Common Council - Regular Meeting

On August 4th, it's 6.31 p.m. We have, can you take a roll call, Megan? Or just, we have eight members present, so, okay. We have a quorum.

Davis.

Here.

Lampe.

Here.

Berg.

Here.

Nutecky. Here. Blankey. Smith.

Here.

Arnett.

Here.

Haas? Here. Moldenhauer?

Here.

Okay, thank you. Our When I Am a Business presentation on economic development plan. And...

Okay.

As Mayor, I've talked about building a community that creates opportunity for our residents, our businesses, and the next generation. A community that invests in housing, workforce development, education, public safety, and quality of life. A community that honors its history while preparing for the future. Tonight's presentation is another step forward. Over the past several months, Alder Arnett and our Economic Development Manager have been meeting with experts, engaging stakeholders, and reaching out to potential partners in Watertown and the surrounding area. They've begun identifying opportunities that are uniquely suited to who we are and what we aspire to become. What you'll hear tonight is a framework for a larger conversation about our future, a conversation rooted in our values, our history, and our belief that this community can lead the region in new and meaningful ways. I want to express my appreciation to Alder Arnett for dedicating the time and energy needed to move an idea from concept to possibility. With that, I'd like to invite Alder Arnett to share the presentation. Please hold any comments or questions, and we'll see what time permits at the conclusion of the presentation.

