Alderman Berg's personal commentary on the item, if any, appears in this typeface. Alderman Berg takes sole responsibility for the comments and they might not represent the official policy of the City of Brookfield or the opinions of other individual alderman.

THESE ARE THE MINUTES OF A REGULAR COMMON COUNCIL MEETING OF THE 26^TH COMMON COUNCIL, HELD AT 7:45 P.M., TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2005, IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS OF BROOKFIELD CITY HALL, 2000 N. CALHOUN ROAD, BROOKFIELD, WISCONSIN

MAYOR JEFF SPEAKER PRESIDING

ALDERMEN PRESENT: Scott Berg, Thomas Schellinger, Jim Garvens, Gary Mahkorn, Steve Ponto, Dan Sutton, Rick Owen, Ron Balzer, Christopher Blackburn, Jim Heinrich, Cindy Kilkenny, Beverly Wentz, Richard Brunner, Mike Franz

ALDERMEN ABSENT & EXCUSED: None

ALSO PRESENT: Director of Community Development Dan Ertl, City Attorney Vince Moschella, Director of Administration Dean Marquardt, City Clerk Kris Schmidt, Director of Public Works Tom Grisa, Fire Chief John Dahms, Director of Finance Robert Scott, Director of Parks & Recreation Bill Kolstad

Mayor Jeff Speaker called the Common Council to order at approximately 8:00 p.m.

The next Common Council meeting will be April 5, 2005. The next meeting includes the public hearings for Liberty Plaza, 245 S. Executive Drive and John Dickerson, 16480 Burleigh Place.

Mayor Speaker led the Common Council in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag.

A minute of silence was observed for the victims of the March 12^th shooting at the Sheraton Hotel. Mayor Speaker commended the Police and Fire Departments for their work and efforts during and after the March 12^th incident. He also advised the Council that the Waukesha County Combined Dispatch worked very well during an incident of this magnitude.

A public hearing was heard regarding the request of CBL & Associates Properties and P.A. Bergner (Brookfield Square area) for the property located at 15875 W. Bluemound Road (see separate minutes). Hearing ended at 8:40 p.m.

Alderman Brunner moved approval of the Consent Agenda, except for Items #6 and #14. The motion was seconded by Alderman Owen and carried unanimously. Recorded as a roll call.

3) Minutes of the Regular Common Council meeting of March 1, 2005, subject to the correction regarding the amendment in the Developers Agreement for Georgetown Square.

4) • P.C. Item #1: Approval of Plan Review Board recommendations of February 17, 2005:

a. John W. Dickerson, 16480 Burleigh Place, schedule a Special Exception public hearing.

b. Circuit City Stores, Inc., 18550 W. Bluemound Rd., revised plan and method of operation for façade alterations.

c. Signs Requests:

c1. Rodrian Insurance, 4120 N. Calhoun Rd.

c2. Guaranty Bank, 12655 W. Capitol Dr.

c3. Babies R Us, 18550 W. Bluemound Rd.

5) • P.C. Item #2: Fox Hollow Condominiums, 21915 and 21975 W. North Avenue, for re-approval of preliminary and final Certified Survey Map and revised building elevations.

6) Removed from the Consent Agenda.

7) • P.C. Item #5: Bradon Preserve, 19545 W. Lisbon Rd., schedule a conditional use public hearing for a sanitary sewer lift station.

8) • P.C. Item #6: Bradon Preserve to schedule a conditional use public hearing to rescind conditional use ordinance #1575 for soccer fields.

9) • P.C. Item #8: Initial redevelopment strategies for the 124^th Street and Capitol Drive Neighborhood Plan – Phase I.

10) There were no Vouchers exceeding $50,000 requiring immediate action.

11) Resolution approving 2004 general fund budget amendment requested by the Director of Finance: transfer a total of $800,000 from various department accounts and the contingency appropriation to Transfers to Other Funds account 101-910-591, for purposes of transferring $400,000 each to the Employee Retirement Fund and the Public Site Fund, respectively. Resolution No. 7371-05*

12) Approval of six Original Bartender Licenses and denial of one license (see Legislative & Licensing agenda for names).

13) Original Class B Combination Beer and Liquor License: Cucina Development, Inc.; d/b/a Bravo! Cucina Italiana; 95 N. Moorland Rd. A147; Agent-Mark S. Rosetti.

