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COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - MINUTES - 1/10/2002 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE – CITY OF MUSKEGO Approved MINUTES OF MEETING HELD JANUARY 10, 2002 Mayor De Angelis called the meeting to order at 7:01 PM. Also present were Aldermen Slocomb, Le Doux, Patterson, Petfalski, Salentine and Wichgers, Clerk-Treasurer Marenda, Chief Johnson and Finance Director Gunderson. Ald. Sanders was absent. The Clerk-Treasurer stated the meeting was noticed in accordance with the open meeting law. Ald. Salentine moved for approval of minutes of the 10/11/01, 10/18/01 and 11/8/01 meetings. Ald. Petfalski seconded; motion carried. Personal Appearance County Executive Dan Finley was present to discuss the Waukesha County Department of Public Safety and proposed Countywide Communication Center. Mayor noted that the County is looking for a resolution of support on County dispatching. Mr. Finley shared the gist of the power point presentation which had been reviewed at the last COW meeting. Consolidated Dispatch has been discussed for many years. Several communities have tried to pull something together. Issues of how to pay, how to govern and how to handle staff inevitably are difficult to resolve. We worked very hard for the past two years on a plan called Waukesha Central Communications. In that plan all communities would have been an owner and paid a fee; but County would not have run it, it would have been equal participation, and the sheriff would not have been in charge. That idea had challenges that weren’t able to be resolved. In order to make this happen for Waukesha County, the new proposal is for the establishment of a central consolidated dispatch center for the entirety of Waukesha County. A brand new Department of Public Safety would head the program. The model appears to work in some other counties – such as Dane, Brown and Rock. The Department would include emergency management operations, the County emergency operations center and radio services. The driving force is the creation of the consolidated dispatch service. In April 2004 the County would open the facility. All communities would be eligible to participate in it from the beginning. From the opening of that facility on, Waukesha County will absorb all dispatch costs. Likely some residual services would be the responsibility of the communities, such as clerks, reception, etc. We would ask that the participants pay 50% of the capital costs of about a $5 million building. The portions of the building that would be strictly used by the County would be solely the responsibility of the County, and the communities would only pay for the dispatch center portion of the building. That is the only cost for the City of Muskego. Muskego’s estimated share is about $121,000. The building would be located at the primary site at the WCTC property to provide neutrality. It is hoped to break ground in January, 2003 to be in operation in 2004. The commitment the County is asking for now is non-binding. Our intention is over the next six months to get questions answered. We need the County Board to release planning money to get those answers. Almost ½ of the communities have expressed some measure of support. Chief Johnson and Joe Sommers have volunteered to serve on a work group. If you don’t join when asked in six months, you can still join at any time. Ald. Slocomb commented the countywide 800 MHz system is in the process of being implemented with Muskego one of the first on line, but there are some issues that need Committee of the Whole Page 2 Minutes of Meeting held 01/10/02 to be resolved. He felt the old system worked better due to the holes in transmission with the new system. He asked how they will be addressed. We need the basics in place and functioning for the community before proceeding to central dispatch. Mr. Finley stated the City’s old system served this community very well, but it had limits in talking to neighboring jurisdictions. The 800 system provides communities with compatible systems with a goal of 95% coverage. There are a number of buildings in Muskego that Chief can’t get radio service in or out of. With the current technology we’re getting the best coverage we’re going to get. Motorola has a repeater on the market now that can go on structures where it’s difficult to get a signal. There are other dead spots in the County and will probably have to go to a repeater system to solve the problem. Mobile coverages work well. It’s the portables that give us some troubles. Ald. Petfalski thought we might be trading off service with the trunked system for countywide emergencies which don’t happen that often compared to what we need on a daily basis. Mr. Finley thought with the old system the Police Department couldn’t talk st to the Fire Departments, and we are building a system for the 21 century. It is not planned to add towers. Redundancy is an issue. Responsibility for cost of repeaters will have to be reviewed. Choices were made based on service and cost and set a goal of 95% coverage. We’ll keep working toward 100% coverage. Mr. Finley stated this is now the County Executive’s proposal to the County Board. It is going through County committees now. It will be proposed to the County Board for th authority to spend planning money on January 18. Mr. Finley reiterated the municipality portion is 50% of the approximately $5 million building. Based on equalized value, Muskego’s portion would be in the $121,000 range. The Director of Public