City Council - Regular Meeting

He's got to be half his face.

I told you. Are you working? It's already It was Girl Scout cookies.

What? I've already bought out. Yeah, that's who that's who they sent Mayor Bergie to. Oh, are they trying to sell you Girl Scout cookies? Yeah. I can think of worse ways to spend money on an addiction. We have to order by 3:15 though, so it's late.

Maybe this one I'm gonna give you circle number.

Okay. You can check it if you think it's wrong or you want to change your mind about anything. feel like I'm in school. Get our homework back.

Hey, Larry. All these council members showing up the last name. It's good. Oh, number six o'clock. You all ready? That's pretty good. This May of the Oaklair City Council will come to order. Please stand for the pledge of

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. City clerk, please call the role. Council member Bergie here. Rooster here. Johnson here. here. Miller here. Otto here. Reed. Sh here. Serrano here. Worth here.

Great. Thank you. Well, welcome everyone to the Monday, March 23rd meeting of the Oaklair City Council. I just want to remind we probably won't be speaking too much tonight, council members, but we should speak into our mic microphones as requested from uh some members of the audience. So, I'll remind you all tomorrow as well. And it's great to see everyone here tonight. The house uh that we have a full house which I always like to see. It's very exciting. Um so we'll go over how tonight will work in case you're new here. We will prioritize. So we'll actually we'll to do the public discussion. There's only one thing on the our agenda tonight about our funding applications for the um 27 budget development. I so staff will present on the item then council can ask questions and then at that point we'll open it up to council or the public and I will prioritize those who have signed up in the back first. So I'll go off the list and then after we get done with our list we'll open it up to council chambers and anyone who has not signed up can then come up and speak. Uh there are a few rules about guidelines for uh speaking tonight. Uh we you have three oh sorry four minutes to speak and you can only speak one time. Uh please say your name and address if you're not if it's not on the sheet but so who we know who you are. Um we do have a public comment period at the end of the meeting for things that are not on the agenda and those have slightly different guidelines. But if you are here to speak on the one uh innovation funding applications then you the same you have four minutes to speak and can speak one time. There are blue comment cards in the back of the room that people can fill out uh if you don't feel comfortable speaking. You can also email us. Many of you have, which I appreciate. And then there's a electronic comment form too on our website that people can use. So with that, we'll move on to our first and only item on our agenda, which is a public discussion on innovation funding applications for fiscal year 2027 budget

development. We have uh city manager Hirs.

Thank you. Uh so we don't have an agenda item on this tomorrow, but we did want to um have an opportunity for people to come and comment about this or any other topic that they wanted to uh comment on. So this is just a really quick recap of where we're at with the innovation funding applications. And I know I don't need to remind all of you, but our the background on the budget situation is that there have been basically decades of um a gap between uh expenditures or the needs of the community and revenue. And that's due to the tax laws that Wisconsin imposes on uh uh local government. And there are also other ones that relate to school districts and counties and um those have been um aggravated in recent years. One because of very high inflation um of almost 25% over the last five years and also rapid population growth which is a great thing um of about 6% in the last five years. And then just the cumulative impact of city managers and finance directors trying to find turn over every stone year after year, decade after decade. And so they take out the padding in budgets and find those efficiencies and then there's very little left every year that we go. We find less and less available to kind of prune from the budget. and um the innovation funding. Some of you are bet more experts than I am on politics in Wisconsin. Probably our president is for one. Um but the uh legislators legislative bodies set up this innovation funding 300 million and as I understand it, it was um a way to try to help municipalities. Um but there like everything that happens in our government in Wisconsin,

our state government, there's a lot of arguing and the lack of kind of clarity of goals and then what comes out is also unclear and difficult to implement and because it's a product of so much so many fraught discussions there. Um so anyway, they set aside this innovation funding of 300 million. Um I believe it was in 20 2023 or Mhm.

Um and but it took them so long to figure out what that actually meant. So the rules kept changing. Um and first they had a round of innovation planning grants, but they're only for communities uh less than fewer than 5,000 people. And then um they finally issued the um application round for innovation funding. And I this is I had it incorrectly in my newsletter. It was issued in September of 25. Um and then since that time period, they've been trying to interpret um or provide guidance to communities about who could apply, what what which were eligible, which were ineligible, how much money were you eligible for, um how did it get implemented? And so it's been really a moving target for um the DO who was charged with implementing this new law and then for the communities trying to interpret how to apply for it. And um I I imagine you agree with me that we're happy about this innovation funding, but it's sort of a misnomer to call it innovation funding because I don't really think there are a ton of efficiencies out there. If you take two really underresourced organizations and smush them together, you won't find savings, you know. So, it's a little bit um and like I said, I think we've already I think we've just kind of looked and looked and looked for those innovations and those efficiencies. So, I don't think there's lots of fat that's like waiting to be cut. So, all of us are trying, I believe, to apply for this funding mainly to get money. It's it's not necessarily I don't know that the actual goal of it is, you know, it's hard to find what the true vision is. Um what we really need is tax reform. That's really what we need is revenue reform for local government. Otherwise, this is just going to be a recurring problem over and over and over and over again. So, it's I'm happy this exists, but it'd be much better to have other options. So, anyway, then they basically have been keep clarifying. We've been trying to figure out what if

anything we could apply for. They're due March 31st and then they have to be fully implemented by June 30th. Um, and you'll see that um, what we ended up being able to apply for, but this is really a huge problem is that like basically you would have to find out mid April or whatever if you got the funding and then fully implemented like move all of your employees, all of your spending to this new entity by the um, end of June. So, it's it's it's very challenging and because it's so challenging, a lot of communities have had trouble applying for it. We've had trouble applying for it if we that was kind of the main reason I really wanted to push for this round because so few communities have applied for it. So, that would be by far the best chance of getting it,

you know, but then that of course makes it hard for us to apply as well.

