 I'd like to call the 23rd meeting of the 2014-2015 Common Council's order. By clerk, please read the quote for the day. Thank you, Mayor. What a wonderful thought it is that some of the best days of our lives haven't happened yet. Thank you very much. Please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America into the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Next item on the agenda is approval of minutes from our last meeting. Alderman Hammond. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move to approve. Second. Thanks for that motion and support. Is there any discussion on those minutes? Seeing none. All those in favor, please signify by seeing aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Next item is council appointments. Alderman, are there Steve McLean, city attorney? Signed by the mayor. Today's date. Honorable members of the council, I hereby submit the following appointment for your consideration. Alderperson Julie Coth to be appointed to the Law and Licensing Committee to fill the unexpired term of Kevin Maticek, whose term expires for 20-2015, again signed by the mayor. Second one is the appointment to the business improvement district, Amy Horst, for the period 3-2015 term expires December 31st, 2016, signed by the mayor. Thank you. Alderman Hammond. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move to suspend the rules on these two accounts of appointments. Second. Is there any objection to suspension? Seeing none, please proceed. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. For all the person costs, she'll be replacing all the person on Maticek, who resigned. So we need to get that position on Law and Licensing Bill as soon as possible so they can go on with their work. So thank you. Thank you very much. I'm sorry. Is there any further? I'll approve the appointments. Second. We have a motion then on the floor. Is there any further discussion on the motion? Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll? 14 ayes. Motion passes. Next, we'll move on to a public forum. City attorney, I mean, city clerk. Get in a promotion there. No, thank you. No, thank you. OK, before I call anyone up, I'm just going to read this. It's to the public, please limit comments and suggestions to five minutes or less, because we do have a full agenda. Comments and suggestions will pertain to city business. Personal criticism of other individuals is out of order. And the city council will listen to city input, but will not respond or debate. First on our list this evening is Dave Grabner. David, are you speaking or not? You don't have to. That makes the list a little shorter. Thank you, David. Next is Jane Martin. Jane, are you here? Jane, if you could come up to the front podium, please. Jane, can I have your home address? My home address is 2326 West Shelley Court. And you will have five minutes. Thank you. I'm here to support the Aurora proposal to build a new ambulatory surgery center and medical office building on the current field of dreams site. I've been an Aurora employee for over 40 years. My husband, Mike, and I are neighbors of the field of dreams on West Shelley Court, living in our home for 38 years. I have confidence in the leadership of Aurora Health Care, particularly our local leadership led by Dave Grabner. Our leadership has worked tirelessly to provide the best health care for our community. The construction implementation of our neonatal intensive care unit and the organization of a palliative care program are examples of their foresight and commitment to the health care of the city of Sheboygan and the surrounding counties. The most recent example of Mr. Grabner's leadership is the organizational and financial support that he and other leaders of Aurora have provided to improving the mental health services in our community. So to me, the proposed construction on the field of dreams site is a natural evolution of my Aurora leaders ongoing quest to give me and other caregivers of Aurora Sheboygan Memorial Medical Center the tools that we need to provide excellent care to our patients. As I mentioned earlier, I worked at a memorial for over 40 years. It is amazing to reminisce about all the changes and advances that I witnessed and participated in. One of them is why we are here tonight. And that's a major shift of inpatient procedures and care to outpatient care. As you have already heard, memorial is very strapped for space. I currently manage a nursing unit and an intensive care unit in which we care for both inpatients and outpatients on a daily basis. That's not the norm in most hospitals. Usually they are dedicated outpatient units. They have the space for that. That is not our process right now. We don't have the luxury of space for those patients. So it's not an easy task for my nursing caregivers to admit and discharge the short stay patients and still provide quality care to the very critically ill inpatients at the same time. But they juggle this patient care on a daily basis. Additionally, I want to reinforce the other message you've heard, which is that we must reduce the overcrowding and wait times in our emergency department. If the outpatients I just spoke of were moved to the outpatient surgery center, I would have the ability to admit those inpatients from the emergency department to my nursing unit in a more timely manner. I understand the concerns of the neighbors living close to the field of dreams. When Mike and I built our home in 1977, Taylor Drive was a two-lane gravel road. And we could see Mapledale School. We have been apprehensive and concerned many times over the past 38 years. Plan to pave Taylor Drive, extend Taylor Drive to the North, the utility substation that sits on Taylor Drive, the construction of St. Nicholas