City Council - Regular Meeting

Yeah, there's some I think Nick sent them out. Yeah, Nick or or Carrie would have access to those. This is actually going to be a relatively quick meeting, I think. Well, now that you said that, I don't I don't think that's how reality works. Yes, it is. All right. Well, I don't subscribe to the secret, so I know

you're Hey, Larry. Buddy. Hello. It's the beginning of today. That's right, man. We need to figure out a way to fix how we do that stuff with the hospitals. That's such BS. What stuff? So, with the the disallowing the excessive tax claim. Oh, because if we just like agree to it and don't fight it, then we get a chance to reortion it all. Look, Steve. But if we fight it and we lose sharp out of the general fund. Always sharp. That's good, Steve.

So obnoxious, Emily. Make it. I'm sorry. I will. I'm going to fix it all. Don't worry. Please do. Please fix it all for the people. Can you very stealthfully sign this? Oh, yeah. I don't want to be saying any no sign here. Did you want to Don't look. Don't look. I'm not looking. Don't look. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

After this meeting, I want to sit down with you. There's something I want to tell you. I'm upset about something. But I hope you Is there going to be something in the beginning?

No. No. You want to do yours? I don't know. Before that, before everything maybe. Okay, let's do before you even call the meeting to order or after you call the meeting to order. I'll call the meeting to order. Stand for legends. after the roll and then I'll do welcome and then you'll go and then it's Josh. Oh, Josh. Yeah, I think Joshua can do it. Okay, I think we're ready. Yeah. Okay. This mean the Oaklair City Council will come to order. Please stand for the pledge of

allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. City clerk, please call the role. Council member Bergie, here. Brewster here. Johnson here. Miller here. Otto here. Reed here. Sh here. Serrano here. Worth present.

Great. Thank you. And welcome everyone to the Tuesday, April 14th meeting of the Oaklair City Council. Uh before we do our consent agenda, I think Council Member Miller has something to say. I was been told. Uh not me, but on behalf of many parties, I will go to the podium. Okay. You should as well. Oh, I should as well.

President Bergie, if you can join me at the podium, please. I um on behalf cry. Am I

I will read a pro proclamation written on behalf of the council in the city. So the proclamation states whereas Emily Bergie was elected to serve on the city council in 2018 and has faithfully and honorably served as the city as council president and then a member, excuse me, let me start again. Whereas Emily Bergie was elected to serve on the city council in 2018 and has faithfully and honorably served the city as council member and then council president over the past eight years. And whereas during those years, she has showed up diligently and enthusiastically to 500 plus meetings covering topics ranging from cat licensing to water utilities to detailed lists of fund transfers. And whereas during this time, Emily has also served as the president of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities and while in that role helped Oaklair grow to be the seventh largest city and resolve to fix the broken Wisconsin municipal finance system, even though no one to date has succeeded in this effort. And whereas Emily is widely known as serious-minded and diligent, but she also brings fun and joy to hard or boring tasks. And whereas true to her professional training, Emily is an incredible listener. And she doesn't just listen, but also hears, makes connections, and takes action. And whereas Emily has a heart for service, for kindness, for welcoming the stranger, for drawing in those who feel left out or left behind, and elevating their voices, and whereas Emily is refined, but also scrappy, which is a perfect combination for public service.

And refined and scrappy.

Refined and scrappy. Whereas Emily takes on the challenges and makes the hard choices when they are the right thing to do, even when it means facing discomfort or criticism. And now for and now therefore we as your fellow community and city organization members do hereby extend profound appreciation to Emily Bergie and declare that she shall be celebrated with the honorific of the quote listen and take action award as well as the highest honor of the woman in the arena award which is granted to someone who despite the skeptics sleepless nights and challenges steps up to help our community and the world. Thank you. Thank you.

I don't know what to do now. Okay. So, Emily, why don't um we have a gift for you and then um um then I think our No, just stay there and then our your colleagues are going to make comments um and then you can make some comments. Okay. But first a gift.

Is it a check? Better. A

uh so Emily, we know that you have had as a cornerstone of your service, a welcome, a sense of welcoming to the community, both newcomers and longtimers and everybody in between. And this is and you wanted to have this up on the wall and we're really proud that it's up there now. And this is a small uh smaller version of it to commemorate um your spirit and service that you've brought. And I also just want to say it also reflects the incredible craftsmanship and um uh uh artistry that we have among our employees. Uh uh it's made by our sign our sign shop and they really can do across all of our different departments. People can do pretty much anything that's required in in our community. Um, and just to kick off the appreciation, I just want to say I I as the council president, of course, I get to spend a lot of time

you as a city manager, I get to spend a lot of time with the council president and I've just so appreciated your just incredible moral compass that you bring to everything. And um you're uh you kind of know drama and get stuff done, but that doesn't mean you don't take on hard stuff. You do it in a very calm way. you bring a lot of um uh peace to whatever you do and tackle even though you're taking on hard work and that's a pretty extraordinary combination and also um uh you are an incredible listener which is like so helpful and I know you listened a lot to me which you know I didn't pay for you even though you do do this as your job so that was really helpful and also you're really fun so like we had a lot even though it's really hard or especially when it's really hard it's good to have those moments where we laugh about what we can accomplish and what we can't accomplish. So, I just want to pass it on to my the the council members and also the incoming council president B uh Gregor if they want to share some comments.

I sit down now. No, you're calling people first. Just go around the corner.

No, vice president. So, I think this is obviously a huge change for our our city, a huge change for our council. Um, your leadership has just been incredible over the last um eight years for our community. And I think one thing I want to bring up that I saw in the way that you led is this idea of how to bring more voices and more community input and more perspectives whether you agree with them or not into the decision-making of our of our council. And so what I witnessed and what I think should be an inspiration to all of us is the way that as council president especially, you worked through some incredibly difficult community conversations where you brought your best self into our meetings and opened up the kind of welcoming dialogue and um energy that I think we should continue to aspire to. You made that your kind of your north star and I think um I don't know for all of us in our lives. I think that's a real inspirational point for us to take forward and just want to thank you for for that piece. You did a lot but that piece I think made our our city so much better. So thank you

for for your leadership. Thank you. Sure. I'll go next. I'll go right now. So Emily, I think it was about four years ago around this time we first met and it was in Fairchild and we were talking about the needs of the rural community out there and uh long be well a couple years before I was on city council. You offered excellent advice and um I appreciate all of the the advice and great ideas you've brought forward. Um, I I think of you as a mentor and I appreciate your service and above all else, I appreciate what you've done to my town. Uh, the good stuff. So, thank you. Yes. City.

Yes, we're I'll call us a city now. Yeah. So, thank you so much. Thanks, Council Member Adam.

Let me go around next. Hi. Uh, thank you so much, Council President Bergie. Um, I I'm also reflecting back to when I was first elected and you reached out to me right away and you um we had a really good uh sort of initial conversation. Um, and you made yourself completely available. You said this is when I'm unavailable in which was a great availability actually. um and and you were a good uh sounding board and um completely committed to how we can each be really successful council members. So from from that perspective, I felt like you really went above and beyond um in terms of of leading this group is to make sure that everybody kind of knew what was going on or you know we could ask you questions, we could call you, you pick up or call us back right away. Um, so I really appreciate that very very much. I I just always knew that I could just call you with anything and um and again that we've had it's been quite a quite a tenure you've had here and been through a lot of um a lot of ups and downs and I just really appreciate also the public service. uh it's not easy to to u be in the public eye and to really be thinking about always what's best for the greatest volume of people and and and those are hard things to juggle. So I really appreciate your public service. Thank you.

Thank you. Thanks Council Ser.

Um yeah, a lot of people are going to talk about the the public service component and they should because it's it's exemplary. Um, I guess I would like to to thank you for your your patience as I uh acclimated to to being on council. I know uh I had a number of things that uh let's just say required some some some careful uh discussion and things like that. Um and you know I know when I uh when I want to get something done I can be a bit of a bull in a China shop. Um and so I just wanted to say on a personal level, thank you for your patience and and your guidance.

Sure. Yeah. Council, thank you outgoing city council president Emily for your service. But for me there are two things for the last four years I've been a city council which stand out. One there's a lot of things you have done but one during your leadership we started community engagement. So we go this the south the north

and we bring the city city government to this neighbor and we discuss the problem facing that neighbor from the police from the everything. So I really appreciate that one. Then another one is uh you see today this is the first time I've come here and say what is this? Yes me I was surprised to me too. Yeah and last is on Monday we used to have a city council used to start at 7:00 you brought 6:00 during your leadership. Thank you for that. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you again for the service. Thank you councel.

Council president. Uh, I just wanted to say that um, I think maybe it's your your professional background as being a counselor, I I admire you over the years how no matter what turbulence comes, you're like a cork floating on top of the ocean. You're you're always rising to the top, never getting pulled down by the waves. Uh, I think you realize that people are passionate and can act irrational at times, but you see past that and you see the the constant issue that addresses us in the city and you always uh, rise to the occasion. And um I've tried to emulate some of those as I, you know, do my job here on on city council. And that also uh extends to, you know, compassion for people who need it. Uh, one of my favorite one of my me most memorable events was you when we uh attended some uh county board meeting about the refugees and um we stood there for sat for hours and hours and wait for the vote to come through. But you um you know we watched there and watched the the county make what I thought was a good decision. But it was it was good that you and I both went there to give our voices to to that discussion. And then going back to your kindness at the beginning, uh you also give it to people on the council and uh a while ago I had some some times where thing now I'm crying.

