Committee of the Whole

CITY OF AMERY COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE PROCEEDINGS August 17th, 2021 The Committee of the Whole of the City of Amery met on Tuesday – August 17th, 2021 at City Hall and via Zoom. Council President, Chad Leonard called the meeting to order at 5:00 P.M. Present: Council President, Chad Leonard; Mayor, Paul Isakson; and Alderpersons, Tim Strohbusch (arrived at 5:10); Rick Van Blaricom; Sarah Flanum; and Eric Elkin. Absent: None Staff Present: City Administrator/City Clerk-Treasurer, Patty Bjorklund; Police Chief, Tom Marson; and Public Works Director, Jeff Mahoney. Staff Absent: Deputy Clerk-Treasurer, Ben Jansen; and Library Director, Amy Stormberg. Others Present: Larry Stelter; and Members of the Public. Public Comment – No public comment was heard at this time. Department Head Reports – Reports were heard from Administrator, Bjorklund; Police Chief, Marson; and Director of Public Works, Mahoney. Downtown Parking Signs/Maple St. Parking Lot – This topic was brought forward again as part of the ongoing discussion regarding the finished product of the Keller Ave. Project. Police Chief, Marson; had brought forward some recommendations in regards to the City’s current signage and parking enforcement. One recommendation was to increase the parking limit to 2 hours instead of 1 hour. Motion by Flanum; seconded by Van Blaricom; to increase the Keller Ave. Parking limit to 2 hours from 1 hour in previously posted areas. Ayes – 5 Nays – 0 Motion Carried. The Committee instructed Police Chief, Marson; and DPW, Mahoney; to come back to the Council Meeting in September with more recommendations for signage changes and ordinance revisions that may be needed. Woody McBride Concert Venues – Mr. McBride approached the City with the idea of having a sort of “Block Party” with live music to celebrate the completion of the Keller Ave. Project. This idea was not viewed favorably by the City’s contractor and it was generally agreed that the current venue of Michael Park would be the best place for such an event. Amery Historical Society Display in new Amery City Center – It has been speculated that the Amery Historical Society will not have adequate storage space in the library area of the new City Center building and that it may need to find a different location to fit its needs. An idea was floated by Van Blaricom to have the City approach Mike Jensen of Northwest Communications who owns a vacant building on Birch St. and to see if he would be willing to sell the building at a discounted rate to the City for the purpose of housing the Historical Society. Another idea was to have display cases for historical objects placed throughout the building such as by the new City Council Chambers in the new City Center. City staff were instructed to contact both Ayres and Mr. Jensen regarding these ideas. Entitlement Transfer from Amery Municipal Airport to Burlington Municipal Airport – This process has happened in the past and includes the transfer of state provided funds from Airport to Airport. Motion by Strohbusch; seconded by Elkin; to approve the entitlement transfer to Burlington Airport. Ayes – 5 Nays – 0 Motion Carried. 1 Motion by Van Blaricom; seconded by Strohbusch; to go into closed session at 5:47 P.M. under Wis. Stat. 19.85(1)c – Employee Evaluations – Wage Discussion. Considering employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility. E – Police Union Negotiations. Deliberating or negotiating the purchasing of public properties, the investing of public funds, or conducting other specified public business, whenever competitive or bargaining reasons require a closed session. Roll Call Vote Ayes – Strohbusch, Van Blaricom, Flanum, Isakson, Elkin. Nays – None Motion by Strohbusch; seconded by Elkin; to reconvene into open session at 6:55 P.M. Ayes – 5 Nays – 0 Motion Carried. City Staff was instructed to create a spreadsheet that would outline the proposed wage increases with percentages that the wages would be increased by for the Council Meeting in September. Motion by Van Blaricom; seconded by Isakson; to adjourn at 6:55 P.M. Ayes – 5 Nays – 0 Motion Carried Respectfully Submitted, Ben Jansen, MPA Deputy Clerk-Treasurer August 23rd, 2021 2