Village Board

EAST TROY VILLAGE BOARD MINUTES September 26, 2016 Page 1 of 5 Call Meeting to Order; Pledge of Allegiance Administrator Suhm verified the meeting was posted according to law. Roll Call: President Timms called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Present: President Timms, Trustees Fred Douglass, Matt Johnson, Forty Renucci, Scott Seager, Dusty Stanford and Ann Zess Excused: Others: Chief Boyes, DPW Director Equitz, Administrator Suhm, Attorney Gray Presentation of Making a Difference certificate to Gus Athanasopoulos President Timms read the Making a Difference recognition for Gus and Jessica Athanasopoulos and presented the certificate to Gus. Citizen Participation No citizen participation. Consent Agenda (One motion and second will approve all of the following items. Any item may be pulled from the list and voted on separately.) 1. Approval Minutes – 9/19/2016 2. Consider approval renewing Cooperative Agreement with the Town of East Troy for use of their compost site. Motion by Trustee Stanford, second by Trustee Johnson to approve the consent agenda. Motion carried. Miscellaneous Business 1. Introduction to new Library Director, Jeffery Gartman Jeff Gartman introduced himself to the Board. He stated that he has been at the library for two months, is happy to be here and is very impressed with the library, patrons and staff. He is originally from Wisconsin glad to return to. Currently he and his staff are “weeding” the current library collection and adding new material. 2. Square Renovation Project (Zess) Trustee Zess explained the e-mail she had sent after the prior meeting and that she was thinking about the costs in the capital budget for the Square project. She stated the presentation had been brought to the Board in February, but had not been discussed again. Trustee Zess recommended slowing down and budgeting for a water study first. She stated the project was not in the capital budget last year and she would like to suggest the Board do a full comprehensive five-year plan. Trustee Renucci stated the sewer mains need to be redone, some may be able to be relined and the water service needs to be reviewed, especially for the three buildings on the Square that have sprinklers. What is in the budget is the renovation to the infrastructure that the Village wants to address. The budget included $105,000 of engineering for square renovations split between  EAST TROY VILLAGE BOARD MINUTES September 26, 2016 Page 2 of 5 water, sewer and streets. Trustee Zess questioned what the engineering is addressing. Trustee Stanford agreed that the Board needs to talk about what the Village wants the Square to look like but that would be a future discussion. Trustee Zess pointed out that in 2018 there is 2.2 million in the capital budget for Village Square renovation and she wants to be clear about what the 2017 funds are for. DPW Equitz suggested the Village use the water model that was done in 2013 and run that model and use that tool to see where the needs are. There are some funds left in the 2016 capital budget for a water study. Trustee Renucci again stated he feels a comprehensive needs plan is necessary to address what is needed, plan for needs and then solicit bids for the work. 3. ETCDA Quarterly Report Derek D’Auria, Executive Director of WCEDA (Walworth County Economic Development Alliance), and Paul Nyffeler, President of ETCDA (East Troy Community Development Alliance) presented the ETCDA Quarterly Report. They discussed several businesses they have been working with such as the coffee roaster, manufacturing company with headquarters outside of the state and a location in East Troy that is considering consolidating the location and/or headquarters in Wisconsin or Michigan, the Quality Inn and a local restaurant planning to expand. Upcoming projects include a “Giant Postcards” for display at local businesses and “tagging” on social media and a feature article about the East Troy area in the Keefe Realty magazine in spring. They explained the Connect Communities program which engages retail locations and others within the East Troy area. They also reported Mary Nicosen has been working on a bike path project in the trolley right-of-way. They showed a video clip of East Troy proposed for their website. Their financial balance is currently $15,315. 4. Small Business Grant Program Proposal Trustee Zess proposed a program intended to motivate exterior and signage improvements by local business. It proposed an additional $6,800 be included in the 2017 budget. The maximum grant amount could be $500-$1,000. An application, process and marketing plan needs to be developed. The suggested program was modeled after a Waterford program. Trustee Zess also suggested a matching grant program could be initiated. Trustee Johnson questioned if the $500-$1,000 was the grant amount in Waterford. Trustee Zess explained they offered smaller amounts. She also discussed the funding for the Waterford grants was more because but they had a larger fund available due to some funding partnerships. Trustee Stanford asked for audience feedback. Gus Athanasopoulos did not feel the dollar amount was enough. Trustee Renucci expressed that this dollar amount may mean a great deal for a small business just starting out. Motion by Trustee Zess, second by Trustee Johnson to allow John Jacoby to speak. Motion carried. Mr. Jacoby stated the dollar amount is irrelevant and the gesture means more. He felt the gesture stated the Village is a friendly place for new businesses.  EAST TROY VILLAGE BOARD MINUTES September 26, 2016 Page 3 of 5 President Timms stated the $6,800 was a carry forward from 2014, Administrator Suhm clarified it was undesignated funds from the levy in the 2016 budget that were designated for this purpose in the 2016 budget. Trustee Stanford suggested tighter parameters on the proposed use and criteria to avoid subjectivity. Another suggested way to allocate funds was using $500 for 10 people, up to $5,000 total for the program for the first year. Trustee Johnson clarified the intent was to carry forward the $6,800 from 2016 and budget another $6,800 in 2017 with the intent to get the program started as of January 1. Trustee Douglass suggested the Village Board make the final grant approvals to avoid any dissention among applicants. Trustee Zess will work with administration and perhaps the ETCDA to develop the program structure. Motion by Trustee Stanford, second by Trustee Johnson to leave the $6,800 available so a plan can be put in place to move forward and hopefully by January start with the program. Motion carried. 