Common Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

Alright, it is 6.31. We will call our July council meeting to order at this time. Welcome to those in attendance, those watching at home, and to the council. We have all council members present. Just a reminder, if you're here to speak for public input or one of the public hearings, there are sign-up sheets over there, well protected by a bunch of police officers. Just please sign up while we're going through everything so we have a good list of who would like to speak for public input or the public hearings. There's three sheets back there. All right. At this time, everyone will please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. And if you could remain standing after the pledge for a prayer by our Council President, Eric Sikwitz. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands,

God, as we gather in this July season of long, sunny days, guide us towards clarity in all we do. Help us seek accurate information, understanding each issue fully, and making decisions grounded in fairness, transparency, and the good of Manitowoc. Bless our work tonight in steady judgment, open minds, and commitment to informed governance. Amen.

Amen.

Thank you. All right, we have a plethora of swearing-ins and badge pinnings. We're going to start with the ones from the Manitowoc Fire Rescue Department. Firefighter EMT Cole Hovey and Firefighter Paramedic Mason Myers. I think that's it for fire. Yes, all right. If you could come up, please, and your families, please come up, and any members of the Mantua Fire Rescue Department, please also come up and join. We'll start with Cole. All right.

We get them last. A couple steps forward so the mic can grab you.

I'm going to wait for your crew to...

Don't travel tight, that's for sure. All right, when you're ready, please raise your right hand. Repeat after me. I, Cole Hovey, solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Wisconsin and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of Firefighter EMT for the City of Manitowoc to the best of my ability.

So help me God. Congratulations. Thank you.

Mason, when you're ready, please raise your right hand. Repeat after me. I, Mason Myers.

I, Mason Myers.

Solemnly swear.

Solemnly swear.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

And the Constitution of the State of Wisconsin.

And the Constitution of the State of Wisconsin.

And that I will faithfully discharge the duties.

And I will faithfully discharge the duties.

Of firefighter paramedic for the City of Manitowoc.

Of firefighter paramedic for the City of Manitowoc.

To the best of my ability.

To the best of my ability. So help me God. So help me God. Congratulations.

And I want one too. Congratulations. Thank you.

All right.

All right, congratulations, Cole and Mason. We now have a lot of police officers and police lieutenants, so we'll start with police officer Edison Towle, police officer Max Schaefer, police officer Zachary Schuette, and police lieutenant Jacob Schilcox. If you could come up in that order, please. Again, with any of your family that would like to join you and any other member of the Mantuaq Police Department that would like to come up and show their support as well.

And we're going to figure out what's making noise.

Please raise your right hand. Repeat after me. I, Edison Tao, solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Wisconsin and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of police officer for the City of Manishwak to the best of my ability.

So help me God. Congratulations.

Please raise your right hand. Repeat after me. I'm Max Schaefer.

I'm Max Schaefer.

Solemnly swear.

Solemnly swear.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

And the Constitution of the State of Wisconsin.

And the Constitution of the State of Wisconsin.

And that I will faithfully discharge the duties.

And that I will faithfully discharge the duties.

Of police officer for the City of Manitowoc.

Of police officer for the City of Manitowoc.

To the best of my ability.

To the best of my ability.

So help me God.

So help me God.

Congratulations. All right. Please raise your right hand. Repeat after me. I, Zachary Schuette.

I, Zachary Schuette.

Solemnly swear.

Solemnly swear.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

And the Constitution of the State of Wisconsin. And the Constitution of the State of Wisconsin. And that I will faithfully discharge the duties.

And that I will faithfully discharge the duties.

Of police officer for the City of Manitowoc.

Of police officer for the City of Manitowoc.

To the best of my ability.

To the best of my ability. So help me God. So help me God.

Congratulations. When you're ready, please raise your right hand. Repeat after me. I, Jacob Shilcox, solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Wisconsin and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of Police Lieutenant for the City of Manitowoc to the best of my ability. So help me God. Congratulations.

Oh, you too? All right.

Congratulations once again to everyone and welcome to your positions, the Mantua Fire Rescue and Mantua Police Department. We have one commendation this evening, and I'm actually going to invite Alder Andrew Dunbar up since this was requested by him officially. But it's a commendation to People, Earth, Water. We have some representatives here. If you would like to also come up as well to receive the commendation, you can share who you are and a little bit about you as well when I'm done. I hope I got all this right. If I didn't, it's Andrew Svelte. Commendation reads, whereas People Earth Water, PEW, was formed in 2016 and is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, marking a decade of dedicated environmental stewardship in Manitowoc and throughout Wisconsin. And whereas PEW has harnessed the local love of waterways, organizing two dozen cleanups over the past 10 years, resulting in the removal of 30,000 pounds, which is 15 tons, of trash from Manitowoc waterways. Whereas PEW has mobilized hundreds of volunteers, collectively dedicating thousands of hours to the preservation and restoration of our local rivers and lakes. Whereas the organization's efforts have led to the removal of items such as boats, tires, countless fishing items, and everyday trash, including bags, bottles, and cans, thereby improving the health and beauty of our community's natural resources. Whereas PEW has established the annual Mother's Day river cleanup, averaging nearly a ton of trash removed every year on that day alone, further demonstrating their commitment to ongoing environmental action. Whereas as a 501c3 organization, PEW uses all donations to enhance cleanup efforts, investing in new kayaks and safety equipment for volunteers, ensuring both the effectiveness and safety of their operations. Whereas PEW's unwavering dedication over the past decade has made a lasting impact on Matawak's waterways, inspiring community pride and environmental responsibility. Now, therefore, I, Justin Nichols, Mayor of the City of Matawak, do hereby commend and sincerely thank People Earth Water for their 10 years of outstanding service and stewardship and for their invaluable contributions to the Matawak community, which we all look forward to continuing for many years to come.