Hospital and several surrounding medical office buildings, and yes, even the current field of dreams. However, with every change, we looked at the proposals with optimism, realizing that change is inevitable. We read and listened to understand the proposals, provided feedback, and then supported the work of those who were involved. I will admit that when Dave first told me about the Aurora proposal, I thought it was a crazy idea. Not in my neighborhood. Kitty Corner from St. Nicholas? You've got to be kidding. But then I learned about all the other sites that Aurora leadership had investigated, and they couldn't be considered for various reasons. Then I learned that Aurora was meeting or exceeding all the requirements that the school board had identified were necessary in order to sell the property. Then I learned of all the benefits to our local athletic programs. My initial skepticism disappeared. We all know that there is a very vocal group that opposes the Aurora proposal. I also want you to know that there's a group of neighbors who are relatively silent, some because they don't have an opinion, some because they're afraid to speak up in favor of the proposal, and some who have told me that they just expect our older persons to make good decisions that will benefit the majority of their constituents and the community as a whole. There is no doubt in my mind that the outpatient surgery and physician office building construction on the field of dreams will enhance the quality of the patient care we deliver as well as improve access to health care in our community. I believe that the leadership of Aurora health care is committed to working with the neighbors and being good stewards of the land. Thank you. Thank you, Jane. Next would be Joe Volkner. Joe here. Joe, if you could come on up to the front. Joe, can I get your home address, please? Yes, it's a 4214 Northfield Drive in Sheboygan 53083. Okay, thank you, and you will have five minutes, sir. Thank you. I am appearing tonight for Scott Schaefer of Sheboygan Youth Football. I'm very late notice, so apologize for not having any prepared remarks, but one of the things I do want to talk about is the perspective of this development from the youth sports angle. Youth sports in Sheboygan is getting a tremendous boon by having this project go forward. Excuse me, I have a cold, so bear with me. And it is a tremendous opportunity for youth sports in this town. I represent, I'm a board member of Lakeshore United Football Club. It is Sheboygan's youth football organization or soccer organization, I'm sorry. And we serve 1,700 kids in Sheboygan and the surrounding communities. We have, between our select, our rec teams and our academy, we have an opportunity now with the Butts and Farm Development to have a place to call home. We have worked very hard over the last several years to find a home. I think you've heard this from the folks at Sheboygan Youth Football as well, that they are also looking for a home and they were very excited and I'm sure most of you in this room tonight have heard Scott Schaefer talk about how excited he is about the opportunity for his group. We have the same excitement and we are chomping at the bit to get going. We know and there have been a lot of concerns raised within the community about who's gonna pay for all this? Is the city gonna pay for this? Are the taxpayers going to pay for this? Ultimately, how are the clubs going to be sufficient in terms of financing the ongoing efforts? And do I have all the answers for you tonight? No, I don't. But I will tell you this, is Lakeshore United is dedicated to having it be a self-sufficient, non-tax payer-funded opportunity for this community. I, as well as the folks at Lakeshore United, as well as the Sheboygan Youth Football, view this development as a tremendous opportunity, not just for our clubs, but for the community as a whole. All the people that are going to be involved in this are going to have a day where they're very proud of what they've gotten in terms of the facility, in terms of the efforts, in terms of everything that they've done to make this dream a reality, not only for the clubs, but for all the people here in community. It's not north versus south. It's not Sheboygan neighbors here versus Sheboygan neighbors over here. It's everybody's, and it's for everybody to utilize, and it is for everybody to take a look at and say, this is something we did together. Now, in terms of the fundraising efforts and the things that are going to be necessary, is there some work to be done by Lakeshore United? You bet there is. There's a lot of work to be done. But we are very excited about that opportunity. We're very confident that we're going to be able to do that going forward. There's represented, these fields represent an opportunity for revenue in terms of tournaments. And we're talking about tournament grade facilities. This facility is viewed to be one of Wisconsin's very best ideas in terms of a soccer facility, as well as a football facility. And that's a great opportunity for this community as well. So we're also very excited about the prospects of that. In terms of its impact for the kids, what we look for, and we've heard a lot of talk about, well, it's for our kids. Of course it is. No matter what perspective you come from here, it is about the kids. Of course it is. From our perspective, as a soccer club, we look at it as an opportunity to provide our kids with more programming, more opportunities, more things to do in this community that we're never here before. Is Field of Dreams a great facility? You bet. It always was. It will always be remembered that way. But time marches on and change comes. And change isn't always comfortable. It's not always easy. And it's not always the