On Wednesday, Feb. 22, the Monroe Common Council:
• Approved the sale of $5.12 million in bonds for street improvements, including the 8th Street reconstruction scheduled for summer. Greg Johnson of Ehlers and Associates, Inc. said "rates were in far more favor" than what the organization had presented to council at the beginning of February. Originally, aldermen had anticipated borrowing $5.185 million.
• Approved an ordinance recreating the definition of a taxi cab per state law in order to eliminate a licensing requirement for car service companies such as Uber or Lyft.
• Heard public comment from LaVern Isely, who said that if the council were to eliminate committee meetings, then he would prefer all proceedings be televised.
• Denied a permit to possess chickens to Mike Mancini of 2724 3rd Avenue after it was discovered that the Valley View subdivision has a covenant on each deed specifying the prohibition of such animals. Mancini attended the meeting to ask for approval despite the restriction, but council members voted 5-3 to deny the request.
• Approved priority based budgeting as a method to prioritize budget items for the city on a 6-2 vote. The database of information will be set up initially for $20,000 with an annual maintenance fee of $15,000. A goal of the program is to shift services in a way to reduce costs while lowering city taxes. It will be implemented within 90 days and utilized in drafting the 2018 budget.
• Passed an ordinance rewriting city code to allow animals in any municipal park designated by council members.
• Granted a temporary amendment to Suisse Haus Inc. to add an outdoor beer garden to the business on March 11 in conjunction with the Celtic Pub Crawl in downtown Monroe.
• Approved of the St. Patrick's Day parade to be held downtown on March 17, beginning at 5:17 p.m. and the Run Before You Crawl Celtic 5K and Kids Fun Run at the Green County Family YMCA on March 11 from 7 a.m. to noon.
• Designated the westside fire station at 601 West 17th Street as city polling location for the spring election April 4.
• Authorized execution of a Department of Natural Resources principal forgiveness loan to provide reimbursement for residents who wish to remove lead service lines from their property. Utilities Supervisor Mike Kennison said homeowners should contact the city, then call a contractor to remove the lines and are given up to $3,000 as part of the loan program.
• Agreed 8-0 to allow Ehlers and Associates to conduct a feasibility study for the piece of land recently acquired by the city north of Walmart. For $5,000, the company will evaluate whether the area would qualify to become a Tax Increment Finance District. Findings will be reported to council, which will then decide whether the city would like to move on to the second phase or pursue other options.
- Bridget Cooke
• Approved the sale of $5.12 million in bonds for street improvements, including the 8th Street reconstruction scheduled for summer. Greg Johnson of Ehlers and Associates, Inc. said "rates were in far more favor" than what the organization had presented to council at the beginning of February. Originally, aldermen had anticipated borrowing $5.185 million.
• Approved an ordinance recreating the definition of a taxi cab per state law in order to eliminate a licensing requirement for car service companies such as Uber or Lyft.
• Heard public comment from LaVern Isely, who said that if the council were to eliminate committee meetings, then he would prefer all proceedings be televised.
• Denied a permit to possess chickens to Mike Mancini of 2724 3rd Avenue after it was discovered that the Valley View subdivision has a covenant on each deed specifying the prohibition of such animals. Mancini attended the meeting to ask for approval despite the restriction, but council members voted 5-3 to deny the request.
• Approved priority based budgeting as a method to prioritize budget items for the city on a 6-2 vote. The database of information will be set up initially for $20,000 with an annual maintenance fee of $15,000. A goal of the program is to shift services in a way to reduce costs while lowering city taxes. It will be implemented within 90 days and utilized in drafting the 2018 budget.
• Passed an ordinance rewriting city code to allow animals in any municipal park designated by council members.
• Granted a temporary amendment to Suisse Haus Inc. to add an outdoor beer garden to the business on March 11 in conjunction with the Celtic Pub Crawl in downtown Monroe.
• Approved of the St. Patrick's Day parade to be held downtown on March 17, beginning at 5:17 p.m. and the Run Before You Crawl Celtic 5K and Kids Fun Run at the Green County Family YMCA on March 11 from 7 a.m. to noon.
• Designated the westside fire station at 601 West 17th Street as city polling location for the spring election April 4.
• Authorized execution of a Department of Natural Resources principal forgiveness loan to provide reimbursement for residents who wish to remove lead service lines from their property. Utilities Supervisor Mike Kennison said homeowners should contact the city, then call a contractor to remove the lines and are given up to $3,000 as part of the loan program.
• Agreed 8-0 to allow Ehlers and Associates to conduct a feasibility study for the piece of land recently acquired by the city north of Walmart. For $5,000, the company will evaluate whether the area would qualify to become a Tax Increment Finance District. Findings will be reported to council, which will then decide whether the city would like to move on to the second phase or pursue other options.
- Bridget Cooke