sewer utility. This is one where, after we created the resolution, after further review, kinda similar to what Chad had earlier, we have a situation where we recommended $250,000 to be reappropriated to project eight zero seven, and we found we actually need, about another 15,000 more to fulfill the needs for that project. So we have amended the 250,000 to $264,004.99 and 55¢.

I don't have any further questions. I just wanted you to explain the changes in the numbers and the resolution. Thank you.

Councilmember Johnson? I I just have one question. The, pipeline, inspection camera, do we already have one, and did it break?

I will be honest. I can't remember if it's replacement or, new. I do not remember that. That was approved by the board earlier this year. It is necessary for the sanitary sewer to use that in order to inspect the mains and ensure, what their condition is while they're doing condition assessments in preparation for projects. We

don't have a second on the floor for the amendment.

Oh, sorry. I I don't believe she had an amendment. She just had a question. Oh, okay. Excuse me. So I need a second for the amendment. Thank you, council member Newberry. And now do we have any discussion on the amendment? Seeing none, we'll move forward on the amendment. And the amendment passes unanimously. Now go back. Sorry about that. Bet we're going back to the original 25 dash one three seven two. Was there any further discussion on that? As amended.

As amended? Seeing no further discussion, we'll move ahead with the vote. That motion passes unanimously. Moving on to 25 dash one three seven three, resolution authorizing the water utility to reallocate unused funds from closed capital projects and appropriate additional funds for capital project needs. Council Member Schlesnikow?

Move to approve.

Move to approve by council member Slesnikow, seconded by council member Northwood. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we'll move forward with the vote. That motion passes unanimously. Next up is 25 dash one three nine two resolution allowing DriftShare Inc.

To store bicycles in the currently vacant fire station located at the former Fire Station Number 2 on 626 Monitor Street. This was short circuited by mayor Washington Spivey, 12/01/2025. Council member Jansen. Move to approve. Move to approve by council member Jansen, seconded by council member Northwood.

Any discussion? Council member Slesnikau.

I'd just like to thank those involved in this working with DriftShare to allow them to have a place to store their bikes. I think the bike share program has been working well as far as I know and expanding. And to have an unused space where they can store those for the winter before bringing out in the spring, I think, is a a nice use of an unused space that's currently available. So thanks for working to make that possible.

Thank you. And is there any further discussion? Seeing none, we'll move forward with the vote. And that motion passes unanimously. The next five items are noticed for that could go into closed session, so I'm gonna read them off.

25 dash 11 eight, resolution approving the settlement agreement in the case of Valley View Realty Holdings LLC in the city of La Crosse, Wisconsin. Item number twenty five dash one three five four, resolution approving the revised settlement agreement in the case of JP Chase Commercial Mortgage Securities Trust in the city of La Crosse, Wisconsin of La Crosse La Crosse County Circuit Court case number 23DashCVDash016. Item number 25Dash1376, resolution approving the certificate of consent and to assign with regard to the property at 101 State Street, The Charmont Hotel. Sorry. Twenty five dash one four zero six, resolution approving second amendment to one or to 333 Front Street development agreement, and there is no collective bargaining tonight.

Excuse me. And then the note is that the committee and or council may convene in closed session pursuant to Wisconsin statute 19.85 parent one parent e to formulate and update negotiation strategies and parameters following such closed session. The committee and or counsel may reconvene in open session. And the other reason we're going in is for legal advice on two of these. Thank you.

Can I have a, unanimous consent to go into closed session? Oh, excuse me. So on on item number 25 dash one three four, can we vote to go into closed session? Council member Jansen?

I would move that we go into closed session.

Council member Jansen moves to go into closed session, seconded by council member Slesnikow. Any discussion? Can we take the vote? That motion passes unanimously. Next one to go into closed session is twenty five one three five four.

Thank you. Appreciate the clarification. We'll now go into closed session. Me. I well, I asked.

Gonna go back into open session, and we'll start off with item number twenty five dash one one one eight. Resolution approving the settlement agreement in the case of Valley View Realty Holdings LLC and the City Of La Crosse, Wisconsin. Councilmember Newberry?

Move to approve.

Councilmember Newberry's motion moved to approve, seconded by Councilmember Northwood. Any discussion? Call the vote. And that motion passes unanimously. Next item is 25 dash one three five four, resolution approving the revised settlement agreement in the case of JP Chase Commercial Mortgage Securities Trust in the city of La Crosse, Wisconsin of La Crosse County. Circuit court case number 23DashC v Dash01 Council member Slesnikov?

Move to approve.

Move to approve by council member Celeste Nicole, second by council member Newberry. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, call the vote. That motion passes unanimously. Next item is 20 5Dash1376. Resolution approving the certificate and consent to assign with regard to the property at 101 State Street. Parenthesis, Charmont Hotel. Council member Jansen? Move to adopt. Motion to adopt by council member Jansen, seconded by council member Northwood.

Any discussion? Seeing none, call the vote. That motion passes unanimously. And our last item is, item number 25 dash one four zero six. Resolution approving second amendment to 333 Front Street development agreement.

Councilmember Sleznikow.

Move to adopt.

Move to adopt by Councilmember Sleznikow, second by Councilmember Newberry. Any discussion? Seeing none, we'll call the vote. That motion passes unanimously. And with that, it ends our agenda. Thank you. And this meeting is adjourned.