Cry. Um we're some difficult times and you call me like every day of the week and I really appreciate that. So I'll always remember that. No, I'm crying too.

Yes. Um, Council President, I don't know where to start, but um, I appreciate all of the um, the impact you've had on my leadership. I know you were kind of instrumental actually to my journey to this seat. Um, I met you when you were still my council representative and I was um, excuse me, when I was a waterways commissioner. And so I just really appreciate your leadership and mentorship over the last three years. Um, and I appreciate how you've tirelessly defended the city through a lot of the turbulence that our my colleagues have already mentioned, but I think the city of Oaklair is so lucky to have had you for the time you've served on council, and I appreciate all of the late nights and phone calls and check-ins you've done with all of us, and I just I think um we're all better for it. So, thank you.

Uh, hello outgoing uh, Council President Fergie.

Um, yeah, I echo what a lot of people said. Um, I've only been here a year, so obviously I don't have the same connection that everyone else has, but uh, it's it's weird imagining not having you as my president. Sorry, Jeremy. Um, um, but no, yeah, just I just want to echo what Vice President Worman said. You obviously lead with compassion, which is like one of my values, and I see that in everything you do. And, uh, like what you said, uh, Council Member Srano, I mean, you called me as soon as I got elected and was like, "Hey, what do you need?" So, I appreciate that. President Bergie, uh, you know, just one of the things that really, uh, I've appreciated is just like how much you have like inspired me to like step up when I feel like, you know, I'm needed. Uh we both, you know, were obviously elected at the same time from from diff different different uh districts in 2018 and being able to serve with you for those six years. Uh was really a great pleasure and and uh your service of eight total years has you know really been amazing to watch like as a citizen as well as a colleague and um yeah the way that you step up in your community and the way that you are stepping up again you know to run for office. uh uh later this year um you know helped me decide that I could do something like like what you have been doing the last three years uh to you know have the pleasure of serving the city as council president and so so it's really quite an honor to to have the opportunity and to have the trust of of the the community to move forward and and having your um your your leadership has really brought us into a great spot where where I feel like the council and the city are in are are ready for for uh to take yet another step and um yeah just really want to thank you for your service and for

inspiring me and so many others to step up and have their voice heard. So thank you.

Well, can I sit down? How y'all do?

Well, just thank you everyone. Um, thanks Andrew. I thought I was thought about writing some words down and then I got busy today and it didn't happen. Um, but I have been reflecting on my service. I've been busy with other things. So, I haven't really had the capacity to really uh emotionally process what today means and actually till next Tuesday when President-elect Gregor uh takes over the the seat, not the city. But um I have been reflecting just like we've been through a lot as a city like you know I was elected in 2018 you know and then right away we got kicked out of city hall and the staff went out to you know west of town and we had our meetings in the county board room and then we like got back in city hall and then the pandemic happened and we got kicked back home you know and just and then serving I really felt like during the pandemic we were fighting a worldwide pandemic at the local level and that's amazing. I mean because what the state legislature gave out within a few months I just felt like there wasn't a lot it was up to us you know to figure it out and um and we did I mean it was really hard and it was like we got threats and it was difficult and I it was really difficult but we did it and we got through it. Um but then you know we had the closure of Sacred Heart Hospital which also you know like we've been through so much again PAS in our water in 2020 you know not like the pandemic was enough we found PAS in our water but even that like we got right to work as a city and stood up and problem solved and we're transparent with the public but through all of this uh and then yeah with Sacred Heart closing losing St. Joe's up in Chipua. Like it's just the last eight years have been just remarkable in like the what we've been through as a city. But we we did such a good job, you know, and and through it all, we all showed up with

kindness and diligence and determination and we just kept going because that's what we have to do is just keep going and and that's why I love local government because we don't get to like shut down, you know? We we show up every single day and unless there's a tornado warning, but anyways, but we do we show up like every single day and that's I mean every level of government needs to look at local government to see how it's done. Uh and I really truly believe that and I feel honored um to be a part of it for the last eight years. Um and I'm going to come back and say good things to you all. I'm going to travel, as I always say, I was going to travel to all the local governments and just say wonderful things to people serving because it's a thankless job a lot of times, but it's also so important that people uh step up and council or you know, elected bodies, but staff too. You all do amazing work every single day and I know you get so many complaints. Um, but I see all the good work that everyone is doing and and I'll just say like Oaklair is amazing. like you know we're the fastest one of the fastest growing areas in the state and it's because of you all. Everyone in this room like make is making that happen and that's amazing and so I'm just really proud of us Oaklair. So let's say THERE okay so now we'll move we have two more proclamations so we'll do that. Um but thanks everyone too for that's really nice. Uh we'll first do let's do um national 911 telecommunication com communicator week and then we also have narrow diagnostic week but we'll do that one second. But first we have Chief Jagger and like your staff or I don't know who's coming up but okay great. Thanks for being here.

Thanks for having us.

Here first. Yeah. Okay, I'll read it out loud. I'll turn it over. So where whereas the first 911 call was made on February 16th, 1968. And for more than half a century, 911 has served as the vital link between the public and emergency assistance. And whereas emergencies requiring police, fire or medical response can happen at any time and a fast coordinated response is essential for protecting life and property. And whereas public safety telecommunicators are the first point of contact in moments of crisis, bringing calm to chaos, guiding callers through emergencies, and in some cases providing lifesaving instructions before first responders arrive. Get goosebumps with that. That's amazing. And whereas the safety and effectiveness of police officers and firefighters depend on the accuracy, clarity, and professionalism of the information gathered and relayed by telecommunicators. And whereas public safety telecommunicators serve as a constant, steady presence, monitoring field activity, supporting first responders, and demonstrating compassion, focus, and dedication in every call they answer. Now therefore, I, Emily Bergie, president of the Oaklair City Council, on behalf of the entire city council, do proclaim April 12th through the 18th, 2026 as National 911 Telecommunicator Week in the city of Oaklair and encourage all residents to recognize, appreciate, and thank these dedicated professionals for their essential role in keeping our community safe. So, thank you again. Thank you, President Bergie and council members. It's a hard act to follow. You know, speaking of eight years of dedicated service and leadership to our

community, 911 as a whole nationwide has only been around for 58 years. And as a young profession, it started with receiving phone calls and now has evolved into receiving text messages, uh, other communication with social media, other communication with people live streaming and being able to send their pictures. There's a lot of different advancements that continue to require our profession to adapt to be able to have the technology, the equipment, uh, be able to have the training and the expertise that our personnel need in order to be successful to give the best opportunity for our community members to get the help that they need in the greatest moments and crisises of their life. uh when we go through the different things of training our new people, I'm always honored and humbled as their manager uh to be able to help them to encounter the way that they are going to personally make an impact. Much like our president makes an impact for the entire city, every day there's 911 calls coming into our community that make an impact in the lives of tens, hundreds, and thousands of our community members. And it's because of the great support of this city council that provides us the funding and the support that's necessary to continue this work. And so, thank you on behalf of the men and women that are right now answering those phone calls for the things that you do to provide that for us and for our city.

Thank you.

And then Nicole,

this is for neurodyiagnostic week. So, welcome Nicole. So, I'll read it and then I'll hand it over to you. So, so whereas neurodyiagnostics is a practice of testing and monitoring how the brain and nervous system are working, helping doctors better understand and care for people facing neurological conditions. And whereas neurodyiagnostic technologists play a critical role in the diagnosis and treatment of a variety of neurological conditions including epilepsy, unexplained coma, sleep disorders, and spinal cord injur injuries. And whereas these dedicated professionals are present during complex and high-risisk surgeries such as brain tumors and spine trauma, carefully monitoring the nervous system in real time to help protect patients and reduce the risk of complications such as stroke or paralysis. And whereas neurodynostic technologists bring both skill and compassion to their work, balancing advanced technology with a deep commitment to supporting patients and families during some of life life's most uncertain and difficult moments, treating each patient with dignity, respect, and humanity. And whereas neurodyinagnostic technologists are engaged in lifelong learning, dedicated to a life of service and compassion, have the greatest respect for the worth and dignity of individuals, and are devoted to the best interests of the patient while providing the highest quality of care. Now therefore, I, Emily Bergie, president of the Oaklair City Council, on behalf of the entire city council and the residents of Oaklair, do recognize the week of April 19th to the 25th, 2026 as Neurodyiagnostic Week and encourage all residents to recognize and appreciate the expertise, care, and compassion these professionals bring to our community each day. So, thank you. Yeah. on behalf of the neurodyiagnostics field

um I would like to thank the city council uh president Bergie um and for this opportunity for neurodyiagnostics week to be recognized. I don't know how many in this group even know what neurody diagnostics is. Well, now we do.