Congratulations. Congratulations.

Well, Justin basically said most of what I was gonna say. Yes, but I just wanted to say thank you everybody for your continued support. Without this awesome community, we couldn't continue to do everything that we do. So we really appreciate the support from everybody in this room and everybody who's not here today. It's really important to have support of the community to keep doing it. So thank you guys so much for this. We really appreciate it.

Yeah, if I may, just for one second.

I just want to say a big thank you to People Earth Water. You know, they brought up the community and all that, but one of the things that really makes Manitowoc special is groups like this. They saw a problem and they found a solution. You know, there's stuff every day that people see that they, you know, feel, well, if they would just do this, but they actually jumped in and they helped out and they are the ones that are helping make this community just like every citizen in this community can and will and should. So thank you guys very much.

Check us out on Facebook if you want to know.

Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Next up on the agenda is our annual update from Progress Lakeshore. We're going to invite Jamie Zastero up, and she has exactly 5 minutes and 24 seconds to give her update. And if you go over, you're going to take away from Rob Michelson. So our annual update from Progress Lakeshore. Jamie. And go.

All right, I'm not going to do it in five minutes and 23 seconds, but I'll try. all right we're good good evening i'm jamie zastrow i am the executive director of progress lakeshore for many of you this will be a review of some things because you're up to date on what progress lakeshore is up to but it sounds nice to see some new council members in the room if you have any questions or want to talk more even after this session my card is in your folder and i'm happy to meet with you at any time to talk about what is of interest to you We are a nonprofit organization that is powered by both public and private investment. Together, our members collaborate with a shared goal of helping businesses grow and thrive to create a vibrant and resilient local economy. but economic development today is about much more than simply attracting new businesses to our region. It's also about strengthening the foundation that we already have supporting existing businesses, empowering entrepreneurs and building strong partnerships across our County. One of our most important roles is serving as a convener, bringing together the right people, organizations and resources to move projects forward and create meaningful progress. At the core of our work is our partnership with you, our municipal leaders. The villages of Cleveland, Reidsville, Valders, Mishicot, and the cities of Manitowoc and Keele each play a really vital role in our collaborative effort. By working together, we strengthen the efforts of the municipal staff, the councils, and boards, and ensure our communities remain competitive and forward-looking. Equally important are our private investment partners who help fuel our work. Today we are proud to be supported by 105 member investors, some new to our organization in recent years, and some who have stood with us for more than 20 years. In your folder is our 2025 annual report, as well as a few other documents. I filled them kind of full today. I encourage you to take it with you and explore it more as I will only highlight a couple of items tonight. It tells our current story, which is one of momentum, collaboration, and shared commitment to building a stronger and more resilient community. About 20 years ago, leaders in the county began an important conversation about how to fill a void left by the closure of the Muro Corporation. I talk about that often as it really was the impetus for the formation of this organization. At the time, the question was daunting. How do we diversify our area's economy to support workforce needs and also reclaim a site so deeply tied to our economic identity and transform it into an opportunity for the future? That conversation never stopped. It evolved into action, sustained by strong partnerships and a long-term vision. As you know, soon that vision becomes reality, right? We're on track, Adam? We're good? All right. I really don't have to tell you that after receiving many, many millions of dollars in grants for demolition and brownfield cleanup, a new developer will break ground on that property later this year, clearing the way for a new housing development that will once again bring life and opportunity and prosperity to that site. I tell this story regularly and in all communities, not just in Manitowoc, because it's a powerful reminder that economic development is a long game and that when a community commits to its future, transformation is possible. As we talk about projects and places, we also need to talk about people because a strong workforce is really essential to a successful economy. Attracting and retaining talent remains one of our biggest challenges and our greatest opportunities, which is why we focused on listening and learning from our employers. Over the past year, our workforce surveys highlighted on page six in your annual report under retain have helped us better understand local needs from wages and benefits to hiring gaps building on that we partnered with the Chamber of Manitowoc County on a new survey focused on future workforce demands recruitment strategies and talent development these insights are guiding our efforts to support employers and strengthen our workforce pipeline and align our strategies to real needs in our community we look forward to sharing the full results of that later this summer In economic development, opportunity rarely happens without lots of conversations. The decisions that shape our communities, where companies choose to invest, build, and grow, are driven by trust, clarity, and having the right information at the right time. That's why we're excited to produce NextSite, our new developer-focused newsletter designed to strengthen communication