COMMON COUNCIL Minutes 20111213
COMMON COUNCIL - CITY OF MUSKEGO Approved: 01/10/2012
MINUTES OF MEETING HELD DECEMBER 13, 2011
Mayor Chiaverotti called the meeting to order at 7:45 p.m. Present were Ald. Fiedler,
Schaumberg, Soltysiak, Werner, Borgman, Harenda and Snead, and Director of
Finance and Administration Mueller. Those present recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
Ms. Mueller stated that the meeting was noticed in accordance with the open meeting
law.
COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE MAYOR’S OFFICE
Mayor Chiaverotti announced that the goal is to go paperless at the next Council
meeting.
PUBLIC COMMENT
The following registered to speak regarding the lake park proposal:
Supports the potential proposal:
Thomas Ralston, S81 W19386 Highland Park Drive
Shirley Bykowski, S78 W20103 Burningwood Court
Marguerite Ingold, S76 W17501 Janesville Road
Jim Brownlow, W173 S7955 Scenic Drive
Ginnie Kohler, W192 S7196 Hillside Drive
Kathy Mueller, W173 S7996 Scenic Drive
Ray Ingold, S76 W17501 Janesville Road
Aaron Robertson, S67 W12559 Larkspur Road
Robert Lucas, W198 S8456 Bendingbrae Drive
Does not support the proposal:
Mike Klamert, W175 S7516 Harbor Circle
The City has too many other future projects.
Is not for or against:
Lorie Oliver, S75 W17674 Harbor Circle
There is not enough information.
Let the people of the community decide.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Ord. #1344 - An Ordinance to Amend the Zoning Map and 2020 Comprehensive Plan of
the City of Muskego (Borst - EA to CI-1 and RCE). Second Reading. Ald. Soltysiak
moved for adoption. Ald. Borgman seconded. Motion carried 7 in favor.
Ord. #1345 - An Ordinance to Amend the Zoning Map and 2020 Comprehensive Plan of
the City of Muskego (LaLicata - RS-3 to B-2). Second Reading. Ald. Werner moved
for adoption. Ald. Borgman seconded.
CONSENT AGENDA
The following resolutions were removed from the Consent Agenda: Reso. #170,
Reso. #175, Reso. #176, Reso. #178, and Reso. #179.
Common Council Minutes 2
December 13, 2011
Ald. Borgman moved to approve the remaining items under the Consent Agenda.
Ald. Harenda seconded. Motion carried 7 in favor.
The following items were approved:
Approval of Operator’s Licenses for Matthew Bauer, Crystal Butzlaff, Benjamin Fetters,
Karen Nordeen and Anandi Patel
Common Council Minutes - November 22, 2011
Reso. #171-2011 - Approval of Purchase of Sire Electronic Document Management
System and Workflow Software
Reso. #172-2011 - Approval of Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP 2011 City Audit
Engagement Letter
Reso. #173-2011 - Appointment of Election Officials by the Mayor of the City of
Muskego
Reso. #174-2011 - Approval of New Positions and Elimination of the Position of
Computer Specialist
Reso. #177-2011 - Approval of Severance Pay Plan and Separation Agreement and
General Release
Reso. #180-2011 - Approval of Certified Survey Map - Borst
Reso. #181-2011 - Approval of Certified Survey Map - Boulder Venture 28, LLC
NEW BUSINESS
Reso. #170-2011 - Fund Balance and Annual General Fund Budgeted Contingency
Policy. Ald. Schaumberg moved for adoption. Ald. Fiedler seconded. Ald.
Soltysiak moved to amend to remove No. 8 under “Procedures.” Ald. Harenda
seconded. Ald. Soltysiak stated this would allow any purchases not expended by the
end of the year to come before the Common Council. Ald. Fiedler stated doing that was
creating more inefficiency. The procedure is merely an accounting measure designed
to assign a category to it. The decision still remains in the Council’s hands. Ald.
Soltysiak stated he does not believe it is less efficient; he prefers giving these items
another review especially since budgets in the future will be tighter and tighter. Ms.