Safety will report to the County Executive. It will be treated like any other county department subject to policies and budget adopted by the County supervisors with final decisions to be made by the Waukesha County Supervisors. There will be a quality assurance committee which is proposed to be an advisory board made up of police and fire personnel to work with the Director to come up with policies and procedures. There also could be a member of the central dispatch on the committee. Ald. Patterson expressed concern about loss of control. Chief Johnson noted he had been on committees since the late 80’s. He is in favor of seeing some outcome or model. We’ve never gotten this far before. Control is always an issue. He would be more comfortable if we could have our own governing board of police and fire chiefs to hire and fire to have control over the dispatch. Mr. Finley stated the best place to address that will be the steering committee where governance will be discussed. Mayor De Angelis recommended it be studied further and we proceed. Ald. Petfalski said he would be interested in pursuing the investigation of the feasibility only and to listen to any proposals without making any commitments at this time. Ald. Slocomb moved to direct the Mayor to draft a letter of further interest. Ald. Le Doux seconded. Motion carried 5-1 with Ald. Patterson voting “no”. Committee of the Whole Page 3 Minutes of Meeting held 01/10/02 Mr. Finley and Chief Johnson left the meeting at 8:20 PM. Five Year Capital Plan Finance Director Dawn Gunderson reviewed the history of the preparation of the plan, noting workshops were held with Ehlers Assoc. and the aldermen in 2000 and 2001. Projects were put together for a 5-year capital plan. The Plan submitted is the same document that was reviewed item by item during the 2002 budget process with the exception of the items taken out of the operating budget for the fire department and items from building and planning for completion of their filing system and the re-work of the building department for additional staff in 2002. Also made rough projections as to how the projects would be financed. This would be a planning tool. Each year the Council will adopt the upcoming year and add a year on the end making whatever other modifications are needed. We will assign a project number for each project so we can track them through our financial system. Dawn handed out two spreadsheets on the impact to the City – Financing Scenario No. 1 and Capital Projects-Bond Issue Sizings, both prepared by Ehlers Assoc. Mayor announced possibility of receiving an 80/20 grant for the Moorland Road/Durham Drive Project which will reflect positively on the plan as we have already borrowed for the Moorland Road portion in full. Ald. Petfalski felt that because of the review of this plan and the review by the Common Council in detail, he didn’t feel the Capital Budget Committee was still needed. Mayor felt that could be decided in May when it’s time to appoint the committee members. Dawn noted the plan will be placed on the next Council agenda for adoption. Dawn was excused at 9:10 PM. Review status of Community Center/Theatre Project Ald. Petfalski reported a joint Community Center/Theatre meeting will be held on rdth January 23 at 3:00 PM, with a presentation before COW on January 24. Discuss Status of Old Muskego Settlement Centre Mayor noted Don Pionek had been to City Hall to review the layout. Drainage needs to be finalized for Public Works Committee. Moving of the Town Hall planned for spring, 2002. Ald. Wichgers expressed concern that the whole project was getting bigger than originally proposed which could mean bigger than the volunteers could handle, and he is not in favor of the City taking it over. Mayor said moving the Town Hall will be the first phase and we’ll look at the next phase after that’s completed. Ald. Le Doux noted the capital plan shows the future buildings so plans can be made for the future. New Berlin Drainage and Storm Water Issues Mayor reported Sean McMullen has scheduled a meeting with New Berlin staff on several issues, one being drainage under Janesville at the site of the old Hwy. 24 drive- in. Ruekert & Mielke is working on the study. Committee of the Whole Page 4 Minutes of Meeting held 01/10/02 Discuss Streetscape – Gateways to City Ald. Le Doux advised the Mayor’s Task Force hasn’t met lately. With Janesville Road going through Tess Corners some of the history of the area is being taken away. It is important that the gateways to the City retain the flavor of the City and how we hope the downtown will look in the future. Mayor noted the next thing the Task Force will look at is the design guide for Tess Corners. Continued Discussion on Moorland Road Corridor-Janesville to McShane Mayor reiterated the potential of an 80/20 funding source. The closing has been scheduled next week for the portion of land to be purchased from Bartz. Continued Discussion on Durham Drive – McShane to OO Mayor reported Sean is still working on details. Lake Fees Study Committee Update Ald. Slocomb had nothing to report. Update on Power Plant Proposals Mayor had nothing to report. Communications Ald. Slocomb reported Joe Sommers obtained proposals on the new hard drives for the aldermen’s laptop computers. The aldermen determined the 48 gigabyte hard drives at $213 each should be purchased for the 7 laptops. Adjournment Ald. Slocomb moved to adjourn at 9:27 PM. Ald. Petfalski seconded; motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Jean K. Marenda, CMC Clerk-Treasurer