with site selectors and developers, who play a critical role in growth and investment decisions. There's a copy of the first two issues of that newsletter in your folder. Through that platform, we're sharing timely and relevant information about available sites, infrastructure readiness, community assets, and development opportunities. By consistently providing clear, transparent updates, we ensure our region remains visible, competitive, and top of mind. Familiarity builds trust, and trust encourages engagement, often long before a project is ever formally brought to the table. The importance of this kind of proactive communication was reinforced during a recent outreach trip to North and South Carolina, where I joined colleagues from across the New North region to meet with site selectors. These markets are highly competitive, and they are influential in national location decisions, making them important places for us to build these relationships that I'm talking about. Those face-to-face conversations provided valuable insight into what these selectors are seeing how client expectations are evolving, and what communities need to do to stay competitive. They also underscored the importance of telling our story clearly and very confidently. It's not just about listing available sites on a website. It's about highlighting our regional collaboration, our workforce strengths, our infrastructure, quality of life, and long-term vision. Progress Lake Shore remains committed to building a strong, connected entrepreneurial ecosystem that supports founders from idea through growth. Through a mix of established programs and new offerings, we're helping entrepreneurs develop the skills, confidence, and connections they need to succeed. In addition to one-on-one confidential support provided to entrepreneurs, our core programs continue to provide a strong foundation. The eight-week ETP course helps early-stage founders refine their ideas and prepare for launch. Entrepreneur Essentials offers practical, hands-on business skills. Founders Connection and Circles of Seven create valuable peer networks focused on shared learning, accountability, and leadership growth. Our Level Up Pitch Contest highlights emerging entrepreneurs. And we recently launched a new event called Idea Spark, which was an open mic casual pitch event designed to help entrepreneurs share ideas, gain feedback, and take that very first step forward. We had great community attendance and a variety of pitchers, and we're looking forward to having that event again. Building on this foundation, we're expanding programming this year through support from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation's Small Business Technical Assistance Grant. New offerings include strategic planning for growth, business basics, financial training, and marketing essentials, each designed to meet evolving small businesses at a time when they need that. At the center of this work is intentional integration, really clearing clear pathways so entrepreneurs can move from idea to start up to growth with the right support at the right time from our office. We're also expanding our reach into additional rural communities, recognizing that small businesses are vital across every corner of this county, and they intermingle with every community here. By increasing confidential one-on-one support and tailored services, we're making sure that geography is not a boundary to opportunity. In 2025, Progress Lakeshore secured grants from the WEDC, CLA, and Frederick Holy Family Memorial to support efforts to expand child care capacity in Manitowoc County. These investments are helping increase both technical assistance and access to capital for childcare providers and aspiring entrepreneurs. We recognize that childcare is a critical component of workforce and economic development. Through these initiatives, we have added dedicated staff to provide hands-on support with licensing, operations, compliance, and business planning, while also establishing a revolving loan fund to help childcare providers with startup costs, facility improvements, and equipment purchases. We are also exploring innovative models, including individual child care suites for solo entrepreneurs. And we're very excited to have recently received a grant from the West Foundation to cover the renovation costs for two child care suites in the Lakeshore CAP building. We expect construction to begin shortly and new child care providers to open by the end of the year. By supporting child care businesses and entrepreneurs, we're helping create new small business opportunities as well as strengthening workforce participation, and that really is important for our economy. And lastly, I want to recognize the winners of our Annual Excellence in Economic Development Awards and mention a couple of upcoming events we hope you'll put on your calendar. The awards event was held this past May, and there is a copy of the event book in your folders that gives you more information on all of the nominees and a press release listing the winners of each awards. There's a flyer in your folder for upcoming acceleration breakfast. This is an exclusive event for our investor and municipal members, featuring keynote speaker Mark Murphy. In case you don't recognize Mark, Eric, I know you know who Mark is. He is the chairman emeritus of the Green Bay Packers after serving as president and CEO from 2007 till the 2024 season. He currently serves as the executive in residence at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay. He will share his insights and perspective focused on building a championship organization. And finally, on July 29th, we are hosting a session with the Wisconsin Economic Development Association called Economic Development 101 for Municipal Leaders. This event will strengthen your understanding of economic development and your role in our communities. There's a flyer in your folder with some registration information. That is next week, Wednesday, so it's coming up quickly. But I really hope you can join us. It will be a great session. And that's it. If anyone has any questions.