And now you do, of course, right? Um, you hear about X-rays and you hear about nursing staff and this and that and the other thing, but not a lot of people know what we do in the neurodyiagnostics field. So, thank you for that opportunity. Um neurodyiagnostic technologists in uh the Oaklair area support thousands of patients uh each year by helping diagnose and monitor neuro neurological conditions such as epilepsy, stroke, um disorders that affect individuals and their families across the region. Um we do this by performing the EEGs, EMGs, sleep studies. We go into the operating room monitoring u different cases. We have an epilepsy monitoring unit um that we admit patients to. Um to put into um importance of this work, uh more than a 100,000 people in the state of Wisconsin are living with epilepsy and one in 10 people will experience a seizure at some point in their life. Um here in Oaklair County, it is estimated that one in 10 patients will need a neurodyiagnostic procedure each year. As a neurological uh disease uh becomes more pre prevalent, our population continues and the population continues to age, the demand for this procedures and these professionals remain high. Um although that our department is small locally, um the impact of our work is significant. Uh we are proud to serve this community and and are grateful for the city of Oaklair's support in recognizing neurodyiagnostics. So, thank you for that. I appreciate it. Okay. All right. Now, on to our business. Oh, no. Consent agenda. We never did our

consent agenda, did we?

Okay. I I mixed things up. All right. So, first item is our consent agenda. So, and some of you I think are here for our consent agenda. Um, so just know that unless an item is pulled out, your item is pulled out, all items will pass with uh or fail with one vote. So, once we pass the consent agenda, you're good to go to leave unless you want to stay. And of course, you're welcome to stay. So with that, do council members have questions regarding the consent agenda or wish to remove any items for separate consideration? Okay, seeing none, uh then a motion by council member Otto, second by council member Serrano. The consent agenda is moved. Any discussion? Okay, seeing none, city clerk, please call the role.

Council member Bergie, I. Brewster, I. Boa, I. Miller I Otto I Reed I shown I Serrano I Worthman I great and the consent agenda is passed unanimously. Now we're going on to our business agenda. Council President. Yes. Vice President Worthman. If I could ask a point of procedure, which is um maybe I misheard, but was there an opportunity for public comment that was going to be added to tonight's meeting because we didn't have one last night or was

or was there uh or was there no need for that? I just wanted to double check and get clarity on that. I don't uh city manager hir noticed though. Okay. Yeah, I think we we moved all of those items to the next um council meeting. Okay. Thank you. So, if anyone is here to give public comment, uh feel free to email us or I'm sure the cards are still or maybe not in the back. Are the blue cards in the back or

Okay. If anyone Yes. Um so, I don't know if anyone's here for that, but we can put the blue cards in the back or email us otherwise. Yeah. Sorry about that mixup. Okay. Uh, let's see. City Council VA vacancy is our first agenda item on the business agenda and we had to cancel our meeting last night. So, we weren't able to interview the the candidates last night and we tried to get them to come today, but one of them was not available to come today. So, um, we that is still TBD. Let's see. Man, do you have an update? Um, with the city attorney's permission, I think we could decide right now on the scheduling. Is that correct?

Certainly the items before you and you all will have to make a decision on when you postpone it to. So basically, whenever you postpone it, oh, two, it will be your meeting. So I understand you were trying to decide if you could work in a special meeting and yeah, if you can that's great. that's what you'd identify. Um otherwise obviously you'd set it to your next available meeting which is your second in in April.

I think I can summarize the options. Um one of the candidates is not available in person until right before the organizational meeting on Tuesday. Um so one option would be to have the and and the components are the candidate presentation questions which are preset list of questions and comments from the public on the candidates and then uh you all deliberate and select a person. So it's it's not a it's a kind of a significant effort. So, one option is to start the organizational meeting at 3 PM on Tuesday, go through all of that, select your person, and then move into the organizational meeting. Um, it might push back the end of the organizational meeting. And after the organizational meeting is a celebration for boards, commissions, and committees. Um, another option is to ask the candidates to um record uh their all the answers and then we can post them on um the website and then we could still have public comment on next Monday and uh council deliberation selection. And uh an additional option is to move all of it to uh the second meeting in April. So then that person would not be sworn in at the organizational meeting, but you we could you could set aside seats for them in different boards, commissions, and committees. And it's a little tricky because it is a kind of a transition period. Um so it's really up to you guys what your preference is.

Okay. Council member Srano. Uh thank you, Council President Bergie. Um if it's up for discussion, I I move that we go with the second option, which is the pre-recorded. It sounds like the candidates are going to make a presentation and then answered pre-selected questions. So maybe that doesn't require it to be live. So um to get those recordings and then we would be able to deliberate without necessarily them being present in person. So that seems to me to be the most uh workable. So then there would still be public comment on Monday on the candidates.

Right. Right. public comment and then deliberation on Monday doesn't necessarily require because we're not going to have any real interaction with the candidates. It's they're they're just going to be answering pre-selected questions. So that that would be my motion I guess. Is that a motion? I I think so idea. So then it' be next Mon. So if they do that then next Monday would be when the public comment is and the vote. Yes. Okay. Okay. I'll second that point order. I think we're showing the discussion hasn't been moved yet. Well, but she mean Well, it was presented and then I don't think we've moved to Yeah, we're in the questions. Yeah. Still questions right now still.

Oh, yeah. So, staff presented on it. Yes. So, we're still in the question. We'll do Yeah. So, any questions? We'll do with questions before clarifying questions. I have a question.

Well, council member Brewster, do you have a question? I was just going to say I my preference would be to wait until the second set of meetings in in uh April. I think uh meeting someone you know face to face is always superior to a video chat. Um, and you know, quite frankly, you know, people people coming in like the the the the rookies are not usually the ones that that end up with the the super choice uh committee assignments anyway. So, I'm, you know, we're all reasonable people. We can leave some things open. I just don't think it's uh it's something that that needs to be rushed and I would rather uh interview the people in person.

Okay. Uh, council member Boba I think was said you have a council member shown shown first um I would say my preference is also what council member Brewster said I'd prefer to have candidates in person if we can so pushing to the second set of meetings but I did have a question that second proposal where it would be virtual are you saying when we keep saying Monday are you talking about the 27th or the 20th I'm I'm talking about the 20th okay so immediately next Monday okay

and I'm sorry I should have said too, it is a there is a scenario of having a a fully virtual meeting and then the candidate who's out of town could attend and participate, but it is a little risky because if something goes wrong for for anybody, then we would have to think about how to reschedu again and whether or not that creates un, you know, makes it unfair for whoever gets bumped off because of some internet issue. Okay. I just want to make sure uh city attorney Nick are do we need to move it first or are we following appropriate procedure or should we stick to questions and then move it?

That is a uh an issue in the discretion of the chair which is still yours to occupy. Right. So what you try to do is allow the board, the body to have a sufficient discussion that you kind of can indicate some consensus uh as opposed to accepting a motion too early in the process where you really haven't had that discussion yet. So okay, sounds like you're still discussing.

Uh well, I've got the mic on. I think um the other thing just to keep in mind with any virtual options it's one thing to have anyway you have a virtual meeting policy that that strongly encourages inperson attendance. It it does allow other options but they're the rare exception versus your norm. Okay. All right. We'll keep So um I don't know who was council member.

Thank you. Council President, I would agree with the council priest and council Sean that in person will be would be the best option. I think this is the the job which require the citizen to listen to hear them and make a a very concrete decision. So I really if you are applying for any job I think I you can leave whatever you are doing. So public service you have to put the committee first then yourself. So if you're applying for this job you have to leave everything come here and present yourself. Why do you why you running or why do you want this job? That's the way I look at it.

Okay. Council member Miller.

Thank you council president. I'd be in favor of uh the candidate submitting a recording um of the presentation answering the questions. Um you know like presidential debates you know most of the that really doesn't do much for me. I think that your inerson presentation is the least important thing. I think the qualifications experiences that are listed on their resumes and just their background is far more superior to how they can stand here in front of us and talk to us in person that one time. Um so I don't weigh too much on that one. Also by having on Monday we can have them at the organizational meeting. So, we'll be here and um I think it's important for somebody that was going to be on council for one year to have a say into which committees are on that can really change um uh how their experience for this one year is. Um if we wait until afterwards, they be going to be shut out and have to just rely on us leaving them things they might want to be on. Um and then it happens sooner too. Um so I'd be in favor of having a meeting Monday in which they can present uh virtually. Also, if we can only ask a set number of questions, it's not going to really matter if we ask them in person or or virtually ahead of time. So, all those reasons make me want to have this on the 20th, have them in place for the organizational meeting.

Okay. Council member Reed. Uh, yeah. I prefer um having them come in person, but I also prefer having them have like their ability to advocate for what committees they want to be on. Um, so for that reason, I guess I don't know. Did we talk is is it possible for having having them both on Monday next week or is that the virtual option we're talking about? Be virtual because one's out of town. Okay. Well, then I I guess I'm Tuesday. Till Tuesday. Yeah, that's tough. I guess I'm in support of that then. I don't want to rush it through, but I also want to give them an opportunity to advocate for their own committees. So, you're in support of them being in the organizational to do the recorded interviews and then be that organizational meeting. Is that what you said? Okay.

