evening everyone welcome to the city of port Washington common council meeting on Tuesday
August 18th roll call we have alderman new myer who is absent and excused otherwise all older
persons are present please join with me for the pledge of allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which
it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all.
Thank you without that takes us into public comments and appearances please remember you have
up to three minutes to speak and there's a maximum of 30 minutes this evening.
Please state your name and address. My name is dean wegert 3708 east nor port in the town of port.
Good evening. I bring good news of great joy that will be for all people Midwest environmental
advocates took legal action after the public service commission denied their public records
request seeking information about the projected energy demand from made us beaver dam data center
the psc claimed the information was a trade secret and that withholding it served the public
interest a dane county circuit court disagreed finding that the psc had acted unlawfully and
ordered that the information be released this is a major legal win this should bring transparency
why does that matter here well the same group the midwest environmental advocates is the
organization that's representing the sierra club in its lawsuit against the dnr
if you recall the dnr told vantage that port washington data center would require an environmental
impact study because of the size and scope of the development and the amount of energy it would
demand vantage complained and said that an environmental impact study would kill the project this was
communicated to the mayor to the governor and to the dnr and then the dnr later reversed their
decision and issued permits without an eis the environmental impact statement that blows
my mind that a regulatory agency charged with project with protecting the environment and the
people would issue permits without an environmental impact study especially if they were told that
an empire environmental impact study would kill the project i mean doesn't saying that an environmental
impact study would kill the project suggest to you that this is bad for the environment
and the people i guess not okay well let's move on what pressure was put on the dnr to
reverse the decision we don't know what did the mayor say when he was told that an eis would
kill the project what did the governor say who is advocating for the environment and for us
the people who live in the environment and who is advocating for vantage whereas our transparency
i have hoped that midwest environmental advocates legal win in the beaver dam case
is a sign that they will bring the same transparency here so that everyone will know why this project
was allowed without clearly identifying the environmental impacts we will know that we will
know why we the people of port were denied what was legally our right to know the full environmental
impact of this project and to be able to offer public input thank you thank you next speaker
name and address Tracy Finch port Washington, Wisconsin coming from a recent blog on jasmine
substacks several things were said that this community deserves to hear first the mayor pointed out
that his name Theodore means gift from god it's one thing to appreciate the meaning of your name
it's another level entirely to use it as narcissism for your professional decision
then he drove the journalist out of to the data center site claiming it's 15 minutes outside the
city core past eight shops gas stations and farms in reality it takes about four to five minutes
to reach the location of detail you continue to exaggerate um also you mentioned he mentioned
rambling outsiders for causing uproar including charlie burns for mentioning port washington's
project during one of his shows but the strongest opposition has come from port washington residents
and neighboring communities people who actually live with the consequences of this project
during the interview the journalist asked him directly knowing what how knowing you knowing
what you now know is there anything you would have done differently to communicate with the folks
you paused hit the brakes turn to face her and said nothing and it deeply is concerning to hear a
mayor say he would change nothing about the how he communicated with the community that has been
asking pleading and demanding transparency for months mayor that refusal is to self reflect is
exactly why we are here tonight or i am we are almost a year into vantage data center construction
project and the emotional strain on residence is no longer something you can dismiss people
are reporting anxiety sleep disruptions stress from noise and traffic fear of the unknown impacts
and a growing sense of abandonment these are not isolated complaints these are patterns patterns
any responsible leader would recognize if you were listening you nor the vantage nor the town
chairman michael did here has offered a single mental health support resource
not a hotline not a counseling referral not a mitigation plan not even a basic knowledge of
emotional toll this project is taking there is not one public document not one meeting record
not one press release that shows otherwise the silence is absolute and unacceptable
and let me be clear ignoring a community under the level of strain is not just
neglect dense it is dangerous when people are pushed past their limits without support
risk escalates fast crisis calls crisis calls rise families break under pressure
me people make unsafe decisions behind the wheel at home at school or at a public event
emotional strain emotional strain it becomes physical illness anxiety becomes panic stress
becomes harm these are conditions under which preventables tragedies occur and when it'll see
the city's leadership has been warned thank you Tracy whatever are there any public other public
speakers amber chain part washington wisconsin and your address please
she didn't give her address good evening your address please Tracy's here weekly we have her
address what is your address i gave my address last month when i was here you can get it in records
i'm gonna ask you again or you can step away from the podium and lose your right to speak
how is that legal what what section is that legality you can thank you very much what
section is that you can answer me i pay you we pay your paycheck you can answer what legality is it
that you are requesting my those are the rules of the council please give your address
thank you good evening my name is amber chain ward six i'm here today to express my grievances
with those who have been elected to represent the best interests of their communities i am truly
unable to comprehend how any of you think putting a data center that will be one of if not
the largest data centers in wisconsin a few miles away from lake michigan is the best interest
for all communities involved you seem to have forgotten that we coexist and the planet does not
revolve around human consumption you seem to have forgotten that the planet earth does not need
homo savvians to exist the homo savvient which is you mean everyone in this room needs clean air
clean water and clean soil to exist the planet has rights that are non-negotiable hence why those
who come before us did the work and fought for the environmental protection agency to be created
i don't understand why you're willing to cause iris parable damage to the place you claim to love
i don't understand how you can celebrate fish days every year exclusive to port washington
wisconsin and then make the conscious decision to harm the very thing you celebrate the moral
