1.  CALL MEETING TO ORDER
 
A regular meeting of the City Council was called to order by President Mielke at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building.

2.  ROLL CALL
 
On call of the roll, members present were:

LaVerne Behrens
John Mielke
Jim Simdon
Steve Tesmer
Mark Zastrow
Also present were the City Manager, City Engineer, City Attorney and City Clerk/Treasurer.

  3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JULY 3, 2007 REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
 
Cm. Zastrow, seconded by Cwmn. Behrens, moved to approve the minutes of the July 3, 2007 Regular Council meeting. The motion carried on a voice vote.

4.  PUBLIC HEARINGS
 
    None.

5.  PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS
 
    a.  REQUEST BY FORT ATKINSON BOYS & GIRLS CLUB TO SPONSOR "JUMP FOR KIDS FUN DAY" AT MUNICIPAL AIRPORT ON AUGUST 12, 2007.

Chip Day briefly explained the activities planned for the event and invited everyone to attend.

Cm. Zastrow, seconded by Cm. Simdon, moved to approve the request by the Fort Atkinson Boys & Girls Club to sponsor "Jump for Kids Fun Day" at the Municipal Airport on August 12, 2007. The motion carried on a voice vote.

    b.  REQUEST TO EXTEND FOR ONE-YEAR, THE LISTING CONTRACT WITH CB RICHARD ELLIS FOR EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS TO SELL LAND IN ROBERT KLEMENT BUSINESS PARK.

Sheldon Mielke, President of the Fort Atkinson Industrial Development Corporation, stated the Corporation believes all the advantages for the City that existed when the agreement was signed are still true today and it recommends the City Council approve the extension. It was also noted that CB Richard Ellis is paid on a commission-basis and no fees are assessed to the City until a sale takes place.

Paul Jonas, Senior Associate of CB Richard Ellis, stated there has been no transaction to date, however he is still aggressively marketing the business park through websites, mailings and e-mails. Mr. Jonas stated he has had positive conversations with Generac Power Systems as well as a few other smaller businesses about the park. The plan going forward is to focus more heavily on office-type users, such as banks, insurance companies and financial services.

It was asked if any other changes were made to the contract other than the extension date. The City Attorney stated line 26 of the amendment reads that all other terms of the contract and any prior amendments remain unchanged.

Cwmn. Behrens asked if it would be possible to receive quarterly updates regarding the business park. Mr. Jonas stated he would put together update packages for the Council's review.

Cm. Tesmer, seconded by Cm. Zastrow, moved to approve the request to extend for one-year, the Listing Contract with CB Richard Ellis for exclusive rights to sell land in the Robert Klement Business Park and to authorize City staff to sign the document. On call of the roll, the motion carried unanimously.

6.  RESOLUTIONS AND ORDINANCES
 
    None.

7.  REPORTS OF OFFICERS, BOARDS AND COMMITTEES
 
Cm. Simdon, seconded by Cm. Tesmer, moved to accept and file the Electrical, Building and Plumbing Permit reports for June, 2007; the minutes of the Planning Commission meeting held July 10, 2007; and the minutes of the Climate Protection Ad Hoc Committee meeting held July 2, 2007. The motion carried on a voice vote.

8.  UNFINISHED BUSINESS
 
    a.  RECOMMENDATION FROM CLIMATE PROTECTION AD HOC COMMITTEE TO ADOPT GREEN RECOGNITION PROGRAM.

The City Manager stated the annual program would make available awards to businesses, community organizations and residents to recognize their environmental efforts in the City. The program will be promoted through workshops and targeted advertisements. The program will need to grow over time as people become more aware of it.

Cwmn. Behrens, seconded by Cm. Zastrow, moved to adopt the Green Recognition Program. The motion carried on a voice vote.

    b.  RECOMMENDATION FROM CLIMATE PROTECTION AD HOC COMMITTEE TO AUTHORIZE THE DWIGHT FOSTER PUBLIC LIBRARY TO WORK WITH THE U.W. EXTENSION ON DEVELOPING THREE WORKSHOPS FOR 2008.

The City Manager stated the Committee felt there was a need to provide some kind of educational program to the community, business leaders and City government. The U.W. Extension has a number of experts in the field and has agreed they would like to take on this task in conjunction with the Library.

Cm. Simdon, seconded by Cm. Tesmer, moved to authorize the Dwight Foster Public Library to work with the U.W. Extension on developing three workshops for 2008. The motion carried on a voice vote.

Cm. Tesmer thanked Mary Linton, Rick Looze, John Mielke, Duane Miller, Kitty Welch, John Wilmet, Steve Grabow, City staff and all of the citizens who attended the Climate Protection Ad Hoc Committee meetings.

    c.  RECOMMENDATION FROM PLANNING COMMISSION TO APPROVE PRELIMINARY CERTIFIED SURVEY MAP CREATING TWO LOTS AND ONE OULOT AT MADISON AVENUE AND REENA AVENUE.

The City Manager stated all parties involved met at 4:00 p.m. yesterday and are not ready at this point to take the issue off the table to act on. The item should be ready for action at the August 7th Council meeting.

9.  NEW BUSINESS
 
    a.  REVIEW AND APPROVE PROPOSAL FOR INSTALLATION OF SECURITY SYSTEMS AT WATER UTILITY REMOTE WELL SITES AS BUDGETED.

The City Manager stated this is part of the Water Utility's CIP for 2007 and $15,000 was allocated for the installation of motion detectors and door switches at the City well sites. The security systems are a result of findings in a vulnerability study of the Water Utility. Only one quote was requested for this project from Baxter & Woodman, due to the fact they installed the Utility's SCADA system and the security devices will all be coordinated with that system. The fee for this service will be a lump sum of $14,350.00.

