Testing, testing one, two, three.

Whenever IT is ready, if you want to begin the broadcast, we can begin.

Okay.

Well, good evening, everyone.

Welcome.

The hour of six o'clock having arrived on this nineteenth of May twenty twenty-six.

Is my honor to call to order the City of Racine Common Council.

First order of business is the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.

If you could please rise as you are able and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Second by Alder Land.

Any discussion seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Opposed.

That motion carries.

We'll now move on to public comments where I will ask the city clerk to read the procedures, and then we will begin.

Speakers will limit their remarks to three minutes.

Profane, disruptive, threatening or conduct that otherwise impedes the safe, orderly, and effective conduct of the common council meeting is equally unacceptable during the public comment period, as it is during all other portions of city meetings.

Candidates for public office may not use this 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.

We encourage you to submit any detailed concerns in writing to the city clerk's office or your alderman, where they can be properly documented and directed for response.

There will be 13 speakers this morning there this evening.

The first speaker is Bob Wideman at 810 Saxony Drive.

And is Mr.

Wideman is approaching the DS.

I just want to let people know we will have a three-minute clock that appears on the screen.

When your three minutes are up, the microphone is turned off.

That is not a reflection on any of your commentary, but rather an attempt to treat uh everybody equally.

Sir, if we could wait just a second until we get the clock up, and then you can begin.

Hang on, just one minute.

Good evening.

Uh my name is Bob Wideman, 810 Saxony Drive, Versine, Wisconsin.

I'm a longtime member of Salmon Unlimited.

And my salmon Rama committee.

When Festival Hall was originally built, it was the pride of Verscene.

For some reason.

Over the years, the contract with the previous venue works has put the building to shame.

In the six years from my total, it costs the city over one million 1.2 million dollars.

The park was then taken over by 5K events.

They brought the property back to what the citizens could be proud of again at this time and made it profitable.

After all they have done, I cannot understand why instead of recognizing their efforts, you would consider unproven entities to take over.

I'm hoping you will reconsider and give 5K a contract that they so well deserve.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Scott Kinderman at 2062 and a half Erie Street.

Hello, uh Scott Kinnerman.

I'd like to share an experience that I had uh regarding the recent snow emergency and the proper handling of the ordinances that go with it.

Um the snow emergency was declared.

I double checked the website, looked at the map, and determined that my address was not marked on that the map on the website in the red that indicates the arterial routes.

Um I chose not I chose to park as normal, went upstairs, came downstairs in the morning to a ticket.

The this I double checked the website a second time, did this no, uh, my average is not listed.

Additionally, though, the website I did see lists a series of street names, but without any additional information that breaks it down in the hundred blocks.

Um, I chose to contest, and when I went and met with the city attorney, um she was flustered by the when I explained the definition that the map is ambiguous versus the list of streets there, was flustered and was taking notes about what who do I got to talk about?

This came back to my ticket.

The random result is my ticket.

That's not for here, but what it led me to was taking a closer look at the ordinances that go behind.

The city is very thorough, by the way.

Good job.

On the list of parking restrictions and where you cannot park.

It is it is 94 section 94-141, 46 pages long.

That's that's like wow.

Um, but you get to the snow emergency uh ordinances, it is 94-216 and 94217.

It's three paragraphs.

So, in wanting to double check, I the ordinance, uh, paragraph one of seven two seventeen says there is a map on file at the clerk's office.

The next um after my meeting, I went down last Friday and said, Can I see the map?

It's like the clerk, the person at the counter was like, huh?

So she went to her boss, boss came back, handed me a print out of the website.

And I'm like, wait a minute.

The ordinance says there's something here on file.

Went back, came back, and they did say that the digit digitization process that occurred years and years ago.

The ordinance was written in the 70s.

Um everything moved to online, therefore the map is supposed to be the official thing.

But there is ambiguity between the list of streets and the map.

So I'm worried how many people have paid tickets in the past, been assigned them.

I mean, since the digitization process, this could be large and substantial, and enough of people get upset, there could be, you know, someone might take an action.

My request is I'm working with Alderman Mac, it's a three-point program I will send to him that we update it and clarify it and make so clarity is there and the situation does not continue.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Jim LaForte at 1105 Carleton Drive.

Good evening.

Um, my name is Jim O'Fortune, 1105 Carlton Drive.

Um, I want to thank you all for the time allotted to speak.

I want to apologize ahead of time if I appear short of breath.

I've been having acute arrhythmia ever since paying my property taxes.

Property taxes can wait till another day, though.

As the reason I'm speaking today is in regards to Festival Park.

Ironically, the name Festival Park aligns with the intentions the city had when building this lake fright's lakefront site dedicated to hosting the festivals while revitalizing the downtown area with visitors and foot traffic.

As an event organizer, we had to shift our festival to alternate sites in 2019 when rental fees hit nearly 35,000 for the rental of the site.

This price could have been manageable if if the festivals reserved the right to sell food and beverages.