compass has been lost when those who have been chosen to tend to and take care of the land and
put forth more effort to destroying it than protecting it i wish with my whole heart that
people cared more about social and environmental justice than they do about financial gain
how can you know that if this data center is completed it will require 1.3 gigawatts of
electricity which is enough to provide electricity to all homes in muwaki county annually and still
say this is a positive change to our evolution how can you say you are for the highest good yet
you take action against it i as a representative of the highest good i'm asking you to begin to
take action to rescind your consent which was against the wishes of the people
to the construction of the vantage data center i as a fellow creature of existence
a fellow creature of existence i'm asking you to use your power to protect the planet instead
of using it to destroy it thank you thank you other public speakers
okay saying no we're going to move into our agenda then
under the next agenda item is a consent agenda the approval of the minutes of the previous
meeting and accepting the monthly invoices so anyone willing to make a motion to accept the
consent agenda move to approve i'll second all right moved and seconded any questions or
concerns on the motion right seeing none all in favor signify by saying aye opposed all right the
motion carries under mayor's business i just have a couple of quick little pieces for us first is
i wanted to thank seedy smith and john crayon from the park and rec department today they
installed the a heartport washington um sculpture down in coldock park that will be lit up tonight
and then there'll be a groundbreaking for that once they have completed the base and all the
different pieces and thank you to clover leaf for making the generous donation that would allow
that to happen for us um a couple of quick little interesting facts about that the data centers
are not the data center the lighthouse paint color is the same light how a paint color of
the sculpture roger helped us out with that so he pulled the paint codes and they painted it the
same color it's angled on purpose so that when you take a picture you see both the lighthouse and
then you can see the sculpture from downtown so it's kind of fun today as they uh started to fill
facebook and the world with just different angles of the that sculpture so that's pretty nice and
hopefully that sparks uh the opportunity for the park and rec department to you know um work with
other artists to get more sculptures along coldock park and that we get more people out there so
just a big thanks to everybody who participated in that and thank you for that work um the other
pieces just remember also school starts here in a couple of weeks and uh that means busing and
kids on walking around and uh walking to and from school so make sure that we are grateful for that
and careful for them and make sure that we are waving to our crossing guards and thanking them
for their actions of putting themselves out there and then lastly i just wanted to acknowledge
and thank melissa and the city team who's working uh on the e-bike regulations and rules uh i
understand you're working with our all of our neighboring communities in ozaki county so we have
similar expectations and rules i still don't understand for the life of me why we give 14-year-olds
electric bicycles i can do 35 miles per hour and not put a helmet on them but we see them growing
in poor washington so it would be nice that we have some regulations and that we're unified in
that uh across the county so it's all i have um under officers and staff reports melissa
thank you mayor um just on that end um quote the park's department was over in seederberg today
they had their first meeting to work on unified rules um and i believe the county was also there
on the inner urban trail so that we can adopt similar rules similar signage similar messaging
because this is a nationwide problem that we're all dealing with so um it's good to partner with
with our neighbors on that so both the police department uh i don't think they can make it today
because they are moving into their new facility this week um but they could make that first meeting
but john crane did attend for the city port washington today so thanks for mentioning that um on that
end this pool is closing on the end of this week summer is coming to an end unfortunately i do
want to say thank you to all of the summer staff and all of them um leadership team that work with
those summer staff to get them trained up they do a tremendous amount of work and it's a great
carries a lot for us not to have to hire full-time people all year round so they do a great job
and i just wanted to acknowledge them and then also in the packet i wanted to bring your attention
to the um in the department head reports there's lots of great stuff there from both july and
august because we have a pause in july uh the there is a uh in a report from public works that
have all the project listed out this is our start from our last meeting of giving an update on where
we are with projects when they're going to go and we're going to continue to build that out so if
you pay attention to that report um that's our our first step towards that so uh if you want to take
a look at that and then um before i handed over to suesings i know she wants to say just a few
things about the election i i wanted to just say the first uh four items actually five items on the
agenda here are items that have been to multiple committees and um sometimes multiple times so they
are very um some of them are very technical um but i just wanted to for brevity's sake
be uh let you know that those have been hashed through quite a bit i have asked staff to be here
to answer any questions but i've asked them to not go the whole whole gamut through the entire
thing like they have at committees and some all of you've been through it multiple times um and
then we are asking for first reading um on those top four um unlike the back which are um first
reading only we want to do one reading only on the first four here so that is all i have mr mare
before i almost forgot susan um just a quick update the person primary was held last week on
august 11th we had a 35.45 turnout which was very good and um it was active all day and the results
are in and uh on the way to the state for final confirmation um this uh election as it wraps up
we go right into the next election which is the general election in november
absentee ballots will be available to begin mailing out on september 17th so i want the public to be
aware of that if they're interested in getting a absentee ballot by mail they can fill out an
application with the city otherwise they can come in for inpersonally voting which we conducted
the two weeks prior to the election and one other thing uh just a reminder the next common
council meeting will be september 15th there will not be one held on september 1st
thank you for that and please extend our gratitude towards all of the poll workers and volunteers
who make those elections so strong in port washington certainly when they work very hard and we're
lucky to have them yeah and then many times you come in here on the weekend and they're canvassing
and everybody's in on their different pieces so and thank you susan for being an extraordinary
clerk in the state absolutely thank you um the other thing too is um uh interim chief zarneki
i have a question for you not to answer now but wondering in our monthly reports is there a way
to do a year-over-year glance so like you show like they always you show the amount of counts