Council member. Oh, thank you, Council President Bergie. If we were in a big rush, I would be all right with virtual, but it sounds like this isn't an urgent issue. And I'm wondering Oh, so I support um the in-person option, but I do wonder if we could have the candidates um advocate for which committees they are interested in just so we have a sense uh even if it is even if they haven't been selected yet. But um I support u the inperson option.

Okay. Oh, well I um I won't be around. I I have so next Monday. I thought I was going to be done today. So, yeah. So, I unfortunately have to be somewhere else next Monday and next Tuesday. So, I'm kind of I won't be able to vote. Even though I would be able to vote, I can't be here. Um so, I don't if that makes a difference for anyone. So, um I could go either way. I do see the value in the organizational meeting for them to be there um but also in person too. So I think while I think about it um this so someone should make a motion then and we'll vote on that I think and if it fails then we'll move on to another motion. So I guess you did make a motion council member Serrano.

Okay. I I can repeat it if it's helpful. Yeah. I I move that we um invite the candidates to make a recorded message, answer all of the pre-selected questions, and uh then we meet on Monday. I'm quite flexible on the time, but meet Monday to um have public comment and also to then deliberate and make our selection in time for the uh candidate, the person we select to attend the organizational meeting. Okay, Council Miller, I'll second that motion.

Okay, we have a motion and a second to do Yeah. have them record their on their questions online and then meet next Monday at a time TBD for open for public comment and then to vote and then they would the whoever is appointed Monday would come to the organizational meeting and be part of the appointment process along when council and uh incoming president is also sworn in. Okay. Any discussion specific on that motion? Council Miller.

Thank I was just going to add um that my first year on council I didn't handle the uh the appointments process very well and I got kind of crumbmed for committee assignments and that kind of didn't sour it but you know I was kind of felt like left out and you know I wasn't on the things I want to be on while they could indicate what they want to be on if you're not here live at the meeting it's you don't really get to get what you really want so and then also I think the camaraderie of having them here for the actual swearing in on Tuesday with everybody else would you know really and they're going to be here for one year position so try to make it the best one we can so I think it's better if we do um on Monday, have him come in on Tuesday. Okay. Council Boga, thank you. I want to ask the mover a question. Can I do that? Yes. Yeah.

So, CLA, what about those two candidates who are available? Can they come on Monday and present themselves? City manager Hirs has an answer to your question. Well, we thought about doing something like that and um uh Deputy City Attorney Stroberger said that would not be a fair like they would not have a fair shake or fair treatment. Thank you. So I have a question. Council member Brewster. So does to me that indicates that being in person is obviously superior to recording something if it's not fair if somebody records it having and having other people be here. Just actually That was a rhetorical question.

Council Miller. Thank you, Counctor question. I think it's they all have to do the same way. Either all one or the other. They can't have it split up. I think that's the problem at hand. Okay. So, we have a motion and a second. So, um we'll vote now. City clerk, please call the role. Council member Brewster. No. Moga. No. Miller. I Otto. I Reed. I Shon. No, Serrano. I Worthman. Hi, Bergie. I That passes six to three.

Okay. Oh. Um, can you pull up this for me so I can read it, please? I don't have that, but I have a question. Oh, okay. Council member or Vice President Worman. uh just about the how will the questions be selected and we are we able to send those questions to you or yeah clerk Kerner has um you want to answer you able to answer that oh um I I sent a draft questions and the council president um Bergie revised them a bit but I will circulate them again and uh see if there's more revisions that sound okay um

do you have Okay. Um, can we pick a time also? Oh, sure. Okay. Back to Let's start with six. Does that work for people? On Monday. On Monday. What about five? Does five o'clock work for people? Yes. No, it doesn't work. 5:30. Six is better. Can you do six? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. There'll only be eight of you, right? Oh, Charlie could be there. I can do it. Um, so six sounds like most can make it six.

And I know Charlie will be done with his internship by then because it's a tax related internship.

Hopefully, it'll be a quick meeting. Okay. Now we'll move on to item number 16, a resolution approving appointments and reappointments of boards, committees, and commissions. And I have this one, too. So, we met a couple weeks ago, the appointments, me and Council Member Brewster. So, we have uh police and fire and transit commission. Okay. Thank you. Uh the appointments commission recommended Colleen Shien for the police and fire commission. And then we also recommended Alyssa Hedenstrom for the transit commission. Any questions on these appointments?

Okay. See? Yeah. Council member Brewster. Um I I could I just add something real quick?

Sure. Sure. Um so the one one thing that might be a little unusual is um by request from Wclair uh we broadened the possibility of the of membership on the transit commission. So it's not necessarily just a student anymore because the students cycle through really fast and so we opened it up to student staff or faculty uh at the request of of the university and uh and student government. So, um, I just wanted to let you know that that was a thing that was done. And my recollection is that the can the person that we selected for um the transit commission is in fact staff.

Uh, I don't remember. I'm I'm I'm pretty sure. Okay. She is president. Okay. Uh, any other questions? Otherwise, we will So, by a motion made by Council Member Brewster, second by Council Member Boga. This item is moved. Any discussion? Okay. So, your clerk, please call the role. Council member Emboga. I. Miller. I. Otto. I. Reed. I. Sh. I. Serrano. I Worman. I Bergie I Brewster

I that passes unanimously. Okay. Next up, quick claim is a resolution authorizing the city manager to enter into a quick claim bill of sale with Union Pacific Railroad related to the wooden Eddie Street structure. Director Ness. Good afternoon council.

Good afternoon. Uh the resolution before you would allow the city manager to enter into a quick claim bill of sale with Union Pacific Railroad related to the Eddie Street Bridge. Um a little history on that. Uh in May of 25, we shut the bridge down. Uh due to needed repairs that were uh completed by UP to the structure. Um we have reopened the bridge since. Um we have had to reduce the load restriction on the bridge to 5 ton. Um this is a bridge located uh near Mcdana Park and um uh Mount Simon Park. Um it's one of two access points to the neighborhood, the residential neighborhood and the park area in this location. So, a significant um uh access to the neighborhood. Uh this quick claim would uh transfer ownership of the structure to the city of Oaklair. Um this is one step in moving forward with the grant application that we had submitted in October of 25 uh through WIST's local bridge program. And that program would allocate up to 80% of the rebuilding of the structure uh funds towards the city and the city would have to match the 20%. um within uh discussions with the UP they have agreed uh that uh future negotiations of uh payment related to that 20% uh is something that we can

discuss but at this time the quick claim is uh between uh the city and UP just for the transfer of the structure. I can take if questions if there are any. I don't see any questions. So, okay. Thank you. Oh, just kidding. Uh, Council Miller, you're correct for a moment. Yeah. Uh, I know. Yeah. Um, thank you, Director N. Um, can you just um quickly define quick claim since we're have this? What is a quick like just a quick way to transfer one property from a party to another party or city attorney?

I'll defer to Can you turn the microphone? Yeah, if I can. And legal question. I mean, the quit claim deed just means that it's a a transfer without warranty. So, they're transferring it as is. Uh if it has other defects in title, uh they're not going to warrant uh those. Uh they're things that the city takes on then. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. That's the other question. So, thank you, Director Nes. Okay. Um by motion made by Vice President Worthman, second by Council Member Miller. This item is moved. Any discussion? Okay. See none. See clerk. Please call the role. Council member Miller. I. Otto. I. Reed.

I. Sh. I. Serrano. I. Worth. Hi. Bergie. I. Brewster. I. Kimoga. I. That passes unanimously. Next. disallowing excessive tax claims. A resolution disallowing disallowing excessive tax claim of Marshville Clinic. Uh we have Miss Dutton. Hi, welcome. Hello. Thank you. I'm Jasmine Dutton. I'm the risk manager here for the city of Oaklair and we're bringing forward a request for to formally disallow um is it just Marshield or do we can we do them together? Steve,

there's two different motions. So, you'll I think you can present once if you have any questions. They're functionally the same types of claims, but uh we'll ask that you vote on each resolution. Yep. So you can present on both.

Okay. Thank you. Um so we're moving forward to formally ask you to disallow the Mayo Marshfield claims for alleged unlawful tax assessments. Mayo and Marshfield repeatedly file these claims. Um their refund claims and are a continuation of previous litigation. Mayo has been um filing these claims since 2023 and Marshfield since 2022. Um they have failed to meet its burden to demonstrate that all of its property is owned and is used exclusively for a nonprofit hospital and that's entitled to exempt from property taxes. These properties have been properly and lawfully assessed by the city. The city is defending that the claims to ensure that the property tax burdens are distributed lawfully and fairly amount in accessessible properties. So I'm asking for the resolution to disallow the excessive tax claims of Mayo and Marshfield claims and I can answer any questions that you have. Council member Brewster.

