Committee of the Whole

City of Oconomowoc Committee-Of-The-Whole REVISED Tuesday, December 17, 2019 - 6:35 PM City Hall - Conference Room 3 Notice: If a person with a disability requires that the meeting be accessible or that materials at the meeting be in accessible format, call the City Clerk at least 48 hours prior to the meeting to request adequate accommodations. Tel: 569-2186. 1. Call to order and confirmation of appropriate meeting notification 2. Committee Business a. Review/Discussion: Options for 630 E. Wisconsin Avenue Property b. Discussion on City Engineer Services c. Closed Session: Per Wis Stats. §19.85((1)(c) Considering employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility (Employee Performance - Water Utility) 3. Adjourn ________________________________ Diane Coenen, City Clerk City of Oconomowoc Notice is hereby given that a majority of the Common Council will be present at the above scheduled meeting to gather information about a subject over which they have decision-making responsibility. This constitutes a meeting of the Common Council pursuant to State ex rel. Badke v. Greendale Village Board, 173Wis. 2d 553, 494 N.W. 2d 408 (1993) and must be noticed as such, although the Common Council will not take any formal action at this meeting.  MEMORANDUM Date: December 3, 2019 To: Committee of the Whole members Sarah Kitsembel, City Administrator From: Bob Duffy, Economic Development & Tourism Director Craig Hoeppner, Park, Recreation & Forestry Director Mark Frye, Public Works Director Re: Potential use of lands at 630 E. Wisconsin Avenue RELATES TO THE STRATEGIC PLAN Strategic Goal - III. Focus on Economic Development A. Research and Plan for Development 2. Plan for Catalytic Development areas a. E. Wisconsin Avenue BACKGROUND During discussions related to the Public Safety facility at 630 E. Wisconsin Avenue, the City Council discussed various options for the utilization of the frontage area of the property. At the October 1, 2019 Committee of the Whole meeting direction was given to obtain a couple of commercial appraisals before any further decisions were made. The options discussed by the Committee of the Whole included:  Creation of an out lot on the east side of the property similar to the existing parcel west of the entrance.  Recreational use as a Skate park facility.  Green space area.  Excess parking to support demand during community events and activities. Out Lot Creation As a result, City staff reached out to 7 real estate firms to compile a competitive market analysis if the opportunity was pursued to create an out lot for commercial purposes. What is envisioned is a .38 acre parcel, and based on zoning could accommodate a future structure and parking for the potential future use. 1 2 Two firms responded with their thoughts related to the creation of parcel and indicated a value ranging from $145,000 - $300,000. Both evaluations indicated the advantages to the site were visibility, accessibility, and its proximity to the vibrant downtown. Several factors that will negatively affect the sale price of the parcel include cost to provide infrastructure, as well as the small parcel size which may impact the opportunity for a drive-thru and/or national franchise restaurants. Currently, the Taco Bell has parking easement rights within the proposed parcel area. Those easement rights will need to be vacated and/or transferred to another area of the public parking lot prior to pursuing a sale. If interested in this option, there will need to be resolution approvals by the Plan Commission and City Council for the sale of this portion public property, the creation of a lot, and the process interested to follow for the marketing and sale of the proposed parcel. The City will also incur costs related to the creation of the certified survey map, as well marketing and commissions for the sale of the parcel if it is chosen to use a real estate firm. Funds would need to be allocated for the creation of the certified survey map in the amount of $2,750. Recreational Use Suggestion has been made related to the recreational use of some lands for a potential skate park location. The below image was provided by Alderman Kowieski to illustrate a vision of that potential use. Costs, timeline and funding source would need to be explored if the Council chooses to proceed with this use. 2 3 Excess Parking City Council has asked staff to investigate alternatives available to provide additional parking in and around downtown. This area is approximately four blocks from the downtown gateway entrance at the roundabout. Given the walkability of our community this lot would be accommodating for those attending events, as well as the parking demand associated with the Lake Country Municipal Court for their court day operations. This area would provide an additional 30 parking stalls to the existing 1,040 on-street and public parking stalls the City provides to support Downtown Oconomowoc. RECOMMENDATION Staff is seeking City Council direction and determination related to the options investigated. 