 Good spirits, he was waiting for us. Because of Pineapple, yeah. Or what? Yeah. That's the fun. That's the fun. Yeah, that's fun. Part four. Which is fine. Saturday night, my wife got me, uh, my birthday. It was a BG show, a BG show, a BG show, what was I doing? You didn't enjoy it. You're not enjoying it. Yeah. You don't enjoy it. You're not enjoying it. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I got you, such a shame. Yeah. Oh, it seems like a big story. I took a photograph. I'd like to call to order the first special meeting of the 2015-2016 Common Council. Would the clerk please read the quote for the day. Thank you Mayor. No personal considerations should stand in the way of performing a public duty. Thank you for that. Next please call the roll. There are 15 present. Okay Alderman Eldenberg is absent today and excused and I'd like you to keep Elden in your prayers Tuesday morning he was taken down to a hospital in Milwaukee with a serious medical matter and he'll be in treatment for the next month. So we pray that everything's going to be successful for him. Next I'd like to have Brandon Thimilar come up. He's with Boy Scout Troop 801 and lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Please stand. Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you very much Brandon. Next item on the agenda is approval of the minutes from our previous council meeting. Alderman Hammond. Thank you Mr. Mayor. I move to approve. Second. Thank you for that motion and support. Motion on the motion. Seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed. Motion passes. Next we'll go on to matters laid over. Item 2.1 is RO number 254 of 1415 by the City Planning Commission to whom is referred General Ordinance number 46 of 1415 by Alderman Vanderweel and Van Akron and RO number 243 of 1415 by the clerk amending the city of Sheboygan's official zoning map and the Sheboygan zoning ordinance to change the use district classification of properties located at 3306 Damon Avenue from class SR5 suburban residential to class SO suburban office classification. Wishes to report that this matter was discussed at a regular meeting of the City Planning Commission on February 24th of 2015 and after due consideration recommends filing general ordinance number 46 of 1415 acceptance and filing of this report of officer and approval of the attached substitute general ordinance number 46 of 1415 which conditions the zoning amendment upon the following. Number one the purchase and sale of the former field of dreams property from the Sheboygan area school district to Aurora health care or related entity for the development of medical offices and facilities on or before December 31st of 2016 and number two the future land use map of the city of Sheboygan comprehensive plan being amended to a classification consistent with the proposed rezone. Alderman Hammond. Thank you Mr. Mayor. I move to accept and file with the budget to recognize passage. Second. Thank you for that motion and support. The matter is before us for discussion. Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? Alderman van Akron. Thank you Mr. Mayor. I guess I'll kick this off. Here we are again to once again look into the rezoning of the field of dreams property. As in the last meeting I'm standing here tonight and in opposition of the rezone. My reasons are very simply that the people in my district the people whose neighborhood is being greatly affected are strongly opposed to the rezoning of this property. The property is a centerpiece of their neighborhood and I've heard from many of them and they are strongly opposed to losing that centerpiece. They don't want to see their neighborhood destroyed. They don't want to see their neighborhood changed. They don't want to live with the construction zone that could go on for who knows how long and they certainly don't want to live next to medical facility when they bought or built a home next to a park. So they're very frustrated as am I with this entire process and again I urge everyone to do what they think is best. Don't be pressured. Make the decision that you feel is right but again I'm standing here tonight in opposition of the rezoning. Thank you for those comments. Thank you. Thank you everyone. Thank you President Cough. Thank you, Mayor. As Alderman I'm going to make the most important decisions at City Hall. My five years as an Alderman this is the most important decision I had to make and not just because I live across the street from the field of dreams. I have no self-serving interest in the rezoning of the field of dreams. I do not have a political agenda. I have no personal or financial gain. across the street from my home? No, I do not. However, as an alderman, my main goal is to work for all the people in my district and not simply a select group. I have worked tirelessly to ensure my 6,000 constituents have a voice, and they have spoken. A few have demanded that this issue be put to a ballot. In my district, I believe it has. I've received many phone calls from my constituents who could not stress enough that they vote in every election. Well, there was an election in my district, District 5, on April 7th. In fact, this election was a one-issue race. Alderman Bill Thiel, who has openly supported the plans to build on the field and build replacement fields and former Alderman Scott Lewandowski, who has opposed the plan. Alderman Thiel is sitting here today, and that is why I will be a yes vote on the rezone. Thank you so much. Thank you for those comments. Is there any other discussion? Alderman Vanderweel. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I stood here on April 8th and voiced my struggle concerning this very important and controversial vote. I stated that I felt I should vote against the rezoning in an effort to best represent the constituents in my district. I left City Hall, disappointed in myself, because I didn't feel as though I did the right thing. The past three weeks have continued to be a struggle. I received many emails and phone calls, but there was a difference in the content. I heard from more neighbors near the field of dreams who were in favor of the rezoning. One constituent wrote, those of us in favor of Sheboygan making positive change are almost afraid to voice that support considering the craziness coming from that small group. Another wrote, I'm a neighbor and member of the silent majority that lives only one and a half blocks north of the field of dreams. A person opposed to the rezoning stated in an email, now that you have been in office for over a year, you are vulnerable to certain actions from the public. I'm reminding you that you represent us and it is to us who you will answer. Very different tones from those against and for the rezoning. I also received phone calls from constituents stating they knew the mayor and fellow alderman had been calling me and pressuring me to vote a certain way. I can say with all honesty that this is far from the truth. I've been an alderman for more than a few years and have proven time and time again that I cannot be persuaded to vote in a way I don't feel is right. The school district chose to sell property that they owned. The common council now has to decide if rezoning is in the best interest of the city. The citizen's petition for a three quarter vote. The DNR will have to decide if the current plans are acceptable and the East parcel must have satisfactory fields before ground can be broken for building of the surgical center. I feel if all this leads to the proposed surgical center, due diligence will have been achieved throughout the process. The common council's only part in this is to decide on rezoning. As I've said from the very beginning, I believe that the proposal is good for the city, but I struggle with the field of dreams being located in my district. However, we will have increased overall green space more than we have currently. The quality of the fields will be an improvement, jobs will be created, tax revenue will be seen, and in the end most, if not close to all citizens will look back and see that this change was a great progress for the city of Sheboygan. After intensive thought and consideration and with the help of all those who contacted me via phone, email, personal contact and letters, whether they were for or against the rezoning, I feel that voting for the rezoning of the land is going to be best for the majority of my constituents in my district, as well as the entire city. I realize this rezoning may not pass tonight. However, after this meeting, I'm confident that I will leave feeling as though I voted with a clear conscience and for the right reasons, which is my part in this entire process. Thank you very much for those comments. Is there any other discussion? Alderman Thiel. Thank you, Mayor. First, I wanna send out my thoughts and prayers to the Alderman Berg and his family. For what he's there for, it kind of holds a personal part in my heart since I'm a cancer survivor, and so it really touched home when I read the email today. So I may be a little emotional because of that, just because I have a close connection there. I'm here, obviously. There's been a lot of talk. I wanna cover a couple topics. Sorry if I'm doing that. Click it on. One of them was my conflict of interest into this particular matter. I have looked into it very deeply. I've looked at the deal between the school system and Aurora, nor in the deal, does it even mention my account with Shibuya New Football. It's with the school system and with Aurora, and it's all about phase one in that Buttson Project. Shibuya New Football is not getting any money from this deal at all. We have plans to get grants from NFL Football, from USA Football is what we're applying for. We're doing that on our own. We are not getting any additional money from Aurora. So I know the original conflict of interest, unlike what's been mentioned in the paper and all those other type of things. I did my homework. I checked it out. With that being said, I know going into this, I said I wanted to bring integrity into this when I became this position. And I think I'm hurting my integrity if I don't vote. By doing my homework and checking out that I really don't have a conflict of interest, I feel like I'm not doing my true job if I don't vote on this matter. Cause that's what I was putting this