This, however, was has never been allowed per contract between the city and the site organizers.

This is the single reason other locations had to be sought out for the event to prosper.

As investing into the community is expected, but being blocked from offsetting expenses is not beneficial or achievable for any festival.

The answer was to watch all of the festivals leave and the site turn into a wedding venue.

This makes a beautiful wedding venue, but it took evenings of family fund for the whole public and the gatherings that at one time brought so much joy to the residents overseen away.

The city at one time was filled with the smells of food on the grill, carnival rides, kids playing, and of course, bands playing.

When 5K events took over, many of us volunteered to help build back what once was.

The feat was beyond words, as concrete had crumbled, paint had faded and chipped away, scuffed floors, dirty walls, and trash piled upon trash.

I asked myself over and over how the city could allow this neglect to take place and where the supervision of this location was at.

The pride, the community drive, and let's not forget the success that improves each day as they learn what residents want while implementing contracts that are viable for success for all parties involved.

They are making things happen and again making residents happy again as well.

I now see a festival site, a wedding venue, a farmers market, and a place for families to laugh, have fun, and once again be proud.

In closing, if 2019 through 2024 is any indication of how this site is going to be run, it's in your best interest to look at bringing back the Civic Center Committee because obviously it's incapable to be run by the city, costing the taxpayers a drastic amount of money to repair the damages that have been being done.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Patricia Caldwell at 1506 Superior Street.

Located in at the King Leacon, Lincoln Keene area.

I'm here tonight to speak about the severe economic impact that the ongoing construction is having on my business.

Well, we all understand the infrastructure upgrades are necessary for a community for vaccine.

The execution of this project has completely disrupted my daily operations significantly.

The total cost of customer parking has cut off my access to my store.

As a small business owner, every single day counts.

Because of the heavy equipment and road closure and no parking sign, my customers physically cannot get to me.

This is not a minor inconvenience.

It is causing a devastating loss of revenue week after week.

I'm doing my best to adapt, but the small business cannot absorb this massive drop in sales indefinitely while waiting for a month-long construction project to wrap up without some form of mitigation, mitigation.

I'm asking, I'm asking the council and the department of public works to work with me and the others' business affected in the Lincoln Keen area on three immediate solutions.

Provide clear city backed signage indicating that our businesses are open doing this construction and directing customers to my area.

Ensuring the construction crew maintain some kind of distance from my space of uh pathway.

My customers and I can't even get into my business.

I have to go early in the morning or late at night.

I'm also urging the city to look into some kind of grant opportunity.

Abatement of licensing fees for the duration of this program.

A project, I mean.

Small businesses are the backbone of racing economic in the heart of the Lincoln King neighborhood.

We cannot survive to see the benefits of these new roles and these new houses and this project going on in this area.

Um I just asked that uh you would consider me and my business.

I have been there 14 years.

I want to thank you for your time, your leadership, and your attention to this urgent matter.

The next speaker is Rebecca Hogland at 2808 James Boulevard.

Good evening, members of the common council.

My name is Rebecca Hoagland, 2808 James Boulevard, and I'm the executive director at Festival Park.

I hadn't planned to speak tonight, but I realized what's missing in this process is the human side of what's happening.

And that's what I want to share with you.

Behind every host, every event we host, every festival we bring to life, there's a team of people who care deeply about this community.

These are the people who miss holidays with their families, who work long nights and early mornings, who show up again and again because they believe in what Festival Park brings to the scene.

They believe in our general manager's vision of community and making these sites return to what they used to be known as community gathering places, festival sites, safe, fun places in our treasured lakefront.

For the past nine months, our contract has been left in limbo.

And while that uncertainty has been difficult, the last two months have been especially overwhelming.

Without any warning, without any conversation, key parts of our contract were suddenly changed before approval.

We were never told there was a problem, but somehow the rules changed anyways.

What may look like paperwork or process from the outside has had a very real impact on the people behind the work.

I am solely responsible for mine and my child's household.

I work over 55 hours plus a week on a fixed salary because I believe in what we do.

And I am not alone in that kind of sacrifice.

Our entire team gives everything they have to make our community to make sure our community has events to gather around to celebrate and to feel connected.

But right now, that same team is exhausted, they're discouraged, and they're scared.

We have already lost our events director in part because of the uncertainty surrounding her future here.

The rest of the staff has stepped up to carry that weight, but there is only so much people can carry when they don't know if their jobs still exist.

And we still keep going.

We are preparing for Harbor Fest, Salmonorama, Saints on the Lake, and Pride Fest.

These events don't happen overnight.

They take months of planning, coordination, and heart.

Our team continues to pour themselves into this work even while worrying and wondering if it could be taken away.

That is the reality we are living in.

All that we ask for is communication, transparency, and a basic level of consideration.

Even a temporary month-to-month agreement, just enough to give our team some stability has been denied.

We love this city, our team loves the work.

We are so proud of what we bring to Racine, but right now we are asking you to see us, not just as an organization, but as people who are doing everything we can to hold things together under very uncertain circumstances.