We don't know what the next future round will be. if there will be a future round. We know they got a lot of feedback from municipalities. So, they certainly have a long list of stuff that they think that maybe they will change in the next round. Of course, if it becomes easier for everybody to apply, then it's less likely that we'll get awarded and the priority goes to public safety. Um, this is really hard to read, but this just says that the it says what the allowable services are, which are public safety, fire prevention, protection, emergency services, courts, jails, training, etc. But the priority is for public safety. So that's police, fire, EMS. And this is also really hard to read, but this is the entirety of submissions so far. I think it's like 12. So you see that communities have really struggled in the same way. And this is all on the innovation funding um website, but you can really see that communities are struggling in the same way that we've struggled to to turn these in. And there'll probably be a big rush right at the end of March, but you still think maybe it'll be three times this or we don't know. So this is what we tried we thought about doing uh fire district or consolidation. Um, so basically what it this the innovation here is that it's transferring a service from one governmental entity to another governmental entity or to a nonprofit. And when you transfer that service from one entity to another, you get 25% of the budget of the transferring the the transferer um for five years. So if you're if we were spending um if so we were looking at Altuna and if they Altuna Fire Department if they spent a million dollars on their fire department and they transferred fire protection to the city of Oaklair for five years we would

have re we combined us and Altuna would have received $250,000 for five years. Um, but it requires a partner which makes sense but you know then you think about the compressed time frame and how hard it is to negotiate these kinds of partnerships and it um makes it extra challenging. So fire did not proceed countywide EMS. This would be really great if this ever happens. It's a county decision. They have to like um sign off on it. But this has a lot of benefit. One, it would have been great because of the innovation funding. Um, but two, because it can be above our levy limit, so it has multiple benefits. Um, a joint library system. This again, it would have been um Yeah, oh, we'll do. You want to finish?

Okay. Yeah, I'm almost done. Okay. Uh, anyway, we couldn't find a partner to do the library. public health would have been um we currently have a joint city county public health department. So if the if that had been restructured so that it was only a county health department um then they would have been eligible for their as it was our understanding for their budget minus this the county levy. So that would have been that was a real good one because it was like 1.7 million per year was our understanding. Um but it was very challenging for the county to do because it's involves taking up 60 new employees in a super compressed time frame. Um and then HOBS we looked at and we were working with the user groups um uh for Hobs and the soccer park. I don't I think for HOBS it probably won't happen is my my understanding but Pat is the main Pat New is the main person spearheading that. Um so we basically with the user groups we said this is an area that might get cut um if we apply for this funding this allows there to be some subsidy for 5 years so it helps stabilize the program for five years. Um recreation programming like the classes we run we didn't move ahead with that. Transit we found out was not eligible or that we determined with DR it was not eligible and soccer park is the only one that's still in play. And um if that goes forward then we will bring an agreement to you on a special meeting on next Monday March 30th.

Okay. Thank you. So now we'll take questions from council uh council member. Thank you council president. Thank you city manager for your presentation. I have two question combined for one. One is after five years what would happen for any of for the soccer park or for habs talk about habs

for habs it's we I as you guys have talked about for a bunch of years the issue with hobbs is that it has major potential capital costs and so um if something happens that requires us to invest five million do we want to continue to maintain maintain hobs at its current location. Do you guys want to continue to subsidize ice? Uh or is that something that you don't want to do? Um you know, like when we have to cut police and fire and snow plowing and parks and forestry and health and library, this is a decision point. Do you want to continue on with a subsidy of ICE? And in any case, if you do, there's still a decision. Do you want to do it? Do we want to do it at that location in which case it needs quite a bit of investment in the capital side of things or do we want to plan for a different location? So it's kind of like two decision points.

So the next you have one more question. Yeah. Yeah. The next one is um a lot of people have been uh I was out and about in the weekend and a lot of people were asking what about why we rushing this thing without real input of the community because this is something which will affect look how many people here for soccer I'm talking about guys for perhaps well we rushing you say we have to apply but at first we have to implement it by July. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, Hobbes I don't think Hobbes is going to go forward but the reason for rushing was the possibility of getting 330,000 per year for five years. So that was the goal because this is probably less likely to be funded in a future round. So this, you know, if there's a a round that's more open, like not so hard to to actually apply for and implement, this would be the lowest priority according to the do. So it's it was 330,000* 5 was the reason to rush as a way to close so that that subsidy doesn't have to be found in other places. But you know, it's really up to ultimately the user groups and you guys to go forward. So if it's rushing then which it seems like we're not going to go forward but it does mean we have to find another way to pay 300. So sort of leaving money on the table as a community to not to not use it.

