 I'd like to call the ninth meeting of the 2014-2015 Common Council to order. Would the clerk please read the quote for today. Thank you, Mayor. People have been known to achieve more as a result of working with others rather than against them. Thank you. Next we'll go on to the roll call. There are 13 present. Alderman Venakren, Alderman Herman, and Alderman Donahue are excused. Next please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge 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. The next item on the agenda is the approval of the minutes from our last meeting. Alderman Hammond. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Move to approve. Second. Thank you for that motion and support. The motion is on the floor. Is there any discussion? Seeing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Next we'll go on to resignations. City Attorney. Thank you, Your Honor. I have a resignation from John Vandermal who's advising that he's residing from the City Plan Commission because of the advanced technology he's not familiar with. He's not familiar with the new board docs just now being used in the meetings to not feel comfortable learning at his age. Enjoyed serving on the committee for the past 15 years. Alderman Hammond. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Move to accept and file. Second. Thank you for that motion and support. The motion is before us. Any discussion? Seeing none. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Next is council appointments. City Attorney. Honorable members of the council, hereby submit the following appointment for your consideration. Marilyn Montemayor to be considered for appointment to the City Plan Commission to fill the unexpired term of John Vandermal whose term expires for 2015 signed by the Mayor. That appointment will lie over. And Don Terschner to be considered for appointment to the Housing Authority to fill the unexpired term of Roland Wilson whose term expires for 27-25. Also signed by the Mayor. That will also lie over. And then we'll go on to confirmation of council appointments. City Attorney. Nancy Manchin to be considered for appointment to the Library Board to fill the unexpired term of Marge Segali whose term expires for 30-2016. Alderman Hammond. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Move to confirm. Second. Thank you for that motion and support. The motion is on the floor. Is there any discussion? Seeing none. All those around, well, no other. We have to call a roll for that. 12 ayes, one no. Motion passes. Next is a presentation by City Assessor Lee Grossnick on the City Reassessment Notice. Lee, please join us in front. To the Common Council, Citizens of Sheboygan. As everybody knows, we just completed a revaluation citywide. And it's generated some interest throughout the city. We've had a fair share of calls. And there's been some articles in the paper and such. And I wanted to share some information with the council and some of the citizens as to what we have done as far as the revaluation itself. Some of these are questions that I've received. Some of these are some statistics. Facts about the revaluation process. We began in June of 2013. It was completed by myself and my staff of three other employees. We also had some additional professional help from Grota Appraisal. There were 15,516 residential parcels that were reviewed and 1,352 commercial parcels. As far as manufacturing that gets taken care of by the Department of Revenue. And the last revaluation was completed in 2006. Now what is a revaluation and why is it necessary? A revaluation is an update of all assessments within the city. When property assessments are no longer within 10% of fair market value, the Wisconsin Department of Revenue notifies the city that they are out of compliance and that a revaluation should be done. Every year the DOR conducts a sales ratio study to establish an equalization ratio or level of assessment. In 2012, the DOR sent our office notice of 1,284 real estate transfers. It then became our job to determine which of the transfers were valid sales and the appraisers after checking each individual sale validated 321 transfers as arms length transactions. Now that's I think a little less than 25%. It just goes to show you what we have to all throw out to find valid sales to work in this process. The information anyway was then passed back to the DOR to analyze and create the 2013 ratio which was at 110.68%. At this point the city was no longer within 10% of fair market value and the valuation was recommended. I also included a listing of tax rates and assessment ratios. Basically all I really wanted to show is how the assessment ratio changes from year to year. In 2006 you can see we were at 100% and that was right following the last revaluation. Then in 2007 we had a normal good year and the sales when compared to our assessments the ratio came in at 94.84%. In 2008 it pretty much was at a standstill. It dropped down a little bit to 94.17%. In 2009 the turn started. It went back up a little bit to 94.92% and then in 2010 all the way back up to 100%. In 2011 it continued as our assessments became for the first time ever really to be bigger than what the sale prices were coming in at. We were at 103.63%. In 2012 it jumped away to 108.67% and then in 2013 it went to 110.68%. How did we determine the values? I've been asked that a few times. In a revaluation the value of your property is based on an analysis of the entire real estate market for a specified period of time before