Alder Arnett Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

I apologize to the people standing behind me that have my back to you. Not my intention. I prefer not even to be behind a podium. I'll go with this. So, in my prior experience in several communities working on economic development, what I've learned is important for a strategy, three things. First, you need to have a distinctive identity to set you apart from other communities. Second, you should look to build on your existing strengths. And third, you need to have focus. And so with those three things in mind, we will walk through this draft economic development strategy. So when it comes to identity, we don't need to invent one. We have one. We've had an identity for pretty much as long as we've existed. We were a city before there was a state. And with the middle of the 1800s and the dramatic growth coming from a wave of German immigrants, we became one of the most significant communities in the state. With a place where the surrounding area came to bring their products to market. I myself have a bit of a connection with this, even though I am a transplant to Watertown. My mother's family also came to the United States as a part of the same German immigration wave that you see mentioned here. They settled in Western Ohio as compared to South Central Wisconsin, but still the same wave and the same pattern. And the place where I come from also has these deep German roots. So when you have this collection, this collection point, all these people networking in, there is a phrase for it in German, Wichtiger Knotenpunkt. Wichtiger Knotenpunkt. Important hub. And that's what we are. An important hub. To further clarify that, we're a rural, regional hub. And this strategy is based on those three words. First, rural. We're not a big city. We don't want to be. We don't want to be Madison or Milwaukee. We don't want to be Fond du Lac. We want to be Watertown. We're a small town. We like being a small town. We like knowing each other. That's part of who we are. We're close-knit. And farming, the other aspect of rural farming, it's in our blood. It's core to who we have been and who we still are. Regional. We need to think about the city rather than the city borders. Think about what the Watertown community is. And the Watertown community is a city of Watertown surrounded by a network of smaller communities. I do a lot of coaching. Half the players that I have on my teams, I talk to their parents and I talk about, well, I grew up in Lebanon. I grew up in Houston. I grew up in Farmington. I grew up in all these small towns around us. I grew up in Marshall. That's part of who we are. Watertown's not just a city of Watertown. It is all these other small communities around us that all feed into Watertown. And as we look to build out, we should look to build with them because as they grow, we will grow as well. And we retain our important transportation links. That's, again, key to who we are as a network. And lastly, the hub. And this is where those concepts of strength and focus come in. Hub in multiple ways. And you see them listed there. We're going to walk through each of them in a little more detail, please. So the first one, again, shouldn't be surprised based on what we've already said. Agriculture. Agriculture. Again, it's playing to our strength. It's who we have been. It's who we still are. Now within agriculture, The current phrase is talking about what's called next-gen ag, next-gen agriculture. It's the continued application of high-tech to agriculture. But there's also another part of this, which is agritourism. This is something you see in play in other parts of the state, but we could have this and can have this here. And frankly, we already have it, we just don't talk about it that way and we don't take advantage of it. The next part is skilled trades. So skilled trades, again, we are a blue collar community. That's also in our roots. And we should lean into that. Not shy away from it. Because it is a path for the youth of today to build a future. Healthcare. Just as pretty much nationwide, some of our largest employers in Watertown are health care providers. And health care is the fastest growing employment sector out there. And we can and should do more to feed more workers into that sector. And then the last two hubs, commercial and recreational. So again, commercial, we've long been a place. Not only did you bring your products to market, but you came here to shop. And while shopping patterns have certainly changed dramatically over the last 50 years in particular, we're still a place where people come to shop. And then from a recreational perspective, the Rock River runs all the way through the town, right? Dams at both ends. We have essentially a lake between those two dams, right in the heart of our community. And I think too many times we look right past it and don't take advantage of it. So those are the five hubs. Agricultural, skilled trades, healthcare, commercial, recreational. Dive into each one of them just a little bit more in detail. So agriculture. Three reasons why, why ag? Because some people would react of like, you're going to make the centerpiece of your economic development strategy, agriculture? That doesn't seem very 21st century, right? Three reasons why. One, it is who we are. It is playing to our strength. Number two, agriculture drives 20% of economic activity in the United States. 20%. That's a pretty big pie. And third, if some people don't think that agriculture is high tech, I'm going to have to push back a little bit and say, I think you need to learn more about high tech, about what ag is, and you'd be very surprised because ag is full of high tech and continues to be. And the United States overall is the world leader in applying technology to agriculture. So that's why ag. The other part I mentioned was agritourism. Again, we have the elements here. We're just not presenting them in the way that we could to fully leverage them. I did a quick search on Facebook and through Google Maps recently. Very quickly, within an evening, I came up with 50 different farm stands within a 20-minute drive of the city of Watertown. Like, there's your built-in tour right there. Right there. And that's just the start of it. So skilled trades. Again, maybe some people would question this, but let me explain why. I'm not sure how many people would know what this little coin-looking thing is. It has a number on it. It has a little hole in it right here. So this was called a check token. And if you've worked in a factory before, you've had one of these. It shows up in a factory in one of two ways. One, there's a big board with a bunch of hooks on it. You walk in, you hang your tag on there, your token on there, they know who's in the factory. Second way, and this one applies for me personally right here, is called a check token because you check out tools with it. You go to the tool shelf, you get the tool, you leave your tag there. And I say this applies to me, this one right here, this is my father's. When we worked at NCR, and after that worked at GM. This is his. I keep it not just as a remembrance, but as a reminder. And it's a reminder of the path that it created for our family. He started on the line, he worked his way up to management. That pathway is available each and every day on into the future for our youth of today. Now we're choosing this case not to focus on manufacturing at this moment. It's more focused on skilled trades, building and construction trades. But that's what this is, and it's about workforce development. The next one is the healthcare. Again, I mentioned this is the fastest growing employment sector. And while again, we have some elements of it here, and we certainly have a strong network of healthcare providers, there's much more we can and should be doing to prepare the youth to join this workforce. These jobs are not going away. Not going away. So from a commercial perspective, it's again important for us to look at, we have, well, we have pockets of commercial activity throughout the city, of course. Our two main commercial districts are downtown. and South Church. And they both have distinctive identities within the community and distinctive purposes. And we need to look to strengthen both of them. They're both important. And there's opportunities for us to encourage growth and development in both of them. And lastly, from a recreational perspective, again, it starts with playing to your strengths. In Brant Quirk and Riverside Park, We have two outstanding city parks with a wealth of facilities for a variety of sports. We need to build on that. But we need to add to it with the river. Instead of the river being a source of passive recreation, it's about making the river active recreation. fishing, paddle sports. You know, what I think of is my grandfather did canoeing, kayaking, archery, fishing competitions. And I've got a wealth of these patches that he collected 50 plus years ago from all the competitions that he did. And we have that same opportunity to have those kinds of activities right here. Yes, we have fishing going on, But we could do a lot more and we do a lot more with small craft and, and with paddle oriented sports, such as kayaking. And the way we do that is by partnerships. Again, we have a network of local sporting clubs oriented around all the activities I've mentioned. We need to build stronger partnerships with them to help develop our facilities further. as well as to attract more competitions. If you've ever been to any of our restaurants on a weekend where there's a softball tournament, you know what the softball tournaments do for business in Watertown. Multiply that to almost year round when you're talking about all the sports we have potential to do here. And there's a lot of impact, economic impact we can have through recreation. So as the mayor mentioned, Deb and I have been working on drafting this for a while and meeting and getting feedback and pointers from experts throughout the state and broader region. And what we've been getting from that is, A, a sense of validation. They're like, generally, we like what you're doing. They give us a few pointers. Well, maybe consider this instead of A, A instead of B. Direction seems really really solid. We're continuing to work on that and make sure that we're still headed in the right direction. There's been initial planning efforts for each of the hubs that I described. So what does that mean as an example for agriculture? What does it take to build a business cluster around a given sector? What does it take to build entrepreneurial programs to feed into that kind of business cluster. These are the things we're learning from others who have done it well and succeeded, as well as learning from places that haven't had the success and are passing on their lessons about, well, don't do this. So those kind of planning efforts are underway, early stage, a lot of room yet to go. We've also started networking with potential partnership organizations, such as our local colleges and universities. And then lastly, we have been meeting at a state and federal level to identify potential funding sources. Again, not looking to put forward a plan that's based on a bunch of tax money from our local taxpayers. That's not what this is about. So we're looking for funding sources to help make this model a reality. So in terms of next steps, now is the part where it's at a good enough stage that it's time to spread the word and get a wider ring of feedback. So long as we maintain those three things I talked about at the beginning, right? Distinct identity, play to our strengths, and focus, that's the most important part, focus. we're going to do well. As we expand the circle communication, we also expand the circles of people involved. Things that we've talked about here, there's frankly, I can't, I tried to like, there's going to be things pretty much in front of every city board and commission at some point as a result of this plan. It's hard to imagine one of those that doesn't eventually apply to something. It's going to work out in that way, but also we'll begin to pull in community volunteers to help with some of these efforts as well. I talked about the partnerships with local organizations. That is key as well. And we'll continue to develop the plan, a very distinct action plan. That's another key criteria for success for an economic development strategy is turning the strategy into an actionable plan and then following through on that. And so we're working on that detailed build-out down to specific tasks and who's responsible for them and who needs to be consulted with them. RACI, as we call it, is Responsible Accountable Consulting and Informs, something I learned from project management. So these are the next steps we're headed. So then in conclusion, the strategy presented here is about building on our strengths. We didn't have to go fishing for an identity. We already had one. We needed to inject new life into it. And that's what we're doing here. And a key part of that identity is those history and strengths in agriculture and blue collar. The next thing is to shift our mindset again. It's not just about within the city borders. It's about the broader community, that network of smaller communities around us that have always been a part of who Watertown is and will continue to be. And lastly, to look at the Rock River and actively use it to our advantage. So that's the draft strategy. Again, as this rolls out further, more and more people become directly involved. There's always opportunity for feedback. Mr. Mayor, back to you.

