Council Minutes

Minutes of the Special Council meeting held on Thursday, January 28th, 2010 pursuant to notice duly given.



1. Meeting called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Mayor Nerenhausen

2. Roll call: Mayor Nerenhausen, Ed Young, Ken Exferd, John Wittkopf, Al Schreiber, Joe Stiloski, Marlene Zahn, Dick Doeren, Tom Fulton, Jim Stiloski, Jack Maas and Atty. Mraz. Also present: Ron Hayes and Scott Stewart representing the Bd of Public Works, Robert Mommaerts, Director of Public Service and Linda Belongia Administrator and as the recording secretary.

3. Invocation and pledge of allegiance given by Alderperson Exferd.

4. Moved by Zahn seconded by Schreiber to approve of the agenda as presented.
Motion carried upon verbal voice vote. 10 ayes

5. Correspondence/Public Input: Mayor stated input on Brazeau Avenue will be heard under that agenda item. No other input presented.

6. Discussion on construction plans for Business 41 (a/k/a/ Brazeau Avenue/Smith Avenue). Mayor addressed the residents on need for this
meeting; we have some conceptual plans; BPW has a recommendation;
want to hear what you as residents are looking for; part of our vision for
this area is a bicycle path on the west side of Business 41; Mayor
explained what Jurisdictional Transfer funding is; stated city had option of taking the JT funding or letting DOT do Brazeau Avenue to their standards and then turn this over to us as a city street; Mayor stated the BPW is recommending we rip up Brazeau Avenue, stating he doesn’t agree with
this, would like to mill it and build it up to good standards, would amount to
approximately a $300,000 savings to us;

Mayor stated we all received a copy, plus it was in the paper as to what Clement Brazeau would like to see happen with Brazeau Avenue.
Belongia read aloud comments given by Vicki Bostedt who could not
attend tonight’s meeting…stated she’s very supportive of beautifying
Brazeau Avenue with boulevards and grass areas with trees and flowers;
also supportive of the bicycle trail and hopes the wooden cross on the
riverbank can remain where it is;

Mayor opened the discussion up to those present.

Brent Elliott, 413 Brazeau Avenue stated agreement with BPW, rip out and re-do, do it right; agrees with Clem Brazeau’s suggestions, bring back
parking on the street; bike lane or sidewalk, should be a nicely done two
lane road, doesn’t feel we need a sidewalk, take out the sidewalks and put
in bike lane, give him some green space; would like trees along the side of
the road; nice street lights; carry the Main Street theme to Brazeau
Avenue; bring the neighborhood back into this area; allow for needs of
Cruisers and being able to turn onto Pecor Street; doesn’t want another
Roundabout; do whatever it takes to beautify, keeping costs in mind, but
don’t skimp on the project;

Hal Woods stated tear up and replace blacktop; put in a left turning lane at
each intersection; small trees; so it would look like a neighborhood;

Kathy Olson agrees with quite a few of the comments; having a boulevard;
questioned if this money is a grant? Mayor stated no it JT money; Olson
questioned if those money’s could be use to help the properties? Mayor
stated those funds have to be used on the roadway; Olson stated follow tourism ideas…develop a historic French theme;

Joe Watts stated agreement with Elliott, doesn’t want roundabout; money can be used elsewhere; stay away from boulevard’s, will be easier to
snowplow and will cost more than it’s worth;

Mike Pecor stated he is not in favor of a boulevard, likes the idea of a bike trail; referenced bike trail on Shore Drive in Marinette; trees are o.k. but
referenced how they can….; referenced covenant city adopted turning this
area into a highway commercial…should turn back to a residential district;
feels were are starting to see more truck traffic coming in now that they
realize they are not slowed up to much coming in; just replace the black
top; would also like to see left turning lane;

Dave Dreshek stated he is not in favor of a boulevard…as a truck driver for Cruisers; referenced History on the Bay; can’t afford to maintain
boulevard…go back to a two-lane; give us some trees; don’t replace
anymore than you have to; use the money to help someone start up a
business; go with stop signs; no to boulevard or roundabout; referenced
History on the Bay had Brazeau Avenue as a two-lane, not a four-lane;
don’t think we need a left turning lane; stay within budget line; we are a
tree city; not a boulevard;

Brent Elliott agrees with comments about bringing sometime to signify the French Town area…something to signify on each end; doesn’t want a
boulevard; wants two-lanes; take out the sidewalk; put in bike lane; give
them some off street parking; do wisely and cost effective; no to
Roundabouts;

Hal Woods stated a turning lane should be put in rather than a boulevard, paint is cheap;

Jim Stiloski questioned where is the money coming from?
Mayor stated the JT funds;

Jim Stiloski questioned the time-line, we’re getting opinion from
businesses, can they afford to take a hit again after the hwy project…who
is “we” Mayor is referring to?

Mayor stated we as committees, finance, have been discussing conceptual ideas for this area;

Young stated he appreciated the comments, good ideas; would like to see
plans of things that were discussed tonight; no boulevard, parking lane
and street parking; sidewalks from Brazeau Avenue all the way out to the
clinic with handicap ramps to code; questioned utilities, what will have to
be replaced;

Bob Mommaerts stated any underground work will be done first, very little needs to be done;

Zahn questioned if Brazeau Avenue will be completely shut down during the project?

Mayor stated that will be up to the BPW;

Maas thanked everyone for coming; need to know how much we are getting and what our project costs will be; should do the project all at once,
will be more cost effective; continue on the path we are going;

Ron Hayes stated initially we have been coming up with concepts; doing
three or four different sections; Hayes stated he, Mayor and Bob
Mommaerts rode this area and analyzed what would need to be done;
Doran to Gale is concrete, is the worst stretch on that road; another bad area is Tina’s Roost…roadway before that is not too bad; final
recommendation from Board of Public Works is to redo everything; can
route traffic in a two-lane manner and keep access to businesses open;
BPW concepts you see tonight are a starting point; Hayes stated we are
getting $1.7 in JT money and BPW’s final estimate is $750,000 to
$800,000;

Mayor thanked everyone for coming.



7. Moved by Maas seconded by Doeren to approve of Change Order # 2 reducing the contract A-09 with McMullen & Pitz for the Breakwater Park
Marina project in the amount of $8,000 for a contract price incorporating
this change order of $2,046,434.93.
Motion carried upon electronically recorded vote. 10 ayes

8. Moved by Zahn seconded by Wittkopf to adjourn. M/C
Meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m.

Minutes submitted by
Linda M. Belongia,
Administrator