the project is even completed. The study of property sales between January 1, 2011 and December 31 of 2013 allowed the appraisers to establish valuation parameters such as neighborhood ratings, influence factors, and market adjustments. Parameters were then applied to the sale properties and the calculations were tested for closeness to the sales prices. After tests were completed and the results were satisfactory, assessments were generated for the non-sale properties and another review took place by the appraisers and the assessments were also reviewed by style and by square foot value ranges within each neighborhood. You're ahead of me. Did all assessments change at the same rate? Now, many of these questions are questions that I took over the form of recent. Anyway, assessments do not change at the same rate. There are differences that we find between individual properties and between neighborhoods. Values can change from one neighborhood to another. We've all heard it, location, location, location. How can my assessment change when I haven't made any improvements to my property? General economic conditions such as interest rates, inflation, or recession, and changes in tax laws as property values change in the marketplace so can assessments. How will my taxes change as a result of the new assessment? A change up or down an assessment does not mean that property taxes will increase or decrease. Your final property tax amount is affected by budget needs of the city, the county, school district, and technical college. Property taxes are then determined by taking your assessment, dividing by a thousand, and multiplying by the tax rate. Will my assessment go up if I repair my property? Normal maintenance will help retain market value, but generally will not affect your assessment in a significant way. Which is the case generally with roof replacement, generally doors, flooring, those types of items. What will happen to my assessment if I improve my property? Not all improvements increase your assessment, but the following may. An added living area or a new garage. Aluminum or vinyl siding. Vinyl siding is when we run into a property that has like or asphalt. It's not really desirable anymore, like the vinyl, and so therefore it can increase the value of the property. Substantial modernization such as kitchen or baths, addition such as fireplaces or air conditioning, and just plain out extensive remodeling can all have an effect. Nobody inspected the inside of my home, so how could you reassess it? The assessor's office maintains a complete record of each property. Information is kept current through building permits, sales inspections, and exterior reviews. This information is used to develop the new assessment. Did the foreclosed home next to my house affect my assessment? City appraisers did not take foreclosures and share of sales into account when we reviewed the sales. They weren't considered to be arm's length transactions, so we just removed them from the equation. What can property owners do to keep their neighborhood from declining and bring more stability to their neighborhood? There's a number of residents that called. They have picked up some of these older homes in, I'm going to say, at a very reasonable price. They've put money into them, fixed them up, but yet the neighbors around them haven't done so and the area is just in some ways holding their value back. Anyway, I've been encouraging residents to form these neighborhood associations, address neighborhood issues, and interested residents should actually contact the planning department for more information. There's, I believe, funds available for people that are low income. They can get to fix their homes. They just need to ask the questions, and I think if they were to stop at planning, they'd get the answers. What do I do if I disagree with the new assessment? On August 11th through the 15th, we will be holding open book. This week allows concerns, the concern taxpayers, the opportunity to discuss their assessments with the appraisers. If residents are interested in attending, they should just, all they need to do is call the city assessor's office at 459-3393. That's a specific line set that we have for setting these appointments, and we'll be glad to discuss any of their questions or any of the assessments. And for those that want to go on and appeal their assessment, if they're still unhappy with the answers they get from the assessor's office and they want to appeal beyond that, they need to contact the city clerk's office. There's a complaint form that needs to be filled out and filed with the clerk's office, and then they will be given an appointment time as to when to appear. And the Board of Review will be convening on September 9th. And I believe that's pretty much all I have. There are some good resources out there. Excuse me, the Department of Revenue has a website out there where you can get property information guides for property owners. This is one that I just happened to print off, and it basically explains a lot of what I just went through. And do I have a few minutes for any questions? Sure, go ahead. Take one or two. Alderman Hammond. Thank you. Thank you for your presentation. And quick question, is that form available online for people that want to appeal their assessment? Can they go out to the city's website and pick that form up instead of coming into the city hall? Or can we make it available online? I guess it's a better question. I think absolutely we could, sure. Great, thank