for monthly calls in the specific areas is there a way to add a column and be like 25 and 26 just to
show you don't have to answer me now it's just a wondering if it's not easy to do then i would
expect you to do it okay all right and then i also just want to point out in that packet that
the team puts together as always i really appreciate this i think we should be promoting the great
work of the men women and people who support and serve the city of port washington you know like
the fire department here working with the air army guard and the different pieces that are being
done um because there is so many there are so many things being done in the city of port washington
that um people don't understand how hard the staff works and i uh hope you guys had a great
lunch today of appreciation because the summer crew and the staff the volume of projects that
you complete in the summer to make port washington awesome we're just all very grateful for so
we have for myself and the council we appreciate it okay that any questions or concerns to add or
comments Jonathan rob could you just give a high-level update for this highway 33 resurfacing like
project the timeline well super high level they're um completing the uh the concrete work on uh
on the the concrete work on the the curb ramps replacing the curb placing the ramps um driveways
and um and i'm gonna look to roger for do you know when they're going to start removing the
the asphalt surface because it's supposed to be completed by uh third week of september but i
don't have that i would have to look up the schedule i can pull up the they started today
okay i can pull up the master schedule but i yeah i don't i haven't looked at it lately
yeah yep they did the okay
okay mostly just said also that on the north side that the lights should be up and operating by next
week traffic lights okay any other questions or concerns
go ahead so hopefully everybody saw it uh it's a lot of facebook postings but the fire department
moved all their equipment out to the new station uh this afternoon so it's kind of neat to see
all the trucks moving talk to a lot of the firefighters and and everybody they're excited to be in the
new facility um there's still a significant punch list of things to to work on but the
fire department is operating out of the new facility as of five o'clock tonight and i know the police
department it'll be operating there as of tomorrow so awesome it's pretty cool little prey you said
all right and then doing did the old engine show up yet do you know when that's coming
okay all right well that takes us into the um standing agenda items for the council under general
governments and finance committee the first agenda item is consideration and possible action
on ordinance 2026-03 and ordinance repealing and recreating ordinance 415-03 led and galvanized
service line replacement requirements the issue is should the common council approve ordinance
2026-03 and the staff recommends the common council adopt the ordinance upon its first reading
there's two recommended motions there but i will open up the floor to roger for background and ideas
thank you roger all right um as most have mentioned we we've discussed this at at several
communities so the purpose of this ordinance is to make uh led service line replacement
mandatory basically it helps the city uh manage the project better but it's it's really a big
picture it's a it's a first step for overall community health and and get the led service lines
the led water lines out of the city system
any questions or concerns there are two recommended motions because of the way we are set up we are
allowed to um suspend the rules requiring two readings for the council so that we can enact
this ordinance to get moving on it so anyone willing to make that motion i'll move the suspend the
rules regarding two readings before council may act on a proposed ordinance as it relates to
ordinance 2026-03 okay is there a second i'll second that is moved and seconded are there any
questions or concerns on the motion mr gasper um this is i'm not sure i'm really comfortable with
i i agree with with this ordinance i'm not sure i'm comfortable with fast tracking it though because
mr gasper the the only thing we can we can't have a discussion on that before the motion
sorry or after the motion has been made
our ordinance doesn't permit discussion on the motion or debate on the motion to suspend the
rules okay easy um so there there's a motion and a second any questions or concerns no
all in favor signify by saying aye opposed no okay well that motion uh do the math
okay all right thank you for that yeah no it would not pass
it has to be it has to pass by a two-thirds majority of the full council so that motion
fails all right so then that moves us into a second reading of this ordinance because we cannot
move to adopt it so that takes us to the next agenda item which is consideration and possible
action on ordinance 2026-04 in ordinance repealing and recreating 473 stormwater management
this uh the common council is being asked to approve 2026-04 and the staff is recommending
the common council adopt 2026-04 upon its first reading roger so this ordinance is uh being
rewritten and revised the essentially make us current with with current state law best practices
and then it incorporates tmdl requirements total maximum daily limit requirements that will be in
our at our 16 permit into our ordinances the make the overall enforcement of the ordinance is
more efficient any questions for roger or other comments
roger um you know we talked about this in ggf but can you just
just um this is just a rewrite of existing ordinance to include new dnr requirements correct
yes some of the requirements aren't arts would know but it catches all up with with rules that
EPA and DNR have promulgated since since our last ordinance was what are two or three changes if any
that we should be aware of uh so like a large large one is is the requirement for stormwater
practices used used to be on a five acre basis it's not one acre you'll you'll see that in the
erosion control also um it's it's some of the um the modeling and and um the technical standards
is that DNR require for for stormwater plan and all not incorporated into your ordinance okay
and then I asked you this before but if we adopt this or when we adopt this um it would take effect
for projects starting after that point correct in any any ongoing projects that have submitted
stormwater management plans would be underneath our current ordinance the the the data center
project is already adhering to the new standards correct they are so we we knew these were coming
when they came in and um especially on uh the pollutant limits phosphorus and uh total suspended
solids they are they are hired they are held to a higher standard than our current ordinances we
knew these were coming and we knew what the toll maximum daily limits were okay so we said hey
meet these requirements thank you Roger
any other questions as you guys put did you want to explain what you're gonna or was that
specific to that last ordinance that was specific to the last ordinance just why it was not comfortable
with uh fast tracking it tonight okay excellent thank you any other questions or concerns
are there any concerns about um moving this forward in one reading
I'll move to suspend the rules regarding two readings before council may act on a proposed
ordinance as it relates to 2026 to show four okay there's a motion and a second all in favor
signified by saying aye opposed or the motion carries that then allows us to move into a motion