best thing for those that may live in the neighborhood. As from the perspective of the greater good, not only from a sports perspective, but as a community asset, there is absolutely no doubt that this is a great opportunity for the community. And I urge all of you on the council to consider that when talking about the zoning. The school district had specific criteria. It was laid out very clearly. It was exceeded. The folks at the Planning Commission considered all of many of the same things and passed along their recommendation to all of you. We're real excited about the opportunity to move forward as I've mentioned several times. And the reason I keep saying it is because we're really, really excited about it. We think it's a great time. And I want to commend before I end with, I want to commend the neighbors and I want to commend their efforts. They've been very organized. Their passion is compelling. And I want to give them kudos and props for everything that they've done in organizing their efforts as well. But overall, as a club, we urge you to approve the zoning as submitted. And I thank you for the opportunity to be heard tonight. Thank you, Joe. Next on the list will be John Ravellis. John, can I have your home address, please? 1739 North 6th Street. And you will have five minutes. So thank you council for allowing me to speak. I wear three hats here as a neighbor of the current hospital, as a father of multiple soccer youth soccer players and as an Aurora physician, currently chief of staff of the hospital. So from a residential standpoint, I moved here in 2001 and initially we had some issues with ambulances. They would come sirens blazing down 6th Street. That's the main route to the hospital. Had a newborn infant that was oftentimes awoken with ambulance noise. We reached out to our older persons and shortly after that, I don't know if it was an ordinance, but they no longer run sirens in the residential neighborhoods. Very accommodating, not a problem. And being close to the hospital, I've had nothing but positives. The access has been great. But even from patients that I treat, many patients walk home. They say, I live two blocks away, I can just walk home. So there's no always bad sides to having a hospital in your neighborhood. And being a close neighbor, I feel it has been an asset for us. Transportation is huge. Many patients rely on bus and taxi. If we went out to the 23 core door now, you're gonna be paying a much more expensive cab ride. You cannot take a city bus to transport yourself. So staying in the city limits is very important for patient transportation reasons. As well as access. We are still the only inpatient psych facility in the city of Sheboygan, in the county of Sheboygan. And that is an important service. And those patients do not oftentimes have cars or access and to be able to walk or to take a cab or to take a city bus is very important. So staying within city limits I think is very important. As a parent of soccer players, I've had four daughters that have gone through or are currently going through soccer and one that will become an up soon as a kindergartner. We have lived at Field of Dreams. And although I appreciate having facilities in town, that field is not an optimal soccer facility. We have had multiple games canceled because if you've ever parked at the street, it's built below street level. You can't see the kids practicing oftentimes because it's below street level. And so we get anything more than an inch of rain and those games are canceled, delayed. It's unsafe conditions because it holds the mud that they don't wanna tear up the fields or have the kids get hurt. As a parent, I have a lot of concerns about the safety of that area for soccer because Geely and Seaman are very busy and people pull U-turns, turn in driveways to turn around and oftentimes kids go darting across the street because parents are parked on both sides because that facility was built with way under planned parking spaces. So that parking lot is not convenient. It's off to one side, it's not centrally located. So the kids can't go from one end of the field to the parking area, so the parents park on the street. So it is not a safe facility for soccer. It's great that we have something, but it's not optimal. So now we're proposing a facility built for soccer that will actually be able to safely handle the kids, both field conditions and parking in addition to the opportunities to have tournaments which as was mentioned, that is the way clubs sustain themselves. Every club in the region, Mequon, Hartford area, Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, we go to all these tournaments. And why does Sheboygan ever host one? We really don't have the facilities. So this will be the revenue that we can raise to sustain the fields and to provide a safe environment. And then Jane echoed our concerns from a hospital standpoint, as most of you know, most surgery now is outpatient and the majority of the volume in the surgery department is going home that day. And because we are so strained with facility, I operate on many children as in here's nose and throat physician. Those children cannot start their day in a room and finish their day in a room. They have to come into outpatient surgery. They then have to go three floors down in an elevator while they're freshly recovering from surgery, spend time in their outpatient room before they get discharged. That's not optimal. We need a facility where the patients can come. They can set up shop, their toys, their stuffed animals, their iPads. They go to surgery. They come back to their same room. That's an optimal outpatient surgery location. The other factor is that we have 100 year old building and no matter how much you upgrade, we are limited to a 100 year old building. And today's technology continues to improve and change power needs. We've had to do multiple electrical upgrades as well as technology like robotic surgery, which we can't even entertain because we have no space in our antiquated small operating rooms to bring a robot in. So recruiting a physician for the Sheboygan market that can do robotic surgery is gonna be difficult. So those are the three. Do you need any more time? Are you okay? You're done? Yep. Yep, thank you very much. All right, thank you. All right. All right. Sorry. Was that a question or a statement? I don't know. I was waiting for the big one. It was a nice way of saying you're done. Okay, sorry. Last on the list is Jason Peters. Jason, okay, if you could come up to the front, please. Hi, Jason. And could I have your home address, please? 