Thank you, Council President. Um if they've been doing this for a while, are those those is that litigation still ongoing or have some of those been settled? These are still ongoing. Yes. So every year they can file a new claim and then so as they stay open sometimes we're allowed to combine them but each year as they file a new claim um this one is for the 2025 claims that we're asking to disallow it shortens the time frame for them to file a suit. And follow

um so if you could I think we went through this last year um and just for uh clarification um so basically if if we do this and we fight it and we lose then that money basically comes out of the general fund right because we can't re reortion all the all of the um the revenues after the act. Is that accurate? City Attorney Nick,

thank you. Yes. So, uh, couple things. One, both claims are still in litigation. So, uh, discussion of, you know, the merits is is andor the effects of any refunds probably for another day in close session largely. But uh state law uh gives us the privilege and responsibility of assessing most properties and also then uh kind of the obligation of dealing with with the consequences. So on your point uh while uh we firmly believe that the uh assessment has been made lawfully and that the burden on property owners to prove exemption has not been met should a court determine otherwise and that goes through all the available appeals and stands. It is city's obligation it would be city of Oaklair's obligation to make repayment for those years. There is a statutory process however to uh sort of reaportion or or charge back that to the other taxing entities because even though uh this obligation falls on cities you know we're a minority percentage of the overall tax bill. So um it's possible that it gets reortioned to you know in parts of the county and the school district and the technical college but that would that would be a process we'd have to pursue. uh if and when we're uh ordered to to make any reimbursement for uh for taxes already collected.

So please yes. Um so if I could actually this is probably a continuation of what uh uh city attorney Nick was working was was talking about too. So, our options are to do this, fight it, probably win, maybe lose, or not do this, and then we'll just we if we don't do this, we're basically agreeing with their contesting that or no?

No, that's um not accurate. Um and maybe I didn't describe it correctly. So, this is to ask to disallow the claim. So, this shortens the time frame for them to file a suit. If we didn't um disallow it here formally after 120 days, it statutoily disallows. We're just shortening the time frame because we have other standing litigation still going on. So, it shortens the time frame for them to file the suit so we can hopefully wrap them all up together. Gotcha. Okay. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Any other questions? All right. Thank you. Thank you.

Okay. A motion made by council member Shone. Second by council member Reid. This item is moved. Any discussion? See none. City clerk, please call the role. Oh, and we're just doing sorry, Marshfield first. We're voting on Marshfield, just so we know what we're voting on. Okay. City clerk. Council member Otto. I. Reed. I. Sh. I. Serrano. I. Worth. I. Bergie. I. Brewster. I. And Boa. I. Miller. I

that passes unanimously. We'll move on to the resolution disallowing the excessive tax claim of Mayo Clinic Health System. Hope I don't see. Does anyone have any questions on this? I don't see it. Okay. Then we'll move it. So by a motion made by council member Otto, second by council member Serrano. This item is moved. Any discussion? Okay. Seeing none, city clerk please call the role. Council member Reed I. Sh. I. Serrano. I Worthman. Hi, Bergie. I Rooster. I Invoga. I Miller. I

That passes unanimously. Next, we have the 2026 capital budget amendment. It's a resolution amending the 2026 capital improvement project budget for the regional public safety training facility. And this does require twothird vote of elected members or eight affirmative votes. And how many? So is that one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Okay, so eight out of the nine. Okay. Um, Director Winters. Good evening, President Bergie. Council here tonight with one budget amendment.

Cy, I'll let you drive. Um, so I'm here with one budget amendment this evening. It's for the regional public safety training facility. Um you'll recall in 2025 we approved $150,000 to start the planning and feasibility for this and do a DNR study because this is on the former landfill site. Um we got the go ahead from the DNR. So we've started the the planning phases of this in 2026. You approved 5.15 million for this community investment. Um, as you recall, I've got some pictures on the next two slides. Uh, it was constructed in 1970s of repurposed materials. Um, currently, it does not have a potable water supply, meaning that there is no drinkable water. Uh, primitive bathroom facilities. We do use outouses for our staff. Uh, the drain field or the septic for gray water is broken and cannot be repaired. We have HVAC issues, lack of connectivity, rodents and infestations, and it no longer ne meets the current needs or demands of our police department. Um, so that's that's why the project has made it into the capital improvement plan. Uh, the facility will provide a permanent training location for less lethal use of force and deescalation training. Um, and those do help contribute to lower those insurance claims in addition to crisis communications. Uh, that's all community priorities and new standards since this was constructed in the 1970s. And again, all three are top priorities that are additional training that we need to provide. Uh, scenario-based training. Um, more recently, we do not have a location for this. year. You'll remember our police department goes to the schools and they do trainings on the the Alice

trainings, but we don't have a good location unless somebody volunteers maybe an abandoned or condemned facility for them to go in and run scenarios. Um, which isn't safe for our police department. Um, and those are few and far in between. Um, in addition, vehicle operations, you'll remember there's the driving track. We would be able to use that for CDL training for the transit in addition to potentially uh fire department and the police department. Uh traffic contacts, firearms, use of force. Also, a regional provider relationship is being sought um to hopefully welcome some of the other municipalities to be able to provide training there in addition to our 105 sworn police officers. the construction costs. Um, we're all familiar with those. The most material CPI categories remain inflated. Um, so they're 25 to 40% inflated over 2019. Um, along with those supply costs, we do have a labor shortage that's contributing to that. Uh, we have a 165% increase over 2020. So, we did bid out a portion of this project. those costs were 165% lower. Um it's about 229 per square foot back in 2020 and in 2026 we are at 608. So with all the proposals and the designs within the CIP, what we would have liked to do, uh we we definitely scaled that back or the committee has scaled that back to just focusing on those areas to have a place for scenariobased training, the vehicle operations, having a an area for all 105 officers or the portion of them that

would be at the training and then um the crisis communications area. So that project's been scaled back. We talked about storage. We talked about a backup comm center, but that price came in upwards north of $20 million. So, um, so we've really sharpened the pencil on that and the estimated project cost is now down to 8.35 million. Um, so it's been scaled to the minimally necessary components to be successful. So, now for the good news. Um uh we're seeking tonight a budget amendment, but we've gotten some amazing support uh potential support for CDS funding or congressionally directed spending. So I'm very excited about that. Um how that process works is we submit annually some of our larger scale projects to our legislators. Uh we need their support to submit the project on for federal approval. Uh, Congressman Van Orton has um accepted that project, approved it, and submitted it on. Now, it needs to go through the federal process. So, he's uh supporting publicly our project for submission. In addition, Senator Baldwin's office is also committed to submitting that forward. Uh, we did send in a request of $3.2 million each, so we're very optimistic. Um there's no guarantee on that, but they did publicly pledge that support. Um so we've we have a what they've stated is a common sense project and the like to see the full um the full project supported within the CIP. Um so at the same time this all the CDS funding approvals were going on, we got the bid in for the RFP for the project. Um, so I wanted to bring the whole presentation back to you so you could approve that and we can show that we're we're standing behind that price and that

amendment would go forward to them. Um, and the project would go forward either way with or without the CDS funding. So with that, I think I've um I've given you the fiscal explanation, but Chief Rous and I are here to answer any fiscal or operational questions that you may have. Okay. Council member Serrano.

Thank you, Council President Bergie. Um, and thank you, Director Winters. I'm interested in the storage needs also. Seems like that was taken out, but to what degree does this plan allow for maybe a a possible expansion uh, you know, as as a subsequent uh project for the evidence storage needs?

Sure. Um the the cost of that um you know with the the construction costs uh would have to be at least under 1 million. Um that was quoted a little bit higher. We would have the ability to address items like the shooting range or the training facility kind of as a connected or add-on project. Um but it wouldn't be addressed in here and I think the the cost came in too high and we did not want to present you with a $20 million project. But that is an option that you you could tell me to add those on this evening as well. I'm just trying to understand if the scaling down

allows us to do we have a modular enough plan that we can then add on storage. Yes. Later. Yes, we did discuss that with the with the one that's proposed. Yeah. Thank you, Council Member Brewster. That was literally my entire line of question. Oh, perfect. Council member Boga. Thank you, Council President. Mine is to ask the experts, the chief. Oh, yes.

Hi Chief Rous. Oh, thank you, Chief. Thank you, Chief, for being here. My question is what I have two question. One is what if we the city council folded down what will be the effect or what what will be the negative impact for for this building and if we and why do we need it? So those are my two questions why the negative one and the positive ones.