to adopt the ordinances or anyone willing to make such a motion so move there's a motion is there
a second second moved and seconded any questions or concerns on the motion
all right seeing none all in favor of adopting ordinance 2026-04 signify by saying aye opposed
okay that motion carries that takes us into agenda item number three consideration
impossible action on ordinance 2026-05 in ordinance repealing and recreating 446 erosion control
the issue is should the common council approve 2026-05 and the
staff recommends council approval of 2026-05 up 0.5 upon its first reading mr strum so
so similar to the storm water that this is uh an ordinance update um it's been 20 years since
it was last updated so so this catches us up with with current standards best practices
um current rules and regulations um biggest changes uh and this end is
for erosion control you're supposed to model how much sediment is leaving your site
the limit is five tons per acre so that's now in our our ordinances
also with the the five acre it takes the the five acre requirement down to one acre which
matches denar or requirements and the other big one is is it moves our fees for erosion control
which we've been implementing but it it's now stated in the cold make it clear
okay any questions or concerns for roger i know ggf you guys you've reviewed this very well so
all right again like the other ordinances you have the ability to uh adopt it in one reading
i'll move to suspend the rules regarding requiring two readings before council may act on any
proposed ordinance as it relates to ordinance 2026-05 i'll second that is moved and seconded
there's no discussion all in favor signify by saying aye aye opposed or the motion carries
anyone then willing to make a motion to adopt 2026-05 an ordinance repealing and recreating
erosion control so move there is a motion and now there is a second any questions or concerns on
the motion all right seeing none all in favor signify by saying aye opposed all right that
motion carries that takes us into the next agenda item consideration and possible action on ordinance
2026-06 in ordinance repealing amending repealing recreating and revising portions
of administrative chapters 8 20 and 70 of the municipal code the issue is should the city adopt
the proposed ordinance as part of the city's ongoing effort to modernize its organizational
structure eliminate inconsistencies clarify administrative authority and ensure that the city
code accurately reflects current operations and applicable statutory requirements the staff is
recommending the adoption of the ordinance upon first reading well so thank you mayor
this update is reflects a lot of the things that we're already doing in the city it clarifies
roles it clarifies names of positions like the senior center or in the buildings that they
they manage it also goes through and makes it very clear what the authority of each committee is
because I know you know we operate in one way and then you look at it five years later and
and you realize you're not really operating that way so we change this to modify it how we
actually are functioning and it really that does a nice I think job outlining for the committees
it's often times the committees commissions and boards are unclear what their role is so
we really tried to clean that up in here and then we did a few other things in here like we added
fire the fire chief to the traffic safety committee that asked to be there he came to the meetings and
I think you know no one would disagree we updated bid board membership that was a request by bid
to on their membership updated the public works so various things that we have just been having
on kind of in queue to update and do a full update when we do it with the e-code because every
change we make we have to publish and then we also have to do work with e-code on every
ordinance that's why you're seeing all of these come at one time so then we can do a much more
organized fashion of an update to our code I did the thorough memo on this but does anyone have
any specific questions mr. Benning I'll just add that working with Melissa on this when we've been
at it for literally months and we've gone through it multiple times overlaying state statutes to
you know make sure work in compliance with everything so I think this is much easier to read to
understand and we'll blend very nicely with the charters that the the BCCs do every year
you know again we we have consistency and when committees start and when their their annual
meetings are and things like that so a huge kudos to a lot of people that were from staff
who were involved in this and look to see this move forwards other questions or concerns
wonderings right council will you have the opportunity again to suspend the rules to adopt
the ordinances or anyone willing to make that motion I'll move to suspend the rules requiring
two readings before the council may act on any proposed ordinance as it relates to ordinance 2026
dash oh six is there a second second there's a second there's no discussion all in favor signify
by saying aye opposed all right the motion carries is there anyone then willing to adopt
ordinance 2026 dash oh six in order it's repealing amending repealing recreating and revising
portions of administrative chapters 820 and 70 of the municipal code so moved there's motion
in a second any questions on that motion seeing none all in favor signify by saying aye opposed
motion carries again that's a very thick packet and a lot of work and great diligence on that
committee and our staff so thank you for that that takes us to number five consideration
impossible action on private lead service line replacement program and funding recommendations
the issue is should the city implement a private lead service line replacement program which
includes a utility financial assistance component and the staff is recommending an approval of a
private lead service line replacement with utility assistant component there's a recommended
motion here but i'll let mark take over go ahead mark thank you this is a result of a lot of work
that the department of public works has been doing over the last two years trying to
identify not only the city potential lead service lines but also the private customer side lead
service lines that's an ongoing effort as we try to whittle out the
a fair number of unknowns yet however we're ready to move forward the board of public works
approved a general program for replacement of all the public lead service lines this is a
component piece of companion piece to that that will allow us to provide a
an organized and conservative effort to facilitate the replacement of private lead service lines
in the community coordinated with the public lead service line replacements as well as
special programs for those customers who have remained to have lead service lines but the public
side has been replaced in in past years um it's been through again board of public works
and general government finance committee uh staff recommends adoption of this with a
certain financial assistance component as to encourage the um the adoption of and participation
of residents to complete this work and again improve the long-term uh safety of our water
water distribution system. Any questions comments on this? Ms. Pastel. I just wanted to say
mark for anyone in the public that is reviewing this document you're highlighting does a very
good job in guiding people through to hit the highlights so they can have a better understanding
of this policy. I really appreciate that. Mr. Gaspar. Um just uh the passes tonight does this need to
have uh ordinance 2026-03 passed prior to approving this? No. No? Okay.
