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CCM20051213 COMMON COUNCIL - CITY OF MUSKEGO Approved on 01/10/06 MINUTES OF MEETING HELD DECEMBER 13, 2005 Corrrected* The meeting was called to order at 7:36 PM by Mayor Damaske. Present were Ald. Melcher, Borgman, Buckmaster, Madden, Patterson, Schroeder and Salentine, City Attorney Molter, City Administrator Sheiffer, Engineering/Building Inspection Director McMullen, Clerk-Treasurer Moyer and Deputy Clerk Blenski. Those present recited the Pledge of Allegiance. The Clerk-Treasurer stated the meeting was noticed in accordance with the open meeting law on 12/9/2005. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Borgman moved for approval of the 11/22/2005 minutes. Salentine seconded; motion carried. ACCEPTANCE OF COMMITTEE REPORTS Salentine moved for acceptance of the 12/7/2005 and 12/13/2005 Finance Committee minutes. Madden seconded. Melcher questioned the procedure noted in the December 7 minutes regarding contacting the City Attorney. He believes the procedure does not reflect the discussion that took place. He did some research regarding if other communities have a standing policy regarding contacting the City Attorney. Many in our population classification do not have such a policy. He believes the policy established by the Mayor should have input from the Common Council. Salentine stated there has been direction from previous mayors regarding contacting the City Attorney. Patterson stated that as an elected official, the aldermen have the right to contact the City Attorney but in the past there has been an attempt to funnel the calls to control costs. Buckmaster believes the Mayor’s direction should be more of a guideline and not a policy that locks the aldermen down. Melcher stated he was comfortable with the direction as a guideline. Motion carried 7-0. Schroeder moved for acceptance of the 12/13/2005 Public Utilities Committee minutes. Melcher seconded; motion carried. Buckmaster moved for acceptance of the 11/22/2005 Public Works Committee minutes. Melcher seconded; motion carried. Minutes of the 12/6/2005 Plan Commission and 12/7/2005 Conservation Commission were received and placed on file. OLD BUSINESS Reso. #217-2005 - Approval of Agreement for Employee Assistance Program. On the floor, deferred 11/22/2005. Schroeder suggested the issue be reviewed in the future to determine if enough employees are utilizing the service to warrant keeping the program. Motion carried 7-0. NEW BUSINESS Reso. #228-2005 - Approval of Fire Protection Agreement with Tess Corners Volunteer Fire Department for 2006. Salentine moved for adoption. Schroeder seconded. Schroeder moved to amend to include language changes made at the 12/13/2005 Common Council Minutes Page 2 December 13, 2005 Finance Committee meeting. Salentine seconded; motion carried. Reso. #228-2005, as amended, adopted 7-0. Reso. #229-2005 - Approval of Fire Protection Agreement with Muskego Volunteer Fire Company for 2006. Schroeder moved for adoption. Salentine seconded. Buckmaster moved to amend to include language changes made at the 12/13/2005 Finance Committee meeting. Schroeder seconded; motion carried. Reso. #229-2005, as amended, adopted 7-0. Reso. #230-2005 - Approval of Agreement for Ambulance Services with the Tess Corners Volunteer Fire Department for 2006. Schroeder moved for adoption. Salentine seconded. Schroeder moved to amend to include language changes made at the 12/13/2005 Finance Committee meeting. Reso. #230-2005, as amended, adopted 7-0. Reso. #231-2005 - Approval of Cleaning Service Contract for 2006. Salentine moved for adoption. Madden seconded. Motion carried 7-0. Reso. #232-2005 - Approval of Carriers for the City’s Insurance for 2006. Salentine moved for adoption. Madden seconded. Mr. McMullen noted that the Public Utilities Committee has determined to retain the No Fault Sewer Backup insurance for another year. Motion carried 7-0. Reso. #233-2005 - Intent to Accept Improvements to Qualify for General Transportation Aids. Salentine moved for adoption. Madden seconded. Motion carried 7-0. Reso. #234-2005 - Approval of 2006 Salary Increase for Nonrepresented Employees of the City of Muskego. Salentine moved for adoption. Madden seconded. Motion carried 7-0. Reso. #235-2005 - Resolution Adopting a Joint Powers Agreement for the 911 Emergency System with Waukesha County. Salentine moved for adoption. Borgman seconded. Motion carried 7-0. Reso. #236-2005 - Reapproval of Final Plat, Subdivider’s Agreement and Letter of Credit for Copper Oaks Subdivision. Schroeder moved for adoption. Borgman seconded. Mr. McMullen stated the reapproval was required