Thank you, Mr. Arnott. We've heard this season as a vision that builds on who we already are. Our vision recognizes Watertown's proud history as a regional hub while asking how we can strengthen that role for the future. Economic development is more than business growth. It's about creating opportunities, supporting families, developing talent, encouraging innovation. Strengthening our tax base and ensuring our community remains a place where people will choose to live, work, invest, and raise their children. This important, impactful, meaningful work has involved studying successful economic development strategies, gathering ideas from the community and region, meeting with state and regional leaders and subject matter experts, validating recommendations for research and analysis. I invite every member of this council to write the next chapter. We have an opportunity to create something that honors our heritage, reflects our values, and creates new opportunities for generations to come. I look forward to building a future with all of you. There is a little time. Anyone's got comments or questions or thoughts? Mr. Berg.

Yeah, I want to compliment Tony on the nice job on that presentation and the mayor for your involvement on helping make this presentation. The idea of hitting on our strength areas and trying to expand on that is a smart approach. And I think we are doing it unconsciously, but I think if we do it more in an aware type way, we will be showing more progress in each of those hubs that you're making reference to. So that's where we can see progress by being aware of the strength areas that we are in our identity and making conscious effort over time to target those areas because they already are a strength. We can make them better than they currently are by that awareness. And your presentation, I think, was very helpful in that regard. I think it is... I think it's a good start. I think we have to add on it. And I think it was said tonight that we're needing to just move on, but at least be aware of where we're at and have a plan. And this is showing some of that. So I'm just appreciative of the effort and the fact that it was presented the way it was. It's easy to understand. And I think I can't argue with anything in there other than the fact that it needed to be reminded to me These hubs that are already there, we're needing to strengthen them and make them even better than they are.