Mueller also noted that the numbers will be audited. Motion to amend failed 5
opposed and 2 in favor with Ald. Fiedler, Schaumberg, Werner, Borgman and
Snead voting no and Ald. Soltysiak and Harenda voting yes. Reso. #170-2011
adopted 5 in favor and 2 opposed with Ald. Fiedler, Schaumberg, Werner,
Borgman and Snead voting yes and Ald. Soltysiak and Harenda voting no.
Reso. #175-2011 - Resolution to Create the Department of Public Works and Approve
Job Description for Department Director. Ald. Fiedler moved for adoption. Ald.
Werner seconded. Ald. Soltysiak reiterated that he is not in favor of creating another
director level position. Adding another layer of management will not create more
efficiency. The current situation has been working. He would propose some job
enrichment for the current positions that have taken on more duties. The City could
incur additional costs in the future with the potential that an engineer will have to be
hired as more duties are placed on the director position. Ald. Fiedler agrees that the
current situation is working well. The resolution merely recognizes what has actually
been happening for the past several years within the Public Works and Public Utilities
Departments. Ald. Borgman does not support in light of the fact that the building
inspector positions were eliminated. The City disburses a substantial amount of money
Common Council Minutes 3
December 13, 2011
for outside engineering work. Motion carried 4 in favor and 3 opposed with Ald.
Fiedler, Schaumberg, Werner and Snead voting yes and Ald. Soltysiak, Borgman
and Harenda voting no.
Reso. #176-2011 - Resolution Confirming the Selection of Director of Public Works/City
Engineer for the City of Muskego. Ald. Fiedler moved for adoption. Ald. Werner
seconded. The Mayor distributed the Performance Evaluations to those members that
did not review them at the Finance Committee meeting. Mayor Chiaverotti noted that
the evaluations were from the past. In the seven months since she has been in office,
she has received communications from WE Energies, RA Smith, Ruekert & Mielke and
Waukesha County acknowledging Mr. Simpson’s knowledge and professionalism. Ald.
Soltysiak stated that while he did not agree with the creation of the position, he does
believe that Mr. Simpson will perform very well as the director. Ald. Werner and Fiedler
commented that hiring Dave Simpson was a very good decision on the City’s part. Ald.
Snead agreed and noted her appreciation for all the work Dave has done and his
willingness to be accessible. Motion carried 7 in favor.
Reso. #178-2011 - Approval of Agreement for Ambulance Services for 2012. Ald.
Snead moved for adoption. Ald. Schaumberg seconded. Ald. Snead stated the fire
department has proposed a rate increase of about 12%. The proposed agreement does
reflect an increase. The fire department had to provide its costs to the billing company,
which in turn determined the rates. Ald. Snead also noted that the Public Safety
Committee did discuss a different term for the agreement to better coincide with the
budget cycle. Ald. Fiedler requested that the City Attorney review the agreement and
determine if indemnification language is necessary to protect the City. Ald. Fiedler
moved to amend the resolution to reflect a termination date of March 31, 2013 and
to reflect consultation with the City Attorney regarding a potential indemnification
provision. Ald. Werner seconded. Ald. Harenda expressed concern about the rate
increase. It was discussed at Public Safety, but no data was ever provided to support
the increase. Ald. Snead stated the committee did discuss the rate increase at its
August 3 meeting. The fire department indicated it needed to increase the rates
because of gas and insurance costs. Ald. Harenda stated he requested backup data be
provided by the fire department, which he has not seen. The Mayor stated the increase
is justifiable; the rates have not increased in six years. Mr. Verburgt does have the
supporting information. Ald. Fiedler agreed that the increase was warranted. Ald.
Soltysiak stated it was his understanding that the agreement would come forward with
the existing rates and the increase would be discussed in the future. Ald. Fiedler
moved to defer. Ald. Harenda seconded; motion carried. The Mayor stated the
issue would go back to the Public Safety Committee in January; all the issues discussed
will be addressed so the language in the agreement can be finalized.