Cm. Zastrow, seconded by Cwmn. Behrens, moved to approve the proposal for installation of security systems at the Water Utility remote well sites and award the bid to Baxter & Woodman Control System Integration in an amount not to exceed $14,350.00. On call of the roll, the motion carried unanimously.

    b.  REVIEW AND APPROVE QUOTES FOR WATER TOWER PAINTING AND MAINTENANCE AS BUDGETED.

The City Manager stated in this year's Water Utility Capital Improvement budget it was planned to paint the water tower on Cloute Hill. The arrangement is to amortize the cost of the tower painting over a five-year period and then enter into a maintenance agreement for the next five years. The idea of the maintenance is to prevent another major project like this by extending the life of the paint job well into the future.

Two quotations were received for this project with the low bidder being Utility Service Company in the amount of $353,852.00 over ten years.

Cm. Zastrow, seconded by Cwmn. Behrens, moved to approve the quote for water tower painting and maintenance with Utility Service Company for a ten-year period in an amount not to exceed $353,852.00. On call of the roll, the motion carried unanimously.

    c.  REVIEW AND APPROVE QUOTES FOR CONCEPT DEFINITIONS, DESIGN, BIDDING AND CONSTRUCTION SERVICES FOR SOUTH PRESSURE ZONE BOOSTER STATION.

The City Manager stated the City is under DNR orders to incorporate the booster station into the Utility. Three quotations were received for this work and Baxter & Woodman was the low bid at $64,900. If Baxter & Woodman is also the low bidder for connecting the booster station up to the SCADA system, they are offering an additional discount of about $6,500.

Cm. Simdon, seconded by Cm. Tesmer, moved to approve the quote for the concept definition, design, bidding and construction services for the South Pressure Zone Booster Station and award the bid to Baxter & Woodman in an amount not to exceed $64,900.00. On call of the roll, the motion carried unanimously.

10.  MISCELLANEOUS

    a.  GRANTING OPERATOR LICENSES.

The motion carried on a voice vote.

    b.  SPECIAL BEER AND WINE LICENSES FOR ST. JOSEPH'S FAMILY FAIR ON AUGUST 10-12, 2007.

Cm. Zastrow, seconded by Cwmn. Behrens, moved to approve the Special Beer and Wine licenses for St. Joseph's Family Fair on August 10-12, 2007. The motion carried on a voice vote.

    c.  REVIEW AND APPROVE REQUEST FOR AGENT CHANGE FOR PICK-N-SAVE.

Cwmn. Behrens, seconded by Cm. Tesmer, moved to approve the request for an agent change for Pick-N-Save. The motion carried on a voice vote.

    d.  CITY, SEWER AND WATER FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AS OF JUNE 30, 2007.

The City Manager stated that for the most part, the departments are in the 50% range for expenditures, which is right where they should be halfway through the year. The utility accounts for things like heat and electricity are starting to come more in line as they are reduced during the summer months. Recreation program fees are at 72% with the City seeing an increase in the number of participants from other communities. The Aquatic Center had a good month of June, bringing in $45,000 and is at about 50% of expected revenues so far for the year. Interest earned for the year is already $30,000 over budget at approximately $108,000.

The Water Tower Fund balance has been transferred over to the Community Foundation as the project enters its final stages of restoration. The City retained around $9,000 for anticipated electrical work. Fund 12 (TIF 6 - Business Park) will begin to see activity as the southside booster station projects starts moving forward. Fund 13 (TIF 7 - Downtown) has and will continue to see activity as the finishing up of Bicentennial Park and the Sherman Avenue parking lot projects progress.

The Water Utility has been receiving advances from the City for some of the capital expenditures at this point until they are able to catch up a little bit. The Water Utility Superintendent has indicated pumping is up, so hopefully the July-September water billings will kick in and provide some cash relief for the Water Utility. The rate increase scheduled to take place after completion of the Sherman Avenue project should also help the Utility. The Utility will hold off on some of the projects awarded tonight until later in the year when cash is more readily available. Revenues for the Water Utility are a little behind for commercial and residential and expenditures are slightly below budget at 47% for the year.

The Sewer Utility commercial, residential and industrial revenues are right on target at this point and expenditures are a bit high at 52%, due mostly to power costs to treat higher loads of industrial waste. The Sewer Utility is starting to wrap up its capital expenditure items for the year.

Cm. Zastrow, seconded by Cm. Simdon, moved to accept and file the City, Sewer and Water Financial Statements as of June 30, 2007. The motion carried on a voice vote.

11.   CLAIMS, APPROPRIATIONS AND CONTRACT PAYMENTS
 
    a.  VERIFIED CLAIMS.

Cm. Simdon, seconded by Cm. Tesmer, moved the bills in the amounts of $264,241.96 for the City (Fund 1); $188,860.23 for the Sewer Utility (Fund 2); $131,214.03 for the Water Utility (Fund 3); $341.95 for Downtown Economic Development (Fund 13); and $139,758.95 for Payroll 14 as per Schedule N-50 on file in the office of the City Clerk/Treasurer and as audited and approved by the Finance Committee be allowed and orders be authorized drawn on the proper funds for their payment. On call of the roll, the motion carried unanimously.

12.  ADJOURNMENT
 
Cm. Zastrow, seconded by Cm. Simdon, moved to adjourn the July 17, 2007 regular City of Fort Atkinson Council meeting at 7:56 p.m. The motion carried on a voice vote.

/s/ Matt Trebatoski
City Clerk/Treasurer