It's a little more than four and a half minutes. Any questions for Jamie? You were good, thank you. Truly appreciate it. Any questions from the council for Jamie? All right. Looking forward to Mark Murphy. Thank you very much. 13-time world champion, Green Bay. All right, thank you, Jamie. As you're getting ready or taking stuff down, we'll invite Rob Michelson up from the city-owned Mantua Public Utilities. We're very proud of our utilities that we own. And Rob is going to give an overview of the Lead Service Line Replacement Program.

Rob. Yeah, thank you, Mayor. Again, my name is Rob Michaelson, Water and Wastewater Manager at MPU. I'm here to cut to the chase. We are getting out a new lead service line program for 2026. My point here today is to help everybody understand this big initiative of outreach on replacing lead service lines in the city. Um, I don't want to make it too obvious, but every lead service line in the city is owned by the property owner from the water main all the way to the home. We're one of two communities in the entire state where the utility does not own any part of the water service. That's very important to note because any costs associated with replacing lead service signs is on is a burden of the property owner. This is a quick diagram of the water service where, again, the street portion could be lead, could be copper. Lead was commonly used until 1950. Depending on when the house was built, the lead service line in the home portion could also be copper. But up until 1950, lead was very commonly used. This picture of the city, every purple dot indicates the 5,600 lead service lines in our city at the time of that picture. That was in 2015 before we started our initiatives. Since then, we have replaced, well, that's a third of our 15,000 lead service lines. I'm going to skip past that one. We've been leveraging state and federal money to provide assistance to homeowners to get rid of their lead, starting in 2017. Well, Flint, Michigan happened in 2015. That was the big initiative to get the lead out after that disaster in Flint, Michigan. So in 2017, we started to get free funds from the Wisconsin DNR and the federal government to assist property owners in replacing private lead service lines. Since then, since 2017, we have leveraged Well, let me cut to the next part. In 2023 is when the bipartisan infrastructure law really started funneling federal funds to communities to get the lead out. So since then, MPU has applied for and qualified for $18 million worth of funds to replace lead service lines, of which most of that is principal forgiveness. So of that $18 million, $16 million of that is used to replace lead service lines. That's free money for the property owner. So we're very proud of that fact. Up until now, we've been targeting these funds for either project-based lead service lines where we replace the water mains or disadvantaged neighborhoods or census tracts. We've been able to leverage a lot of funds just focusing on those, but it's been a very focused and targeted effort so far. This map kind of shows in the green areas of the city that have qualified for 100% principal forgiveness. That's very good. It's free lead service lines for those people who applied to replace their lead service line. The yellow areas are 75% principal forgiveness. And then the red areas, anything north of the river is essentially, because of the census tracts, the median household income, a lot of different data they use is available for 50% principal forgiveness. We've been leveraging this now until 2025 to cover these areas highlighted on the map. But again, that was targeted. We were focusing on certain areas. 2026 is the first year the entire city can qualify for a lead service line replacements. So now everything in red is what we're focusing on to make sure that everybody who has a lead service line can now apply and qualify for principal forgiveness to replace their lead service line. They can get 50% principal forgiveness. The big effort we're doing is to make sure everybody who has a lead service line is aware of this assistance and that they can qualify for 50% off. So we have records of who has lead service lines. We're sending direct mailings to them. We're going to be on the radio doing radio advertisements. I'm going to be on Be My Guest to answer questions and talk about water and lead once a month. Billboards, digital billboards and static billboards, social media. I'm hosting some community discussions with friends and neighbors that want to learn more about this. We're learning that it's that personal touch that really gets people talking and thinking about replacing their lead service line. The best advertisement is when the contractor moves into the neighborhood and starts digging, everybody starts thinking, oh, have I signed up for it yet because they're in town. So that's the door-to-door discussions where we have with people. Again, all of this outreach is by the DNR to make sure that people are aware of the funding and that they can qualify for this funding. What do property owners need to know? Replacing a lead service line in the city is voluntary. We have very few mandatory requirements to replace a lead service line. So it is voluntary, but we're learning that the federal government has an initiative to have all the lead out of the communities by the year 2037. How they treat Manitowoc, because we don't own any part of the service, is still being interpreted, but the point is the federal government is pushing all the lead to be out by 2037. We've already contracted with contractors to get firm pricing for lead service lines, so we know exactly what it's gonna cost each property to replace, and so when they sign up, they know exactly what their cost share will be. It's gonna be 50% of that known cost. When they can't pay that invoice directly back to MPU or the contractor, they can apply and qualify for a loan where they can pay off that fee over a period of five years on their tax bill. We are sending out letters again to every property owner, encouraging them to replace the line, but the punch line is the responsibility to replace lead service lines is on the property owner. That's why we're trying so hard to get federal funds to assist them in their cost. Lead service lines will likely become mandatory to be replaced before 2037. We have funding available right now for any lead service line in the city. um 50 principal forgiveness half off that's a reasonable cost and we don't even know if there's any future funding available coming up as we as we approach 2037. so my plea to everybody here and the community is if you if you receive a letter from mpu pay attention to it apply for that funding if you have any questions contact us i want to be an advocate for all the all the older persons that If you have any questions for people in your neighborhood, I'll come and talk to your groups. I'll meet with you individually. We want to make sure that everybody who has a lead service line is aware of the program, can say yes or no to it, because there are people who say no to replacing lead service lines. But we want to make sure that there's no confusion or loss of the word that they can get assistance for replacing their lead service line. With that, I welcome any questions.