Reso. #179-2011 - Approval of Fire Protection Agreement with Tess Corners Volunteer
Fire Department for 2012. Ald. Snead moved for adoption. Ald. Harenda
seconded. Ald. Snead called attention to the fifth paragraph in the agreement, which is
new. She stated that there was discussion at the Public Safety Committee regarding
the number of personnel who respond to calls for service. The proposed language
requires that the fire department provide a report to the City to include the number of
personnel who responded. This will cost an additional $4,895. Ald. Borgman stated
this issue was discussed in the past. He provided further explanation for requiring the
reports. The purpose for the reports is to get the fire department to the standards used
by National Fire Inspection. Ald. Soltysiak agreed that this discussion has gone on for
two years. The reports will provide data for the City to measure our fire department
against others. Ald. Snead stated the reports will provide data to the City; however, the
Common Council Minutes 4
December 13, 2011
State and national organization oversee the department’s certification. Ald. Harenda
supports the expenditure because he believes the data will be valuable for the future.
Ald. Snead summarized the issue: how detailed does the City want the report? The
State is already getting what it needs. Does the City need more than that? If the
response is yes, is the Council willing to pay additional money for the data? Ald.
Harenda stated that the proposed language in the agreement was recommended by the
Public Safety Committee.
Ald. Fiedler stated he was still unclear as to why the data was needed. Ald. Snead
stated she did not want to micromanage the fire department. Mayor Chiaverotti asked
what would be done with the information when it was received. Ald. Schaumberg stated
she did not see that any issues existed that require the information. Ald. Soltysiak
stated receiving the data will allow the Public Safety Committee to be proactive and
identify areas in the City where response time is getting too big, or response personnel
is too small. Ald. Werner stated the data is provided to the State and language could be
put in the agreement that would require the fire department to provide a copy to the
City.
Ald. Werner moved to amend to remove the phrase, “number of personnel who
responded” from the fifth paragraph in the agreement. Ald. Schaumberg
seconded. Motion carried 4 in favor and 3 opposed with Ald. Fiedler,
Schaumberg, Werner and Snead voting yes and Ald. Soltysiak, Borgman and
Harenda voting no.
Reso. #179-2011, as amended, adopted 6 in favor and Ald. Harenda voting no.
REVIEW OF COMMITTEE REPORTS
The following minutes were reviewed: 10/25/2011 Finance Committee, 11/1/2011 Plan
Commission, 10/17/2011 Public Works Committee, and 11/2/2011 Public Safety
Committee.
ORDINANCES
Ord. #1346 - An Ordinance to Establish Salaries for Elected Officials. First Reading.
Ord. #1347 - An Ordinance to Amend Chapter 9, Section 9.05, of the Municipal Code of
the City of Muskego (Loud and Unnecessary Noise Prohibited). First Reading.
Ord. #1348 - An Ordinance to Amend Chapter 9, Section 9.14(3), of the Municipal Code
of the City of Muskego (Open Fires Restricted). First Reading.
Ord. #1349 - An Ordinance Establishing Fees for Ambulance Services. First Reading.
VOUCHER APPROVAL
Ald. Schaumberg moved for approval of payment of Utility Vouchers in the
amount of $85,306.61. Ald. Fiedler seconded. Motion carried 7 in favor.
Ald. Schaumberg moved for approval of payment of General Vouchers in the
amount of $1,562,069.84. Ald. Fiedler seconded. Motion carried 7 in favor.
CITY OFFICIALS’ REPORTS
The January calendar was reviewed.
Common Council Minutes 5
December 13, 2011
CLOSED SESSIONS
Ald. Fiedler moved to convene into closed session pursuant to Wis. Stats.
§19.85(1)(e) Deliberating or negotiating the purchasing of public properties, the
investing of public funds, or conducting other specified public business,
whenever competitive or bargaining reasons require a closed session, more
specifically purchase of the properties per approved Resolution #142-2011 (Lake
Park) and Wis. Stats. §19.85(1)(g) Conferring with legal counsel for the
governmental body who is rendering oral or written advice concerning strategy to
be adopted by the body with respect to litigation in which it is or is likely to
become involved, more specifically Parkland Venture, LLC vs. City of Muskego.
Ald. Werner seconded. Motion carried 5 in favor and 2 opposed with Ald.
Harenda and Borgman voting no.
OPEN SESSION
Ald. Harenda moved to reconvene into open session. Ald. Fiedler seconded;
motion carried.
ADJOURNMENT
Ald. Harenda moved to adjourn at 11:01 p.m. Ald. Fiedler seconded; motion
carried.
Minutes transcribed
by Jill Blenski, Deputy Clerk