CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 7:00 PM TUESDAY – January 21, 2025
A recording of this meeting will be attached some time after the meeting on Monday evening. Unfortunately we had an internet outage in the middle of the meeting so the center part of the meeting is missing. The audio of the meeting is available in the player.
Pledge of Allegiance
1. Roll Call & Special Recognitions
Mike Schendel and Joe Jax’ long history of service in forestry is introduced, they are called up to the front and awarded their certificates with a photo op.
2. Approval of Minutes
Minutes are motioned to be approved, then seconded, and no discussion is heard before the minutes are approved
3. Public Comments
A member of the public, Michael, says he is representing a business interest (SPA Properties) in agenda item four, and offers to answer any questions.
Then Justin and another representative, both representing UW Stout, also come forward and offer to answer questions on agenda item four.
4. New Business
a. Proposed Ordinance 2025-01, Amending Title 9, Chapter 3, Section 3 of the City Code to
increase the interval between inspections – discussion, possible introduction, possible waiver
of 1st Reading, possible waiver of 2nd Reading and possible adoption.
A representative of the fire chief comes to the podium, outlining the plan to reduce the number of fire safety inspections to 1200. The fire department doesn’t have time to inspect every business twice a year. He is asked if the reduction in inspections would free up firefighters to be able to respond to ambulance calls, and he confirms that that is the plan. He is also asked if the reduction would be problematic, to which he responds their software would be able to schedule re-visits, so businesses with historic compliance will be left alone, but ones that people mention could be an issue would be revisited, amounting to increased efficiency.
First and second readings are motioned and seconded, and the motion to adopt is made and second. Regular vote comes up with all ayes.
b. Proposed Purchase and Sale Contract to sell City Land on 59th Street NE to SPA Properties,
LLC – discussion and possible action.
Mr Scofield says SPA properties wishes to buy this land to build a distribution facility in the industrial park.
Motion to waive the rules passes so Michael can speak, and he says they are representing an end user, and the apprehension is made known that the “national retailer’s” name is not able to be disclosed. The administrators are under NDAs, but they are confident that this “renowned retailer” will be “very viable” for the community.
Michael says construction would start this summer, and hopefully finished at around the time of this meeting next year.
A question is asked about if there are any hazardous material concerns, and the administration explains that the packages meant to be distributed by the retailer will be small and no hazard is expected. They mention that staff has done a thorough job looking into this project and they support it.
A question about salaries for this retailer’s prospective employees would be, but Michael did not have the statistic.
The administration says they would not support the sale unless this business was a good fit, taking into account things like concern about water and sewage usage.
The motion is made and second, and roll call vote is called to make it official.
c. Proposed Street Lighting, Traffic Signals and Pedestrian Signals Agreement with Dunn County
and Wisconsin Department of Transportation – discussion and possible action.
Mr. Scofield says there is a “smattering of agreements” on liability etc. for traffic (city or the state), and says the purpose of this document is to clarify who is liable for what. The result is that the city will be maintaining most lights, as before, but now it would be more clarified.
It is asked if this situation is common to other areas. Mr Scofield talks about how it is done in surrounding areas, amounting to mostly similarities.
Mr. Scofield’s document is praised as a “great foot forward.”
The motion is seconded and passes unanimously.
d. UW-Stout Long Range Plan Presentation – discussion only.
The Stout representatives come forward and begin their powerpoint. The importance and rarity of being a polytechnic university is explained. They produce many business and industry graduates, have a high proportion of labs and studios to classrooms, and are career focused, offering more than 1000 annual internship placements. 99% of students are employed post-graduation. They place graduates better than anyone else in Wisconsin, the representatives mention.
The timeline for the establishment of the Long-Range plan and what has been put in place because of it.
The representatives tell of how the University and community are connected, the money put into the immediate area and the employment it offers Menomonie residents.
The representatives talk about the development of the campus going forward. They have the space, but not necessarily the right space. Sorensen hall will be turned into a sort of one-stop for students; and an innovation hub would be created for lab space and education on sustainability; Swanson library would be changed to a next generation learning space to meet evolving needs of students; 10th avenue, the road through the campus’s heart, would be changed from a road into a pedestrian mall space for students; and lab space will be repositioned.
The plan includes designs to build a geothermal system to heat the campus to replace reliance on natural gas and to be a lab space for student education.
A question is asked how the plan takes into account declining enrollment. They say nothing new will be built, things will only be replaced. A further question is raised about the parking system of the university, which has been complained about. The representatives respond that there are no plans to buy land with residences on them to bulldoze for parking space.
Administration mentions that the city itself may rethink the parking spaces, which could possibly address the concerns. Adding daytime parking permits is part of the plan, and “street vacations” are proposed, though they are not going to be approved tonight.
e. Economic Development Update by Director Adam Accola – discussion only.
Mr Accola talks about the Dunn Economic Development Partnership between six local organizations. They do not want to be mistaken for a government arm. He goes through the work plan- people need housing to work from so certain efforts to make areas development ready are being done; small businesses are being helped to connect to resources, raising awareness of possible funds businesses are eligible for; the community is trying to emphasize what makes the area attractive to set up a business to attract new ones, such as the honoring of RFIs- requests for information on opportunities for businesses; and a Business Retention and Expansion plan is laid out.
The administrator talks about work Adam has done on creating an interactive GIS map to make it very streamlined and easy to see what property is available and to connect buyers wishing to purchase land for their business with sellers.
The mayor voices the benefits of having a spokesperson to harmonize all the entities in the partnership.
f. Special Event Request for Ride Across Wisconsin – discussion and possible action.
The Wisconsin Bike federation has set up a bike ride using Red Cedar trail. The administrator recommends approval for this fun-sounding event, provided the organizers demonstrate their insurance. The motion passes to approve the event.
5. Budget Transfers
6. Mayor’s Report
The mayor talks about events for the seventh and the eighth of February leading up to the superbowl to put on the public’s radar.
7. Communications and Miscellaneous Business
Mr Scofield addresses some concerns by the public about water bills substantially increasing. Overall, Mr Scofield says, many were false allegations, and some people simply used more water for irrigation. He also mentions actions that the city took to make the bills more transparent, separating use charge and base charge, which, he makes clear, is not a new charge for residents.
8. Claims
9. Licenses
a. Normal license list – discussion and possible action
The license list is motioned and seconded, and approves.
10. Adjourn
Meeting is voted to be adjourned.
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Roy Humlicek-Spindler is a recent graduate of the University of Minnesota Morris where he studied English and Creative Writing. He was part of the English honor society there and loves writing, academics and philosophy, and has published a modest handful of academic and creative works. During the day he works as a paraprofessional helping students at a charter school in Minnesota (where he was born and raised). He firmly intends to remain in the Midwest for the duration of his life and wants to become more and more attached to it. One of the was he did that was working for the Conservation Corps of Minnesota and Iowa helping maintain state parks, a life changing experience he will never forget. He visits the city of Menomonie frequently and loves spending time there. He intends to continue writing professionally as best he can.
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