Thank you. Well done, Rob. You represent the city and MPU very well. Any questions for Rob? We'll start with Alderman Cummings.

All right. Thank you. I'm just curious, based off of that last comment you said, what are some genuine reasons why people would say no to that program, given the fact that there's the option even for the five-year loan?

Yeah, so far, they just don't, they might not trust government. They don't want them in their home. They've already said, I've lived in this house for 40 years. I drink the water. Nothing's happened to me. So we see a number of reasons. Even at 100% principal forgiveness where it's free to them, people just would not participate. So we're trying to explain the benefits of replacing the lead service line, whether it's just the health benefits, the value of your home going up. You don't want to be the last home on the block that has a lead service because your value of a home might be lower compared to your neighbor's. It's very, very low impact. The contractors use underground trenchless construction, so they're not disturbing the yard. So I think it's just the unknown of how this process works that people are paused and they don't either apply or they don't want you in their basement.

Thank you. Thank you. Did I see another one as well? Alderman Dunbar.

Hi. I just have a quick question. When you brought up you're sending letters out to existing MPU customers, all that. Is any of this being checked against, like, tax records to see who actually owns the home so that maybe landlords that live out of town are getting this? Great question. I know I had mine done last year, and my neighbor is a rental, and I was like, well, how do I do this? I was like, well, you know, you have to ask a landlord, so.

That's a great question. We've hit both. We have all the records of who the tenants are and who the landowners are. We send mailings to the landlords. They might not even be in the state, so they're getting that letter, but we are sending to the tenants to contact their landlord to make them aware of this local initiative. So we've done both, but it can be a real challenge to hit the right people because mailings are just, they're common enough. We have enough billable inserts. So we're trying to find creative ways to make sure they hear about it. Mailings are tough, but yeah, we have been hitting the landlords and the tenants. But great question. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other questions? All right. Thank you very much, Rob. Appreciate your time. All right, we will move on to, that concludes all of our presentations this evening. We do have two public hearings. We will start with the first one, hearing any and all interested parties in the matter of a request for a conditional use permit for the establishment of a storage in bulk or transloading activities area in a I-1 light industrial zoning district for property located at northeast corner of South 39th and Vivon Streets. We'll have the clerk read the proof of publication.

Notice of this public hearing was published in the Herald Times reporter on July 6th and July 13th.

Thank you Adam Can you please give an overview of this certainly as you noted mayor this property is owned I one light industrial it is immediately east of the new FedEx facility for those of you who are not familiar with the exact location and The applicant runs a large object moving business, so they'll move things like generator enclosures and larger. So they have the need for a lay down area and then hopefully eventually a warehouse type facility. Under our zoning code, the indoor storage of materials is permitted, but when you utilize outdoor storage areas, that's what triggers the conditional use. This did go through a public informational hearing in front of the Planning Commission. Ultimately, they did recommend approval subject to 13 conditions, which are listed in your... At the public informational hearing and prior to that, there were some questions. Mainly those were surrounding things like impact from noise, impact from lack of site screening, and impact from a large gravel yard. The proposed conditions do attempt to minimize those with things such as berm and landscaping. the use of dust palliatives, and requiring access to only be off of 39th, which is the same street that FedEx accesses it versus some of the other surrounding streets. As I noted, ultimately the recommendation is for approval, both from staff and Planning Commission. I do believe the applicant is online, so obviously he wouldn't have had a chance to sign up for public input, but maybe would be willing to provide additional information.

Thank you, Adam. Are there any questions for Adam at this time? Seeing none, this is a public hearing. Citizens will be allowed five minutes to speak on this specific subject matter. We do have a list of four individuals who signed up in advance. We will start with Doug Schreiber. If you could please come up to the podium, Doug. You'll be allowed five minutes to speak on this.

The only thing I'm really concerned is about the facility, about putting a berm so we don't have to look out our backyard and see a big warehousing district, containers out there, and dust control is the main factor. And we did talk to the owner last time we were here, and he said he would work with us getting a berm or whatever, as long as that's taken care of or seems like a reasonable thing to put out there.

thank you thank you for your comments just a reminder to council is not allowed to respond at this time but these two items are on the agenda at the end so they'll be able to speak then but just so if they it looks like they're just staring at you it's because that's what they have to do next individual is joe hall if you could please come up no don't need to speak okay thank you then we'll go to hank bauman you're good well lois bauman No. All right. That exhausts our list. Is there anyone else interested in speaking that didn't get on the list? Any previous comments submitted?