Sure. Thank you. Um I think uh director Winters kind of framed it really well as far as kind of the current total project that's in front of council today as what I would describe as the minimally successful project for us. So um when the when the firearms or training facility was constructed in the 1970s, police training was really focused on firearms proficiency and obviously community expectations and our expectations have evolved quite a bit um since then as far as the different um different competencies that we expect and need from need from our police officers. So, if there was a scaling back where if the uh budget amendment wasn't approved today, we would be kind of back to what would be a classroom or a rangehouse for for our officers just for the training. You guys saw the photos of the bathroom and the classroom space and kind of what what that is. We'd be limited to just an outdoor firearms training course or uh training facility. That's probably about 25% um of what our police training consists of. Um we have as was mentioned earlier we have emergency vehicle operations. Um but we also have um our our our other training that we provided and we we prioritize and those soft skills, our crisis communication skills, our deescalation, crisis intervention training. Um we do that through scenario live scenario-based training uh exercises where we have live action role players where we set up scenarios and where we're able to teach those communication skills, those deescalation strategies. um they ask the the application of less than lethal force uh options as well. And so it would probably end up being moving forward with the project. You see that kind of that wing on the left there being being carved off and then kind of waiting for the congressional funding to come through and then we would revisit it later likely at further increased costs and then delays in the in the further delays in the project as well. So that

area on the left, that's nothing more complex than a large room. Um that would have portable portable temporary walls that are able to be moved around and then you can set up different rooms or different spaces um for those different training scenarios which can be for our police officers, our firefighters, and our other first responders as well. And so that's what that space provides. Currently, we we do that um as mentioned by Director uh Winters. And when we can find space that is kind of donated for our temporary use, uh we used the Mount Washington home uh for for a while until we couldn't go there anymore because of mold and asbestous issues. We used the state theater for a while and then that became flooded and then we had we could no longer no longer be there. Um we were using some excess uh hutous through the housing authority and then we learned that those it wasn't allowable per federal guidelines. And so we've had to kind of bounce around and not be able to do those things to our full extent and having had to kind of fall back on some of these other areas um rather than doing that. So it would it would cause some delays in the in the full the full project. When I say full project, it's the scaled down $8 million version, not the $28 million best case scenario that was originally uh put in and do less of that. um in 2021 is when we first um prioritized in incorporating these new types uh uh and methods of training into our department. They have been successful as director Winter said um it reduces liability and claims against the city as a department since we've done that uh began that in 2021. We've had a 35% reduction in use of force instances of our police officers in the community. So, it has been successful um for us as a community. It's made it safer for the general public overall and it makes it safer for our police officers as well. And so um you'd have some pro to answer your question the short version it would be a delay in the project and a minimiza you know it would minimalize kind of how our officers are able to train and then

have an impact on the on the services we're able to deliver into the community. Great. Any other questions for me while I'm here? Councelor Miller for director winters if somebody else has a question. You have one for Chief Roas. topic. Council Brewster.

Thank you, Council President. Um, Chief Rous, um, I believe we had a discussion maybe year and a half ago about um about the storage situation and how that's something that um, you know, is is an is an ongoing expense. Um, is there a way that that could be you know added on without you know the the whole thing? And then my other question um is does that I'm not seeing like the driving practice course. Is that still part of this?

Um not part of the of the project that's in front of you right now. That was part of when we when the project when the uh CIP was adopted as the first project. That was something that we wanted to include in the project. Um that was about $5.5 million. And so when we had to kind of scale the project back down to kind of meet within the budget, that was that was that was scaled back. um but is is something that we still are going to continue working on. It does benefit police, fire, transit, community services. Um it can be a regional benefit as well. There is federal transit funding available for that. Um and that th that those grant opportunities closed I think in March of this year um kind of before we kind of realized where we're at with the project. So, our intention is is to apply for further grant funding next year to incorporate um the driving components to the re regional facility that um will serve all of our kind of public safety components that we have as a city. So, um and then I just echo what uh Kitsy said as far as the off-site evidence storage needs that we have. I think there's a modular way to do it and I also think there that that we can fit it fit it in the project um overall as well um if approved today.

Okay. Okay. Thank you, Council Member Miller. Director, I have a question for Director Winters. Okay. Thanks, Chief Focus. Focus. Thank you, Director Winters. Uh, I think you said this earlier in your presentation that uh the parties that will be providing this um the CDS funding have publicly stated their support for it. So, it's pretty much assured, I'm hoping. But if not, um doing the due diligence looking into this, the city will have to issue primary notes for this look at about $3.2 $2 million. So, our capital budget go from 48 to $51 million in those. Um, would there be any negative effects on our credit score writing for the city if we had issued another $3 million for these primary notes, which probably won't happen, but just, you know, to ask you the question.

Sure. Um, we're not at the point where that dollar amount would negatively impact our credit score. I always look for unused project funds within our past three years as well. most of the items I'm closing. Sometimes we we visibly round the items in the CIP, so to speak. So, sometimes I have $500,000 left, sometimes I might have 10, but I will I will offset with that as well. Okay. Thank you. Yep. Oh, Mr. Lee. Okay. Council member Brewster.

Thank you, Council President. Um, did you have a a number in mind of what it would take to get the off the on-site evidence storage um included in this?

Sure. I don't I I just messaged Kelly Thompson to see what that specific amount was. I know around a million dollars, but I do you recall, Chief, what I know we pay annually around $25,000 a year to store that um with a lease with a private um Westgate it would be. So, I don't I don't know what the quote come in at specifically for that. the the biggest need would be um what we would call cold storage. And so that is for like vehicles um that we need to store. And so the architect uh quoted $1.1 million. Um we need nothing more than a large unheated pole shed. All right. Um that's the that's the practical reality. I went on my Menard's app and I looked I looked up a 60 by 80 pole shed kit and they're they're about $80,000. And so there there is bandwidth in there. We have we have our our our architectural bid that later on in the process as it moves along it'll go to you know an actual construction bid that council um will have to approve before that bid's accepted. Um there'll be some more water to go over the dam with that and we'll be able to get that number in a more squ squ squ squ squ squ squ squ squ squ squ squ squ squ squ squ squ squ squ squ squared away p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p pract practical place. So it has to be secure. It does not need heat and it does not need electricity. We just need a place that that's um safe and secure to hold those vehicle for vehicles for evidence storage that will um you know withstand court scrutiny as far as integrity of the evidence and it it does take a large space to do. We have quite a few vehicles that we have to hold on to for a number number of years as the court process goes forward. But um I think that first architectural bid is quite high. And I guess fiscally to answer that too, if you rounded that up to 9 million, I don't know if chief if that was something that you think you could work with from 8.3 to nine conservatively, then we can if that's something you'd want to include. I guess that would be my financial recommendation. You can amend the resolution before you.

That makes sense to round up. Okay. Thanks. Thank you, Director Winters. I don't see other questions. So, thank you, Chief Focus. Okay. So, we'll make a motion. So, a motion made by Council Member Brewster, second by Council Member Emboga. This item is moved. Any discussion? Council Oh my gosh. Council Boga.

Yeah. Thank you. I think I would for me I would I would support it. I think for safety purpose we we need to equip our law enforcement with all technologies they need. So I really and uh I really thank our police chief Lucas for his exceptional leadership and uh that's what I want to say. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. All right. City clerk, please call the role. Council member Shonne, I. Serrano, I. Worth I. Ber, I, Rooster,

I Miller, I, Otto, I, Reed, I. That passes unanimously. Okay. Next, we have city manager agreement. Uh, and I believe that we will be postponing this item, but we do I would need a motion, I guess, to postpone. So, I will like to move that to postpone this item to the second Tuesday meeting in April. April the 29th, I guess. So, the second or the first 28th, sorry. So, in a month. Two weeks.

Two weeks. That's two weeks. Oh, yeah. April. You're right. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Okay. April 28th. April 28th. You want to second that, Council Miller? Yes. I want to second that. Also add the um matching Monday night um discussion that we had already scheduled for last night. Okay. Okay. Fine with me. So, Monday night public hearing then. Oh, sorry. for that meeting. Yeah, I think that's already I don't think that's part of this though, the close session or Right. City Attorney Nick,

it's related to it, but it it doesn't need to be in the motion. It will, but it's Yeah, it's that will be happening Monday night. Yeah, I talked to the HR director. Um, okay. Okay. So, so for the second, so April 20, what was it? 8th. April 28th. April 28th. April 28th. Okay. Any questions? All right. Yeah. You have a question, Council Boga? Yeah. Okay.

For for those people, I think we had some emails here and there about this one. So for for the a community, can you guys tell the community why you guys move postponing to to a to April 28th? Can you please tell them?

Oh, sure. So, we're postponing. So, last night there was supposed to be a close session on um the contract agreement with the city manager, but when the meeting was cancelled, that means the public the close session was cancelled Monday night. And so everything got bumped to now in two weeks. So it's we need to close session before or you all will need to close session before doing the employment agreement of the city manager to work out the terms of the contract. So thank you. Yeah, thank you for that reminder. Okay. All right. Uh city clerk please call the role. Council member I. Worthman.

Hi Fergie. Hi Rooster. I Miller I Otto I Reed I Sh

I and that item is postponed until Tuesday, April 28th, but we'll have a close session. You all will have close session the Monday night before. Uh the ordinances for action. So title 17 land development official zoning map and title 19 storm water. So, ordinance amending specific sections of the code or ordinances of the city of Oaklair, title 17 land development, official zodal zoning map, and title 19 storm water. Um, manager Noel, I think we were postponing, but good afternoon. Good afternoon,

President Bergie and council members. Yeah, that is correct. This need this requires a public hearing and because yesterday was cancelled, you have to move this to a April 27th for that Monday for the public hearing because there's a zoning ordinance change. The plan commission did meet recommended approval, but you have to hold the public hearing. So, it's delayed. Okay. Thank you. And is the same for the heavy vehicle parking? No, you did hold the public hearing your last meeting.

So, we're going to take that up. Okay. Great. Thank you. Okay. So, we will first let's see. So, we'll need a postponement or do we need to move it? Yes. So, by a motion made by council vice president Worthman, second by council Miller, this item is moved. Council Brewster, I'd like to move to postpone this item until our April 28th meeting. Okay. With a public hearing on the 27th. Correct. Okay. Any questions on that? All right. Council member Serrano.