1225 Kauffman Avenue. Okay, and you'll have five minutes, sir. Good evening. I would like to start out by saying two things I see the Common Council needs to work on to help fix the relationship with citizens that they represent. And they are secrecy and hypocrisy. I'm here on behalf of the Field of Dreams and also the Sheboygan Army Foundation. Let's start with secrecy. About two weeks ago, I spoke at the Field of Dreams meeting and I asked them when they found out about the 40 acres donated to the city. They explained about a week ago. Now I live on the south side of town. I'm not a neighbor of Field of Dreams. I did coach two years for community rec at the Field of Dreams. But I asked my neighbors on the south side, what about these 40 acres donated to the city? None of my neighbors heard about it. I found that interesting because I knew about the 40 acres on September 3rd, 2014 at 4.43 p.m. You see, I was at the bull in Sheboygan Falls and there were three other people at the bar. A woman, a local contractor, and our Sheboygan's non-elected city administrator. I heard there Mr. Mordial tell the contractor we currently have two bids for the armory. Now please keep in mind this was September 3rd and nothing about the bid process was supposed to be leaked to the public until October 31st. Mr. Mordial then stated to the contractor, the city received 40 acres of land donated to themselves of Indian metals. What can you do with it? I thought to myself, this was very unethical and unprofessional, but I guess non-elected positions don't play by those two terms. Later that night I called my alderman and explained what I witnessed. You see, common counsel, there's a feeling that a few members of the council meet behind closed doors, developing future plans and are not transparent or care about how the public feels until a plan is already made. Then they have these so-called listening sessions for input from the public when they already have their minds made up. Let's move on to the hypocrisy. For the last 15 months, I and others from the Army Foundation have come to you to share ideas about improving the armory for all Sheboygan citizens to enjoy. You let the spaceport use it for seven years, yet we keep going against roadblocks. Why did we go through an RFP process, yet there was not an RFP process for the quarry or mid-lake taken over wildwood? Was there even an RFP process for the field of dreams land? All the time I spent giving you our ideas on how to improve the armory, I finally figured out I was speaking the wrong language for a few of the common counsel members here. So today I will speak the language that you so love. In the words of Randy Moss, straight cash, homie. Let's talk about cash. The armory costs $25,000 a year to heat. You bought the Boston store for $500,000 and another $350,000 to demolish, to make green space for a mini wood stock which two blocks to the Northwest you already have called Felton Park, which includes a band shelter. That $850,000 could have paid for the armory for 34 years. You have the biggest money pit in the city in the Sheboygan marina, that according to the Sheboygan press costs an average of $45,000 a year to fix. But last year with the freakish winter, it cost the taxpayers $350,000 to temporarily fix. On June 26th, the Sheboygan press stated it would cost $2.5 million to permanently fix the marina. That $2.5 million could keep the armory open for 100 years. The armory can be used by all citizens of Sheboygan, rich and poor. The marina has room for 268 bolt slips. In closing, a statement I've read on a lot of social media outlets from the supporters of Aurora, went something like this. A decision should not be made on sediment, but based on the overall benefit for the most people. Well riddle me this. What will benefit the most people? Having an armory for events for the 50,000 plus citizens or keeping a money pit that occupies 268 bolt slips? Please come and counsel when you make future decisions about Sheboygan. Prove to me that this council is not full of hypocrites. Thank you. Next, we'll go on to the mayor's announcements. There's a meeting of the Erie Hill neighborhood. That's the area from Erie to Superior and 14th to 18th Street. That'll be coming up this Thursday from three to five o'clock at Evangelical Free Church on 1710 North 15th Street. Again, that's at six p.m. Mary Lynn Donahue, the chairman of the Committee of the Whole is announcing that there's gonna be a March 10th meeting of the Committee of the Whole. That'll be six o'clock on Tuesday. And we will have a guest presentation by Todd Berry from the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance at that meeting. So mark your calendars for that and plan to attend, please. With that, we'll go on to the consent agenda. Alderman Hammond. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Move to accept and adopt all ROs, accept and file all ROC's and put all resolutions and ordinances upon the passage. Second. Thank you for that motion and support. Is there any discussion on anything on the consent agenda? Seeing none, will you clerk, please call the roll for passage. 14 ayes. Motion passes. Next, we'll go on to reports of officers. Item 3.1 is gonna lie over until April 8th. Items 3.2 through 3.5 will be referred to various committees. Under resolutions. Item 4.1 is a resolution by Alderman Hammond, Hammond, Vanderweal, Heidemann, Donahue, and Carlson approving the fiscal year 2014, one-year annual action plan for the Community Development Black Grant Program submission. Alderman Hammond. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. First, I'd ask to suspend the rules. Second. Thank you for that motion. Is there any objection to suspension? Seeing none, please proceed. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move to put the resolution upon its passage. Second. Thank you for that motion. Is there any discussion on the motion? Alderman Hammond. Thank you. The reason we needed to suspend the rules is we have our dollar amount from HUD. And of course we've got a very limited time to get our report into them as to how our allocation is going to be for the money they're giving us. So that's the reason for the suspension. Thank you very much. Is there any other discussion? Seeing none, will the clerk, please call the roll for passage? 13 ayes and one abstention. Motion passes. Next, we'll go on to item 4.2, which is in resolution by Alderman Hammond accepting a donation of 1222 here on Avenue for rehabilitation and resale from Wells Fargo real estate. Alderman Hammond. Thank you again, Mr. Mayor. Once again, I'd ask that we suspend the rules. Second. We have a motion for suspension. Is there any objection? Seeing none, please proceed. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We were gifted this house by Wells Fargo. They donated it to the city for us to rehab and then do it as we wish. So it's on the here on corridor. This is the address says 1222 here on Avenue. Thank you very much. Any other discussion on the motion? Seeing none, will the clerk, please call the roll for passage? I would love to. The computer to scroll is okay. Are you seeing anything? Nope, yes. Yes? There we go. There it is. Oh, there we go. It's tired. Okay, got it. 14 ayes. Motion passes. Item 4.3 will lie over. Items 4.4 through 4.8 will be referred to various committees under reports of committees. Item 5.1 is an RC by financed and was referred resolution number 144 of 1415 by Alderperson Hammond authorizing a transfer of appropriations in the 2014 budget to establish revenue and appropriations for the 2014 community development block grant entitlement program and recommends that the resolution be passed. Alderman Hammond. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Move to accept and adopt and put the resolution upon his passage. Second. Thank you for that motion and support. The resolutions before us. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll for passage. 14 ayes. Motion passes. Next we'll move on to ordinances. Item 6.1 will be referred to the city planning commission. Going on to matters laid over. Item 7.1 is resolution number 151 of 1415 by Alderperson Heidemann-Bellinger-Thiel authorizing entering to a contract for the purchase of Vermeer-Tobyhine stump cutter. Alderman Heidemann. Thank you, Mayor. I put the resolution on upon his passage. Second. Thank you for that motion and support. Under discussion. Under discussion we were very aggressive last 2014 and cutting down trees and this added equipment will help us. And I knew that because I was at that meeting. Thank you. Is there any other discussion? Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll for passage. 14 ayes. Motion passes. Item 7.2 is resolution number 152 of 1415 by Alderperson Heidemann-Bellinger-Thiel Carlson Donahue and Koth authorizing a transfer of appropriations in the 2015 budget to establish appropriation for the purchase of a Kawasaki Mule multi-use vehicle and purchase of Vermeer stump cutter. Alderman Heidemann, excuse me, Heidemann. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move to put the resolution upon his passage. Second. Thank you for that motion and support. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll. 14 ayes. Motion passes. Next we'll go on to other matters. City Attorney. Document 8.1 is an arrow by the city clerk submitting various license applications for the period ending December 31, 2015 and June 30, 2016. That'll be referred to the Law and Licensing Committee. 8.2 is a resolution approving amendments to the city of Shepooga and Economic Development Loan Program. That should be referred to the Finance Committee. 8.3 is an arrow by the city clerk submitting a communication from CVS store number 10549 Shepooga, Wisconsin, being assigned a notarized certified survey map. That'll be referred to the City Planning Commission. And 8.4 is communication from the Harbor Center Business Improvement District, requesting that the city release all funds collected on their behalf and those funds allocated for them for physical 2015. That'll be referred to the Finance Committee. Item number 9 is Anticipated Close Session. Alderman Hammond. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I've moved a convening closed session on the exemption in section 19851E Wisconsin Statutes for the purpose of discussion and formulation of negotiating strategies relative to the natural resource damage assessment and a development agreement where bargaining reasons require a closed session. Second. Thank you for that motion and support. Will the clerk please call the roll to meet in closed session? 14 ayes. Motion passes. We'll take a five minute recess and read cuisine.