Village Board

Village of Waterford Village Board Official Minutes February 9, 2015 The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by President Roanhouse. Roll Call: Tom Roanhouse, Tom Christensen, Tamara Pollnow, Ron Kluth, Don Houston, Stephen Denman. Excused: Jerry Filut. Also attending: Rebecca Ewald, Jeff Dolezal, Rick Mueller, Nancy Washburn – Bielinski Homes, Tina Chitwood – RCEDC Public Hearing – NOTE Notice published twice – January 9 and January 16th. Motion to reconsider the motion closing the Public Hearing regarding Ordinance 623 and the motions to approve Ordinance 623 Amending the Uses Allowed in the Fairview Station Planned Community Development Business District and Amending the General Development Plan; to approve the amendment of the Developer’s Agreement for Fairview Station; and to approve the amendment of the Fairview Station covenants, all to allow a 12 unit apartment building development in the District. At the January 26 Board Meeting, Ms. Washburn from Bielinski represented to the Board that the public hearing notice letter had been sent to the property owners of the Woodfield Condominiums. The next day, Ms. Washburn notified Village staff that she had discovered that the letter was not sent out to the property owners of the Woodfield Condos as thought. The Village has already had the public hearing and the notice for that hearing met the legal requirements. The Board specifically wanted to hear from the condo owners, so they have been invited to the 2/9 meeting and if the Board approves the motion to reconsider this matter, the Board may allow them to provide comments to the Board regarding the project. Motion made by Denman, seconded by Pollnow to reconsider the motion closing the Public Hearing regarding Ordinance 623 and the motions to approve Ordinance 623 Amending the Uses Allowed in the Fairview Station Planned Community Development Business District and Amending the General Development Plan; to approve the amendment of the Developer’s Agreement for Fairview Station; and to approve the amendment of the Fairview Station covenants, all to allow a 12 unit apartment building development in the District. Motion carried. Motion made by Pollnow, seconded by Denman to reopen the public hearing regarding Ordinance #623. Motion carried. Public Appearances - Chief Mueller – 4th Quarter Fire & Rescue report. Reading and Approval of Minutes - Motion made by Pollnow, seconded by Kluth to approve the January 26, 2015 regular Village Board meeting minutes. Motion carried. Unfinished Business Reconsider Ordinance 623 Amending the Uses Allowed in the Fairview Station Planned Community Development Business District and Amending the General Development Plan; reconsider approval of the amendment of the Developer’s Agreement for Fairview Station; and reconsider the approval of the amendment of the Fairview Station covenants, all to allow a 12 unit apartment building development in the District. Motion made by Denman, seconded by Houston to set aside to March 9 for the HOA to meet with Bielinski to resolve some issues. Motion carried. Motion made by Kluth, seconded by Pollnow to approve the 2015 work plan for RCEDC. Motion carried. Motion made by Pollnow, seconded by Denman to approve the RCEDC contract amendment for 2015. Motion carried. Chitwood will provide a hard copy of the 2014 RCEDC Annual Report to the Board at the meeting. The Board was provided an update on letter sent to DNR regarding Fox River drawdown. A letter sent to the DNR after receipt of information from Racine County relative to the Rochester dam. The Village continues to receive inquiries and complaints relative to the draw down from property owners and interested users. New Business Review and act on Resolution #770 - Addressing the Need for Exception of TRANS 75 Standards on WisDOT Project #1300-09-01. The DOT will be reconstructing STH 83 north of Village limits to I-43 in 2019. The DOT needs to know if the Village has any future plans along STH 83, from Hwy 20 to the north (land currently not located within the Village’s municipal borders) that would require or result in the need for sidewalk or a shared use path along STH 83 heading north. The DOT was led to inquire with us because the Village’s land use plan projects uses beyond the Village’s western borders. The WIS 83 project is a high speed rural highway in which no sidewalks were proposed or necessary since it is rural and homes are far apart. The speed limit goes up from 40 mph to 55 mph north of the WIS 20 intersection with WIS 83. To make the path safe, it would be installed on the other side of the ditch instead of adjacent to the travelled way, which increases impacts to the properties. If the Village is not projecting this land to come into the Village and installing sidewalk improvements in this