Thank you, Mr. Berg.

Mr. Lampe.

Thank you, Mayor. I just want to echo some of the other comments. I really enjoyed the focus on the surrounding communities as part of the Watertown community. I think that's going to be an important place for us to focus as well as potentially a revenue source and source of partners as we start to approach state and other organizations. The next gen egg, I also want to echo that that's something that is compelling and something that we definitely should lean in. We've all seen the success of the food and beverage innovation campus down south of us, and it would be nice to have something like that up here one of these days as well. The recreational hub with the park and rec, that's obviously something I've been encouraged by the past couple of years. I've also wanted to lean into that. That's one of those areas where I think we're probably going to be a little bit more challenged. As you know, our tourism department and other folks do a lot of work today attracting tournaments. And the number one thing that discourages folks from investing in the community is available hotel space. So that's going to continue to be a problem until we get that solved. On the commercial side, I am interested in understanding what we're going to do on the far west side of town. We've made a lot of investments as a city, as a council, in some of the parcels out in that direction by farm and fleet. We'd very much like to know how that's going to tie into hopefully a near-term investment that's going to pay off for the city. I also want to be careful as we're stepping into here to make sure that we're continuing to honor our existing industrial manufacturers in town. I don't think that was one of the major points here, although we did touch on it, especially with focus on the blue collar trades, obviously, that populate their workforce. And also on page three, there was a mention of our major transportation hubs, which also, of course, are going to be incredibly important as we continue to invest in industrial and ag going forward. But overall, very interesting to see. Thank you for putting this together in one place and hope we can do a lot with it.

Okay.

Okay, that was our only item on the agenda, so I'll for motion to adjourn.

I'll make that motion.

Okay. Moshe Berg, second by Davis. Okay. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Okay. It's 6.57. Why don't we just plan on five minutes to start, a couple minutes after seven for a regular meeting, if that works, okay?

I'm sorry. I'm the pastor of Christ United Methodist Church, and I am so grateful for this invitation to pray for the council to the Lord. So, thank you. Let us pray together. O God of wisdom and discernment, you have entrusted the task of governing the city of Watertown to this council. So we pray that every member of this governing body take the task as an honor, as a privilege, with humility, integrity, and respect for one another. In their discussions tonight, Grant them passionate hearts, keen minds, understanding of differing views, and the ears and hearts to listen to one another. And in their vote, give wisdom, discernment, and integrity. as good stewards of all the resources of talent, time, and money at their disposal, so that your will be done through their decision tonight. In Christ's name, we pray.

Amen. Amen.

Thank you, everyone.

Thank you, Pastor Lee. Your screen's off again. I think black.

Okay.

All right. Before we start, I want to, bear with me for a minute, say something. I was interviewed on a show for the record, and I was asked what I liked about Watertown. And I said, whenever there's ever a tragedy, community always comes together. And Menasha got hit pretty hard last week with storms. And I saw some great things in Watertown. I saw... different church groups, nonprofits, military organizations, and even restaurants in town, gathering food, water, clothing, and large bulks, large trucks down in the Menash area. We had local restaurants that sent even food trucks and just planted them and offered free beverages and food for people in need that their houses destroyed. So I just want to thank the city of Watertown for coming together and helping that community out. And I'll call the Common Council meeting here on Tuesday, August 4th to order. It's 7.07 p.m. Okay.

Davis. Here. Lampe. Here. Burke.

Here.

Natecky. Here. Blanke. Smith.

Here.

Arnett.

Here.

Haas. Here. Moldenhauer.

Here.

Okay, thank you. You please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

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.

Okay, first on the agenda, we have minutes from the last council meeting on July 21st. Motion by Haas. Second by Smith. Okay. Okay, questions, comments on it? Okay, let's...

So we may want to review and edit the names on the roll call. Has Alder Bartz and Alder Wetzel still there?

Sure, we can probably do that in the size, yeah. Mr. Muller, was there anything else, or was that the same thing you all said, too? Okay. I thought it would be coming. Okay. We can make that correction, I believe, right? Okay. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Okay. Next, we have comments and suggestions from citizens present. Members of the public who wish to address the council should register their requests in writing with the city clerk prior to speaking. Speakers shall be permitted up to three minutes for their comments. All right, move on then. There's another time at the end of the meeting as well. Reports, we have the RDA minutes from June 17th, Planning Commission minutes from June 22nd, Finance Committee minutes from July 13th, Planning Commission minutes from July 13th, Site Plan Review minutes from July 13th, Park Recreation and Forestry minutes from July 20th, Public Safety and Welfare minutes from July 22nd, and the Downtown Main Street Reconstruction Task Force minutes from July 28th.