Yeah. I didn't understand. Are we postponing this ordinance the the vote for this ordinance till the Tuesday meeting or public hearing for the Monday or both? Both. Yep. So the public hearing on April 27th and then legislative session. We'll vote you all will vote on it on April 28th, the legislative session. So the motion is for both of those. Thank you. Yep. Thanks for clarifying question. Clarify. Yes, she's good with those. All right. Uh, city clerk. Um, I will second that. Oh, we have a second. Okay. So, now we have a motion and a second

for the public hearing on the 27th and and to vote on it the 28th. Any discussion? Okay. So, your clerk, please call the role. Council member Worthman. I. Bergie. I. Rooster. I. Kimoga. I. Miller. I. Auto I Reed I Srano I

that passes that postponement passes unanimously. Next we have a heavy vehicle parking is an ordinance amending title 10.24 vehicle and traffic and title 17.03 land development ordinance for heavy vehicle parking weights and conditional uses in residential zones. Uh manager Noel.

Okay. This item it was reviewed by the plan commission um at their last meeting. They recommended uh approval of the new definition for heavy vehicles to modernize that and they split the vote out so that the proposed legislation for the conditional use permit was um considered as well. They voted six to three in favor of that to allow um these heavy vehicles to be allowed by a conditional use permit in certain circumstances as long as the conditions were approved. So, uh, that's the the high level of the ordinance changes and this is the current ordinance right now updating the 6,000 lbs to 10,000 which is in line with the the light duty classification with the Federal Highway Administration. Also with um registration for license plates as an X designation so that for enforcement uh they can go out and see that X on the license plate and know that they're actually meeting uh that uh ordinance. And we did add uh uh anything over 21 feet in length uh would also be if it's used for commercial purposes would be uh part of this definition. So the plan commission again thought that that worked well. Uh this also models the city of Madison Ashkoshas Green Bay's ordinances. So after some research that we were told to do uh based off of what the plan commission wanted some extra research. So again, just real quick overview, the residential and uh for residential uses, you can have vehicles that are over 10,000 pounds if it's used for residential purposes within those zones, uh such as an RV, just to call that to your attention. Or if it's a electric vehicle, uh like a Tesla truck, those are typically over 10,000 pounds. If as long as it's used for residential purposes, that's okay. uh it's more of the concern with the conditional use permit in these commercial industrial uh operations. So again, we went over this with the

light duty classification from the the Federal Highway Administration. This is the 10,000 um license plate research with the X designation. We went out on site at one of the dealers to kind of understand the issue more. And so these are different sort of visuals to help you understand when that tips into that 12,000 lb scale for heavy duty vehicles, box trucks, and things like that up to like a semi-truck at 80,000 pounds and how they're registered at the DOT. Again, this is sort of a visual that shows these box trucks that can be over 21 feet in length and their size and how they can maybe take up a full driveway if it's parked in a residential zone. So, this I think was pretty straightforward in terms of amending the ordinance and then linking it back to the option for the conditional use permit. This is where we get more into the the details of when you the plan commission in this case would actually consider approval or denial. Uh this would never come to the city council for your consideration. So, simple amendments to the table. And then the our biggest concern as staff is all the the issues that we might have when these vehicles might be set up next to lowdensity residential zones with air pollution, noise, um possible um moving into more commercial type activities within that uh residential zone property. And so things to consider and then also wear and tear on drive driveways and roads as well as this could be located in areas that the roads are not built for trucks. Um on street parking situations where it might cause hazard for movement of traffic. So here's the ordinance in terms of what's proposed to consider uh the vehicle type. Uh we do sort of define um or allow only certain sort of vehicle

types and B and this could be like a food truck, a cube truck, catering van, tow truck, limousine, semi-truck, cab only. Keep that in mind. And then the vehicles in the lowdensity residential districts only one heavy duty vehicle would be allowed through the conditional use per permit process that it needs to be adjacent or adjoining other higher density zones commercial or industrial. Call those things to your attention. And that the lot needs to be at least a half acre to allow that added space uh to accommodate these these larger vehicles to give separation for the air pollution for the buffering the fencing and all that sort of thing. um that we want the vehicle to be parked at least at the front of the house or back of the house. So flush or back so it wouldn't be sticking out. Uh to introduce again more of a commercial industrial look in these lowdensity residential neighborhoods. And again, just some more details about the types of surfaces or surfaces for imperous surface that it's a hard surface and that we screen it with some sort of um fence, gate, um landscaping, trees to make more of an opaque, dense screen to um basically make it more compatible with adjacent residents next to that property. And then talking a little bit about what's not allowed to be stored with that heavy duty vehicle. So there are things that might um that particular resident might venture into with like um commercial type vehicles, uh uh concrete mixers, oil mixers, tractors, tree spers, you name it, the whole list here. And so this is information that we also looked at the city of Madison's ordinance to sort of again define what's not allowed as accessory to that heavy duty vehicle. So there's a lot to consider through this process and the plan commission would have to look at

this as the application and understand exactly if they're meeting all these conditions to be able to reach an approval so that it's more objective and not subjective about um granting that that use permit. And then tying it back to uh no outdoor storage or storage about that heavy vehicle use and general nuisance clause and that in this case that the conditional use permit would terminate at the sale not run with the land. So we'd have to moni monitor that with staff. That is the proposed ordinance. Again it was modeled off some things with Madison other research with other communities and staff. We we do support the idea of moving the definition to this 10,000 square foot pound in in the increased length. Uh but we do not we have concerns about this use being next to lowdensity residential areas. And so um that's our concern is that that might have negative impact on residents that live next to these uses. Other than that, um, if you have any questions of staff.

Council member Miller. Thank you, Council President. Uh, thank you, Director Noel. Uh, question. So, this ordinance, um, applies to one or two unit dwellings, requires a conditional use permit, and then the location uh, is adjacent or adjoining to a CC commercial corridor industrial district. So, it's four residential neighborhoods, but only those that adjacent or join. Is there a definition on adjacent or joint? Is it like the one across from there or is there like um a buffer zone because it seems like it would apply to only extremely narrow strip of homes that are next to one of these districts. Good question. Uh Council Miller Miller and it allows two options. So the adjacent is like across the street

or a joining is touching the property line. So it does give them two options. So I mean it's probably hard for you to say like how many what what percentage of residential even like you know we have vast res neighborhoods only perimeter it's like 3% of homes would be even be eligible for a conditional use permit something that small. We we did not do that analysis but um it's going to be a few out there for sure. Um it's hard to know exactly how how much will open up the opportunity. It it'd be a rare application, I would think, but it does provide an option. Um, and then Oh, sorry.

Okay, Vice President Rothman, thank you. Um, can you share? So what I see in our community is a lot of times I see semis parked in residential or near residential neighborhoods on streets. That's not going to be allowed anymore under this. Correct. Uh council member uh where that is actually um not allowed to park on streets with trucks. Yeah. So it's in violation. Like this one for example, that's in violation right there. illegal.

You can't you can't park a truck like that on the street. I see this all over the place. Um, one of the areas that you see it is it happens. North Riverfronts, there's a semi that parks in the residential area. There's um Indian Head Foods. There's always trucks parked on the roadway there just waiting till the next morning. And that actually brings up a second question for me which is around idling trucks because sometimes these trucks are just idling throughout the night which then has fumes going up into the air impacting. So you're saying this doesn't really even impact that. That was already not allowed before. Correct. Those those parking,

right? Unless designated differently, but in general, yeah, this ordinance in title 10 talks about not not parking these vehicles on streets as well. So, this is just a small portion of it related to residential zones and that's what we're focused on here tonight, but it happens. Okay. Okay. Council member Brewster.

Thank you, Council President. Yeah. So the discussion that we had on plan commission was basically along the lines of there's there's people in the community that you know have built their livelihoods um around you know being a truck driver or something like that and they're you know parking of their truck has you know potentially been there longer than than our code that would prevent it. And so, um, at least in the places where, um, they would potentially be eligible for the conditional use permit, um, which are right adjacent to places that would get a lot of truck traffic. Anyway, the thought was that, um, we should we should give people an avenue towards, you know, I what was it that uh, one of the commissioners said to to get right with the Lord or something? I don't remember exactly what it was, but it was something to that effect and that made me laugh. But um I mean the the point stands that you know there's this this like you know as uh previous speakers mentioned this does exist in our community and if we can direct it into an area that um is you know less uh less impactful for residential areas because it already exists there then I'm I'm fine with it And you know it's not exactly a an an easy checklist to to achieve. So uh with that I will be supporting both of the both of the code.

So you don't have a question modifications. Wow I totally just blanked out on that. I am so sorry. Just ask him how his day is my comment. Yeah. Okay. He wants to go sit up your ear. I can sit down. Yeah. No more question. Oh Dr. I have a question. Oh okay. favorite question. Okay.

Uh thank you. Um the the nuisance part of this um and the idling, what avenue would a resident have to uh address idolling or or other nuisances? Um section J. Yeah, there section J. Um like what they call police, community services. And then also another question I have is like with the conditional use permit would maybe I know we public notice I'm not sure what the right term is like when you do something and you have this buffer zone where you notify people that this is happening adjacent to them you know is it possible that with the condition use permit that you know some number of feet around the neighbors are just informed that you know this condition use permit has been given that way if there is idling or nuisance issues they know that there's revenue to do something about. Is any of that possible? Yes, Council Miller Miller. So, yeah, at the when we notify this, people within 300 feet of the subject site get notified. They can come to the public hearing, support it, you know, oppose it.

