Menomonie City Council makes small zoning changes, board appointments.

COUNCIL MEETING CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 7:00 PM

Pledge of Allegiance 

1. Roll Call & Special Recognitions 

2. Approval of Minutes 

Minutes for both previous meetings were approved. 

3. Public Hearings 

a. Public Hearing regarding Ordinance 2024-07, an Ordinance Amending Title 10, Chapter 11 to adjust the extent of the Legally Defined Area. 

This is a request to put all of the current Burger King parcel totally within B1 . Burger King (Cave Enterprises) plans to demolish the current restaurant and put in a new restaurant, exterior playground, and parking lot.  With the lot in two different classifications there are issues with setbacks in the two halves of the parcel. There was only one public comment to describe the issues with the current site. 

4. Public Comments 

Emily Wiese spoke in support of the Let's Paint the Town event. They expect 5-7 thousand people attending. 

There were also statements supporting expanding the ATV routes in town from the Dunn County ATV Association and from Ron Larsen and Dustin Shackleton.  This is agenda item 6a below. 

5. Unfinished Business 

a. Ordinance 2024-07, an Ordinance Amending Title 10, Chapter 11 to adjust the extent of the Legally Defined Area – discussion, possible waiver of the first reading, possible waiver of the second reading and possible adoption. 

The first reading was waived. The second reading was waived. The ordinance was approved by a voice vote. 

6. New Business 

a. Review of Preliminary Designated ATV Route Map – discussion and possible motion of direction to prepare ordinance draft. 

The proposed map needs to be sent to the Department of Transportation for approval after the city council approves the map. The map is in the attached packet file. This would allow ATV use on most of the city streets with some exceptions as shown in the map. The roads marked in red are excluded, as are all trails. 

Alder Gretchen Yonko asked a number of questions about the impact of having more ATV's on the road in town.  The map will be moved forward for consideration.

b. Proposed Ordinance 2024-08, an Ordinance Amending Title 10, Chapters 7, 8 and 9, Residential Side Yard Setbacks for Corner Lots – possible introduction and possible referral. 

There are multiple lots in the city that are vacant but are problematic for building, particularly corner lots. The proposal is to lower the setback on corner lots from 25 feet to 10 feet. The proposed ordinance was moved to the planning commission. 

c. Proposed Resolution 2024-12, a Resolution Establishing Public Participating Procedures for Comprehensive Plan – discussion and possible action. 

There will be changes to the Comprehensive Plan, particularly for housing. This will be a small review, and there is a requirement to have a plan for public participation.  This plan is needed to make the city eligible for WEDC funds for development. The resolution was approved by voice vote. 

d. Proposed Resolution 2024-13, a Resolution regarding Alternate Side Lawn Irrigation restrictions – discussion and possible action. 

This is a proposal to have alternate side of the street irrigation restrictions as was done last summer. This spreads out the water use in the hot part of the summer. The resolution only applies to watering of lawns.  This will likely stay in place every summer until the new well #9 is constructed, so will continue at least until 2027.  The resolution was approved by voice vote. 

e. Mutual Aid Agreement with Mayo Clinic Ambulance – discussion and possible action. 

This is an agreement of mutual aid between the city's ambulance service and Mayo's ambulance service. Mayo has increased the size of their ambulance fleet in light of the recent hospital closures. Although there has been mutual support between the city and Mayo since 1997, this is the first time there will be a formal agreement. The agreement was approved by a voice vote pending legal review. 

f. Wakanda Water Park 2024 Concession Agreement with Jonathan Kroening d/b/a Wakanda Waterpark Concessions – discussion and possible action. 

This is the same party that has run the concession for several years. It was approved by voice vote. 

g. Proposed Development Agreement with Menomonie Holdings 1, LLC for industrial development in TID #18 – discussion and possible action. 

