Industrial Development Commission Minutes

Minutes of the Industrial Development Commission meeting held on Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 at city hall pursuant to notice duly given.

1. Meeting called to order at 8:02 a.m. by Chairperson Doeren.
2. Roll call: Dick Doeren, Mike Trepanier, Howard Schaden, Wayne Bostwick, Vernon Panske and Ken DePouw. Advisory member Jack Maas also present as well as Linda Belongia, Administrator and as recording secretary.
Excused/Absent: Tom Fulton, advisory member and Joe Stiloski.
3. Moved by DePouw seconded by Trepanier to approve of the agenda as
presented.
Motion carried upon verbal voice vote. 6 ayes
4. Moved by Panske seconded Trepanier to approve and place on file as typed the minutes from the 4/20/09 meeting.
Motion carried upon verbal voice vote. 6 ayes
5. Correspondence/public input: Al Walker from UP Engineers and Architects (UPEA) present to address agenda item 6 b the soil testing for
235 Cook Avenue; Walker stated he spoke with Tom Moyle this morning,
still very interested in developing this site for retail use; concern that with
this property having a close proximity to the river what the soil conditions
are; having the soil boring tests could save a developer a lot of costs in
concrete;

NOTED: 8:06 a.m. Mayor Nerenhausen and Joe Stiloski arrived

Walker stated the testing will be six borings driller on site by a two-man
crew using a drilling rig; the samples will then be analyzed and
recommendations will be made as to the building construction to be
placed on the soil, will determine the bearing capacity; developer would
like the site “slab ready”; Trepanier referenced that when the hotel was
being built the statement was made that they wished they had performed
soil boring tests before they started construction; discussion; this is a
positive stepping stone, the $4800 for the soil boring tests is a short term
investment, eventually will be passed on with the sale of the property;

Moved by Trepanier to recommend to Finance the expenditure of $4800
from the general fund for the soil boring test.

Mayor questioned what the proposal language meant by “slab ready”?

Walker stated looking at the soil, soil bearing capacity report;

Mayor stated the city should have no obligation to doing the testing; Mayor doesn’t like the reference to slab ready;

Walker stated its just terminology;

Mayor agrees with having the soil testing done, but from that point on the city is not responsible, if any footings, etc are found, doesn’t approve of
the way the proposal is written;

Walker again stated its just terminology;

Stiloski questioned what is the timetable for development to begin?

Walker stated Tom Moyle is aggressive, referenced a couple of other projects he is working on presently;

Motion by Trepanier was seconded by Stiloski to recommend to Finance to allocate from the general fund an amount not to exceed $4,800.00 for
UP Engineers and Architects to do six soil boring tests and provide a
report on the results for the property at 235 Cook Avenue, Oconto, WI.
Motion carried upon verbal voice vote. 7 ayes


Doeren referenced the OCEDC website, we are not listed under the industrial parks; letter should be sent to Lee Rymer on this, as the city we
no longer will accept this because of one individual;

Moved by Stiloski seconded by Bostwick to recommend that a draft letter
be brought back to the next IDC meeting for review, which will then be
sent to Lee Rymer, and copied to the county board supervisors and the
County Administrator regarding our concerns on not being included as
county tax payers.
Motion carried upon verbal voice vote. 7 ayes

Schaden expressed concern on comment made that Tom Moyle typically does not use local businesses for his developments; materials and
contractors were brought in from Michigan on the Marinette projects
Moyle’s been involved with; could use STS for doing the soil borings;
Discussion; IDC left motion as originally made to go with UPEA for the soil borings;

6. Discussion/possible recommendations:
a. Development of 235 Cook Avenue; Belongia updated IDC on phone call from Corey at Keller Structures; they have brochures on 235 Cook Ave
that all the marketing people use to promote the City of Oconto when
meeting with developers;

b. Soil testing was handled earlier on the agenda

c. Proposal from Ayres for Environmental field work at 235 Cook Avenue;
Discussion; concern and confusion on what the proposal from Ayres means; how much is left as referenced in the proposal from not having to
do the 3rd round of testing? The new proposal for $12,900…a lot is not covered…applying for PECFA grants, etc., proposal states Ayres could do
this for additional fees; concern by IDC members, how can we even
consider selling the property at 235 Cook Avenue if we have this
petroleum issue? Ayres has been discussing this with the DNR; need to
get documentation from DNR on status of testing etc for 235 Cook;
proposal for $12,900 has a charge for drilling well that was damaged
during demolition…this is not a city screw up…either Ayres didn’t have it
marked before Champion started, or Champion hit is and buried it during
the demo process; we need to have a cost of everything done to date and
what is left to close out the accounts; again concern on who screwed up
Ayres or Champion? IDC members want someone from Ayres here to
address our questions…and status of petroleum clean up; need to see
exactly where we are; Belongia instructed to set up a special IDC meeting
ASAP.

7. Special Meeting date at this time not yet set.
8. Moved by Panske seconded by Bostwick to adjourn. M/C
Meeting adjourned at 9:22 a.m.

Minutes submitted by
Linda M. Belongia,
Administrator