position to do. Otherwise, what would say if another big project comes away and they may feel that somebody else needs to just step to the side and say, you know what, I have a conflict of interest. You know, I'm not going to do it either. I think as an elected official, if we don't have a conflict we have to make the tough decisions, whether they're good or whether they're bad. It was interesting. I noticed that when I was electing to abstain I noticed that the people from Aurora or people in favor of the project, not only Aurora, but just people in favor of the project were always very understanding. They said, we understand your stance. They weren't pushy, they didn't harass, they understood. And then all of a sudden when I started doing my homework when I came back from some training and I thought, you know, maybe I need to take a look at this and maybe I do need to vote on this subject. I can't believe how negative from the other side that has become. From things that I've heard people being called to being harassed, not so much myself but from other older people. And to me that's integrity right there. That's not showing a whole lot of integrity for the city of Sheboygan and how we want our kids to see how this democratic practice works. I've coached kids in this community for 20 years. Not only have I taught them a great sport of football amongst some other ones that I've helped out with but I told them some good life skills and it's great to know when you're out in the community that those kids still come up to you. They don't call me by my name. They say, hey, coach, how's it going? That's the whole reason I do those type of things. This past weekend, this Saturday, Sheboygan football had its registration day. And that gave me 200 reasons why I think the older people should vote yes to help get this project going. I had some other things I know I was gonna say but I wanna kinda cut it short and yesterday I read this quote online. It's by Walter Payton's son, his name's Jared Payton. And it kinda ties football and it kinda fits tonight for me. I think he had it on there yesterday and it was kinda cool so I had it right down. His quote for the day was, sometimes there is no next time. No timeouts, no second chances. Sometimes it's now or never. So Alderman, I think it's time is now. So thank you. Thank you very much Alderman Thiel. Is there any other discussion? Alderman Jose. Okay, talk about the honeymoon being over quickly. I didn't go from the frying pan of the fire. I got elected and went right into the fire. I only have a few comments. This would probably be one if not the most contentious issue in the next two years that we'll vote on and discuss. I wanna say right off the bat that I really do think that the way that the school board handled it was horrible. They should not have been in closed sessions so close to when they were gonna implement this. I understand about closed meetings and how they're necessary for the furtherance of negotiations and I even more understand which I'm sure the people that are supporting the Fields of Dreams side of the issue don't understand that sometimes things can come together very quickly and you are left with less time. But even so, I think they could have handled a little better and so with regard to the way the bad handling of it, shame on them, but that's not germane to what we're voting on here tonight. The issue of the rezoning is an aldermanic issue and whether the Field of Dreams is sold to the Aurora people or somebody else, that's the school board's business and they voted unanimously to do it. But being a numbers guy, I decided to collect some data. The phone started ringing the day after I was elected and people on both sides, the email started coming, the Facebook messages, the messages on my Facebook timeline that I was drinking the Aurora Kool-Aid and such. And so I decided to keep a record of the way people came down. And I found that in my district with direct contact with people that are in the fourth aldermanic district, 75% want the, pardon me, 78% want the Aurora surgical center to be built with people that contact me from outside the district, in the city at large, 70% of the people that contacted me said they wanted the Aurora surgical center to be built. And then I started listing the reasons for and against it and I could find 10 reasons that it should be built and I could only find three reasons why it should not be built and they were not compelling reasons. And we could have a big speech about all those reasons but I'm gonna cut it short and just say I'm gonna read you a quote. If I could pull it up here. This is a quote from a letter I received in the last few days from Debbie Desmolin. She said in conclusion, please realize that it is not in your job description to provide for Aurora. It is in your job description to honor the taxpayer citizens and their wishes. The number speaks, 75% of my constituents that contacted me wanted the land rezoned and 70% of the city at large. So I'm gonna do just what Ms. Desmolin said and I'm gonna vote for the rezoning. Thank you for those comments Alderman Jose. Is there any other discussion? Is there any other discussion? Alderman