No. One more time.

We'll close. This public hearing, again, that'll be taken up on the agenda here tonight. The next public hearing is for any and all interested parties in the matter of a proposed change in zone from R1 residential agricultural to R4 single and two family for property located at 3215 Packer Lane. We'll have the clerk read the proof of publication.

Notice of this public hearing was published in the Herald Times Reporter on July 6th and July 13th.

Thank you.

Adam. All right, this request is basically to change the residential zoning on a piece of property. It's a relatively large piece of property, which is why it has traditionally been zoned R1, even though the rest of the properties surrounding it are currently R4. Ultimately, the reason for the request is that they want to split the lot and put up a second home. With the larger setbacks of the existing district, that makes it difficult, so that is what's driving the request ultimately. The request would be consistent with the comprehensive plan as it's still remaining a residential district. And there were no comments or concerns received from neighbors on this particular one. It went through the public informational hearing process and plan commission and staff recommend approval.

Thank you, Adam. Are there any questions from the council for Adam on this one? Thank you, Adam. This is a public hearing, so same rules apply as before. I have Jeff or Julie Vogel that is on the agenda. Would you like to speak? Could you just please add just so we can catch your voice and people listening at home can hear you?

Thank you for considering the approval of changing from R1 to R4. We appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you. That exhausts that list. Is there anyone else who did not sign up? Going once, twice. Did we have any other previous? No.

All right.

Third time's a charm. We'll close that public hearing. Again, those two items are on the council agenda for approval or not. The next item is item F, public input. Anyone interested in speaking on anything germane to the business of the city of Mantua may do so at this time. Five minutes. I do not have anyone who signed up in advance. Is there anyone who missed that who would like to speak? Going once, twice. Any previously submitted public input? No. And we will close public input. We will move to appointments. I have a few. To the Crime Prevention, George Uza. To Industrial Development Corporation, Sean Rood. To Transit Commission, Deanna Genske. And to the Zoning Board of Appeals, Jeff DeZao, Joe Muradik, Don Orth, Gene Wakefield, Howard Zimmerman, and alternates Mike Howe and Julie Vogel. I figured that's why you were here tonight instead. Alternate to the Zoning Board of Appeals. See if you make it past that. Those are my appointments. I would look for a motion to approve by somebody. We're going to next. There we go. Can people motion now? There we go. Motion by Norell, second by Schley. Seeing no discussion, council will now vote. And the appointment's passed unanimously. Thank you. The next item on the agenda is the consent agenda. Item H, are there any items to be removed from the consent agenda? I have Alderman Sitkwitz.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I request to remove 26-0644 under the Public Works Committee.

Thank you. That'll be removed. Just a note, any items that we remove from consent will be taken up immediately after our vote on the entire consent agenda, just so you're aware. So that'll be immediately following this vote. Anything else to be removed? If not, I'd look for a motion in a second to approve the consent agenda. No discussion. Council will now vote. And the motion carried unanimously to approve the consent agenda with that one item gone. We'll then move to the next item on the agenda, which is, we'll have the clerk read it.

We have document 26644, which is a report of Board of Public Works of July 8th, 2026 of an appeal for noxious weed assessment at 2200 Rankin Street. Committee recommended to uphold the assessment.

All right, look for a motion and a second. We have a motion by Reckelberg and a second, or motion by Norrell, second by Reckelberg. We have Alderman Sikwitz to speak on this item.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I was contacted by Lynn Rescheck here about this assessment. And if you take a look at her letter, and actually the picture's attached, especially if you go to the second last picture, you'll notice that the grass was cut by her, according to her letter. And when I talked to her, she had previously had the grass cut. And if you take a look at the stick that's used to measure the grass, it's actually... Not even close to being long enough to warrant the city cutting it There was some long grass along the fence that was trimmed but not worth the 300 or 400 dollars that the city charges for a long grass cutting so I can't see how we can justify charging this assessment to this property owner for Grass cutting when we did not actually cut the grass so I would make an amendment to let's see, what's it actually, to approve the appeal of the request.

Okay, so there's a motion to amend this request to uphold the appeal, or to recommend rescind the bill. Is there a second? Okay, second by Dunbar. So we have a motion and a second, so we will get this new vote on here for the amendment. Any discussion on the amendment?

Alderman Sitwitz. And just for those of you who actually take a look at the picture, it's picture 9 of 10, and if you can justify that, I'd like to understand how. Thank you. Thank you.

Any further discussion on the amendment? We are typing it in as we speak. What is the official language, Mr. Attorney, would be to...

She objected to the assessment, so this would be to uphold the objection.

To uphold the objection.

All right.

I'm sorry, who seconded that?

I just want to make sure we get it right.

Who seconded that? Dunbar seconded that, yeah.

All right, thank you. That's okay.