Okay. Council member Brewster. Thank you Council President. Um so I saw the the EMS thing on there. EMS is considered a public safety yes thing, right? So if if we are able to work something out with the county, we have at least a fair to good chance of of getting that in a in a future round. Yeah. And just to note, future rounds would just have four years of subsidy versus five. Okay. So it is a little less, but yeah, that would be a perfect one. Yeah, that's cool. And then um the thing with the the soccer park um moving forward is that uh that's with the AYSO is as the as the it is ASO

I I think that I will defer that because those are still in discussions but it's but the key user groups are working together but who the actual partner will be I would defer that to the um PAT or the Monday discussion. Okay, thank you.

And just to clarify, so these rules that were coming down, the deadlines, so that all came from the state. That's not a city decision, just so everyone's aware of too. So they gave us the rules instead of this wherealized, but instead of properly funding us at the local level, they say here, try this program and fight against each other for this small pot of money and you have to do it in six months. So that's what we're up against. So, I know it's difficult, but um that's what we're and it's it's really hard. But I'm really glad everyone's here tonight, though, because this is really important to talk about. So, and then also the rules kept changing because they were trying to interpret the law, which was confusing, and so it was very hard for us to follow along as well.

Yeah. But we can just do what we can do with every opportunity that comes along that might help us financially, we're going to take and we either succeed or partially succeed or we fail, but we'll just move on to the next one. Okay, any other questions? I always move on to comment. Okay, so I will p someone could grab the sheet for me, please. Lane's got it. Uh, Mr. President. Yep. Question. Since this item is not on the agenda tomorrow, is there for for council to comment or normally comment would occur during the item tomorrow, but we haven't had a

that doesn't exist. So, is it still just questions tonight? Um, let's hear from the public first and then we if you have comments afterwards. Does that sound fair? Okay. So item number one, first up we have Jessica.

Hi, welcome. Hi. Oh, and the lights will tell you. So green means talk. Yellow is one minute left and red is stop talking, please. All right, so

uh my name is Jessica Rhaegor, uh 3848 Bridge Drive, Oakclair, Wisconsin. Thank you for your time and for your thoughtful discussion surrounding the future of Hobs Ice Center. I want to speak today not only as a community member, but as a parent, taxpayer, someone who's made long-term life decisions based on um what this facility provides. I moved from northern Minnesota to Fall Creek in 2011 2013 to Altuna and then finally to Oaklair where my husband and I permanently settled here and I'd be lying if I said hockey wasn't part of that decision. Um Hobbs Oaklair Youth Hockey and Memorial High School offer a clear and reputable path for hockey, something I wanted for my fourth generation hockey family. Today, my two daughters and son have found their place within Oaklair youth hockey and the Chipo Valley Riverhawks hockey programs. They're not alone. The game is growing. USA hockey recently surpassed 100,000 females player players nationwide. Families like mine are part of that growth and we need facilities that can support it. Oaklair youth hockey has record numbers of players registered in the last couple seasons compared to the last many years. HOBS isn't just a rank. It's an economic driver. Each year during our three home tournaments, Oaklair Youth Hockey brings in over 70 teams and over 830 players and their families. This generates approximately 1,368 hotel room nights. These visitors support our local hotels, restaurants, retail stores, and local entertainment. That is a direct and repeat economic impact for our city. These numbers do not include the multiple other weekends throughout the winter that teams visit our community for non-ournament hockey games with one of our eight Oaklair youth hockey teams and six Chiua Valley River Hawks teams. I also recognize the financial realities that the city is facing. The user group groups have come to understand the budget challenges and are committed to being part of the solution. We are willing to work collaboratively with the city to make hobbs a more budget equitable facility,

including and exploring options that have been proposed during other meetings. However, we strongly do believe that maintaining city ownership and management is critical. While grant grant funding is appealing, the immediate and long-term impacts, especially in the first year, could be detrimental and not as costefficient for the user groups or the community. A sudden change in management would create instability in operations and could jeopardize the very programs that and events that make Hobs successful. Keeping HOBS under city management ensures consistent operations, protects all access for all user groups and the public and ma maintains the standards that has made it such a strong asset not just for Oaklair but for the entire Chipua Valley and beyond. Most importantly, this conversation has brought user groups and the city together in a meaningful way. We are ready to continue those discussions and to take action together to ensure the long-term success of Hob's Ice Center. This is about more than a building. It's about an e economic impact, community stability, and opportunities for the next generations. I respectfully ask that you continue to invest, maintain, and partner with those who rely on HOBS to ensure it remains a cornerstone of our community for years to come.

Thank you, Jessica. Thank you. and Shelby.

Hi, welcome.

Hi. Um, I'm Shelby Kohler. I'm a mother to three hockey players and I'm also a registered nurse. Um, I'm here to speak against proceeding with this initiative in any way as it would involve Hobs Ice Arena. I will freely say that I'm not as versed in the financial aspects of this program, but I would like to highlight the impact of the youth sports um for our community. I began my hockey j my journey as a hockey parent when my when my daughter was 8 years old. She participated in co-ed ice hockey through the Oaklair Hockey Association until she entered high school where she joined the ECA Stars. In her four years as a varsity athlete, she was named assistant captain, captain, and then helped her lead her team to the state tournament. She also received um coaches award and a Hobie Baker character award. Um this year she's a freshman at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa where she plays college hockey for the Crimson Tide and is an active member in her collegeg's grow the game hockey program and is also enrolled in pre- N nursing. If you were to ask my daughter to the se the secret of her success as a young adult, she would tell you hockey. My two boys are in the midst of their hockey journeys, and I can't imagine a time that they might not get to finish that journey within the walls of Hobbs Ice Arena, sharing in the same experiences as their older sister. Hobbs is much more than a city building. It's a second home to many. In the last 12 years at Hobbs, I've watched my children learn that fitness is fun, that sharing in a common goal and succeeding as a team is much more fulfilling than personal victory, that excellence can only come from hard work and dedication. Hobs has been an environment where my children feel safe and supported, where adults and other than their own parents have taught them about a growth mindset, about what it means to listen when someone's taking the time to teach you something, about sportsmanship, respect, and humility. Hobbs is a place where thousands of children in our community have come to play, grow, and learn. As a hockey family, we've experienced

