City Administrator Overview: Common Council meeting 3-14-2006---TIF #6; Dean Community Center; & More

Memorandum

To: Mayor Ringhand and Common Council

From: Bill Connors, City Administrator
882-2263

Date: Mar. 10, 2006

Re: March 14, 2006, Regular Common Council Meeting
Overview of Selected Agenda Items and City Administrator’s Report


OVERVIEW OF SELECTED AGENDA ITEMS

Below is a summary of information the Common Council will discuss and consider at the Council’s regular meeting on Tuesday, March 14, 2006. Copies of all ordinances, resolutions, and relevant supporting documentation are attached to the agenda provided by the City Clerk/Treasurer.

Rezoning 351 Union St.
The Common Council will consider rezoning the parcel at 351 Union St. from Residential District One (R-1) to Community Business District (B-3). This parcel is the second parcel south of Symdon Chevrolet. The parcel is occupied by a single-family rental unit, which, for the time being, will not change use. If the rezoning is approved, Symdon Chevrolet will expand its parking lot into the large back yard of this parcel. The parcel was one of several that, on the future land use maps in the Smart Growth Comprehensive Plan, were changed from single-family residential to commercial by a plan-amendment ordinance the Common Council recently adopted. The Plan Commission has recommended adoption of the rezoning ordinance.

Fee in Lieu of Parkland Dedication
The Common Council will consider adopting Ordinance #2006-5, which would change the formula for adjusting the amount of the fee in lieu of parkland dedication for new subdivisions from the increase in the total assessed value of land in the city during the past year to the average increase in the total assessed value of land in the city over the last three years. The Plan Commission has recommended adoption of this ordinance. If the Council adopts Ordinance #2006-5, it will consider adopting Resolution #2006-9, which would establish the fee in lieu of parkland dedication for April 1, 2006, through March 31, 2007, using the formula in Ordinance #2006-5. Resolution #2006-9 also declares that the city will adopt a new formula for increases in the fee in lieu of parkland dedication by January 1, 2007, to be effective starting with the period from April 1, 2007, through March 31, 2008. The Plan Commission has recommended adoption of this resolution.

Division of Commercial Lot on Brown School Road
The Common Council will consider approving a preliminary certified survey map (CSM) that would divide a commercial lot owned by John Morning, located on Brown School Road, into two lots. The Plan Commission recommended approval of the preliminary CSM with the following conditions: (1) Comply with all provisions of chapter 110 of the Municipal Code and state law; (2) Place the following notation on the face of the final CSM, “Depending on the zoning district classification(s) of adjoining parcels, it is possible that a bufferyard may be required along one or more of the property boundary lines to comply with city zoning standards. Where required, the bufferyard shall be installed when the parcel is develop;” (3) Submit a copy of the easement to the city for review and approval that will be filed with Rock County for the shared access between lots 2 and 3 and an easement between lots 1 and 2. At a minimum, the easements shall address long term maintenance of any roadway built within the easement and the rights and responsibilities of each party; (4) Depict intra-block drainages, if any, on the final CSM with arrows indicating the direction of flow along with the following notation, “Arrows indicate direction of drainage swale construction during grading and such swales shall be maintained by the lot owner, unless modified with approval of the city engineer;” (5) Obtain written authorization of the proposed subdivision from the public works department and the water and light department; (6) All on-site electrical, telephone, and cable service shall be placed underground; (7) The following notation shall be placed on the face of the final CSM, “If a commercial building is constructed on Lot 2 or Lot 3, it shall only be occupied when the City Council determines that necessary intersection improvements at J. Lindemann Drive and US Highway 14 have been completed or will be completed within nine (9) months of such occupancy;”(8) Within the next 30 days, the City Administrator must negotiate with D&D Development a written purchase agreement for the additional right of way for drive-by lane, and if that fails the city should move forward with condemnation of the additional right of way; and (9) The applicant must pay for the deferred assessment, if any, for Lift Station No. 5.

Budget Amendments
The Common Council will consider adopting four resolutions that would amend the adopted 2006 city budget. Resolution #2006-5 would increase the appropriation for payment of the converted farmland tax penalty. Farmland is assessed at a lower value based on “use value.” When farmland is converted to non-agricultural use, the owner of the farmland must pay a penalty to the county, which pays half of the penalty to the city or township within which the property is located. If the property was recently annexed, the city or village must pay half of the amount it receives from the county to the township. In 2004, the city received converted farmland tax penalty revenue from Rock County, but failed to pay to the Town of Union its share of the revenue. Resolution #2006-5 would amend the budget to appropriate money to make the overdue payment to the Town of Union.