because of timing issues. Motion carried 7-0. Reso. #237-2005 - Approval of Quit Claim Deed to Waukesha County. Salentine moved for adoption. Madden seconded. Mr. McMullen stated the land is being quit claimed to the County for the 2006 box culvert project. Buckmaster noted this issue came directly to Council and he requested that in the future, these issues be placed on a committee agenda. Motion carried 7-0. Reso. #238-2005 - Approval of Permanent Limited Easement to Waukesha County. Salentine moved for adoption. Madden seconded. Mr. McMullen stated the need for the easement was to construct the side slopes, the endwalls and the storm sewer system that will actually drain into the creek area. Salentine moved to amend to add “subject to title acceptable to the City Engineer in consultation with the City Attorney.” Schroeder seconded; motion carried. Reso. #238-2005, as amended, adopted 7-0. Common Council Minutes Page 3 December 13, 2005 Reso. #239-2005 - Resolution to Adopt a Procedure That Allows for Use of a Consent Agenda. Salentine moved for adoption. Madden seconded. Salentine stated that this works well at the Plan Commission level and if an alderman has an issue with a specific item, it can be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately. Buckmaster moved to add the word, “not” in Item No. 3. Salentine seconded; motion carried. Reso. #239-2005, as amended, adopted 7-0. Reso. #240-2005 - Approval of Waukesha County Data Processing Services Property Tax Billing Contract Extension. Buckmaster moved for adoption. Madden seconded. Motion carried 7-0. Reso. #241-2005 - Authorizing the Placement of a Telecommunicator at the 36-Month Salary Rate. Salentine moved for adoption. Madden seconded. Motion carried 7-0. Reso. #242-2005 - Resolution to Extend Temporary Part-Time Clerk/Telecommunicator Position. Salentine moved for adoption. Madden seconded. Motion carried 7-0. Reso. #243-2005 - Approve New Position. Salentine moved for adoption. Madden seconded. Motion carried 7-0. Reso. #244-2005 - Approval of Virchow, Krause & Company, LLP Engagement Letter. Salentine moved for adoption. Madden seconded. Mayor Damaske stated that a request for proposal (RFP) for this service may be done in the future but this was not an appropriate time to do so. Motion carried 7-0. Reso. #245-2005 - Approval of Amended Sewer Rates. Schroeder moved for adoption. Patterson seconded. Mr. McMullen explained that the consumption and connection charges for industrial and commercial users were being amended because MMSD came through with new numbers. Motion carried 7-0. Reso. #246-2005 - Proceedings by the Common Council of the City of Muskego to Discontinue and Vacate a Road Right-of-Way in the City of Muskego (Crest Drive) Introduction Only. Schroeder moved for adoption. Buckmaster seconded. Schroeder moved to defer and forward the issue to the Public Works Committee. Borgman seconded; motion carried. Reso. #247-2005 - Proceedings by the Common Council of the City of Muskego to Discontinue and Vacate a Road Right-of-Way in the City of Muskego (Martin Drive - Copper Oaks). Introduction Only. Mr. McMullen was dismissed. Ord. #1208 - An Ordinance to Amend Chapter 2, Section 2.09(3), of the Municipal Code of the City of Muskego (Committee of the Whole). First Reading. Salentine suggested changing the name of the Committee for budget purposes. City Administrator Sheiffer clarified that the City’s current ordinance does have Committee of the Whole performing the budget work. It would take another ordinance to change Chapter 3 if that was something the aldermen wanted to do. Schroeder expressed concern about the number of topics allowed to be discussed and who determines which items get on the agenda. The Mayor stated it would be based on importance. Schroeder suggested that the determination regarding how an item is placed on an agenda could be made by the Common Council Minutes Page 4 December 13, 2005 number of aldermen that would sponsor the item. The Mayor agreed that could determine priority. Patterson suggests that if a majority of the Council want to discuss more than three issues on an agenda, an additional item could be added. In addition, he suggested possibly holding more meetings than every other month. City Attorney Molter stated if there are too many things put into the ordinance and it is passed, then that is the way it is. Melcher noted that items are put on the Council agenda without input from any of the aldermen. He disagrees with 5 being a quorum of the Committee of the Whole. Buckmaster expressed concern about protecting the rights of aldermen in the minority to have issues placed