This clarifies the development agreement - there are multiple changes listed in the attached packet. The TID provides an incentive to Menomonie Holdings to build on these lots in a timely fashion. The agreement was approved unanimously by roll call vote. 

h. Accept WisDNR Recreational Boating Facilities Grant for Point Comfort Boat Ramp and Parking Lot Reconstruction – discussion and possible action. 

This is a matching grant to improve the boat facilities. This is just accepting the grant -- the local share will probably be in the vicinity of $300,000. It will need to be a 2025 construction project. The grant was accepted by voice vote. 

i. Consideration of CAT Fabick City Hall Generator Proposal – discussion and possible action.

The generator at City Hall needs some serious repairs. There is a hole in the radiator and it cannot cool itself properly. This is not in the budget and will be  $8518. This was approved unanimously by roll-call vote. 

 j. Consideration of Bartingale City Hall HVAC Proposal – discussion and possible action. 

Many improvements have been made to the HVAC system, but there are many control valves that are frozen in place. The HVAC system Is now much more controllable and efficient. The proposal was accepted to be funded from the contingency fund. The bid was approved by roll-call vote unanimously. 

k. Consideration of City Finance Policies – discussion and possible action. 

The policies are included in the city council packet. This is part of the transfer to the new enterprise software system the city is implementing. The current financial limits are being raised to allow smaller purchases to be made more efficiently. This was approved by voice vote. 

l. Special Events –– discussion and possible action: 

  i. Let’s Paint the Town 

  ii. Pack the Park

Both of these events were approved contingent on receipt of insurance certificates. 

m. Appointments to Various Boards, Committees and Commissions – discussion and possible action: 

  i. Urban Forestry Board – Barbara Hauck* 

  ii. Library Board of Trustees – Andrea Renada* 

7. Budget Transfers 

The council approved a budget transfer to cover an invoice that was missed when the budget was created last year. It was approved by roll-call unanimously. 

8. Mayor’s Report 

The governor visited on his pothole control. Kaitlyn Ingle is updating the website and social media accounts. 

The mayor read a proclamation for municipal clerk recognition and municipal clerk's week.

The city is having a recognition event for the tenants in the city building on Thursday.  

9. Communications and Miscellaneous Business 

Department heads are working on preliminary budget processes. 

The city has been notified that there are zebra mussels in Lake Menomin. 

The electronic waste collection collected 25,000 pounds of waste. 

The city is working with Stout for the furniture dropoff. 

No Mow May is now a permanent plan and a signup is no longer required. 

The Mabel Tainter board has been having long meetings and the president of the board has been removed due to allegations of a hostile work environment. Three other board members have resigned. The Spirit Room and the Mabel will now be separate in management. 

There is a survey out to determine parking needs. There in particular has been a request for more handicapped parking. 

The Chippewa St. Croix Rail meeting is on May 8. There will be another review of the current status. 

10. Claims 

The revised claims list was approved unanimously. 

11. Licenses 

a. Normal license list 

The license list was approved. 

12. Closed 

Closed session began at 8:51 PM. 

a. Motion to convene in closed session under Wisconsin Statues 19.85 (1)(e) and (g), for the purpose of 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, and 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. i. Discuss/consider proposed purchase and price for public land in TID #17. 

ii. Discuss/consider proposed financial support for a development project in TID #19. 

iii. Discuss/consider filing Court Order to Comply with Notice and Order to Repair or Raze and Remove Building dated February 8, 2024, regarding 1431 Knapp Street NE, Menomonie, Wisconsin. 

13. Return to Open Session 

a. Motion to reconvene in open session under Wisconsin Statutes 19.85 (2). 

b. City may take action on items under discussion in closed session and/or report action taken in closed session, if any. 

i. Discuss/consider proposed purchase and price for public land in TID #17. 

ii. Discuss/consider proposed financial support for a development project in TID #19 

iii. Discuss/consider filing Court Order to Comply with Notice and Order to Repair or Raze and Remove Building dated February 8, 2024, regarding 1431 Knapp Street NE, Menomonie, Wisconsin. 

14. Adjourn 

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