And so, they would be also kind of those eyes and noses to to see what's going on out there and report back to the city if it's a nuisance for them. And then we'd have to look at the specific nuisance and go out there with neighborhood services or whoever to understand what the problem is and see if it's actually a violation or not. But the first part they would uh the condition permit there would be a notification. Yeah, by state law they have to be

okay. And then one follow-up question was that well that yeah the idling um they can't do that. Um I guess the elephant in the room is and I think there's a resident that had concerns about such a thing to the to your knowledge um the resident that has um approached council about this one would they fit the the condition for this conditional use permit that were being proposed here. Are you are you aware if if any people who have asked about this would be able to apply for this cup? Yeah, the gentleman in question um mind you he was in violation uh for quite some time but um he he bought that house a while ago in terms of like he he understood that it was in a violation so he hadn't pre he was in a pre-existing situation I guess is my point. Um but as it stands this ordinance is written for the whole community not one particular individual. Well, my thing is because you only do it in certain areas like you know joining such a thing, right?

You do know if the property in question would fall under the condition use permit. I don't know where this is located, how it relates the individual would have to get a conditional use permit. Would not meet all the conditions. I'm sorry. And would not meet all the conditions. Okay. Okay. Thank you.

Okay. Vice President Worthman. So, this is back to council member Miller's question, but it's essentially these conditional use permit requirements. You have to meet all of these. So, you're in an allowed district or near next to you have a halfacre land. You are on a collector or classification road. Like I think my worry here is at the end of the day we won't have anyone applying for one of these because there's so many things that you have to meet. And then what happens to what happens to the semis people who have semi-driving and who just exist in these places throughout our community that are pure residential neighborhoods who won't be able to get this. What happens to those folks?

Yeah. So good question, Council Member Miller. I mean, Worthman, they are technically in violation. Keep that in mind. And far as we know, there's not a lot of this going on in terms of parking seas in residential neighborhoods. Um, so this this was brought to our attention neighborhood services as a violation. We had to follow up on it. It's still an outstanding violation. Um, this is an ordinance that is written for the whole city, not in one individual. And that's how we look at as staff. Um I'm sorry, did you have another question?

I just I think there could be a half dozen to a dozen semiis parked in this community in different neighborhoods and I'm just wondering I I mean based on what I see and I wonder how that what happens to them. Yeah. Again, they are in violation. If they're in the these lowdensity residential zones, they typ typically from a land use point of view, they need to either find the zoning that is required, you know, commercial rent rent actually these truck spaces or um go to their their fleet where they're uh their trucks are located and come and go from those sites. Okay, let's we can move on. Oh,

uh I was just going to comment on the topic of enforcement. So, as part of neighborhood services, they've taken on the just very recently taken on the citywide parking enforcement. Um so, we do have a staff person now who can enforce citywide, but they don't go if it's not bothering anybody, then they wouldn't um you know, investigate necessarily proactively. Um but certainly those semis parked on the streets or idolling could be something they could proactively enforce.

Okay. Thank you. Okay. By motion made by council member shown. That works out. Second by council member Reed. This item is moved. Any discussion? Council member shown.

Thank you. Council president Bergie. Um, I'll be supporting this amendment to the ordinance. Um, as was referenced earlier on, there's a constituent of mine that approached council to discuss his situation. Um, sounds like there's maybe, uh, anyways, more discussion to be had potentially if he would be eligible for something like this. But I think regardless of that situation, I see this as a super reasonable change. As other council council members have mentioned, um, these types of situations are happening in the community already. I think the list of conditions that staff have created with input from plan commission is really reasonable. Thinking about this type of activity being adjacent to industrial and commercial corridors. Um you know that those neighborhoods are experiencing that type of traffic already. Um and so I'll be supporting this. I could say more about that particular constituent situation. Um but but I won't. I think it's more important to think about if this is reasonable for the whole community and I think it is. So I'll be supporting it. Okay. Oh, same. Council member Miller.

Thank you, Council President. Um I think only because we do have this limitation that's going to be adjoining commercial corridors, industrial areas that I'll probably be supporting this one. Um um because it keeps it to areas where this type of activity already exists. And you know, the reason we have zoning is to have certain activity in certain neighborhoods. And if it were just be, you know, black people are in violation currently and, you know, just in the neighborhoods in general, that would be detrimental to the quality of life for these people in our in our city. But I think just because it is um highly regul regulated to a very narrow strip of places adjacent um that's tipped uh mean in supporting this ordinance change. Great. Thanks.

I don't see anything. city. Oh, his light is not on. Ste. Oh, he's good. We're going to vote. I so rarely comment on anything. No, I have I didn't Oh, okay. If I gave a look of desire to speak. I didn't mean to. Council member. All right. City clerk, please call the role. Council member Bergie. I Brewster I Miller I Otto I Reed I Sh I Serrano I worth

I

that passes unanimously. Uh ordinances for introduction. We have one parking prohibited ordinance amending table 68 entitled parking prohibited of the code of the city of Oaklair to add parking restrictions on venture drive for business access and vehicle maneuverability. Would council like to suspend the rules and take this up tonight? We can prolong my last meeting. All right, seeing none, we'll go on to announcements and updates. Uh, so I was just going to share a few reminders to check your email. One is that we're trying to organize these city circuit u meetings. I kind of regret naming it because this sounds kind of goofy, but um the city

I think it was my idea actually.

I'm sorry. Um so if you want to organize one, please do. And also I'll put them on your calendar and you can go or not go. But if especially like the district reps or people who have a certain interest um or if you want to go to the farmers market just throw the ideas out there and we can put it on. Another one is that I was looking for your opinion on the advertisements on benches. Um, so it's it's really just a judgment call whether or not you want we want to have a company put um benches in places, especially transit stops in exchange for having them advertised on those benches. So, if you can take a look at that and just reply to me, uh, the transit commission would like to do it. Other people think it's not a good idea. Um, and then we're going to send out our annual resident survey in the next um few like by the end of the week. So, if you have any feedback on that, um, let me know. And then, um, just one interesting event is the eggs and issues for, um, April 24th. And I'm going to have Dave explain it. And it's cool because it's taking place at Sacred Heart. And it's not to celebrate the fact that Dave both Dave and I were born there, but

we were both born there.

Yeah. Yeah. A few years ago. Um, but Heart Works is a company um with uh um a couple of local uh one doctor and a engineer that was actually down at Platville the same time that I was there that are brothers, the Nelson brothers that um are from AIO. They've done research at Mayo Clinic. They have a presence in Oclair now. Uh their company is called Heartworks. They take skin cells and they synthe synthesize it um into stem cells and then they grow heart tissue to strengthen hearts and they grow new heart tissue. Um so with all of the biomedical research that that is out these days, they are the pioneers and um are um the leading the class with um cardiac tissue research and um they currently have a presence in uh Sky Park, Industrial Park, and they are going to be moving into um Sacred Heart, the former Sacred Heart Hospital, and helping with their research there. Um not only the lab research, uh growing the tissues and doing the research, but also training doctors um and working with medical device manufacturers because the Twin Cities is one of the largest medical device manufacturing hubs in the um nation and the c in the world. Um, and that all takes place will be hopefully taking place on the HSHS site. So, they're very excited. Um, I want to thank Aaron White and and Bill Youngberg as they're moving in. The the city's working hand inand with them to make sure that they're able to move smoothly into that uh facility to make sure that all the electrical, plumbing, all the permits, everything they need from the city is smooth. Um, so they're very happy with uh their partnership with the city so far and this should be a dynamite. um a dynamite tour. It's just it's really cool the potential and the

upside that um city of Oaklair could be um the home for them in 20 years from now be the place where if you have were born with a congenital heart defect that um the cure is in um in Oaklair. So, one of the one of the uh the uh the Olsen or the Nelson brothers, I forget which one it is, um wants Heart Works in 20 years or vision is it for it to be as important as like the Shriner's Hospital is for those patients that they treat. So, um should be should be great eggs and issues um for everybody to attend. And to add on that, put your light on.

They move their headquarters from Lchester to Oaklair. Um I don't that would be a question for them. They're maintaining presence in both locations and there's a uh there's a little bit of redundancy with that. Um but there this this facility here is um going to be key in their expansion and partnering with the medical device manufacturers but I'm not sure that they will leave their pres like last summer I think. Yep. I think that's great. Yeah. So that I know them. I know them. Oh yeah. Pretty pretty uh pretty exciting. Yep.

And then we as you saw in the email in the news, there was a determination on the town of Washington incorporation petition and we will be taking steps um to reach out to um those neighboring communities and town to talk about boundary agreements. So stay tuned for that. Okay. And now should we give Emily one more applause? A thanks everyone. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks guys. Yay. Do I get to keep the gavvel?

My name plate. Oh, okay. Oh, this meeting is adjourned. All right. Everybody get around. Come on in. Three, two,

three.