the success of the US women's, men's, and parolympic hockey teams as they all took gold in this year's Olympics. We know that these games have inspired an entire new generation to play the game of hockey and that we need hobbs to continue to remain in our community to support future and current generations of youth athletes. The United States Department of Health and Human Services has developed a program called Healthy People 2030, which sets national objectives to improve the health and well-being of citizens over the next decade. Healthy People 2030 has named increasing participation in youth sports as a priority. Increased participation in youth sports has been proven to decrease rates of childhood obesity, decrease weight rate incidences of weight related diseases, and to decrease depression and anxiety. I strongly feel that our community goals should mimic these national initiatives. Participation in youth sports is a building block for healthy and successful adults. I urge the city council to consider the long game and the impact that the decisions made in the upcoming days and weeks and what they will have on the future of our community. Please look to find solutions that allow collaboration with our associations and that avoid potential closure of this essential community space. Our children need more safe spaces to be active and participate in youth sports, not less.

Thank you. Thank you. Thanks, Shelby. Okay, Danica. Hi. Welcome. Hello. My name is Denica Reed Propes. I live up on 455 Skyline Court in Oaklair.

Um, I am also here for HOBS. I have two boys that I brought with. They were in kindergarten or excuse me, first grade and fourth grade. Um, not only am I a parent of hockey players, I played myself like Jessica coming from Minnesota looking for a strong hockey community for my kids to also grow up and learn in. Um, not only do I have kids in there, but I coach I coach might level, which makes up might through third grade, which is really a foundational time and so fun. Um, as we've been discussing about this, I've really been thinking uh community big picture because I've heard Fairfax, I've heard soccer park, which my kids also do um ASO, so they also do that. but just as a community as a whole. And I think so in a world where kids are more likely to be in front of screens than outdoor playing with their friends, um having plays, I think it's really important to think big picture of making sure we have places where our kids can go, they can go away from screens, they can just get away from the technology. And Hobbs is one of those. Um, again, I'm not huge on the financial part as a coach and a parent, but I want to tell you what I see because I'm at Hobs a lot. I see a lot of the community that happens there. We have the hockey. When I coach, I see kids learning skills and the joy is on their face. They're becoming teammates. They're becoming friends. They're learning how to build these skills that they're using at school, at home, in their community, and it's just going to keep growing. They're going to keep learning and keep becoming strong community members. Um the social emotional growth. I get to the point where sometimes I get tears in my eyes because of what I see these kids do. It's amazing. Um they learn so much. But

I'm also there for open skate, which is for the community. Um open skate during the day, open skate at night. And I see I see people that get to rent the skates and try skating for the first time. They're pushing around the blue pushers and it's like the joy on their face. It's amazing. I see friends meeting up. They're having playdates. I see high schoolers, college kids on dates, all different ages um come for their physical fitness and their social time. And then I want to end on a story that I think is so lovely. I was there. It was January 2nd. I was volunteering for my son's my older son's tournament and I was working in the front desk and this older gentleman walked up and he said, "Which rink is the Blue Gold game in tonight and we looked at each other and we said, "I'm sorry, sir. I think you have the wrong night. There isn't a Blue Gold game." And he looked so sad and he goes, "I was supposed to meet one of my friends here. We haven't caught up in a long time and we're going to meet the Blue Gold game tonight." And I said, "I'm sorry, sir. It's an away game." So 5 to 10 minutes goes by and all of a sudden I saw his friend come in and they didn't leave. They sat down in the lobby on the chairs and the table and they were there for over an hour because we have this community space where even though the event that they were going to didn't happen, they were welcome to just sit down and still catch up because we know they were there to catch up anyway, the blue gold game was just a excuse to come together. So, I just thought that was a beautiful moment and it's really stuck with me. So, just from a community standpoint of all these people that use hobbs and love hobbs and grow, please think long term um how we can keep a stable arena going and keep this as a community asset going forward. Thank you for your time.

Thank you for speaking. Thank you. Oh, we have a question for you, Dena. Council member Boga. Thank you, Council President. I really appreciate. Thank you for what you do to the future leaders. As somebody who loves sports, sports has a a big impact in my life. Mhm. I could be I will be a drug dealer. I will be done something bad. But through sports are strengthening me. So I I don't But anyway, my question is I feel like this place is your second home. Yes. You and your your lovely boys there.

Yes. So can you please speak a little bit about the impact if we transfer it to a private attendant what what will happen? Um thank you.