Herman. Since I've been on the council, I've never seen anything that's. Mark, you need your mic. I've never seen anything that's become this acrimonious or nasty. It disturbs me that my colleagues have received nasty emails and threads and that this has revolved into high school stuff and childish behavior. There's no need for that. That hurts me deeply. I mean, you can be forward against it but you can maintain a level of decency and respect and treat people the right way. And I can't wait for this to be over because this has been very nerve wracking for me going back and forth, back and forth. I finally made my decision. I'm gonna live with that decision. I have to do what I wanna do, what my heart tells me to do, what my mind and my conscience tells me to do and I want my colleagues to want me to do or anybody else because if I do what other people want me to do, I won't be able to live with myself. I'll be violating my conscience and I can't do that. I respect both sides, whether we agree or disagree. We need to be respectful and decent and treat people with respect. You can disagree, but we need to disagree appropriately and in an adult manner. Thank you. Thank you very much for those comments, Alderman Herman. Is there any other discussion? Any other discussion? Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll? Okay, that's not good. Hold on. That's just mean of me, I'm sorry. 12 ayes, three noes. Thank you very much, motion passes. Next item is item 2.2, which is resolution number 178 of 1415 by Alderman Heidemann, authorizing the appropriate city officials to co-sign with the Shavuigan Area School District in the conversion elevation application through the Wisconsin DNR Stewardship Grant Program. Alderman Hammond. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, I move to pass the resolution. Second. Thank you for that motion and support. Is there any discussion on the motion? Seeing no discussion, will the clerk please call the roll? 13 ayes, two noes. Motion passes. Before we adjourn, I'd just like to ask the council's indulgence for a short presentation. Steve began his work for the city of Shavuigan as the assistant city attorney in November of 1985. A year and a half after Steve ran for the open position was elected to the office of city attorney in April of 1987. During his 20 year, 10 year as city attorney, he's worked with six mayors, Richard Schneider, James Shram, Juan Perez, Bob Ryan, Terry Vrenachron and myself, two city clerks, various chiefs of police and a city administrator, many fire chiefs, city engineers and planning directors. He's gone through 29 city council elections and on behalf of all city residents, I would like to thank Steve for the thoughtful and devoted work that he did on behalf of the city of Shavuigan. Whatever legal paperwork was needed for any city project, he could always be counted on to have the proper work done on a timely basis. Steve's legal advice was sought out by all department heads and elected officials. City attorney Steve McClain's retirement is effected this Friday at April 30th at five o'clock and we wish Steve all the best in retirement and we hope that he will have time to spend more time with family and increases trips to their cabin in Northern Wisconsin. Steve, I'd like you to please join me at the podium as I want to present you a special certificate of appreciation. The certificate reads certificate of appreciation, the city of Shavuigan is honored to present Steve McClain, the certificate of appreciation and recognition of your 30 years of dedicated service from November of 1985 through April 30th of 2015, signed Jim Amodeo, chief administrative officer and Michael Van der Steen, mayor of Shavuigan. Steve, congratulations. Have a great time. A little gift bag for Steve to take along with the mementos of City Hall and Steve, would you like to say a few words? First thing I'd like to say is it's five o'clock tomorrow, Thursday. That's official day, that's Friday. Thank you very much. I know that I can say much that's coherent right now but I really appreciate working for the city the number of years I have, been a wonderful career. I'm gonna stay living in the city, appreciate working with all the city aldermen over the years, city mayors, all the city department heads, all the city employees, all the police and fire, DPW. It's all the boards and commissions that I've attended and people don't realize until you get folks like tonight, how thankless a job, working as an elected official or an appointed official or a city employee can be. Really appreciate the fact that people are willing to run, willing to be appointed, willing to work for the city. It's an important thing. And until you get to tough votes, people don't realize that. People think it's, you know, they're just sitting there on the dole or not doing their job or whatever, but it's really important. And that's all I'd like to say. Thank you very much. Alderman Hammond. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, move to adjourn. Second. Thank you for that motion and support. All those in favor of adjournment, please signify by saying aye. Opposed? We stand adjourned. Thank you very much.