Mr. Berg? Mr. Mayor, I just want to make a comment meant to, in fact, compliment the Park and Recreation Commission and that meeting that I read for July 20th. We always have issues that need attention and that need to be looked into further, and the example that came to me was a Pickleball is becoming increasingly a popular type of activity sport that more and more people are participating in. The fact that we've got people like Bill Oswalt, who a lot of us know from being active in our community, stepping forward and actually it shows on this minutes that they've raised, at least up till now, $260,000 toward a goal of $400,000 so that they can actually... put up these new pickleball type courts in our town for people that want to enjoy it going forward. And I'm also happy that we've found a location with our Brant Quirk Park, which is already a busy, busy and very successful type park. But to allocate space and time to make that happen, it shows good insight. I'm glad that the commission is getting cooperation on it. I'm glad that our Our new parks and recreation director is helping initiate that to happen. And it's just the kind of things that go on quietly that we take for granted, but they happen in this community, and they help us to address things that need to be addressed voluntarily because of having good people within our community that see the need and come forward. So it's just an example.

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Berg.

Okay.

All right. Move under new business. We have review and take action committee appointments. Mr. Smith.

Mr. Mayor, I would move for the approval of your appointment.

Okay. Motion by Smith.

Second by Berg.

Okay. Okay, Megan.

Smith.

Aye.

Arnett.

Aye.

Haas. No. Moldenhauer. Aye. Davis. Aye. Mampy. Aye. Berg. Aye.

Aye.

Nteki? Aye. Motion carried.

Okay, thank you. Mr. Mayor? Yes, Mr. Smith.

I think this is the right place in the agenda for me to pose an inquiry, kind of a procedural scheduling type of an inquiry. But not being on either the licensing board or the public safety committee, I don't have any firsthand involvement, but many months ago, I believe dating back to March, there was an ordinance that was being proposed for the issue of massage parlors and for purposes of potential licensing and so forth. actually came back to the council after it was reviewed by committee and it was sent back to committee. And since then, following the various minutes, I know it's gone to public safety several times and licensing board several times.

It's not an agenda item today, Mr. Smith. What's that? It's not an agenda item today. We can't discuss it.

No, but this is the place we're supposed to ask about timing and future scheduling for placing on agendas down the road. And my inquiry is what the status of that particular piece of legislation is. I have had inquiries. I have not known what to say. I've expected... Week by week that it would be returning, and I'm just wondering what's the status, and will it be coming back to the council for council review in the near future?

I'll let everybody know. What's that? I'll let everybody know where we are with that. But, yeah, that was in the minutes of a licensing board meeting, so I'll let everybody know.

So do we not know to the point where we can...

It's an agenda item of the next licensing board meeting. Excuse me? It's an agenda item of the next licensing board meeting.

Well, I'm not sure what you're saying, but are you saying that it will become an agenda item? That's up to the licensing board. So it's with the licensing board now? Correct, yes. Okay, well, I guess my point is I certainly would like to see this back at the council at the earliest possible time. Okay.

All right, our miscellaneous business. We have payroll summary from July 8th through July 21st. Go on, Mr. Berg.

I'm just going to give a little bit of an update and comment. I think a lot of us, we tend to follow the police and fire on overtime because of how it's been an example of where it has gone beyond what was budgeted previously in previous years. And we've always asked for some type of moderation on that topic. But again, we're halfway into the year based on what they're showing here for data. And we're also about halfway through what they're allowed within their budget for overtime, it appears they're making some effort to restrain that topic and stay hopefully within the dollars that are allocated versus going beyond. And if I'm wrong, then maybe clarify it. Maybe people like our Mark Stevens can tell me if there's anything that I'm missing. But are we making headway or not on that topic for those two departments, Mark?

I would say that the numbers are speaking for themselves, and yes, this is a better year than it was last year at this point in time. Ms. Teckey?

I would just like to make a comment about overtimes for police and fire. Doing what I do, I understand how that is, but we have to also figure people get sick. People call in, you know, I don't think anybody, when they see these numbers, you know, I think a lot of people are concerned about it. I think if we want to change that, we're going to need to consider hiring more people for staffing, is my opinion. So like I said, everybody sees these numbers of police and fire, but again, things happen. People, you know, get sick, take vacations. So like he said, the numbers speak for itself, is what I would just like to point out.