Any further discussion on the amendment? If not, then council will vote on the amendment. So the amendment passes eight to two. So now we have the original motion as amended that is approved. So it has changed from the original. Any further discussion on the now new motion as amended? Seeing none then, council will now vote again on that. Can you see it, Chad? Okay. Motion carries 9 to 1. Thank you. We'll move on then to committee reports. We'll start with Committee of the Whole and Council President Eric Sitkowitz. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We have no report and no documents. Thank you. We'll move right into the Finance Committee then, and you are chair of that as well. Thank you.

And the clerk has our documents.

We have document 593, Manitowoc Marina LLC, lease option to extend through March 31, 2035. Committee recommends to approve as presented.

We have a motion by Reckleberg and a second by Sitkwitz. Looking for any discussion? Seeing none, council will now vote on this item. Motion carried unanimously.

Document 594 is a sanitary sewer extension by South Alverno Road. Committee recommends to approve as presented.

We have a motion by Ruckelberg and a second by Schley. Discussion? Seeing none, council will now vote on this item. And the motion carries unanimously.

Document 595 is a Wisconsin DNR surface wetland surcharge grant contract for $30,000 with a $0 local match. Committee recommends to enter into the agreement.

We have a motion by Brian, a second by Cummings. Discussion? Seeing none, council will now vote on this item. And the motion carries unanimously.

Document 595 is a resolution to carry forward to 2026 budget various appropriations budgeted in 2025 Committee recommends to adopt the resolution.

We have a motion by sick wits in a second by Schley discussion on this resolution Seeing none council now vote on this resolution Motion carried unanimously

Document 603 is a term sheet for tax increment financing for project located at River Point Drive, lots one and two. Committee recommends to approve term sheet and direct staff to complete the development agreement and sale of property.

We have a motion by Schley and a second by Breyer. Discussion? Seeing none, council will now vote on this term sheet. And the motion carries unanimously.

Anything else, Alderman Sitkwitz? That completes our business, and our next regularly scheduled meeting is Monday, August 3rd at 5.30 p.m., or immediately following the personnel committee meeting, whichever is later.

Sounds good. Thank you. We'll move then to the personnel committee, and Alderman Brett Norell is chair.

The clerk has the documents, Mr. Mayor.

We have document 618, which is health plan third-party administrator services for 2027. Staff recommends to place on file.

We have a motion by Schley, second by Norrell, and discussion. I have Alderman Norrell.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Mayor. This is being brought straight to council because we did not have a personnel committee meeting this past month, and in order to, and I know Jesse was here, Jesse, in order to keep this process moving forward, we need to get the switch in the TPA for the employee health plan moving now. There's a number of reasons why in the memo, so I would ask for support of this motion.

Thank you, Alderman Norell. Anyone else interested in speaking on this? Seeing none, council will now vote on this item. Motion carried unanimously.

Document 658 is a confidential separation agreement with represented employee. Staff recommends approval of the agreement.

Do we have a motion by Norell and a second by Schley? Discussion? Seeing none, council will now vote on this item. Motion carries nine to one.

Thank you. Anything else, Alderman Norrell? No, that concludes our business, Mr. Mayor. Our next meeting is on September 7th. I believe it's 5 p.m. here in Chambers. That's correct.

Thank you. We'll then move to the Public Works Committee. Alderman Bill Schley is chair.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Clerk has the documents.

Document 580 is Wisconsin Public Service Corporation Easement for Proposed Gas Facilities on City Property on Magnolia Avenue, parcel 818401020. Committee recommends approval.

We have a motion by Anderson and a second by Brey. Discussion? Seeing none, council will now vote on this item. Motion carries unanimously.

Document 604 is an AECOM proposal for 2026 Phase 2 Newton Gravel Pit Project. Committee recommends approval.

We have a motion by Schley and a second by Benzinger. Any discussion? Seeing none, council will now vote on this item. Motion carries unanimously.

Document 655 is a three-party contract amendment number one with DOT and JT Engineering for East Albert Drive reconstruction design. Staff recommends approval.

We have a motion by Schley and a second by Sikowitz. Discussion? Seeing none, council will now vote on this item. The motion carries unanimously.

Document 656, Proposals and Professional Services Agreement for Real Estate Work for State Highway 42, Calumet Ave, Reconstruction. Staff recommends approval and to enter into the agreement with MSA.

We have a motion by Schley and a second by Brey. And we have Alderman Schley in the line to speak.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just happy to get this underway. I sincerely hope everybody supports this. I'm sure they do because, boy, does Calumet Avenue need work.

Thank you. Thank you, Alderman Schley. Anyone else to speak? Seeing none, we'll now vote on this item. Motion carried unanimously. Anything else, Alderman Schley for Public Works Committee?

That'll do it for our agenda tonight. Our next meeting is Thursday, August 6th at 5.30 p.m., and our special guest is the mayor. Yeah, thanks. That'll be fun.