My fear and I just know in general terms um I know like out east private equity is grabbing up rinks here and there. Um I see big cities. I came from a small town um 2,000 people. So we are really lucky to have a rink and so I understand um the importance of that and I just if if it becomes something that's more access less accessible for people um more and more expensive um because hockey figure skating the ice time is what can really add up. the less amount of people get to go out on the ice, get to experience that that joy. I mean, I don't know if any of you skate, but on ice, it's a wonderful feeling. It's nothing else that you can explain. It's different. I'm a runner. Different than running. You get a whole different feel. And so, I guess that's my fear is that the more costs go up, the more all that is, the less people that we'll be able to impact um in this sport. And that's what my goal is. The more people we can get on the ice, the better. So,

I hope I answered that. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, that's it. Who've signed up on this item, but I see there's people on this on the public comment, too. So, I don't know if anyone who signed up over here meant to speak on this. So, if you want to speak. Okay. Yeah, come on down. I know it can be confusing with the sheets. So, just want to set your name and address, please. Thank you. Yeah, I think it makes more sense to be here. Uh Jill Milis, 2709 Calumett Road. You've seen me before and you'll see me again. Wonderful.

Um not only am I the president of uh Oaklair youth hockey, I'm also a little league baseball coach in this community. I work in this community, but more importantly, I'm the mom of three very active kids that love playing sports and they love to be outside. Um, after graduating from W Oak Oclair and going elsewhere for additional schooling and jobs, my husband and I knew pretty quickly that we wanted to make our way back to Oaklair because we wanted to raise our family because of what the city has to offer. The fact that Oaklair consistently ranks amongst the um highest cities, not only in Wisconsin, but in the Midwest as places to live or places to raise your family year after year. Um, kind of shows that what we were thinking was the right choice. That's why it's so frustrating to see where we are today and that now it looks like our city um leaders are looking to move away and taking those things that why we came to this community and so many other families came to Oaklair because of the opportunities that we had for our children. Um what was um also very frustrating was listening to the working session on Monday and finding that one of the solutions to a budget shortfall is looking for money under rocks or finding grants as proper solutions to budget shortfalls. Why aren't we looking for long-term solutions that fall in line with some of the other things that I've also heard from city officials such as heads and beds in reference to hotel taxes? I've got some numbers for you. Sports related travel generates 90 million room nights. 90 million room nights and 32 billion with a B in direct spending every year. Sports is one of the strongest segments in the entire travel industry. Moreover, sports events are highly visible. Their impact is more easily measured. They enhance the quality of life for resident residents in the host city and can also be keys to economic development as well as individual and business relocation.

other cities in Wisconsin. Get this. I saw that this weekend. I went to Jainsville with one of my sons for a hockey tournament. It was a tournament for kids all over the state of Wisconsin to represent their region. Jainsville very recently invested in a new civic center and hockey arena. They filled a big box store that was empty downtown and they decided to put something in there that would bring people to their region. Now you had kids from all over the state spending money putting heads and beds in their hotels, eating in their restaurants, filling up their cars and their gas stations. The year before, the same tournament with my other son was in Eagle River. Eagle River has the oldest ice hockey arena in the state that's over a hundred years old.

They understand that investing in things that bring people to their community are vital to the health of that city. They know that they need people coming to Eagle River in the dead of winter. Us hockey people, we travel, we show up. They have understood that investing in these facilities is good for their community. So, what I'm asking is then, why are we not looking at solutions like this? Why are we diverting funds to other things in our city when we should be investing in the things that we know bring money to our area? Things like the soccer park, things like the hockey arenas. I ask that you do your research to find long-term solutions that are and be more transparent where these dollars are actually going in taxes. And I think if we don't start thinking more long-term, we're not going to be successful if our game plan is to look under rocks for more money or be looking for grants that may or not be there in the future. Those are not long-term solutions. Thank you. Okay. Anyone else that wants to speak on this item? So the I'll read it again. So it's on the innovation funding applications. Okay. All right.

My name is Marty Green. I live at 2860 Mercury. And this month I celebrate 50 years of being a citizen of this community. About four weeks ago, my phone started ringing and people were calling me because even though I'm retired now, they remember that I was part of the media and they were asking me about one particular question and the question was transparency. They were telling me about rumors. Uh even a former city council member sent me information. So, I'm asking today and I thank you for the ability to speak to you that this is a beautiful community. I've lived here 50 years and I love it. But I also say that as this moves forward, we need to continue to have transparency. What the rumors are, some of them have been addressed today and some have have not. What the people were telling me was that uh going for this innovation grant through act 12 for $330,000 would also bring the rumor of selling hobbs, Fairfax pool, the soccer fields and trading them for another piece of property. My response to these people were, I have no idea what you're talking about. And so in the last four weeks, I've attempted and listened to the people that have spoke here today, and I back them 100%. And I'm just asking this city council to be more transparent. Some of the things you mentioned today, I haven't heard in the three weeks. There had been nothing in the media about this until now. So, I'm saying as we move through with the financial

difficulties that we have, remember the word transparency. The public wants it. They didn't get it with the uh water bottling thing until the last minute when even a a senator from here shook my hand and thanked me. He said, "You have stepped forward and you are getting the information out, and I thank you for the ability to speak. Thanks for coming down." Okay. Any else like to speak on the the innovation funding applications? I think I signed up on the wrong. No, there's no wrong sheet. Just I'll just move it around.

Sorry. Long time listener, first time caller. So, yeah. Just want to let What's What's your name, sir? My name is Blake Conde. I live at 3913 Scotch Pine Court. Yes. Nice to see you, Blake.