you. Alderman Boring. Thank you, Mayor. Would it be possible or is it helpful if somebody disagrees with their assessment for them to request somebody from your staff to come over and look at the property before they would come down to the Board of Review? We could make some arrangements for something like that, sure. I've already made that accommodation to a couple of citizens upcoming within the next week or so. Yes, if it's impossible for them to come down here and attend the open book or whatever, we'll find a way to work with them. We can either discuss it over the phone or if they would rather that we went through the property, we can do that as well. Thank you for those questions. And Lee, thanks very much for your presentation. We appreciate all the work that you and the department did on this reassessment of the city. And I think that helps the council and the citizens out to get more information on this. Appreciate it. Next, we'll move on to the public forum. Nothing this evening. Thank you. And then Mayor's announcements. Next week, Tuesday, we have an election coming up and the clerk has consolidated some of the polling locations. So please check their website to make sure you're going to the proper place to vote. Tomorrow night is our national night out. America's night out against crime. It's coming up at between 5 and 7.30 p.m. tomorrow. Things will kick off with events at Fountain Park including some food trucks, music, face painting for the kids. We'll have some law enforcement and fire department equipment on the site for people to examine. And then we'll mind everybody to turn their porch lights on on August 5th. And this event was brought to us by Countywide, Sheboygan Countywide Crime Stoppers. I'd also like to mention that the historic Wolf Olsen Post of 1230 on Union Avenue is celebrating their 90th anniversary. And they're going to have a celebration. I think everybody has an invite on their desk to attend from 1 to 4 p.m. on August 9th. And on September 5th, council meeting, we'll have a special election of the Board of Water Commissioners. And if anyone's interested, they should respond to Alderman Hammond to myself. And we'll get their names down as candidates for that election. And next, I'd just like to mention that last week there was a groundbreaking for the first of six new homes to be built in the Erie Avenue Revitalization Project. This project was started back in 2011 as a partnership between Habitat for Humanity, the Gateway Neighborhood Association, Sheboygan Neighborhood Pride, and the City of Sheboygan. And along the way, this project has also received some needed assistance from the Sheboygan County Treasurer's Office and also some financial sponsorship from U.S. Bank. The ceremony was a culmination of a longtime dream of years of hard work, mostly by city planning director Chad Pellecek. And he was assisted by three determined individuals from the Habitat for Humanity Lakeshore group. Dennis Ketterman, Tom Folly, and Greg Ryan were recognized on that day. They banded together with city staff to accomplish their joint vision. They believed that focusing the combined efforts of Habitat for Humanity and the City of Sheboygan on this one block of Erie Avenue in the Gateway Neighborhood could transform this neighborhood and begin to transform the City of Sheboygan. Dennis Ketterman is with us today. He's representing Habitat for Humanity Lakeside. And I'd like to have a step up and make a short address to the council. Good evening. My name is Dennis Ketterman, like you said, and we are really excited. I find it interesting that in working on this project, what was your opening statement tonight? Let's work together as a community group instead of against each other. Well, that is exactly what we're doing here. Bringing all these groups together along with Habitat for Humanity is a fantastic thing that we're doing. We could not do this project without the city, you know, doing all the things of purchasing the homes and demolishing them so we can put good, decent families into decent affordable homes. A couple of things you might want to know. This is going to be the home we're going to start putting up. That's the color of the families chosen. We have three basic designs and the porches can be moved on either side so we can have a variety of looks throughout the block. We also have different colors throughout the block. And just for your information, too, the community is going to be hugely involved with all the volunteers, corporate sponsorships. We're hoping to see some of you out there coming and giving us a lunch or maybe having a work day, something like that. But you also need to know that these families work hard for this. This family is going to have to put in 500 hours of sweat equity in order to get this home. They need to go through financial advisement. They need to work with Habitat with their family selection committee that is going to make sure they run properly through all the procedures going on and to make sure that once they're in the home, they will be taking care of it. The second thing they'll be doing is getting a non-interest loan for the cost of the home. So they do pay us back for that. They do give us a sweat equity so they're not just giving this home and saying thank you. And we just are so excited about the fact that we're making this block and this entry into Sheboygan look so much better and so great. And I thank Chad Palaszczuk for being a real sponsor of getting us all together and working on this. And not only this, but then our long-term project is going to extend beyond this block up and down the street north and south of those blocks too. So Habitat is super excited about being part of this. And we thank you for bringing this all together. Dennis, thank you very much for your words and also for being a great partner in this project. Appreciate it. Next we'll go on to hearings. 