Okay. That's a good question. Other questions? Ms. Miller. Mark do we know what our um what
percentage of our reserves are going to cover that 2.4 million lead line program? Well based on
the original estimates from a few months ago it will be about $250,000 per year um but again
Department of Public Works is continuing to evaluate the unknowns um by regulation unknowns
must be presumed to be led. So I would expect that number to go down um substantially uh plus
you know we've made some pretty conservative estimates as to the cost per service line again
the nature of this program allows the city to have a coordinated contractor to do multiple
projects, multiple homes, hopefully reducing the individual cost of that. Um you know the utility
right now has a couple million in reserves and it adds to that uh five to six hundred thousand
a year so uh we don't see uh this this effort over a 10 year period being a substantial drain
on the reserves of the utility. Okay and then to follow up on that nothing in our 10 year plan
would displace this. I mean nothing else would be deferred because of this program. That's correct.
Thank you. So this becomes an allocated piece in the agenda year over year and the funds are
there correct. I just I want to I want to thank the team for this. I don't really realize if
everybody recognizes in the community that well a big deal that we're offering the assistance
to support and ensure that lead connection, lead pipes, etc. That that can be supplemented
you know with the city instead of just purely on the homeowner. Majority is homes and business
in the in the city of Port Washington are older. If I'm not mistaken it's pre 1980 what five
roger or something like that 1990 when they still use lead on the outside. So I mean in the majority
homes in Port Washington that would be considered kind of entry level or older that these families
and and businesses have the opportunity for us to assist them so that they do not bear the burden
alone. I think that's fantastic. So I really appreciate you guys being solution orientated
and thinking of the people and homeowners on this. So I'm really proud of you for this.
Any other questions on this? Otherwise I'd be looking for a motion to approve the attached
private lead service line replacement program with utility financial assistance component.
I'll move to approve second. There's a motion and a second. Any questions or concerns on that
motion? All right seeing none all in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed? Okay the motion carries.
Well done. All right that takes us into the next agenda item which is under new business
presentation of the 27 to 20 36 10 year financial outlook for the city of Port Washington. The
issue is what will be the perspective fiscal impacts and challenges of implementing the current
10 year capital project planning schedule as well as maintaining current operational services.
The staff recommends an ongoing annual review of these key metrics and the related financial
implications to the city. Mark as you begin I just want to say thank you to you Melissa
Roger the whole team Rob Bob all of the different directors within the city for putting together
the both the capital plan and these financial outlooks. This is something we identified a few
years ago when we wanted to become strategic as a city so that we just continually had
navigational beacons to move ourselves forward that no matter who was on the council or who is the
mayor or who is the city administrator that they knew and understood all of the liabilities and the
capital pieces pieces moving forward as well as our financial outlook. I think your modeling
was really really well done and I'm just really grateful for that. I wanted to make sure that
you knew that because I don't again I don't think many people in the community are paying
attention to the fact that we now know and are worrying about 20 36 and past councils in the
council I was on in the early 90s we were not thinking 10 years out so this is really really
good work and it puts us in a sustainable succession plan for the future. Great.
