The meeting was called to order by Chairman Wilmet in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building at 4:00 p.m

Members present:   Wilmet, Gray, Highfield, Rybicke and Woods

Members absent:     Camplin and Stroinski

Others present:        Rudy Bushcott, Brian Juarez, Barb LeDuc, Paul Strohbusch, Hal Koenig and Doug Behlke

Item #1:    Review and approve Preliminary Certified Survey Map creating one (1) new Parcel south of N3297 S.T.H. 89 (extra-territorial).

Jeff Woods said the Survey would create a 1.6 acre parcel that will be used for a residential building site. The new parcel is outside of the current Urban Service Area, so there are no plans for extending utilities to this property in the near future. The City's Comprehensive Plan shows this area as Agricultural/Rural, which is defined as areas that are intended for agricultural uses and very limited rural housing as allowed under the Farmland Preservation Policies of Jefferson County. The property owner will be requesting that Jefferson County rezone the property from A-1 to A-3. A-1 is Exclusive Agricultural, for agricultural uses only, and A-3 is Agricultural/ Rural Residential, which allows for limited residential development. There are no problems with the Certified Survey Map as it is presented.

Motion by Cm. Gray, seconded by Roz Highfield, to recommend to the Council to approve the Preliminary Certified Survey Map creating one new parcel south of N3297 S.T.H. 89. The motion was approved by a 5-0 voice vote.

Item #2:    Review and approve building addition to Plant 1-South for Opportunities, Inc.,200 East Cramer Street.

Barb LeDuc, President of Opportunities, Inc., gave a presentation on the process that Opportunities, Inc. has gone through to get to this point - the remodeling of the facilities in Fort Atkinson. The original buildings were constructed in the 1970's, and there have been several additions to the original buildings. The last addition took place about ten years ago. Approximately three years ago, they made a decision to hire Hal Koenig to look at all of the facilities and determine what options are available to maintain the facility. They are at this meeting to present Phase I of the project which involves a building addition to Plant 1-South, and to also present the future plans that they have developed.

Hal Koenig, of Prairie Lights Architecture, presented the overall building plan for the site and the proposed building addition. The overall building plan will focus on the production side of Opportunities and will involve the replacement of Plant 2 with a new facility. That will allow for flexible space that will be used for the large production runs. The small production runs will be handled with the building addition that is proposed for Plant 1-South. Once the new building addition to Plant 1-South is completed, it will allow some of the production work in Plant 2-South to be moved over, and construction can be started on the south portion of Plant 2 in the Fall of this year. They are looking at coming back to the Planning Commission in the next month for the approval of the work on Plant 2 and the new parking lot/stormwater detention pond on the lot on the north side of Cramer Street. The new Plant 2 facility will be 80,000 square feet of building, with 35,000 square feet of warehouse space and 45,000 square feet of production space. The building materials will match those used in the office addition, so that will help in developing the "campus feel' that they are trying to achieve with the overall project. They are also going to be revising the location of the drop off/pick-up site on Plant 1 in order to get the van traffic off of the street and onto the property. In looking farther into the future, Plant 1-North would be the oldest part of the facility, and the vision would be to replace that portion with a two-story building. The upper floor would be office space and the lower floor would be unassigned space that could be used for either Daycare or small production runs. Also included in the future development of the site is the possible vacation of Clarence Street. The plan is to request the vacation of the street, but to keep the underground utilities initially. The street would then be used by just Opportunities' traffic in hopes of making it safer for the employees and staff that have to move between the two buildings. This will continue to be discussed with City Staff.

Cm. Gray asked if the request before the Planning Commission today is for the approval of the building addition to Plant 1-South, and if the other parts of the presentation are a look into the future plans for the site. Hal Koenig said that was correct. Cm. Gray asked if the building and lot coverage information that was shown on the plans includes the future projects or does it only address the building addition to Plant 1-South. Hal Koenig said the lot coverage information includes the new building for Plant 2 and for the parking lot/detention pond area. They wanted to know that it could all be built and not have a lot coverage problem. Cm. Gray then asked what the construction timetable was. Hal Koenig said the addition to Plant 1-South is scheduled to begin this Spring and be completed this Fall. The Phase I construction of Plant 2 will begin this Fall and the building will be totally completed in the Fall of 2011. The parking lot/detention pond will be constructed the same time as Plant 2 is being constructed.

Hal Koenig said that the addition to Plant 1-South will be compartmentalized with the use of fire walls instead of installing a fire protection system. The system will be included in the bid as an alternate and a decision will be made at that time, but the building will be functional and meet State Codes with the firewalls. They will be looking for partial occupancy inspections from the City to allow this to happen. Brian Juarez said that he could work with them on this.

Jeff Wood said the plan had been reviewed by staff, and he has gotten a few comments. The building will match the existing architecture as required. The lighting and landscaping plans are still being developed and will be presented at a later meeting for review and approval. The building has a 15 foot setback, and Code allows a minimum of 10 feet. The plan meets all of the coverage requirements for this addition and future construction they have planned, so there will not be any problems in the future. The driveway approach on the new loading dock/drop-off drive will need to be concrete. The existing building currently has three water services. Either a backflow preventer needs to be installed on each service or a variance needs to be obtained from the DNR. (The contact for the DNR is David Barkhahn.) There is no need for a Stormwater Construction Permit because the site is under the one acre minimum. The project will result in a net increase of impervious surface of 8,611 square feet, which will increase their Stormwater Utility Fee ERU number by 2.8. That fee increase will be added when the building addition is completed and occupied. There are no other problems or issues with the plan as it is presented.

Brain Juarez said that he did not have any other issues or concerns with the plans for the building addition. He also indicated that he appreciated the presentation on the future work that is being proposed, it makes it easier to approve the building addition knowing what is ultimately going to happen on the site.

Motion by Cm. Gray, seconded by Dennis Rybicke, to approve the site plan for the building addition to Plant 1-South, for Opportunities, Inc., 200 East Cramer Street, with the lighting and landscaping plans to be submitted at a later date, the drive approach be concrete and the water services have backflow preventers installed or a wavier obtained from DNR. The motion passed by a 5-0 voice vote.

Item #3:    Approval of Minutes and Adjournment.

A motion to approve the Minutes of the February 9, 2010 meeting was made by Dennis Rybicke, seconded by Roz Highfield, and passed by a 5-0 voice vote. A motion to adjourn was made by Roz Highfield, seconded by Cm. Gray, and passed by a 5-0 voice vote. The meeting adjourned at 4:25 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,      
 
 
Jeffrey L. Woods, Secretary