on the agenda. The Mayor stated that the proposed ordinance was drafted by the City Administrator based on the input provided by the aldermen. City Attorney Molter again suggested coming up with guidelines instead of putting all of these parameters in an ordinance. Schroeder requested that the City Administrator put some guidelines together and then the aldermen could compare those with the proposed ordinance. It is easier to change guidelines. City Administrator Sheiffer stated the reason the ordinance was proposed is because there has not been agreement. Salentine stated that Committee of the Whole has gone so far from what it was intended to be; some new guidelines need to be looked at. Schroeder stated the Committee of the Whole is a meeting of the aldermen and they should have some control over what is discussed. Madden noted somebody has to bring this together; there are just too many differences of opinion and so much dissention. Patterson said different alternatives have to be looked at. Melcher stated we need to make a change but it won’t happen by experimenting with Committee of the Whole. It will only happen by making this a more functional body. Salentine suggests forwarding items to the City Administrator to take the politics out of placing items on an agenda. The Mayor noted this would continue to be worked on and brought back at the next Council meeting. Melcher stated he did research and found that our municipal code needs revision. He gave some examples of how the Council could better operate. We need to look at other ways to operate and can look at other communities for suggestions. Schroeder would also like the City Administrator to work on guidelines for the aldermen to place items on committee or Council agendas. Buckmaster would like some different models of how other communities operate. Melcher suggested an “open meeting” concept. The Mayor noted samples of other communities would be obtained for review. Schroeder stated that the City Attorney did a memo indicating that a charter ordinance is not necessary to change the office of Mayor from full time to part time. There are two ways to proceed. The aldermen can vote or ask the citizens their opinion. There could also be a binding referendum. Schroeder put the item on the agenda so it could be discussed. Buckmaster’s intent was to put the City Administrator/Part-Time Mayor on a referendum as a package. He supports it going to a referendum. Schroeder stated personnel decisions of nonelected officials should be decided by the Council. We have been voted to be on the Council by our constituents to make those decisions. Borgman has heard from his people that they need to have input regarding a change in the Mayor’s status. He has overwhelmingly heard that we need a referendum. Melcher concurred. Patterson also stated that has been his experience as well. City Attorney Molter believes the question should be on early in January. Schroeder requests a resolution product be on the January 10, 2006 agenda. *Schroeder submitted a sample resolution to the City Clerk and asked for it to be used if the Mayor’s or Common Council Minutes Page 5 December 13, 2005 City Clerk’s office does not bring their own resolution addressing a possible referendum on this issue. Schroeder stated that if the Mayor’s or City Clerk’s office bring a resolution addressing a possible referendum on this issue, then his sample resolution can accompany their resolution as “Resolution B” at the next Common Council meeting. LICENSES Melcher moved for approval of the following operators’ licenses. NEW Jodi Miller Stacy L. Amstadt Andrea M. Brandon Melissa L. Nicholson Carrie L. Gaura Frank Leon Theresa A. Meyerring Gary Cropper Schroeder seconded. Motion carried 7-0. Melcher moved to approve a “Class B” Liquor and Beer License for LaLicata Woods LLC d/b/a Villa Italian Restaurant. Salentine seconded. Motion carried 5 in favor and Borgman and Buckmaster voting no. VOUCHER APPROVAL Melcher moved for approval of payment of General Vouchers in the amount of $1,175,968.51. Schroeder seconded; motion carried. Schroeder moved for approval of payment of Utility Vouchers in the amount of $86,025.22. Buckmaster seconded; motion carried. CITY OFFICIALS’ REPORTS The January calendar was reviewed. COMMUNICATIONS AND MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS AS AUTHORIZED BY LAW Buckmaster noted that second reading of Ordinance #1207 was not placed on this agenda. ADJOURNMENT Melcher moved to adjourn at 10:36 PM. Madden seconded; motion carried. (Minutes taken and transcribed by J. Blenski.) Respectfully submitted, Janice Moyer CMC, CMTW Clerk-Treasurer