All right one of the key underpinnings of this is includes the implementation of the 10 year
capital project planning schedule and impacts that will have on these metrics so all of those
projects have been incorporated into the schedules either for debt service when staff is modeling
available reserves in the utilities to remain compliant with revenue bond covenants and other
metrics. It also presents some information with a different lens on some of the cap you know how
the capital budget for the next year is spent if you would indulge me for a few minutes I would
like to go through kind of a flipping the page kind of discussion on this document so we start
out with an overview just really illustrating the high level of commitment for future capital
planning and maintaining of the city's infrastructure and facilities and vehicles and equipment
this plan includes over 85 million dollars in general capital projects so it's a lot of work to
be done in the next 10 years moving forward you know one of the things that the city is always
wanted to to keep an eye out on a few key indicators that the city's debt service requirements
to implement these types of projects are debt capacity under state statute that limits of the
city's debt capacity the city's levy limit outlook as we look at not only capital projects but the
budgetary requirements to sustain our current operating needs we look at then at our operational
forecast to illustrate some of those challenges and then the we wrap up with a look at the city's
TIFF districts and make sure that all of those districts are performing well and as expected
and then at the end of the schedule we talk about the prospective impact on water and sewer rates
again implementing these projects what the debt requirements going to be
I think we all know that costs will go up year after year and so we try to model those and again
give a prospective outlook at what we see for the financial performance of the utilities over
over a 10-year period given what we know today and the the backdrop of the 10-year capital
project planning schedule so page five of the plan just goes through a real straightforward debt
analysis shows what our existing debt is and shows the future debt that will be generated to
implement the projects identified and approved last last year earlier this month the fourth
so that's just a good summary view for for context page six we have
a graph that illustrates the city's debt capacity under state statutes
you know wasn't too long ago that there was some significant concern about us being able to
issue bonds for the public safety complex but the city's equalized value has continued to grow
as a desirable community which by itself then kind of leverages the amount that's allowable
under state statute the city's intent a few years ago was never to go above 4 percent
of the 5 percent limit unless it was a true emergency so we're well under that
looking ahead there's there's a big project on the north side of the community that's going to
add a lot of equalized values so that'll from a debt capacity issue really changes that metric
a lot in the next 10 years so we look look more towards debt management than debt capacity issues
as we move forward over the next several years page seven talks about our levy limits
it's a bit of a complex schedule I put some narrative there
but that's the trend of where our levy limits will be
under current current state statutes so again staff monitors that on an ongoing basis and
takes a strategic look at this to make sure that the city can properly manage these items
for continued provision of of our existing services under the state's levy limits
and that goes all the way through to page page 10 you know if anybody is really into it would
like to come by my office and talk in more detail about this I'd be happy to go through these
schedules but there is a lot to consider as we go through our levy limits and making sure we're
compliant with those and again that we we're modeling based on realistic assumptions and trends
our operational forecasts we have a table on page 12
in essence this table illustrates the challenges that the annual budget encounters when
costs are going up at three or four percent a year
the model for for this for taxes property taxes for operations is at five percent
the challenges is that property taxes are only about one third of our revenues so
increasing one third of our revenue is five percent doesn't cover a three percent cost increase
over the long run so the red text on page 12 shows how that cumulatively will will strain
the city's ability to meet current operations so that is something we work through every year
when we come with a balanced budget the numbers reset and we and we keep going into the into the
future but this type of situation is is ongoing it's it's a structural challenge
the portion of property taxes for operations in a city of Port Washington is much lower than in
many communities some communities property taxes pay for 75 percent of operational costs so we're
fortunate to have a lot of other revenue streams that help offset the need for property tax
to support operations but nonetheless that itself also creates additional challenges
again i'm page 14 just a little different look at our our 10-year capital plan
um and really the the bottom of that table i kind of breaks it out by what what's the nature of our
ongoing project expenditures pages 15 16 and 17 look at our tiff districts all the city's tiff
districts are performing well i do want to note that staff will be bringing forth a resolution
to close tiff district three this fall that district has now reached a point where
it has satisfied all its obligations and is eligible to close that'll be coming i believe
the current plan is to bring that with the budget presentation materials this fall
we do take a look at our sewer and water utility trends pages 18 and 19 for wastewater
there's no way around it we're going to be looking to maintain those services as cost go up utility
rates will tend to be need to be raised incrementally again this is a managed approach
to stay in compliance with debt covenants and and other characteristics for our utility to be able
to operate efficiently to maintain sufficient reserves cash flow and and carry most of the
routine capital needs of the utilities so that's kind of what this looks at and then we do the
same thing with the water utility on page 21 and then just for reference the tenure
project planning schedule is attached on pages 22 through 30. Any specific questions?
I have a reflection for you about the proposed five percent increase year over year on utilities
for water and sewer if i'm not mistaken that's what i read was that was the estimate that percentage
yes so my my wondering is what can we proactively do to ensure that our
community members who will be on the receiving end of that increase so that we can keep up with
costs and etc and not be like we were was that three years ago where we had to do a 40 percent
increase or whatever it was how can we proactively and i don't need an answer now but i'm asking
you as a staff to reflect on this how can we proactively put that into the water bills so people
can forecast and recognize six months from now three months from now there'll be a an increase
here a slight increase in those costs is that a possibility so i don't need an answer i don't think
it would be fair to citizens so they don't wake up on july one and they they say forecast no this
is the first step in that process absolutely awesome thank you i see i see the five percent
for the wastewater but i don't see a number for the water utility rate increases markets in there
and i missed it uh it should be there on page 21 right now in 2028 we're looking at 15 percent
now one of the things that we strive to do is to try to avoid increasing both water and sewer rates