Uh good evening everybody. Thank you for the opportunity uh to speak with you today about something that is deeply meaningful to my family and many families in Oaklair. I'm going to be very brief and I hope that this is the start of a more in-depth conversation between the city and community in the coming weeks and months. I want to share a perspective grounded in my personal experience both as a resident and as a parent. My 11-year-old daughter skates at HOBS multiple times per week. She wrote me a note before I came here tonight and in her own words she told me how much she loves skating, how much she loves her friends at the rink and how important it is to Oaklair, how important the Oaklair Figure Skating Club is to her. Hobbs is where she learned confidence, perseverance, and belonging. It's not just an ice rig to her. It's a place that she is grow. It's a place where she is growing up. She's not alone. Thousands of people in our community rely on Hobs in the soccer park every year. These spaces give our children opportunities they might not otherwise have. They give lower and middle class families access to activities, mentorship, and structured spaces that are increasingly hard to find and more importantly afford in these um lost my space here. Sorry.

You're fine.

Um sorry, afford elsewhere. Um, there are the kinds of these are the kinds of assets that the community sorry, these are the kinds of community assets that make Oaklair a place people want to raise their families. I understand that our city has a budget deficit and I know that difficult conversations come with that. I also understand that there's a great opportunity to bridge that financial shortfall on the table right now currently. My concern is simply that decisions with long-term impacts, especially decisions involving transitions in how public facilities are operated, deserve time, conversation, and thoughtful planning. What I hope we can all uh keep on the center of this discussion is the idea that these facilities are generational. They are shared public resources that have shaped the lives of each of kids for decades and if we care for them well, will continue to do so for decades to come. My daughter's note reminded me of that. She wasn't worried about grants or budgets. She wasn't worried about losing if she was worried about losing a place where she feels safe, supported, and proud of herself. I hope we can continue to create more opportunities for open conversation as this moves forward. Many of us would truly appreciate being included in the ongoing dialogue so we can share our experiences both both ask and answer questions and have meaningful voice in shaping the future of these facilities. These facilities mean a great deal to our families like m to families like mine and the city of Oaklair. Thank you again for your time.

Thanks. Thanks, Blake. Anyone else like Oh, great. Come on down.

Hello. My name is Travis Taylor. I'm a new resident to Oclair from uh various different places. The federal government has moved me. And so with some of that experience, uh I'm a neighbor of Blake as well. I have two kids who are in various sports. I don't have a direct connection to hockey. I'm from Texas, but my kids do play hockey. And uh and so one of the things that I wanted to kind of bring up here today as I learn about a Claire and the city and the budget is I uh started off in Santa Fe, New Mexico that was very much uh about uh there was no there was no effort put towards the middle class families in general, 50th in the country as a state in education. There was hardly any parks. There was drugs at the park. There was no uh organized uh soccer fields that the those spaces were also dangerous. Um and because of that many families that I to include myself found reasons to leave and families less in I went to Brambleton Virginia the exact opposite. Uh a huge pres a huge family commitment for middle class families which is obviously our probably our largest tax base here. Uh vibrant community there uh kids there was uh avenues for kids to play sports whether it be hockey, soccer, baseball, whatever they wanted there was uh uh availability for that. And like everyone else before me has said, that brings in a lot of revenue, whether it be travel for family, travel for families coming here through hotels, spending on restaurants here. Some of some of the stuff that I heard previously today was that we had 6% growth. I'm assuming that's great for Oaklair because it increases our tax base. And so some of the decisions, whether it be for the soccer field, which I feel very passionate about, I play I play soccer. I coach at the soccer fields as well is that we should be making decisions that uh benefit our highest uh revenue or our our middle class tax bracket. And so one of the reasons that when I was looking for various places to move to from the from my government was that Oaklair had a great place to raise a family, great community, great school districts. And so I want us to continue to make decisions to where we benefit families.

Families will move here, families will invest here. we invest in our community and our community will invest back into this city. And so whether if you get rid of the soccer field, the hockey field or say ASO takes over soccer and now uh prices go up for paying soccer. So now your upper middle class to upper class families are the only ones that can afford to play soccer. Um and I coach at ASO. Uh I think that those decisions are going to have long-term impacts that will pass this fiscal year that we should be considering. And so as we make decisions not just for soccer and for hockey uh but continue to make decisions for bringing in middle-class families who want to invest in this community who are going to live here long term. I made a decision when I moved here right away with my f with my wife and kids. This is a place I want to to live for the rest of my my time here. And that's because of what I saw in my brief stint here. And I think obviously a lot of people hear us spent many years here and have made all those comments uh that have I can't I can't I mean I've only been here six months and so uh but I have seen what what happens when we don't invest in those opportunities. Santa Fe is extremely poor in one end and extremely wealthy in the other and there's no there's no uh either investment in um for uh middle class occupations or for reasons to be there if you're if you're not wealthy or grew up there and a poor. So, I just would hate to see that happen in a community like this. And so, continue to make decisions based off families and families will invest back into you. They'll raise their families here and not move to seek better opportunities and better places to raise their families. So, with that, I appreciate your time.

Thanks, Travis, and welcome to Oakclair. Okay. Anyone else? Yeah, come on down. Are you Christie?