area, the Village has been requested to pass an “Need for Exception” resolution stating our position. The Plan Commission reviewed this matter at their 1/21 meeting and recommended the Village Board pass an absence of need resolution that would not require a pathway to be installed in this location, but also specify that the area be graded for a future pathway. Motion made by Denman, seconded by Kluth to approve Resolution # 770. Motion carried. The Board was requested to review and act on Resolution # 771 – Partnership for Prosperity Agenda. The League’s Partnership for Prosperity legislative agenda recognizes that thriving municipalities are critical to a successful state economy and calls for a new state-local partnership to drive the state’s economy forward and spur job creation by: 1) Helping communities continue to provide quality local services while holding the line on property taxes, 2) Investing in local transportation infrastructure, 3) Enhancing and promoting economic development best practices, like the expansion of the historic tax credit that was accomplished in the 2013-2014 legislative session. The resolution emphasizes the importance that Wisconsin’s cities and villages play as the foundation of Wisconsin’s economy. 70% of Wisconsinites live in cities and villages and it’s where 87% of all manufacturing and 89% of all commercial property is located. The resolution is based on a League of Wisconsin Municipalities model being adopted by cities and villages statewide. The Village is a League member. The League is a nonpartisan statewide organization which advocates for Wisconsin’s cities and villages. Motion made by Christensen, seconded by Denman to approve Resolution #771. Motion carried. Review and act on request for proposal for real estate services. The DOT and RA Smith is currently reviewing this draft proposal. As noted before, the Village must adhere to all DOT regulations for real estate services. The Plan Commission has not yet provided a recommendation on the E. Main/Milwaukee Street intersection design that impacts the required real estate for the intersection. This proposal cannot be released until that intersection design is finalized. Depending upon when the finalization occurs, and when RA Smith can update the design plans, staff is requesting the discretion as to when to send the proposals out. The DOT has required the Village obtain easements by spring of 2017. Sending of the proposals may occur prior to or after the Administrators leave. Staff is recommending that the Administrator and Village Attorney review the proposals and provide the Board a recommendation on individuals to perform these services. After individuals and firms are selected, both the Administrator and Attorney would monitor the progress and activities of the services rendered. Motion made by Houston, seconded by Pollnow to approve the process as outlined above. Motion carried. Update on interim evidence procedures during police transition. With the transition of the Village’s officer, the Village needed to provide accommodations for how evidence would be handled in the Village. Village ordinance Section 59-3C(2) requires the Police Chief to “see that evidence is procured for the successful prosecution of the offender.” Section 59-1A states that the liaison officer “along with the contracting law enforcement agency, shall perform the duties of the Chief as set forth in this Code and any applicable contract.” The Agreement with the Sheriff’s Office doesn’t specifically address evidence, but paragraph 2 states that the Sheriff will have final authority to make the final decision as to the manner in which services are rendered. These sections read together allow the transfer of the evidence. Paragraph 16.e. of Appendix “C” of the Sheriff’s contract addresses the supervision of the “property" that is inventoried and stored at the safety building per the retention policy in the Village ordinances. I’m presuming that this refers to s. 59-9.1., which addresses disposal, but does not address initial evidence handling and packaging. To address this staff has directed the Sheriff’s Office to take over the evidence storage. If the municipal court needs evidence for court, the court would add to the deputies’ subpoena a request for evidence. With no police department the Village would no longer take in any property of any kind. All property like bicycles for example would be taken to the patrol station and be property inventoried. Blood tests for ordinance violations would also be taken to the Sheriff’s Office. When the results come in to our evidence custodian the results are sent to the arresting deputy and forwarded to the Village Prosecutor. The Sheriff’s office follows Statute 66.0139 Disposal of abandoned property and discards of materials through propertyroom.com. The