in the same year so we'll get through um another year now that the treatment plant projects are
both coming to uh conclusion we'll continue to monitor our our usage and and cost and uh and
we'll see if we can adjust that to make that uh not the case but the public service commission
has already ordered the utility to do another rate case in 2027 so um that's not something that
we just choose to do um although it's probably could practice to do that periodically but
so we're already under order with the public service commission for the water utility and uh and
again you know hopefully we we keep modest and incremental uh increases uh over a long range of
time and certainly it built up to be a significant jump um like like we saw with some of our water
rates in the in the past four years mark those rates are directed to us by the psc correct
correct the public service commission establishes water utility rates based on a number of
criteria as the water utility is regulated by the state if you if i may in here go ahead you have a
quote that the psc psc make sure that the rates utilities charge are based on the actual cost
produce the heat electricity or water the psc also make sure the utilities are charging their
customers enough to stay in business and make the repairs and improvement they need so the
heat electricity and water is always there when you need it so while we're you know our employees
get raises as they should there are some costs that are never going to go down no matter how
automated this process becomes correct right so we're always going to be battling against
their pay and benefits and management so and the maintenance of all the maintenance and
replacement of all the assets right water mains sewer mains sort treatment equipment so on and
so forth so yeah yeah again if we don't have net new destruction we don't grow we die that's the
hard difficulty of uh school of uh municipal financing mr mister uh mark did i hear you
correctly that um our tax revenues only cover a third of the city's cost correct what are the
other revenue streams for people who aren't familiar well sir i mean in general we've got a pretty
substantial amount of state aid um you know we have license and permit revenues we've got room
tax revenues a whole variety of revenues um and uh i mean be happy to share it's in the budget
documents it's our general revenue section of that um we get um again you know i i came from
shorewood and i believe when i left shorewood property taxes were over 70 percent of the funding
for operations and here it's 35 percent and that's that's a good thing but it also puts a lot of
strain because the only thing that we have a lot of control over is is the property taxes that
uh again that is it's a mere alluded to net new construction is really the one thing that helps
keep that from being a true uh devil in a detail sort of scenario
one one last thing and you would say state aid is going up or going down as a trend
well a couple years back we had a real nice boost in state aid which has really helped the city get
through um through that that time frame um generally speaking state aids are uh my model is one
percent a year in the over a 10 year period obviously special programs may change that we
reset the bar and remodel when we we'd have better information but they're they're pretty
pretty modest increases
other wonderings
yeah thank you the only the only one uh other recommendation i would have is that if we could
put together some sort of a visual graphic that's consumable to the community so they can see
all of this rich data i mean the spreadsheets are beautiful but at the end of the day like uh
mr bister's question like a pie graph that shows you know local aid is what covers this these
are our revenues these are those places i think they'll be very empowering for a lot of people
absolutely okay thank you all right that takes us into the next agenda item which is consideration
impossible action on a state municipal finance agreement or an SMFA for inclusion of high visibility
crosswalks in a bump out at south spring street and the inner urban crossing for the 2029
wis wisconsin department of transportation curb ramp improvement project the issue is should the
city improve approve an SMFA to include high visibility crosswalks and a bump out at south
spring street urban in the inner urban crossing as part of the curb ramp improvement project and
staff is recommending approval of the SMFA to include high visibility crosswalks and a bump
out at south spring street inner urban crossing as part of the 2029 wis wisconsin
curb ramp improvement project rob okay this is something that uh that the board of public works
had approved back in um february to uh include high visibility crosswalks at uh at the intersections
of um uh where on the state highways so that would be south spring street in the north wisconsin
street and to include a bump out at uh at portview drive at the inner urban trail crossing um so I
this those decisions were supported by the port moves um active transportation plan and uh so we
have asked the DOT to include that in the um handicap ramp replacement project which is currently
scheduled for 2029 um so before you as the uh again the statement is full uh financial agreement
that uh includes the cost for that work that we will anticipate um it will vary based on the
actual um work that is the the contractor's bid that we receive but um but before the DOT can go
ahead and include that in the contract uh they need this financial agreement uh to be approved
and this is a recommendation to the board of public works and uh the motion would be to approve
the smfa thank you rob any questions concerns or comments just just pastel yes um you and I
communicated rob about this this was actually one of the conversations that we had a couple
of years ago on traffic safety this particular crossing on spring street which is very dangerous
um there unfortunately when you narrow a crossway there are some bicyclists who seem to think
they do not have to stop at all anymore um two good examples are the temporary bollards on norport
where i've seen multiple times bicyclists just flying through uh the permanent bump out on
hails trail down by the community garden is another place where bicyclists and it's not
a huge population but there are enough who don't seem to think that they need to stop
and you and i communicated that in addition to this bump out which i can support 100 percent
we need to take a closer look at the angle of that bike path to try to slow down the bicyclist
before they cross spring street and you had suggested that that's a conversation we should
have at traffic safety if that's on the agenda i will definitely plan to attend because i think
that is an important enhancement to in addition to this bump out so i can support this 100 percent
thank you miss miller i'm just looking at the fiscal impact you have 55 000 dollars is the cost
but then you have no dollar amounts down there so for the city it's no dollar amounts
but the exception of the the uh alternate crosswalk painting that we would like to have versus what
the state is willing to put in so the total cost to the city is 55 000 so okay apologize if that
was unclear okay so it is 55 000 it just isn't in the budget yet until it gets approved and okay
yes thank you for that clarification any other questions or wonderings comments
anyone willing to make a motion i will move to approve there's a motion to approve the SMFA is
there a second second moved and seconded any questions or concerns on the motion all right
seeing none all in favor signify by saying aye opposed motion carries i think this is really
smart for that side of town okay the next is consideration impossible action on ordinance
2026-07 in ordinance amending the comprehensive plan future 2035 land use plan map for the purpose
of designating approximately 1.4 acres of land located at 365 north wisconsin street and 104 west