Okay. Anything else on there? Okay. Under Ordinances, we have Ordinance 26-24, Ordinance to Amend Section 65-8, Disclosure of Interest of the City of Watertown, General Ordinances, sponsored by Alder Smith, from the Ethics Committee, on its second reading. Mr. Smith?

Mr. Mayor, I would move for the adoption of Proposed Ordinance 26-24 on its second reading. Okay. Motion by Smith.

Second by Lampe. Okay. Questions, comments on that?

Mr. Lampe, go ahead. One of the key additions to this ordinance is final approval of a form by the Common Council. Have we done that, or is that going to be a pending action?

I can take this one. It'll be a pending action. It'll go back to ethics board with the commentary provided by this body at your last meeting. They'll take a look at it and make any motions for necessary amendments, and then it'll come back for final approval to council.

Okay. As a follow-up, is this a good time for the council to be solicited on opinions to be sent back to ethics if they're going to potentially edit it at their next body?

Yes, we have the commentary from last meeting, but anything additional, this would be the appropriate time.

Thank you.

Okay, anything else? Okay, Megan.

Smith?

Aye.

Arnett? Aye. Haas?

Aye.

Moldenhauer?

Aye.

Davis?

Aye.

Lampe?

Aye.

Berg?

Aye.

Natecky? Aye. Motion carried.

Okay, thank you. Next B, Ordinance 26-25, Ordinance to create a portion of Section 500-3, Stop Intersections of Chapter 500 Traffic Code, sponsored by Alder Davis and the Public and Safety Welfare Committee, on its second reading. Yeah, Ms. Davis?

I'll move for Ordinance 26-25.

Okay, motion by Davis. Second by Natecky. Okay. Anything on that? Okay, Megan.

Davis? Aye. Mampy?

Aye.

Berg?

Aye.

Ntuky?

Aye.

Smith?

Aye.

Arnett?

Aye.

Haas? Aye. Moldenhauer?

Aye.

Motion carried.

Okay, next we have resolutions. Exhibit 9883, resolution to award contract number 12-26, Health Department Drive-Thru Building to Harmony Construction Management Incorporated for $295,539. Sponsored by Alder and Nett and the Public Works Commission on a, what was the term you used, a neutral?

There was no recommendation. No recommendation. It's a neutral. Neutral.

I'll move for adoption of that resolution. Okay. Motion by Berg.

I'll second that.

Second by Davis. Okay. Okay. Comments, questions on that? Mr. Mayor?

Go ahead, Mr. Chairman. So just to clarify, Public Works met at 6 o'clock this evening to consider this item. Four or five members were present. The motion to recommend this resolution failed on a 2-2 vote.

Okay, let's go with Mr. Mueller first. Go ahead.

I was one of them that voted against it, Mr. Mayor. I looked at the cost of it. I thought it was quite high. We only had one bid. I just thought, you're talking almost $300,000. That's an awful lot of money to have that drive-thru. So that's why I voted against it.

Mr. Brewer, go ahead. Mayor, we had a good presentation. I think we would benefit from it again because of the larger number of people that are going to be voting on it versus the committee. If either Carol or the other staff that were there that gave some of the background behind this Harmony Construction Management, they were the only one, but the question was asked, was there good effort made to solicit and get more I would rather they maybe give a few minutes of presentation just to give us that same overview that they gave us at the committee level.

Sure, I'll kick it off and then Nathan and Carol if you'd like to fill in any gaps. So the site in question is on South Second Street behind the Health Department. It's a vacant lot. City staff solicited an architect to put together plans and specs for the project. And then we proceeded to bid the construction of a drive-through style building over the summer. So as part of that process, we reached out to several contractors that we know do this work, I think six to eight. And we received one bid as part of our process. We follow all bidding law requirements for a Class 2 notice, so it's noticed twice in the Daily Times. In addition, we post on Quest CDN, which is an online service where you post public projects for bid. After all that, we did receive one bid. Bidding mid-year isn't ideal. A lot of the time, contractors' plates are already full, so their ability to take on work is somewhat limited. In addition to the timing, the timing built into the contract is somewhat condensed to meet ARPA funding requirements. And Carol, you can get into the funding details in a bit here. But all of that kind of boiled down to receiving one bid. Prior to going out for bid, we did reach out to a local contractor to get a cost estimate. The number that we received from that contractor was somewhat lower, but not out of line compared to the bid that we did receive. But given the time of the year and the schedule that we need to have this work completed, it does make sense. So, Carol, Nathan, is there anything you'd like to add here?

