Menomonie City Council Meeting for 6/5/2023

CITY OF MENOMONIE
COUNCIL MEETING
CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS
7:00 PM
Monday – June 5, 2023

Pledge of Allegiance

1.Roll Call & Special Recognitions

The mayor thanked the 

2.Approval of Minutes

3.Public Hearings

Cory Buss spoke in defense of item A below and wants to expand his screen printing and embroidery business into a new building on the lot on Brickyard Road. 

a. Proposed zoning ordinance amendment at 1416 Brickyard Road for Cory Buss from
Agriculture (A) District to Restricted Industrial (I-1) District.

4. Public Comments

5. Unfinished Business

a.See Item 3A above–discussion and possible ordinance adoption.

This zoning request was previously heard by the planning commission. Some concerns have been raised that once the parcel is re-zoned it would be open to other forms of industrial business. The new use will provide work for 3-5 employees. Discussion continued on the possibility of a new business doing something completely different in the future.  

The council waived the first and second readings and voted to adopt the zoning change with two dissenting votes. 

 6. New Business

a.Review of Cedar Corporation lease at 800 Wilson Avenue–discussion and possible motion
to approve

This came up due to the collapse of the timbers in the current Cedar Corporation building and the city has offered a lease for a month-by-month temporary  work space. The council approved the motion by voice vote. 

b.Review of the Sewer Utility 2022 Compliance Maintenance Annual Report–discussion and
possible resolution adoption.

The report was accepted by the council in a voice vote. 

c.Review of Well Site Investigation PaperStudy Agreement–discussion and possible motion
to approve.

A new well is going to be required by the city. Four sites are being considered and this will be narrowed down to two on the basis of this report. The Cedar Corp. has proposed a study costing $24,500. The study was approved unanimously. 

d.Review Community Services Department request to sell surplus equipment–discussion and
possible motions approving.

These are surplus items that will be disposed of through Lee Auctions or the Wisconsinsurplus website. The sale of the items was approved by voice vote.  

e.Review of the Menomonie Police Department’s proposed purchase of squad cars—
discussion and possible motion of approval

Two squad cars will be purchased this year. The city will consider purchasing hybrid squad cars in next year's purchases, but the production of cars for 2023 has ended already. This is an $84,640 purchase to be made from Northtown Ford. The purchase was approved unanimously. 

f.Presentation from WisDOT regarding Broadway Street and Pine Avenue Improvements.

The DOT wants to make improvements at Broadway St. and Pine Avenue. There have been concerns about multiple accidents at this intersection. The changes will make it easier to turn onto 25 from Pine with better visibility. There will be additional signal heads so that individual lanes will have their own signals. It will also include improving the curb ramps to meet the highest ADA standards. This will be a staged construction with single-lane closures and will take place in 2025. There may be a detour for Highway 12.  Pedestrians will have countdown timers in the new design. 

g. Presentation from Dylan Stickney regarding Elk Creek Solar Project.

There are joint agreements with Dunn County and the Town of Springbrook. This is an almost-2000 acre development. There is a 35-year lease with the farm that owns the property. A map and more information are attached below.

h. Presentation from Susan Badtke regarding Dunn County Housing Study.

The poor housing availability in Dunn County is making it difficult to attract workers to the area. There need to be more rental units at all price points. A slide show of the housing status report given to the county forum is attached below. 

i. Appointments to the Airport Commission and Board of Review–discussion and possible
motions approving.

i. Airport Commission–Steven Lee

ii. Board of Review–Mark Kalscheur

The two appointments were approved by the council by voice vote. 

j. Review July Meeting Schedule–July 10 and July 24–discussion and possible motion
approving.

The meetings for July will be moved to the 10th and 24th. This change was approved. 

7. Budget Transfers

The budget transfers involved purchasing more Badger Books hardware for the city. If the purchases are made this year the county will pay for half of the cost. There are also some transfers to replace some aging computer systems and office equipment. Also, the air conditioning has failed in one of the maintenance buildings and will need to be repaired. The budget transfers were approved unanimously. 

8. Mayor’s Report

The new city website has launched. The first Luddington Guard Band concert is this week. 

9. Communications and Miscellaneous Business

Alternate side of the street irrigation rules started on June 1. This is an attempt to level out the use of water, partly because the high peaks have been difficult with the amount of water available until there is another well in the system. Currently if one of the wells fails the city cannot provide enough water for peak use. 

Water main flushing is continuing. 

An entire semi was filled with electronics that was collected in the electronic waste collection event. 

The carbon reduction grant to replace all of the street lights with LED lights has been approved. 

10. Claims

Payment of the claims was approved unanimously. 

11. Licenses

a. Normal license list and renewals

The license list was approved. Penny Burstad removed herself from the vote as she holds one of the licenses on the list.  The licenses were approved. 

12. Closed

13. Return to Open Session.

14.Adjourn

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