Resolution #2006-6 would increase the appropriation for Phase 1 of the skate park from $10,000 to $20,000. Before the 2006 city budget was adopted, the Parks and Recreation Board had recommended appropriating $15,000 for this project, but as the result of a miscommunication, only $10,000 was appropriated. The additional $10,000 will come from an unallocated amount of un-earmarked capital funds for parks projects.

Resolution #2006-7 would increase the appropriation for clerk/treasurer computer equipment by $1,250 to purchase a projector and screen for projecting graphics and text during presentations.

Resolution #2006-8 would reduce the appropriation for renovating the building at 209 S. 1st St., a capital project, by $5,000, and increase the appropriation for the Dean Community Center cost center by $5,000 for equipment purchases, an operating expenditure. The city is renovating the building at 209 S. 1st St. to be the new home of the youth center and AWARE Agency. Because of contributions of building materials and skilled labor the Dean Community Center Advisory Committee has obtained, it appears that the building renovation project will not cost the full $50,000 appropriated. The Dean Community Center Advisory Committee would like to use the savings on the renovation project to purchase equipment for the new youth center.

Proposal for Creating TID No. 6
The Common Council will consider approving a proposal from Ehlers & Associates, Inc. regarding their fees for creating Tax Incremental District (TID) No. 6. The territory of TID No. 6 would include the more than 96 acres of land D&D Development has applied to annex at the southeast corner of CTH M and USH 14. To comply with state law, at least half of the territory of TID No. 6 must be zoned industrial. It appears the remainder will be zoned commercial, and the commercial zoning will be adjacent to USH 14. The city intends to use the tax increment generated by any commercial development within TID No. 6 to pay debt service on the cost of constructing streets, sanitary sewers, water mains, and other infrastructure for a new industrial park within TID No. 6. Using the tax increment from the commercial development to pay debt service on the industrial park infrastructure, rather than to subsidize construction of infrastructure for the new commercial lots along USH 14, would reduce the risk the city will undertake by issuing bonds to finance infrastructure construction in the new industrial park.

No Parking Zones
The Common Council will consider adopting Ordinance #2005-52, as amended by the Public Safety Committee. This ordinance would, among other things, establish as no parking zones (1) the east side of Exchange St. from E. Main St. to Water St. and (2) the south and east sides of Water St. from Allen Creek to E. Main St.


CITY ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT

The city has hired Eric Jepperson to be the new City Finance Director. Eric was an auditor with the state Department of Revenue, where he audited utilities, among other entities. Earlier in his career, he worked for a public accounting firm and audited municipalities. Eric’s first day is Monday, March 20.

The city issued only one building permit during February 2006. It has been a long time since the city issued only one building permit in a month. It appears rising interest rates have discouraged builders from constructing as many “spec” houses as they have during the past few winters. However, if the pace of housing construction returned to the level it was in 1999 through 2002, when the city issued 30 to 40 building permits for new single-family houses, rather than 50 to 70 building permits for new single-family houses, as the city issued during 2003 through 2005, that probably would be a good thing. The pace of residential growth needs to slow down a bit if the city is going to meet its goal of having the population grow by no more than 27% from 2005 through 2014.

It also would be a good thing if fewer of the new houses were “spec” houses and a larger proportion were based on “custom” orders, because “custom” houses tend to be higher valued than “spec” houses. Families that are interested in purchasing higher-value new homes tend to want to be able to customize the house to meet their own needs and desires, rather than purchasing a house that was designed based on whatever the builder thought would be easiest to sell. In addition, the risk involved in constructing a “spec” house encourages builders to make “spec” houses of lower value.

If 2006 were a year of exceptionally low residential growth, it could adversely affect the city’s budget for 2008. Construction during 2006 will become part of the property tax base as of January 1, 2007, which will be the basis for property taxes collected during 2008.

Increased expenditures in the 2007 city budget will be financed in large part by the increased property tax base generated by strong construction during 2005. It will soon be time for me to start working with the department heads to prepare the 2007 city budget.


cc: Department heads
City attorney
City engineer
City planner
Media