Thank you, Alderman Schley. We'll move then to the Public Safety Committee, and Alderman Todd Reckleberg is chair.

Mr. Mayor, the clerk has our materials. Thank you.

We have document 633, weather, siren, schedule, and criteria change. Committee recommends to accept.

We have a motion by Cummings and a second by Anderson. Discussion? Seeing none, council will now vote on this item. And the motion carries unanimously. Again, that'll take effect starting August 1st. Thank you. Anything else? Alderman Reckelberg.

No, other than the... siren change, it's just bringing us in line with what everybody else had. If you recall, it wasn't too long ago, there was a lot of complaints on social media and radio going, well, when are they going to sound the alarm? Well, the alarm's gonna be sounded when everybody else is. They're gonna use the same criteria for a change, so that should clear things up. Thank you.

Thank you, Alderman Reckelberg, appreciate that. Thank you. We'll move then to the Parks and Recreation Committee. Alderman Michael Cummings is chair.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We do not have any documents as we are the most efficient committee in this last month. Challenge. You're the newest. You should have the most. So our next meeting is actually going to be on next Monday at 530 in Council Chambers.

Perfect. Thank you very much. We will then take up all the plan commission documents.

Okay, we have Document 554, Planning Commission Document 10-2026, TJ Potter Trucking Request for a Conditional Use Permit for the Establishment of a Storage in Bulk or Transloading Activities Area for Property Located at the Northeast Corner of South 39th and Vivon Streets, Parcel 836304040. Committee recommends to approve the issuance of a Conditional Use Permit to TJ Potter Trucking, Inc. for the Establishment of Storage in Bulk and Transloading Area Pursuant to the Attached Conditions.

Thank you, we have a motion by Schley and a second by Norrell, and we have Alderman Dunbar in line to speak.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just wanted to point out, there was some brought up about the dust palletive and all that sort of stuff. Under the conditional use permit here, it does say that dust palletives must be applied to the entire gravel area twice a year. And I think a couple sections down, it says the berm must be installed prior to any transloading and storage. So it is a part of the conditional use permit that will require that in there. So it's not just you talking to somebody to make sure it happens. It's a part of it. So that's all. Thank you.

Thank you, Alderman Dunbar. I have Alderman Schley next.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This issue is a shining example of how local government should work. When we had our hearing at Public Works, we had a large contingent of the neighbors that showed up. And T.J. Potter showed up, the guy who owns the company, and stayed later and spoke to folks out in the vestibule out here. And it seems like, you know, other than the berm deal, it seems like it's a pretty well-settled issue. And the government had nothing to do with it. It was the people getting involved. And I guess this is just a message to everybody who's not here tonight, even if you're watching on TV, it makes a difference when you show up for your city. and for your neighborhood. And we appreciate you folks. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you, Alderman Schley. Any further discussion on this item? Seeing none, we'll now vote. Motion carries unanimously.

Document 556 is a review of in-rem properties in the city of Manitowoc. Committee recommends to place the foreclosure list on file with no further action taken.

Thank you. We have a motion by Sickwitz and a second by Reckelberg. Discussion? Seeing none, council will now vote. Motion carried unanimously.

Document 557 is a Kineke quick claim deeds for Virginia Drive and Joseph Road. Committee recommends approval of the quick claim deeds for Virginia Drive and Joseph Road street purposes.

Thank you. We have a motion by Reckelberg, second by Beeman. Discussion? Seeing none, council will now vote. Motion carried unanimously.

Document 648 is an ordinance amending the amended zone map of the City of Manitowoc entitled Zoning Ordinance of the Municipal Code of the City of Manitowoc for property located off of Packer Lane. Committee recommends to adopt the ordinance.

We have a motion by Sickwitz and a second by Beaman. Discussion? Seeing none, council will now vote on this ordinance. Motion carried unanimously.

Document 649 is a resolution for the preliminary plat of the Deerbrook Crossing subdivision. Committee recommends to adopt the resolution.

We have a motion by Schley and a second by Beaman. Discussion? Seeing none, council will now vote on this resolution. And it passes unanimously.

Document 650 is a resolution for the final plat of Mariner Luck subdivision. Committee recommends to adopt the resolution.

We have a motion by Schley and a second by Brey. Discussion? Just to note, this is literally the final piece for the city approval to get homes built over on the Yonkers part of the Mid-City Mall site. So this will be the last time we have to see anything. And the next thing you'll see are buildings going up. So nice conclusion. Any further discussion? Seeing none, council will now vote on this resolution. Motion carried unanimously. That exhausts our agenda. Is there any other business to come before the council? Alderman Norell. Sorry, I misspoke earlier.

I'm not trying to move somewhere along. Our meeting is not September. It is August 3rd at 5 p.m. in chambers.

My apologies. Not a problem. Good catch. Any other business? If not, I look for a motion and a second to adjourn. Cummings and Beeman, we are adjourned.