14) Removed from the Consent Agenda.

15) Ordinance amending Section 15.04.320 B.2. and 12.16.040 B. of the Municipal Code relating to street permits and fees. Ordinance No. 2002-05*

16) Resolution establishing a 60.00 foot wide public street for Pilgrim Parkway and Pilgrim Parkway West (right-of-way plat). Resolution No. 7372-05*

17) Resolution awarding the 2005 Road Resurfacing Project No. R-05-02 to Stark Asphalt Div. of Northwest Asphalt Products, Inc. for the bid amount of $1,529,125. Resolution No. 7373-05*

18) Resolution awarding the 2005 Concrete Curb and Gutter and Inlet Repair Project No. R-05-01 to Concrete Placement Co., Inc. for the bid amount of $215,936.80. Resolution No. 7374-05*

19) Approval of the revised Relocation Order for the Calhoun Road Right-of-Way Acquisition from Gebhardt Road to Bluemound Road and right-of-way plat revision.

20) Resolution awarding the Sanitary Sewer Cleaning & TV Inspection Project No. SA-05-01 to Visu-Sewer Clean & Seal, Inc. for $85,800. Resolution No. 7375-05*

21) Ordinance repealing and recreating Section 13.12.020 C. of the Municipal Code relating to water supply assessments. Ordinance No. 2003-05*

22) Preliminary Resolution declaring intent to exercise special assessment powers under Section 66.0703, Wis. Stats. – Capitol Drive (169^th Street to Bradee Road) and Fiebrantz Drive Water Main #W-05-01. Resolution No. 7376-05*

23) Items Removed from the Consent Agenda

Item 6 or P.C. Item #3: Request of Briohn Corporation, 3885 N. Brookfield Rd., Brookfield, WI 53045, c/o Russell Raposa, Architectural Project Manager, for re-approval of a plan and method of operation for Phase 5 of the "Towne Centre", a 25,000 square foot single-story retail building to be located east of Richland Parkway and south of Capitol Drive.

The Plan Commission recommended to re-approve the plan and method of operation for Buildings N, P and Q subject to the conditions listed in the minutes with the inclusion of a revised lighting plan consistent with the General Plan, a revised landscape plan for the transformer location and no building permit will be issued until Plan Commission approval of the monument sign.

Alderman Mahkorn moved adoption of the Plan Commission recommendation with the removal of "building permit" and substitute "occupancy permit". The motion was seconded by Alderman Wentz and carried unanimously.

Item 14 – Alderman Heinrich moved adoption of the Ordinance amending Section 10.08.010, 10.08.050 A. and C., 10.08.060 A., 10.08.070 A. and 10.08.100 of the Municipal Code relating to traffic control regulations. The motion was seconded by Alderman Brunner.

Alderman Heinrich moved to amend Section 10.08.050 C. to include Pilgrim Road from Burleigh Road to North Avenue. The motion was seconded by Alderman Kilkenny and carried unanimously.

A roll call vote was taken on the motion as amended and carried unanimously. Ordinance No. 2004-05*

24) Alderman Garvens moved approval of the Resolution approving professional services agreement with R.A. Smith and Associates for purposes of a study regarding shared services and long-term vision between the City and Town of Brookfield in the amount of $42,000. The motion was seconded by Alderman Wentz.

Alderman Kilkenny moved to table and direct staff to send copy of the meeting tape and Request for Proposal (RFP) to the Town of Brookfield and report back to the Common Council as to the Town’s response. The motion was seconded by Alderman Berg and failed Nays 13, Ayes 1 with Alderman Kilkenny voting aye.

The original motion carried Ayes 12, Nays 1, and Abstention 1 with Alderman Kilkenny voting nay and Alderman Heinrich abstaining. (Staff will communicate with the Town of Brookfield to determine if they are interested in working cooperatively with the study.) Resolution No. 7377-05*

Ald. Heinrich abstained because the financial component of the study had been subcontracted by prime contractor R.A. Smith Company (http://www.rasmith.com/) to the accounting firm Schenk Business Solutions (http://www.schencksolutions.com/) who employs Ald. Heinrich's brother.  Ald. Heinrich did not announce this connection until after the meeting and did not lobby for the selection of this particular firm.