I would just add the funding restriction for the ARPA funding must be spent out by September 30th. Are there any other questions?

Could you tell the council how much money that is?

That's about a third of the budget. And that funding was used to purchase the property as well as to pay the engineering company to design the building, which is required through municipal ordinance.

Thank you.

No questions. Oh, sorry. Sorry about that.

Is there anywhere where we can review the mock-up of the building or any design, the layout?

Usually when there is a large contract that is going to receive portions of the funding from multiple accounts, there is some indication of how much funding is going to come from each of those accounts. Here what we have is we have the basic proposed contract amount and we are informed that there are three different accounts out of which that contract will be funded. Do we have any idea either by nominal amount or by percentage what's coming from each of those different accounts?

I don't have that breakdown here.

The ARPA money, that would all be in one of those accounts, right?

Right. In the emergency preparedness capital. And then the environmental health capital will be $130,000. And then the health department capital will be the other funds from other funding streams that we've had, we have.

So based on the accounts that are specified, it looks to me like these funds are not going to result in any impact on the tax levy. Is that correct?

That is absolutely correct. There is no tax levy dollars in this budget.

Okay. And the... prior statement that you made had to do with the needful expenditure by a time in September?

Yes, September 30th.

And does that mean that that money is contracted for, committed, or actually expended by that point?

Expended.

So here we are in August and we are talking about having all of this... Not all of it. The ARPA money?

So some of it is ARPA money, and some of that... So the ARPA money, the public health ARPA money that needs to be expended by the 30th has been used to pay for the lot, the survey, and the engineering company, which we have not paid the engineering company yet. And then the remainder of that ARPA money... will be used for the first payment for the bill?

Well, I see the timeline that we're looking at and the effort that's underway to make the fulfill the requirements of that money that has been in the city for use for quite some period of time now. When I first saw this, I was very surprised that there was only a single bid. I was inclined to at least inquire about the possibility of postponing this and going out for more competitive bids But it seems to me that that type of delay would be extremely complicating in light of the substantial source that ARPA is paying toward this building. That kind of delay would present problems.

Yes.

Go on, Mr. Berg.

Yeah, I think Alderperson Smith has raised a couple of the points that were brought up at the committee level. And in addition, it was reminded to us that they did send out emails to prospective contractors in addition to the things that were mentioned. And that was at least showing us a good effort on trying to solicit and get a competitive bid. The truth, too, is that the The building is being proposed for being built out. It will have a special use for the seat-build program, but it does have some other additional possibilities of use for storage and things that can have an application and value for the health department beyond this particular program. And she did mention, too, that the numbers that they have participating would increase by the benefit of this program and this facility being made available because the hardship and the difficulty of doing it with what they have has limited their ability to have more participate. This will add to that and give more application and use to justify the expense. And like Alderperson Smith pointed out, the local dollars are not going to be incurred. It's going to be targeted dollars, including ARPA, that are going to pay for this program and add to the benefits of the health department on the things they try to take on as a department. So I like to be on the side of being critical when we don't have comparison, but because of the urgency to turn around and to get another potential bid, it was just mentioned that they did have one they compared with, and it was a bit lower, but not substantial. So I think we could potentially save some money to reassure ourselves, but it would be taking some risk and we really want to help take care of what apparently is a problem and an area where we could do more than we're currently doing. So I'd be on the side of supporting it. I know how Carol Quest does everything in a way that tries to minimize cost and give us reassurance. I'm If in doubt, I tend to give the benefit of doubt to her department.

Mr. Lampe, go ahead. Thank you, Mayor. I had to shake off some cobwebs here because this goes back to the 2026 budget. If you correct that thing open on page 75, you've got, we basically have $175,000 allocated in 1453-1360. We've got another $90,000 in 1553-1460 allocated. And then we have a blank line in 24, 53, 12, 60 because we already, I think, moved that or allocated it or don't expend to expend it. So between those sources, we have either 220,000 if we take the 130 number out of the first number, or 235, which by my math indicates that we're about $65,000 to $95,000 short if we wanted to act on this bed. So I don't necessarily know that we've identified all the pots of money that we can draw from if we're going to cover this expenditure in this ordinance yet.