Yes. I think I signed up for the wrong No, that's fine. It's all good. Um Christine Castow, 483 Garfield Avenue in Oaklair. I'm the president of the Oaklair Faker Skating Club. Um just wanted to um briefly um talk about um the alternative that's being considered and again voice um the club's support for that. Um that is something that um has been shared to user groups by city staff um in terms of looking at ways to increase revenue at HOBS um which right now include um looking at um adjusting ICE rental fee rates. So they align um with operational financial goals um versus just like okay it's you know this number each year and not necessarily related to anything. um looking at open public skating um uh fees um potentially increasing those slightly. Um also looking at paid parking um and hobs as it relates to also the potential paid parking at facilities and parks that um that uh the council is considering um for the budget process later this year. Um again uh the club we had talked about this as a board and really support this idea going forward um as a way to um have hobbs be able to operate uh in a self- sustainable manner. So in this case, you know, we do support the city continuing to operate it so that there continues to be quality services there, the operational integrity is maintained, but also um with some of these ideas and implementing them, uh there wouldn't be a subsidy. Uh so that's that's huge. Also to add to some of the uh financial information that um has been shared. I know I've communicated with you some of this um information that's been shared with the user groups. Um for example, one of the things um in the conservative numbers that have been shared that it didn't include was our our competition for Oaklair Figure Skating Club that we

actually just moved back to Oaklair for the first time in several years. and I just got the ICE bill and um the ICE bill for this year is $12,983.93. If um they were increased to the rates that um we're talking about in in some of the options, we're looking at an additional $14,671.84 um in revenue to add to that operational um budget estimate for 2027. So that's all. Just wanted to express support and add additional information. Thanks for your consideration. Thank you. Appreciate your email, too. So, thank you very much.

Anyone else from council chambers in the public like to speak on? So, this is still on the innovation grant process or Yes, you can come on. No, no. Oh, okay. Oh, you can take them home. Oh, I see. You can leave. Yeah. Go. It's bedtime. Yes, you can. Oh, you want to guess? I was like, you can leave, too. Yeah, you don't have to raise your hand. Oh, come on down and just sit your name.

Jill Hanky Mowen, 512 Garfield Avenue, and I almost didn't come up because I feel like I'm piggybacking on a lot of what the community has already said here tonight, but I also think it's that much more important that I also do add in my 10, my two cents, my 10 cents. I've lived here for 10 years. Um, my husband and I moved here from Oakland, California. We have neighbors down the street um six houses down who made a spreadsheet four years ago and Oaklair topped their spreadsheet of all the places they wanted to move to the country from they moved from Austin, Texas. We have three houses down one of my best friends moved from Portland, Oregon. Um then they convinced their sister to move from Seattle, Washington. This is we were just ranked US News World Report. This is the stuff that people read. This is the stuff that get people on their spreadsheets to come to this community. We were number one in Wisconsin. We've gone to the top of that list. We didn't used to be. I think it said 31st in the country. This is the kind of reason that we came here to raise our family. I have two girls. I'm an ASO coach. I'm a figure skating club parent. I'm at all the places, all the days, all the things. And um I'm in a 20 mom text thread that is really concerned. They can't be here tonight because they're home feeding dinners to their children. And I didn't even tell my husband I was leaving. So, um, I'm here because we all feel that some unfair assumptions have been made, some scary assumptions have been made that if you were to just take on this grant to get the quick cash, that you're putting these partner groups in positions where they're backed into a corner, if you will, excuse my frankness, and won't have a way out in five years because they're assuming that these partner groups can then figure out how to financially run a facility. Um, even though we have heart and we have grit and we're here and we're all standing up for this, like the ice rink numbers that Christy has shared with our community, I mean, it it takes it takes

the city to really sustain this. Um, and I feel really strongly about that that what you said, I' I've been making watching these meetings my my first hobby. And you said Oaklair has this magic about it. That's why I'm here. That's why my family's here. That's why all my friends came here. I have some towny friends and they're lovely, but like we are becoming we are becoming a city of we're becoming a destination city for so many reasons. And um let's just say for instance, we sold off those three things that um that we've been bringing up, Fairfax, um soccer, and hobbs. And we made it privatized. and all those reasons that we came to give our kids opportunity because we moved here now um are completely unreasonable because we have to have let's say a YMCA membership or something like that. Um it's just I I would urge you to look forward 10-year plan not just the quick cash under the rock as some other people have said. I'm reiterating now but um thank you for listening.

Thanks Jill. Thank you. Anyone else like to speak. Do you have a question for her?

Okay, just submit it then. Any other like to speak uh during the public comment? Okay. So, then we're going to close the public discussion and then we'll open up to the public comment period. So, this is slightly different rules. Uh this is so not on what we just talked about. Um, but this part this time the public comment period is for time for those who live or own a place of business in the city of Oaklair to speak on citywide issues and then you only have three minutes to speak. You can speak one time. Uh, the light system still works the same. Uh, please do not comment on any previous agenda items. Um, and then this is not for personal remarks of city personnel, elected officials, or any person affiliated with the city. And then we're not allowed to ask questions or comment during this public comment period because these items are not noticed. So per law we can't do that. Uh and the time will last for 20 minutes. So anyone would like to speak on general city items. You're welcome to come up.