Ald. Sutton, Kilkenny, Balzar and Ponto made statements requesting that the Town of Brookfield be asked to participate and share in the cost of this study.  Mayor Speaker stated that he had asked the town for cooperation and was rebuffed.  Review the following newspaper stories for more details on those ongoing discussions.

Ald. Berg seconded Ald. Kilkenny's motion because he believes every alderman's motion deserves the attention and respect of a Council vote rather than using the parliamentary process of allowing a motion to die for lack of a second.  Obviously, Ald. Berg did not actually agree with the content of the motion. 

Ald. Berg voted for the study for these reasons:

• The town was unlikely to pay anything for a joint study.  See the March 27 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article for the town officials statement, "Czopp and Town Chairman Keith Henderson acknowledged that even if the town had been asked to participate, it likely would have opposed the concept."

• R.A. Smith is a reputable local engineering firm.  They are not a regular vendor of the city or town.  As far as Ald. Berg can tell, they performed one contract for the city and town combined in the last 5 years. They have worked for many local developers designing drainage systems, etc.

• If the study shows that a consolidation would provide no improvement, it ends the discussion for both sides.

• If the study indicates improvements are possible via some sort of consolidation, it is in the public record and can be reviewed by town officials and residents alike. Perhaps a groundswell of town resident support would occur.

Ald. Berg believes that a true leader is able to rally support.  Yet, even when several alderman stated their preference that the Town of Brookfield be an active participant in the study, Ald. Kilkenny was unable to get anyone else to vote with her on her motion.

See: Town of Brookfield

In continuing actions of the Council, pursuant to 19.85(1) of the Wisconsin Statutes, after first convening in open session, the Mayor will explain the nature of the business proposed to be considered in closed session, and upon a motion duly made, seconded and adopted, meeting in Closed Session for the following purpose:

a. Under 19.85(1)(e) Deliberating or negotiating the purchasing of public properties, the investing of public funds, or conducting other specified public business, whenever competitive or bargaining reasons require a closed session (Discussion and possible action relative to the acquisition of land adjacent to the west property line of Endicott Park, 435 S. Calhoun Road, for park and open space purposes).

Alderman Franz moved to convene into Closed Session under Section 19.85(1)(e). The motion was seconded by Alderman Schellinger and carried unanimously. Recorded as a roll call. 9:45 p.m.

Present during closed session were as follows: City Clerk, Director of Parks and Recreation, Director of Community Development, City Attorney, Director of Public Works, and Director of Finance.

Alderman Ponto moved to reconvene into Open Session under Section 19.85(2) Wisconsin Statutes. The motion was seconded by Alderman Sutton and carried unanimously. Recorded as a roll call. 10:00 p.m. (There was no action on this matter after coming out of closed session.)

This was the first closed session meeting since May 21, 2002.  It concerned purchasing land to expand Endicott Park.  The only part of the meeting that has not been publicly disclosed is the "maximum price" authorized by the Council to offer to the land owners.

See: Ethics Code Change - Closed Session Minutes

Now, suppose this session had been held in open session.  That would reveal the maximum allowed price to the buyer, effectively changing a negotiation to a single "take it or leave it" offer with no chance of making the purchase for less.

Another possibility is that you could have had 8 aldermen supporting one price and 6 supporting a higher price.  If that was disclosed, the seller could reject the lower price in the hopes that the slim minority could pick up a couple of swing votes and revise the offer upwards.

MJS - March 17, 2005 - State law doesn't restrict remarks on closed sessions But officials often cite it to decline comment

This article includes the comment on the closed session:

"They had our names on it with stickers, and they took it back to make sure all of it came back," said Ald. Cindy Kilkenny, who voted against the ordinance penalizing those who spoke about closed-session events.

"To me, all of that information should be made public. If the city knows it and the landowners know it, why can't the public know it?"

Note that Ald. Kilkenny agreed to the closed session, even though it was her right to vote no.  Yet in a subsequent newspaper article she objects to the closed session.   Ald. Berg wonders how the public good is served by driving the price to its maximum right from the start?

Alderman Garvens moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Alderman Kilkenny and carried unanimously. 10:02 p.m.

___________________________________

Kristine A. Schmidt, City Clerk

* May be viewed in the City Clerk’s Office.