washington street as mixed use traditional neighborhood on the city of poor washing's future land use
map for proposed for proposed residential development on the city of port washington is the applicant
and this is the first reading mr. Harris so this is the first reading for uh queuing up uh the uh
current the police and fire block downtown for uh the proposed town home development so we will be
amending uh the land use plan uh from its public utility lands just because it was a long time
public and utility local government site uh to downtown zoning or before residential uh so
we will have this uh at plan commission next week and then we'll have the public hearing and final
action uh at the uh second meeting in september any questions
okay well that's the first reading then that takes us into the next agenda item which is
consideration and possible action on ordinance 2025-08 in ordinance rezoning lands within the
city of poor washington and amending the official zoning map to rezone approximately 1.4 acres of
land located at 365 north wisconsin street and 104 west washington street to be for central business
district for the purpose to accommodate a proposed residential town home development the city of
poor washington is the applicant this is the first reading there is no action and the council is
being asked to rezone the subject property to pul public utility lands to be for central business
district for the purpose of developing a residential town home development consisting of approximately
20 town home units mr harris pretty much uh nearly verbatim what i just said uh on the previous
agenda item uh with the uh land use map uh being uh amended to uh downtown zoning uh we can come in
with the rezoning for b4 and set the table for the eventual development of the uh town home
building and site plan and again we'll have this at plan commission next week and then at the uh
september second meeting in september all right any questions or concerns feedback
all right that is the first reading that takes us into the final agenda item for the evening
discussion and possible action regarding a development agreement with pfd redevelopment
llc for the property at 104 west washington street and 365 north wisconsin street in the city of
poor washington ozaki county tax id number 16 0 9 8 dash 1 0 dash 0 1 dot 0 0 1
council this is the development agreement that is related to the um development at the
former police and firesite now um that bob referenced in both the camp plan amendment
in the rezone um we worked with next sundor from final line on this to um to finalize this agreement
we the city agreed to or accepted an offer to purchase from pfd redevelopment um a few months
ago on this and this kind of formalizes the agreement there it formalizes the uh payment
structures as well as the obligations of both the city and pfd redevelopment will have um after
if council approves this the next step will be to approve the um ordinances that are will be on
for a second reading on september 15th um and then closing will occur in late september with
work to begin shortly after that happy to answer any questions
there are any questions
but we do need a motion to approve yeah i'm i'm sorry is there a recommended motion
the recommended motion is to approve uh motion to approve the development agreement
is there anyone willing to make that motion i'll make a motion to approve the development
agreement there's a motion is there a second second moved and seconded
any questions or concerns on that motion right seeing none all in favor signify by saying aye
opposed all right that motion carries it takes us into the final agenda piece which is public
comments and appearances is there anyone willing to make public comments and appearances
Tracy please make sure to state your name and address oh mally you want it
fine oh excuse me 1142 west port view drive i'm speaking without sugar coating anything because
people of port washing to deserve honesty accountability and leadership that serves them not a legacy
project not a personal victory lap and not a city reshaped for wealthy while longtime residents
are pushed out you've made public claims that you cannot control especially claims like our electric
bill won't go up because of vantage that's ridiculous that isn't leadership that's wishful
thinking presented as fact residents are seeing the rate increases and you know full well that a
nearly one gigawatt industry industrial facility will strain the grid in ways you cannot predict
or prevent when you make promises you cannot keep you don't just mislead people you gamble their
financial sustainability and this community is done being told fairy tales you've also ignored
the human cost this project has caused real mental and emotional harm families are stressed
anxiety anxious and overwhelmed people feel displaced in their own hometown if you want to make things
right start by providing free mental health support for residents who need it not as a pr not as a
committee to explore options but as a real service when your decisions create community
wide distress it becomes your responsibility to help prepare the damage and most importantly
you need to show people that you actually care that means owning your mistakes that means acknowledging
you would do things differently saying you wouldn't change a single thing despite lawsuits and rate
concerns land losses and community division tells residents their experience don't matter
it tells middle class and lower income families their struggles are invisible it tells long
time residents that the city they built is being reshaped for wealthier newcomers while they are
priced out of their own own hometown mayor this is your moment to prove your capability of humility
accountability and genuine leadership because right now residents see a mayor chasing money
prestige and development and a city becomes less livable for the very people who built it
if you want to make things right stop making promises you cannot keep provide mental health
support for those harmed by this process and openly admit to mistakes that you brought us here
poor washington deserves the poor washington doesn't need a mayor chasing wealth
poor washington needs a mayor who stands with its people before a crisis not after one so
build your storm down any other public comments or appearances
yammer chain 1446 was second half thank you um i'm going to read a poem i hope it really sticks
to you guys i've never read in front of a city console so bear with me it's called the wrongs
of my ancestors i'm trying to write the wrongs of my ancestors because while i had no power in
what they did i have power in what i do i'm trying to write the wrongs of my ancestors because every
time i start my car or use my phone it is my individual sovereignty adding scars to entities
across the seas i'm trying to write the wrongs of my ancestors because i had no choice in the
legacy i was born into but i have a choice in the legacy i leave behind i'm trying to write the
wrongs of my ancestors because yes there is hierarchy and humanity i do firmly believe but it has
absolutely nothing to do with the hue of your skin i'm trying to write the wrongs of my ancestors
because today is the tomorrow we dreamed about yesterday every day is a gift first and then it
becomes a choice and i have a choice in what i do with my presence and that is why i actively
make the choice to try and write the wrongs of my ancestors please be good ancestors and remember
that descendants far beyond what we know are depending on our choices right now thank you thank you
other public comments or appearances all right seeing none that takes us to the end of the
meeting is there anyone willing to make a motion to adjourn so there's a motion to adjourn is there
second seconded uh-huh any i'm not asking any questions or concerns all in favor of a journey
signify by saying aye opposed that motion carries good luck this school year