Emily, were we going to have comment council opportunity after the public we can to comment on this agenda item? Oh, I thought we were going to do that. No. Well, let's I mean, let's just see if anyone wants to speak for this and then we can go. We can go back. Yeah. Okay. Anyone like to speak on public comment period? Okay. All right. Uh so we will go back and if council but just make it maybe somewhat short so if so you have questions or you have comments. Okay. Well, we can put on your lights. I think council member Miller

I think council. Yeah, I made the unusual request to ask the speaker here because normally a public discussion, we did have a topic the next night where we are freely to discuss. Um this is a good opportunity just to address people here in the audience um about the innovation grant and my opinion on the innovation grant is I'm not a fan of this um and if you feel like things are rushed and forced, it is because the department of revenue came out with this giant uh incentive for uh municipalities to consolidate their activities. But um the the same this is kind of like the end of the road of a 20 years of constantly starving cities and schools and counties. And now this last bit here is like hey we're going to give you a bunch of money if you consolidate and pull stuff together. But the city manager said over the past 20 years we've had to cut all the fat we have and you know we're just trying to pull things together the last minute. Uh looking at the money here $300 million is available for municipalities. If you take every person who lives in Wisconsin, six million people, and divide that um that's about I don't have the number here, but then if you multiply that by the population of Oaklair, if you just do it out everybody evenly, Oakclair would get $3.75 million for 5 years. Our budget deficit is $2.2 million. So the state is forcing us to look at ways to consolidate down to get this extra money where if they just give us the money, we would not have a budget gap. Um, as the city manager said though, the only way to really fix this is for basic refunding of how the cities function. And my best hope for the city of Oclair is that with um there's going to be big changes in the state legisle coming this year. And it's my best hope that we finally get some real good eyes on all the deficits that the city's been forced into because the city 100% can only fund itself the way the state says we can. We cannot raise taxes. We can't do a sales tax. We can't do this or that. At the end of the day, we have a $2.2 million deficit. Um, public safety takes up almost all of our money. And then what do we have left? That's why it seems like we're attacking, you know, the stuff that is important to the

community, the parks, the recreation. But unfortunately, that's the only place left where there is money to trim. We can't cut police and fire. So, I understand all your concerns and it's hard and this is very difficult and I don't want to cut anything from parks. I want make better parks and bigger parks. It makes hop better and you make the pool better. But this is the reality of the financial situation we're dealing with. So doesn't make it easier and it doesn't make you happy. It doesn't make me happy. But I just wanted to give the the perspective on on that the fact that this innovation grant was kind of thrown out here as a way to make us try to save money and there's really, you know, not a lot of consolidation happen. So doesn't make it easier, but I just wanted to tell you that I hear all your concerns and I don't want to make anything worse for our community. Um, but we have $2.2 million and it's a very very tough discussion. So thank you for listening. Council member Counc.

Thank you, Council President. For me, I'm not going to say what council me said. I wanted to thank each of you guys for coming and be part of this conversation. And I want to thank Travis. Is that your name? Yes, sir. And what's the name of the other lady? Uh Jill, who just spoke?

Jill. Yeah. Thank you, Jill, for coming. You say you move from California to so there's something the way you said councelor Bruce I said there's a match here it look like if both of us we come together we we make something magical so that's my comment there's both of us work together and get out of this debt as as a community not city council not you guys both of us together okay thank you thank you council President. Um I just very much want to echo what Council Member Miller said. Um this whole situation has me personally very upset. I I just absolutely hate that we are even talking about any of this. I I really see how valuable it has been for the whole of the history of Oaklair for the city to actually be the ones doing recreation, doing these um uh you know, parks and Fairfax pool and hobbs and the soccer fields, all of this. The fact that the city operates them really makes it accessible to everybody. Um, so I'm in total agreement with you all and um and we are just really really in a tough tough spot. I'm I'm angry at our state government for the 20 years of very deliberate starvation of municipalities. So I'm just I'm just going to leave it at that. Thank you very much for being here.

Yeah. Thank you. Another Yes, the state does have us in a bind. Um, we can only fund everything we're talking about tonight is uh on property taxes and we can't ra that's we're that's only we can only raise property taxes which is okay per net new construction and so we we don't get a sales tax. So it's wonderful. It supports our businesses and that's great but the city doesn't get a sales tax um when visitors come. So we're I've been advocating for that at the local at the in Madison for years to do that just to diversify our revenue streams so we don't get stuck in the situation. So we are working on those long-term solutions. Yes, that's what we all been talking about for years. That's why we had to go to a public safety referendum. That's, you know, so I totally hear that and we try we always talk about it up here. We go down to Madison. Um so and we'll keep trying. So because this is this isn't fair for us and I I I hear you too. So Council Member Brewster.

Thank you, Council President. Um if anybody's interested in, you know, continuing these sorts of conversations in a in sort of a less uh formal thing, um I uh I'm hosting um a series of conversations on Sunday, April 12th, 19th, and 26, as well as May 3rd at 3 p.m. at the Plus. Um, all the other council people are are welcome to attend. They will be noticed so we can do that as well as if any staff want to come and if you just want to come and talk to us about this stuff. Um, so yeah, just wanted to make sure you knew about that.

Great. Well, thanks everyone. We will Oh, sorry, Council Member Ido. I didn't see you. Thank you, Council President. And um I've got a son in Oaklair United and any decision that we make as a body directly affects my family. I just want to say, you know, besides everything else everybody else has said, I really appreciate the creative ideas that are coming in. Like if you've got some creative idea for generating funding, no matter how outside the box, like this is the time to be creative. Um we read all the emails. Uh please send us more emails. Uh please send us more ideas. Please bring these to uh the discussions that we're going to that uh Representative Brewster created. So, thank you guys.

Great. All right. Thanks everyone for being here. This meeting is adjourned. I thought there was a work but appciate