biggest difference between what the village ordinance requires and the Sheriff’s procedure is the time required for holding the property: section 59-9.1 requires the Village to hold onto abandoned, lost or unclaimed property for 90 days before we dispose of it. The statute used by the County allows disposal after 30 days. The County has agreed, per Lt. Klatt, to hold property for 90 days during this interim period. The Sheriff’s office has never held or processed other department’s evidence or property in the past. Evidence handling whether it be at the Village or Sheriff’s office is time consuming. If the Village does hires an officer he/she could handle all Village evidence. The Village doesn’t take in a great deal of evidence or property but the disposition of the property after it has gone through the court system is very time consuming. Hours can be spent on the chain of custody for evidence that could otherwise be spent working on active police enforcement duties. Moving forward with long term services, it is strongly recommended that the Board explore the possibility of the primary contracting agency to perform evidence handling for the Village. The Village currently has an intercept agreement with Wind Lake Fire Department. In January the Board approved an agreement with the Mukwonago Fire Department which provides an additional option for service in another geographic location. Resolution # 769 updates the Village’s fee schedule to accommodate for the charge for rescue billing purposes. Motion made by Kluth, seconded by Houston to approve Resolution # 769. Motion carried. The Village of Waterford applied for Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) for trunking radio equipment to nine fire departments and to provide those departments with the ability to operate on an interoperability basis on the State of Wisconsin 'WISCOM statewide VHF Radio Trunking System" for mutual aid, and interagency operability in accordance with the State of Wisconsin SCIP plan. The other fire departments include Rochester Fire Company, Tichigan Fire Company, City of Burlington Fire Dept, Town of Burlington Fire Dept, Kansasville F&R, Union Gove F&R, Wind Lake Fire Company, and Raymond F&R. The Village of Waterford will be the fiscal agent on the grant. The grant is for a total of 144 radios with each department applying for funding for 16 radios. The grant would cover 95% of the cost and each department would be responsible for approximately $4,160. If Waterford is awarded the grant the Village will need to front the $763,968 cost of the radios when ordered and AFG will reimburse the Village for 95% of the cost at a later date. It could take 60 days to get the reimbursement after paying for the radios and submitting the paperwork to AFG. In the event that the grant is awarded, staff would recommend utilizing assigned general fund balance to pay the initial cost and replenishing it with the grant funds and the other participating department’s portions. An agreement would be drafted the Village Attorney with the other 8 departments to assure participation and payment by the other departments. FEMA will begin reviewing grant submissions in March, award date is undetermined. If the Village is not awarded the grant, the Chief will purchase radios with capital funds that have been allocated in the 2015 budget at a total of $38,000. Western Racine County Health Department (WRCHD) had received various grants over the years and were allowed to obtain gift cards for future use. Examples of gift card usage are food for the Board of Health, promotional supplies, emergency preparedness items, etc. At the close of WRCHD in December, they had approximately $8,000 in Wal-Mart gift cards remaining. WRCHD made a motion to distribute the cards back to the (8) participating municipalities to utilize at our discretion. The cards were distributed based on the municipality population percentage; the Village of Waterford received $915. The Village’s revenue policy states: “Gifts, donations and unanticipated revenues will be considered as “over and above” basic Village appropriations. Gifts and donations shall be used solely for the purpose intended by the donor. Unrestricted gifts and unanticipated revenues will be allocated in the manner and for the purposes authorized by the Village Board. Any unrestricted gifts and unanticipated revenues that remain unallocated after 6 months will become part of unassigned general fund balance.” Staff suggested to use the cards to purchase items that will be needed to implement our Emergency Management Plan such as first aid kits, flashlights, walkie- talkies/radios, bottled water supply, blankets, etc. as the Village Hall may become a shelter during a disaster and we may need these types of supplies prior to assistance from outside