5. Review Operating and Capital Budgets, possibly finalize for public hearing notice Administrator Suhm reviewed the budget timeline. Trustee Stanford questioned if the Board wanted to continue funding the ETCDA. He stated tonight’s report is the first timely report, he expressed concerns which included financial reporting and results. The Village funds the Development Committee in the budget at an amount of $12,100, $2,100 goes to WCEDA and $10,000 funds the ETCDA. Trustee Zess stated she was not in favor of discontinuing the relationship with the economic development group and she would like to continue funding the ETCDA. Motion by Trustee Renucci, second by Trustee Seager to request Paul Nyffeler to come back up to the podium. Motion carried. Mr. Nyffeler expressed concerns regarding the negative comments. He discussed reasons for the changes in meeting times for ETCDA meetings, which was in reference to a comment regarding changes to prevent a village trustee from attending. He stated it seemed shortsighted to end the relationship so soon and reminded the Board that the ETCDA is a volunteer group. He explained much of the funding goes to WCEDA for the administrative support they provide the ETCDA. Trustee Johnson confirmed that $10,000 per year the Village has provided for ETCDA and asked for a report as to how the funds have been spent. Trustee Stanford expressed his concern that the taxpayers are funding the program and the Board would like to know where the funds are going. Trustee Johnson also asked what the plans or goals are that tie to the remaining funds. Motion by Trustee Johnson, second by Trustee Seager to allow John Jacoby to speak. Motion carried. Mr. Jacoby stated he has been on the ETCDA for over a year. He said they have been operating during that entire time under the assumption that they may not receive continued funding. He  EAST TROY VILLAGE BOARD MINUTES September 26, 2016 Page 4 of 5 stated if they do not know the funding will exist, they do things that cost little to no money without needing future funding. He stated he has donated his time, website design and hosting to the ETCDA. Motion by Trustee Johnson, second by Trustee Seager to give the ETCDA an opportunity to give a formal plan and budget for the remaining $15,000 of funds plus additional the $5,000 ($10,000 less approximate $5,000 paid to WCEDA) in 2017 for remainder of 2016 and 2017 presented at the next meeting. Trustee Zess stated we are talking about a volunteer group and questioned if it were enough time to give them to come up with a presentation. She feels that severing this relationship with the ETCDA would be a “black eye” to the community and send a bad message. Trustee Johnson agreed and expressed his opinion that the ETCDA does a good job but that as the ETCDA is funded by tax dollars he asked that the ETCDA help the Board by giving a clear plan for the future. Motion carried. Administrator Suhm reviewed her budget memo with the changes from the last meeting. DPW and Parks and Recreation had worked to make reductions in their budgets with a result of a surplus of $1,580. Administrator Suhm reminded the Board of budgeted financial planning for the Village in 2017 and how revenue increases from the tax levy are limited, stating in 2016 it increased by $32,000. She cautioned that some of the larger capital projects may require consideration of borrowing funds. Other capital budget points were made including that there is a deficit in the Water fund and a second rate case will be need to be requested in 2017-2018. There is also a deficit in the Airport Fund. Motion by Trustee Zess, second by Trustee Johnson to allow Walter Watkins, airport manager, to speak. Motion carried. Trustee Zess stated that the Wisconsin Bureau of Aeronautics had provided the project numbers for the taxiway reconstruction. Those figures are $1.457 million, $177,000 resident engineering and $25,000 admin and contingency fees. Areas in front of hangars not eligible for the 95% Federal funding and the Village portion of that is $13,000. She explained that is how the the 5% portion plus the $13,000 calculates to $94,748 to redo all the taxiways and ramps. President Timms questioned if the additional $13,000 could be charged back to the hangar owners. It was unclear, but DPW Equitz clarified this is needed due to drainage issues because of the change heights of the roads. There were two alternates projects proposed also; Alternate A for the entrance drive and Alternate B for parking lot. The Village’s 5% of these projects would be $13,127. DWP Equitz reviewed the area and determined that while this was not an immediate need, it will need to be addressed in the future. The proposals from the state would be a great return on investment because addressing these areas in the future by themselves without federal funding would cost the Village quite a bit more.  EAST TROY VILLAGE BOARD MINUTES September 26, 2016 Page 5 of 5 Airport Manager Watkins stated that this item has been on the six-year plan for many years but has been pushed forward. He stated the State’s engineering firm determined the condition of the taxiway and notified the Village this project needs to be a priority because the taxiway is getting to be dangerous. Discussion followed regarding using the Airport enterprise fund balance, the budget funds and the 2016 carry over funds to fund the entire project with the options to capitalize on the availability of federal funding. President Timms requested that Administrator Suhm bring back the final budget numbers for the Airport project as discussed for approval next week. Discussion of the Water fund deficit resulted in the direction for Administrator Suhm to contact the auditor for suggestions to bring back to the Board next week. Administrator Suhm was also asked to bring to the Board next week an analysis of wage increase options. Ordinances and Resolutions 1. Resolution 2016-10 – Updating Authorized Signer for DNR Motion by Trustee Stanford, second by Trustee Douglass to approve Resolution 2016-10. Motion carried. Closed session Adjourn to closed session pursuant to Wis. Stats. 19.85(1)(e) for the purpose of conducting other specified public business, whenever competitive or bargaining reasons require a closed session (police and development) and pursuant to Wis. Stats. 19.85(1)(f) for considering medical histories of specific persons (police) Motion by Trustee Stanford, second by Trustee Stanford to adjourn to closed session. Motion carried on a roll-call vote at 8:38 p.m. Adjourn Respectfully Submitted, Eileen Suhm Administrator