So there have been some community partners that have come forward and provided that funding gap. So we do have that, all of the funding secured.

And is that what's intended to pass through the 24-53? That's the I don't want to throw a lot of numbers at you, but that, I believe, is our...

The health capital expenditure account?

Yeah, that's the non-recurring grants and revenues budget.

Yes.

Okay, so that's a new revenue source that we didn't identify at the start of the year, but that exists to the tune of up to... That. The gap.

Yeah, yeah.

Okay. Thank you. So the money, I believe, was approved in the budget. last year. We're just looking to approve the contractor.

I think it's the opposite way. The money wasn't there in the budget, but we found more revenue that addresses the gap, I think is what she said. The $60,000 you're talking about.

Yes. The other part. The other $230,000 or whatever.

That was approved coming in 2026. Sure was.

Go ahead, Mr. Arnett. Thank you. So I've spoken on this topic previously, and I'll be brief. I still view this as a significantly oversized solution for the challenges that have been laid out. And I'm disappointed that significantly scaled back alternatives were never on the table. And then secondly, since Mr. Blanke is not here, I'll reiterate the comment he's made on this topic before. which is that this project never went through a facilities plan. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Arnott.

One more brief comment. Just a reminder, we did previously buy land on 2nd Street to accommodate this potential decision tonight. So we've already moved in that direction by buying the land. The land we purchased was for addressing this particular program. The fact that it has the possibility of application outside of the program can benefit the department overall, but we've already had a healthy discussion, and we seem to be on board with the need for helping address this need of the department. Ms. Haas, go ahead.

I mean, briefly, just because we're newer, if you could just bring us up to speed, what exactly will the building be used for?

So we, is this on? We have a number of drive-through programs and services that are delivered in a car. For example, our car seat installation, our department is the only car seat installer for the city of Watertown. So we currently do those car seat installations in our parking lot. where the child has to get out of the seat, stand by the car, and the parent is instructed on how to put the car seat into their car. The toddlers in our parking lot, we have a lot of traffic through our parking lot. Those car seat installations are done in all weather. We have worked with other city departments and other entities, our car dealerships, to see if we could use some of their space. There is not a city space available that we are able to use, and our public-private discussions haven't worked out either. We also provide drive-through vaccine clinics. We've done those a number of times in all kinds of weather, generally in the more Winter, inclement weather, and other drive-through services, like when we've had emergencies where we've had to hand out masks, other medication, we would have a drive-through service for our community as well. And we would also use this building for storage. So I have staff that are on call 24-7. They get called out. If they come into the office, they have to get a vehicle that delays their response for emergencies. We'll be able to store some vehicles in this space. And we've also, I've been contacted by a few other community organizations that are interested in partnering with us to deliver programs and services through this space as well.

Okay, what types of programs and services?

So there are community organizations that do distribution for families that this would be beneficial that they wouldn't have a family wouldn't have to get all their children out of the car, but they could drive through and pick up like infant supplies. school supplies, things like that. Okay. So this would be more of inventory or storehouse for... Not necessarily. Really, it is going to be a service delivery building. We will be providing services and programs. I guess maybe half and half to your question. Yes, you're welcome. Thank you.

I'm sorry, Mr. Mayor, just a question for... That's the first mention I've heard of using this as a garage. And maybe I've missed it from prior discussions and notes on this, but that's the first time I've heard that. Would you please clarify that?

Sure. I have talked about it in the past. I'm not sure when the conversation, but the intention always was that we would be able to keep a few of our vehicles, again, for our 24-7 on-call staff in the vehicle or in the buildings.

Okay, anything else?

Okay, Megan.

Arnett?

Sorry, Berg made the motion, Davis seconded it.

Berg?

Aye.

Ntuky? Aye. Smith?

Aye.

Arnett?

No.

Haas?

No.

Moldenhauer?

No.

Davis? Aye. Lampe? Aye. Motion carried.

Okay.

Thank you.

Okay. Next we have comments and suggestions from citizens present. Okay. Okay. That being the last item on the agenda, I'm looking for a motion to adjourn.

I move to adjourn.

Motion by Lampe. I'll take a second by Davis then. Okay. Any discussion on that? I hope not. Okay, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Okay, thank you. 740.