3 4  MEMORANDUM PUBLIC WORKS Date: December 17, 2019 To: Committee of the Whole From: Sarah Kitsembel, City Administrator Mark Frye, Director of Public Works Re: Engineering Services Review RELATES TO THE STRATEGIC PLAN Strategic Plan: V. Enhance the Effectiveness of Our City Government A. Develop/Updates/Maintain City Ordinances/Policies 5. Review and Analyze Engineering Services (outsource vs. in-house) BACKGROUND As part of the strategic planning process the Council included a task to perform a high level review of Engineering Services in the fourth quarter of 2019. The goal of this item is to determine how the City would like to obtain these services in the future, either by use of a consultant, in-house staff or a combination of the two. HISTORY Prior to 1995, the City had a City Engineer staff position. In 1995 the City underwent an RFP process and hired Ruekert & Mielke as the City Engineer, who has served as the City Engineer since that time. The City had a good response to the RFP with 10 firms responding and 4 firms interviewed. The Selection Committee made a unanimous recommendation to hire Ruekert & Mielke. The scope of services of the City Engineer defined in the RFP included 42 areas of responsibility/tasks which are summarized below. • Attend Council, Utility, Plan Commission meetings • Principal technical advisor to City • Private development review & oversight including approval of plans, specs, conducting inspections, as-built survey, maps & records • Engineering including Electric, Water & Wastewater Utilities • Design & prepare plans, profiles & specifications for all public works construction • Assist in administering public works contracts • Oversee all public and private utility improvements • Conduct final inspection of all public works construction/maintenance • Authorize work progress/final payments • Monitor sanitary sewer district agreements/make recommendations 1 5  • Review utility rates/make recommendations • Implement City Master Plan & Zoning • Conduct special studies relating to public works development Over the years the City has reviewed the use of an engineering consultant, summarized below. • 2002 – Methodology of hiring engineering firm reviewed – no changes made • 2003 – Consideration of RFP for Engineering Services – no directive to pursue • 2010 – RFP released for Review of Past Engineering Services • 1 proposal received – Kunkel Engineering $145,000, proposal not approved In addition the City has changed part of the scope of the City Engineer consulting services over the years, summarized below. • 2010 – Utility Engineer Position Added (Hired November 2010) • 2011 – Initiated RFP Process for Engineering of Large/Definable Projects ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS One way to look at the City Engineer services is to categorize them into three major functions: City Engineer Functions, Private Developments and Commercial Projects (which are billed back to the developer), and City Tasks/RFP Projects. This work entails a variety of skilled positions to support the City. To assist in understanding this variety, we’ve provided a breakdown of the hours by engineering job title for the work completed in the most recent year, 2018. The breakout is based on the three major categories of work shown above. Engineering Services Hour Summary Private City Tasks City Engineer Developments Total Engineering Job Title and RFP Functions and Commercial Hours Projects Projects Administrative Assistant 4 41 149 195 Construction Review 15 3310 2860 6184 Engineer 529 279 2289 3098 Engineering Tech 48 657 905 1610 IT/GIS Analyst 23 16 214 253 Professional Land Surveyor 23 5 97 125 Senior Water Coordinator 1 0 101 102 Survey 4 72 1163 1238 Total Hours 648 4379 7778 12805 2 6 FINANCIAL IMPACT Below is a chart of the amounts paid to our City Engineering Firm from 2009-2018. The costs for the City Engineer functions remain fairly steady through the years ranging from $112,033 - $203,847 annually, averaging $148,148/year. As you might expect the amounts paid for the work on private developments and commercial projects are more variable ranging from $27,300 - $358,373, fluctuating with the rate of development growth in the community. And finally the City tasks & RFP projects also fluctuate depending on the amount of projects in a given year. Engineering Services Expense Summary Engineering Services Expense Summary Private $1,500,000 City Developments City Tasks Engineer & Commercial & RFP Total $1,250,000 Functions Projects Projects Payments $1,000,000 2018 $125,510 $358,373 $826,550 $1,310,435 2017 $181,717 $310,251 $516,166 $1,008,136 $750,000 2016 $126,969 $251,766 $544,330 $923,067 2015 $121,653 $103,933 $466,636 $692,224 $500,000 2014 $155,281 $211,043 $747,515 $1,113,840 $250,000 2013 $135,432 $18,158 $522,295 $675,915 2012 $154,970 $39,414 $599,853 $794,239 $0 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2011 $164,065 $65,598 $565,101 $792,766 2010 $112,033 $27,300 $533,431 $672,765 City Engineer Functions 2009 $203,847 $102,736 $1,456,811 $1,763,396 Private Developments & Commercial Projects Average $148,148 $148,857 $677,869 $974,678 City Tasks & RFP Projects RECOMMENDATION This initial meeting regarding Engineering Services was intended to be informative regarding the history of engineering services and the number of hours and differing skill levels involved to provide the services. Discussion amongst the Committee is warranted to arrive at a consensus of how Staff should proceed. There are a variety of options the Committee could consider. Options could include further analysis of bringing some of the engineering services in house which would require further research to determine costs of wage/benefits, hardware/software, working space requirements and other ancillary costs. SUGGESTED MOTION N/A 3 7