emergency agencies. Motion made by Kluth, seconded by Pollnow to staff and Finance Committee’s recommendation to use the gift cards for the Emergency Management Plan is implemented. Motion carried. Past due notices of delinquent personal property taxes are sent by the Treasurer in mid February. In April any personal property taxes that are still outstanding are forwarded to the Village attorney for collection. In May, the Village Clerk verifies that all taxes have been paid before issuing liquor and/or cigarette licenses. For the most part, after each of these actions has taken place, we collect the majority of delinquent personal property taxes. However, each year there remains an amount of delinquent personal property taxes that are not collected primarily from businesses that have moved out of the Village or ceased operations. Section 74.42(1), Wis. Stats. provides that the taxation district treasurer may charge back to each taxing jurisdiction its proportionate share of those personal property taxes for which the taxing district settled in full the previous February, which were delinquent at the time of settlement, which have not been collected in the intervening year and which remain delinquent. A taxation district may only chargeback personal property taxes if the taxes are owed by an entity that has ceased operations, or filed a petition for bankruptcy, or are due on personal property that has been removed from the next assessment roll. For 2013, the Treasurer has charged back a total of $858.59 of delinquent personal property taxes. Delinquent personal property taxes for businesses that are not allowed to be charged back to the other taxing jurisdictions are forwarded to collections. Waterford Automotive was sent to collections for a total of $1,899.01. Invoices - Motion made by Kluth, seconded by Houston to approve the prepaids totaling $169,159.45. Motion made by Kluth, seconded by Houston to approve the unpaids keyed to 2/5/15 $156,028.72 and unpaid keyed after 2/5/14 of $12,207.93 for a total of $168,236.65. Motion carried. The Village contracted with Liturgical Publications Inc. (LPI) to print the Village newsletter in 2012. The contract stipulates that the Village will receive an annual rebate in the amount of 30% of the paid advertising revenue in excess of $11,628 per publication year beginning January 2014. The Village received a rebate in the amount of $369.60 for the calendar year 2014; the 2013 rebate was $495.90. The rebate will be distributed between Village, Library and W&S operations to offset postage costs. The Treasurer had a follow up conversation with Associated Appraisal on the situation with the DOT property. We went over the process of how Associated Appraisal is notified of sales. From our discussion this is what happens: The County notifies the DOR of sales that occur during the year. However, they are not required to notify the DOR of sales by government entities such as the DOT or the DNR. The County also does not notify the DOR of any properties that the County took over due to foreclosures. The only transaction that occurs in these situations is recording of the deed. Walt said this has been a big problem especially in recent years with the number of foreclosures that occurred. He said that some of the municipal clerks have been working with Associated Appraisal to notify them. He suggested we send him any foreclosure and sheriff sale notices so that they can track them. The County provides the assessor with a sales transmittal report. The assessor uses this to verify the validity of the sale (ie: arms length sale or not). After that is completed the assessment is changed. Again DOT, DNR or county sales are not included in this report. The County also provides a report that shows name changes of properties. Associated Appraisal uses as informational only because it doesn't have assessment information. This is the only documentation that would have shown that the DOT purchased the property. Report of the Village Administrator - Update on letters sent regarding police services; Fox River Summit: Friday, March 20 from Friday, March 20th, 2015, 7:30am - 4:30pm, at the Veteran’s Terrace, Burlington, WI. Trustees who desire to attend, please notify the Administrator no later than March 1; Reminder: Joint Meeting of the Finance Committee & Village Board, Tuesday, February 17 at 6:00 p.m.; Reminder: Home & Commerce Show, March 7, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.; Update on the state budget proposed. Report of Standing Committees - Waterford Public Library Board 1-13-15 meeting – Stephen Denman; and Western Racine County Sewerage District 1-21-15 meeting – Stephen Denman. Motion made by Christensen, seconded by Denman to adjourn the meeting at 8:57 p.m. Motion carried. Submitted by, Carrie Orlovsky, Clerk