This summary covers the Regular Common Council meeting of the City of Racine, held on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, at 6:00 PM in City Hall Room 205. (Note: The meeting date provided with the records is March 7, 2025, but all agenda, minutes, and transcript reflect March 4, 2025. The summary follows the provided date.) The meeting included a consent calendar, public comments, committee reports, and extensive debate on multiple items, culminating in several notable votes.
The council approved a $146,500 contract with Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP to assist with IRA 22 tax credits for the Lincoln King Community Center and Clinic project. Alder Kaprelian questioned the contingency if tax credits do not materialize due to policy changes. Doug Bald Sarum (Baker Tilly) explained that tax credits are in the tax code and require an act of Congress to change; the contract is cancelable at any time. The motion passed 12–0 (Perez excused).
The council approved a $1,500 parking fee waiver for the September 13, 2025, event at Festival Hall. Alder Kaprelian then moved to make the waiver annual, which passed unanimously. The final motion (as amended) passed 12–0.
The council authorized up to $17,000,000 in general obligation promissory notes for the Lincoln King Community Center and Clinic project. Brad Vigo (Baird) reported a final rate of 3.89% (lower than the estimated 4.21%). Alder Weidner opposed, citing reliance on federal grants and potential taxpayer burden. The motion passed 8–4 (Coe, Kaprelian, Weidner, Kelly voted no).
Final approval of an ordinance setting closing hours at 1:00 AM for mobile food establishments. Chief of Police spoke in favor, noting a compromise with vendors. The motion passed 10–2 (Turquoise-Davis and Kaprelian voted no).
This item sparked extensive debate and multiple amendments. Key votes:
The council considered an appeal of the Planning, Heritage, and Design Commission’s denial of a conditional use permit for a multi-family residence. City staff explained that the proposed seven-story addition did not meet design guidelines (National Park Service Brief 14) and had insufficient parking (needing 40–60 more spaces beyond the new commitment). The motion to allow the appeal (finding PHDC abused its discretion) failed 2–10 (Kaprelian and Weidner in favor). The motion to disallow the appeal passed 11–1 (Kaprelian opposed).
Three related items were approved:
Good evening, everyone. Like the call to order the c the common council meeting for Tuesday, March 4th, 2025. Thank you everyone for coming out and braving the weather. It's greatly appreciated. First item on the agenda is of course the Pledge of Allegiance. Please stand as you're able. I pledge allegiance to the play of the United States of America. One nation, under God, invisible with liberty and so a couple of uh technical issues for the council here. First of all, the Facebook live is not streaming at the moment because our apparently our internet connection is down. Maybe do maybe related to the weather. We are recording the entire meeting. They will put it on as live as soon as they get the internet back, and the entire meeting will be available. The second technical point. Okay. So apparently the concern is when the voting box comes up, you're in the middle of scrolling at the same time. So as we pre that's apparently, as we're uh as we are preparing to vote, sort of a hands off is there it would be appreciated, and hopefully that is what's causing the problem, and we won't have any issues. And if we do have issues, we'll deal with it when the time comes. So there's your technology update for today. Next item approval of the Journal of Council proceedings or the minutes from the February 19th meeting. Alder Horton, may have a motion. Any corrections, additions, omissions? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carry for portions of city meetings. When a group of people representing one viewpoint wishes to address the council, one person should be appointed to be the designated speaker for the group. Candidates for public office may not use their opportunity to campaign for office. Speakers during the public comment period shall follow all rules of the common council and rulings of the chair, including a decision to terminate the remarks. If the speaker does not adhere to these rules, public comment shall be limited to ideas or concerns regarding the city of Racine. There will be 11 speakers this evening. The first speaker being Spoopy Schuster, the Midwest Mountain Lions. Your home address. Okay, hello, my name is Snoopy Schuster, and I am here to introduce the Midwest Mountain Lions. I'm a board member and a coach for the not-for-profit organization. The Midwest Mountain Lions are women's full contact, full pad, semi-pro football team. We wear the same uniform and abide by the same rules as the NCAA. When the last team in Wisconsin was set to fold, we didn't want women's football to end. So we decided to start a team. 2020 was to be our first season. Needless to say, it was not our year. We tried again in 2021, but the lingering effects of the pandemic prevented it. Finally, in 2022, we were able to fail field a team's football alliance. She actually coached in the Super Bowl. I personally don't set my sights that high. Oh, my physical address. Okay, I live at 22 Ferrier Street here in Racing. And how y'all doing? Um I'm one of the rookies on the team. I'll just start it. Um I was never into football until I got around the team and they encouraged me to get out here and do it, and I'm very happy that I am because I see the confidence in myself.