2.1 is a hearing for the proposed assessments for water lateral replacements in South A Street from Kentucky Avenue to Union Avenue. Is there anyone wishing to be heard? Is there anyone wishing to be heard? Is there anyone wishing to be heard? Alderman Hammond. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Move to close. Second. Thank you for that motion. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Next we'll go on to the consent agenda, including items 3.2 through 3.20. Alderman Hammond. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move to accept and file all ROs, accept and adopt all ROCs and put all resolutions and ordinances upon their passage. Second. Thank you for that motion. Under discussion, Alderman Boren. Thank you, Mayor. I would like to pull forward document number 3.2 and document 3.16 and refer them to the committee of the whole. Thank you for that motion. Under discussion, 3.2 and it was 3.6? 16. 16. Alderman Hammond. I'm just kind of curious why we would need to refer these to, one's a newspaper article that the entire council's had an opportunity to see when it was referred to committee. And the other one was an informational budget document that, again, the entire council got as part of Alderman Van Akron. So I'm not sure why these need to go to committee of the whole and when everybody's got the information they need. Thank you for that comment. Alderman Boren. Thank you, Mayor. I believe in the way this is worded for 3.2, Alderman Van Akron was, wanted this review during the upcoming budget process. It's my understanding that there may be a committee of the whole meeting next week that's going to deal with the budget. And on 3.16, that was an article regarding health insurance rates, a survey done by our insurance carrier M3. And when we discussed this at Salary and Grievance last week, we made a motion to file it, but I wasn't aware at that time that there was going to possibly be a committee of the whole meeting. And I think this is one of the topics that's very important during our budget discussions, and that is the health insurance issue. Thank you for that comment. Alderman Hammond. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Not to be the dead horse, but duly noted that we received the article and it addresses health insurance rates. And we all know that health insurance is an issue, but I'd rather focus on our health insurance rates. Everybody's had an opportunity to read the article. Same thing with the information that Alderman Van Akron put together, which again, very timely. But I think his number one intent was to get that information to the hands of the council members, which this document does. I don't need to know that we need to waste time on the committee of the whole meeting just to file a document that everybody has possession of. So thank you. Thank you for those comments. If there's another discussion. Clerk will call the roll to refer these two documents. Five ayes, eight noes. Motion is defeated. The consent agenda again includes everything 3.2 through 3.20. Is there any further discussion? Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll for passage on the consent agenda. 13 ayes. Motion passes. We'll move on to reports of officers. Items 4.1 through 4.6 will be referred to various committees. Under resolutions, resolution 5.1 is a resolution by Alderman Heidemann authorizing the advertising of bids for the construction and installation of a sanitary sewer in Whedon Creek approximately 1,300 feet west of South Taylor Drive and construction installation of a water main approximately 1,600 feet west of South Taylor Drive. Alderman Heidemann. Second. We have a motion and a second to suspend. All those in favor of suspension, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Under suspension Alderman Heidemann. Yeah, I put the resolution upon his passage. Second. Thank you for that motion and support. The documents before us for discussion. Any discussion? Seeing none, will the clerk let's see we'll call that as a voice vote. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Items 5.2 through 5.4 will be referred to the finance committee. Under reports of committees, 6.1 is an RC by finance to whom was referred resolution number 46 of 1415 recommending authorizing a transfer of appropriations in the 2014 budget to establish revenue and appropriations for Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Grant for library services. Alderman Hammond. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move to accept and adopt and put the resolution upon its passage. Second. Thank you for that motion and support. Is there any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll for passage? Thirteen ayes. Motion passes. Item 6.2 is a reported committee by salary and grievances to whom was referred RC number 75 of 1415 by the committee of the whole who met and discussed charter ordinance number one of 1415 being subject to the home rule provisions of section 66.0101 of Wisconsin state statutes providing for the appointment of the city attorney in lieu of current method of election by the voters to such office under Wisconsin statute 62.09 subsection 3b4 recommends filing the documents. Alderman Dassler. Thank you, Mayor. I make a motion to accept and adopt and file the document. Second. Thank you for that motion and support. All those in favor of the motion, is there any discussion first of all? All those in favor of the motion, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. I'm sorry. Nay. I heard a nay. Item 6.3 is an RC by salary and grievances to whom was referred charter ordinance number one of 1415 being subject to the home rule provisions of section 66.0101 of the Wisconsin statutes providing for the appointment of the city attorney in lieu of the current method of election by the voters to such office under Wisconsin statute 62.09 subsections 3b4 and resolution number 43 of 1415 providing for the submittal of substitutes of charter ordinance number one of 1415 to a referendum of the voters recommends that resolution number 43 of 1415 be passed incorporating the attached subs of charter ordinance number one of 1415. The change in subs of charter ordinance number one of 1415 makes two changes to the original proposed charter ordinance. First, it increases the municipal experience from two years to three. Alderman Dassler. Thank you, Mayor. I move we accept and adopt and pass resolution incorporating the subs of charter ordinance 1-1415. Second. Thank you for that motion and support that's on the floor for discussion. Alderman Coss. Thank you, Mayor. I'm going to be a no on this resolution also. I feel as Alderman we're elected to make the most important decisions at City Hall. I feel this is a decision that we can make as a body. Thank you for those comments. Alderman Coss. Alderman Carlson. Thank you, Mayor. I also will be voting against this. I think it's quite ridiculous that this council can't make a decision on this. There is no outcry for a referendum. It's a pretty easy decision. It's pretty common across the state and across the country. We do get paid the big bucks and I kind of say that tongue in cheek, but we are here to make decisions on behalf of the city. So just to send something as simple as this to referendum, I think it's ridiculous. Thank you for those comments. Any other discussion? Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll on passage. Ayes, 8 noes. A motion fails. Item 4.6 is an RC by the finance committee who has referred RO number 75 of 1415 and recommends referral of a claim from Wallace Hahn for alleged damages to his vehicle when a rock flew from the parking utility lawnmower into his windshield. Alderman Hammond. Mr. Mayor, that's just a referral to parking in transit. Next is item 6.5 an RC by salary and grievances to whom was referred RO number 27 of 1415 submitting a notice of claim filed on behalf of Jeffrey Herman and recommends that the claim be denied and to direct the city attorney to send a notice of disallowance. Alderman Dassler. Thank you, Mayor. I move that we accept and adopt. Second. Thank you for that motion and support. Is there any discussion on that motion? Seeing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. It's laid over. Resolution 44 of 1415 by Alderman Heidemann, Boren, Bellinger, Thiel and Van Akron being a relocation order of the city of Sheboygan, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. Alderman Heidemann. Thank you, Mayor. I put the resolution upon his passage. Second. Thank you for that motion and support. Under discussion. Okay, what this resolution has to deal with is putting sidewalk in places where previously there was a sidewalk. Thank you for that explanation, Alderman Heidemann. Any other discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, let's see we're now have to do a roll call vote on that. 13 ayes. Motion passes. Next is other matters, city attorney. Thank you, Your Honor. 8.1 is an RO by the city clerk submitting communication from Ryan Noel Zimmerman requesting a waiver for the sex offender residency restrictions in order to live at 1032B Lincoln Avenue. That will be referred to public protection and safety. And 8.2 is an RO by the city clerk submitting various license applications for the period ending June 30, 2015 and June 30, 2016. That will be referred to the law and licensing committee. Next item we have on the agenda is a closed session. Alderman Hammond. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move to convene in closed session under exemption provided in section 1985 1G of the Wisconsin statutes for the purpose of conferring with the city's legal counsel who is rendering oral advice concerning strategy to be adopted by the city with respect to litigation in which it is likely to become involved. Re-claim of Jeff Herman. Second. Thank you for that motion and support. Would the clerk please call the roll? Your Honor. I'm sorry. Go ahead, city attorney. Yes, council. This was put on in the event the council wished to discuss claim 6.5 and the claim of Jeff Herman, the recommendation from the salary grievance was to deny the claim and file the notice of disallowance which passed all eyes. So it's up to you whether you still want to go into closed session, but that was what the purpose of this discussion was for. Alderman Hammond. I would move to withdraw my motion. Second. Okay, motion has been withdrawn. Next on the item is adjournment. Alderman Hammond. Move to adjourn. Second. Moved and seconded. All those in favor of adjourning, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? We stand adjourned. Thank you very much. We've heard. We're about doing everything.