Public Works Committee
Regular Meeting
Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at 6:00 p.m.
Public Works Garage, 535 South Madison Street, Evansville, WI
MINUTES
Call the meeting to order at 6:00pm
Roll Call- All present; Braunschweig, Juergens, Sornson, Sauer, Wartenweiller
Approve Agenda – Approved Unanimously
Approve minutes of June 26 and July 12, 2007 Meetings- Approved unanimously
Citizen appearances- None
Lake Leota Restoration Update –
City admin wanted more info from SOLE as to how to they got to where they were in as far as their request of the city. SOLE rep went through a rough synopsis of SOLE’s chronology.
Juergens wants engineering project to work not only on SOLE’s prposed plan but also on any other alternative proposals.
Site Plan Reviews
Manor- City engineer just received it and believes the real issue is stormwater aspect of the plan. Plan not complete.
Construction Updates
Main Street Progress Report
Treiweller to begin August 6th depending upon contingincies.
County Trunk Highway M Progress Report
Utilities should be doen this week. Bay culvert is still being negotiated with D&D.
North Prairie Productions Progress Report
Meeting yesterday. Site will be stripped soon.
Capstone Ridge Phase 2 Progress Report
Doubts if this will start when planned due to current real estate market.
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Westfield Meadows Progress Report
Stormwater detention pond ready for inspection.
Infrastructure ready for city to complete and take ownership
Fees in leau of parkland dedication may be revised to get the land
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Communications from City Engineer
Rather than have PW deal with adjusting water rates we will have W&L deal with it.
Communications of Public Works Director
Revision of Sidewalk Assessment Policy/ordinance
Brief look at existing ordinances and a sample waiver form in regards to the special assessments.
New Business
Relocating streetlights from Main Street to other locations
Main St. money can be used to move lights. PW director would like to see them on Main St. extending to 4th street. 13 to be removed
2008 Capital and Operating Budgets
Went through 5 year capital budget. Updated spreadsheet to be attached.
Looked through 2008 operating budget. Assumed nominal (3%) increases.
6th & Vision retention pond is operating well at this time.
Adjourn
Mason Braunschweig, Chair, Public Works Committee
Please turn off all cell phones while the meeting is in session. Thank you!
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Personally I do not have an opinion on Lake Leota other than I would like to see it restored. Financially, I don't know if that is the right decision or not for Evansville. Most of us are concerned about the property tax mill rates. $2,000,000 is the number I have seen floating around and at first glance it seems like a lot of money (which apparently includes creek wall restoration which is necessary in some form one way or another if I understand it correctly).
ReplyDeleteMy big question is how would this be financed? I am assuming it wouldn need to be financed through bonds. If so, how many years would this be financed over and what would the actual impact on our taxes be? If the bonds could be spread over many years and have a minor impact like $10-$25 year for the average home, I think most people would be in favor of it. If it started creeping up to $100,$200,$400,$500 on the average tax bill, you would lose more support at the yearly tax impact rose. I have heard a referendum proposed and I would support that if we were given specifics of what the impact would be. I think a general question like should we spend $2,000,000 to restore Lake Leota would be a bad referendum, because it wouldn't give us the information we need to make an informed decision. Also if different options are explored as suggested, perhaps no restoration vs. A, B or C and would the average tax burden would be for each would allow citizens to make the best decision.
Another question that I have heard is why dredge it when it will fill back up over the years? It definitely would be a bad idea if the bond term would be longer than the dredging is expected to last before it would be needed again. I am wondering if there is better engineering than we had last time it was fully dredged? Is there any possibility of putting some sort of natural filter/settling pond before the creek enters the lake to control the silt from entering the lake? Maybe this filter could be periodically cleared to maintain it's functionality as a filter and keep the lake at the same depth at a minimal maintenance cost?
If the lake were restored and had more depth than it had in recent years, I think it would be nice to see the park distric rent paddle boat rentals on Lake Leota.