We are asking for fairness.

We are asking for communication, and we are asking for the chance to continue serving the community without the constant fear of losing everything we've worked so hard to build.

Thank you for your time.

The next speaker is Roberto Kotzman at 723 Harmony Drive.

Last name is Cotsman, I believe it says Roberto.

Yes.

Casmin.

I have trouble with it too.

I've lived here 11 years.

And in general, the business community.

Briefly, I'm 76.

I've been self-employed for 74 years, including now.

I'm a writer.

But that includes running a new stand at 15, a kosher delicate descent at 19.

And for 31 years, I ran one of the last back issue magazine stores in America, going back to 1576.

The point is, I spent my life recognizing opportunities doing very unusual things.

Here's my thought.

Racine needs a movie theater.

And I'm thinking you can put it at Wisconsin and 6th Street because that's where the restaurants are, and there's a natural flow to there, and you need a parking structure.

It should be a vintage movie theater showing classics only.

And it should be called the Roxy Racine.

You would draw from everywhere.

And you could everything from silent films to Western classic science fiction, everything.

Racine has nothing to do at night.

Downtown is downtown.

You can't get mugged if you walk down Main Street.

It's depressing.

But I see over 300 movies a year.

I know a lot about this, and I would volunteer.

If if Nathan has my contact information, nice to meet you.

I'd like to help.

And this is something you'll get people from Kenosha everywhere.

Downtown's too far away.

So this is not no competition for the Milwaukee Film Festival.

This is something that would put you on the map.

There aren't any more classic vintage places.

One more thing.

Because fiscally, this would keep the prices lower than the Marcus Theater, which is too much.

I don't go there anymore.

I built my own home theater.

And I'm assuming you need that.

And so this is my contribution to this community.

I've lived here 11 years and I really like it.

Thank you for the time.

The next speaker is Oscar Salinas at 521 6th Street.

Oops.

Good afternoon, Common Council.

I apologize ahead of time to uh some of you guys here.

Um, but a lot of you guys sitting in these seats, you'd be absolutely ashamed of yourself.

Absolutely.

Now I'm gonna talk about Festival Park, but we're gonna get there in a minute.

What we're gonna first talk about is we're gonna talk about the police contract and the fire contract.

That took months to get.

These guys have done everything to build Festival Park to what it is today.

$300,000 in losses a year when they weren't here.

What are they doing today?

They're actually bringing a profit.

But is that od enough for your pocketbooks?

Does the mayor need more than he's getting that he can't tax us for?

Just asking a basic question.

The fire departments have months without a contract.

You promised them 30 days, you never gave it to them.

They sit here and they work day in and day out.

Events that didn't want to be here are now back.

Events that left because they couldn't manage it, are now back.

But oh, let's micromanage everything in a contract.

I think you have a little bit other things to micromanage.

Just saying.

But we're not going to get into that today.

Today we're gonna get into getting a contract signed, helping the city move forward.

Our downtown area was literally nothing.

Nobody wants to go down there.

But when we started bringing in the farmers market, we brought in Salmon Oramble, we brought in uh Harbor Fest, we're bringing in Pride Fest.

Everything that our city needs.

These events.

Don't let your egos get in the way.

Don't let your pocketbooks get in the way.

Do what is right.

It's sad when we see people fighting every day for a human decent living.

And you sit behind a desk.

Bling.

Let me micromanage something else.

It's getting old.

Let the city have their events.

Last thing I'm gonna say, love you guys.

Thank you for all the hard work you guys are doing.

Every single event, every single time you stay late, it's appreciated.

And it's not unnoticed.

Because I'm a business owner myself.

I go there all the time.

I take pictures and I do photographs and I do everything else for weddings and all the events.

Free of charge.

With that being said, on the 30th of this month, Kids Co.

is opening back up.

Come down, see everything.

And the last thing I gotta say, mayor, do something.

Don't talk about it.

Do something.

You want to raise property taxes, you want to raise estimates, you can do all that because it's bringing you money.

Give them a contract.

The next speaker is Patrick Flynn at 4124 Mona Place.

My name is Patrick Flynn.

I live at 4124 Mona Park.

Um good evening.

I'm the owner of 5K Events.

My team here manages the civic centers on the city's behalf.

And you're likely wondering why you received an open records request from us on Sunday for our contract.

The truth is we've been in the dark for nine months.

While our initial contract required an what a 180-day notice prior to renewal or termination, we never received one.

For five months, our team has worked without a contract.

They show up every day because they believe in the spaces, but we, while we promise to be transparent, the city has not.

The open records was our last resort to get communication from this city.

We asked renew a year ago, but the city waited five weeks ago to talk to us, blindsiding us with a take it or leave it contract.

Our goal is to keep these buildings affordable for a community.

Events like empty bowls raised over $80,000 this year.

That was a record.

Um, to feed the hungry.

Our farmers market is thriving.

2,500 people the first week, 2,000 the next week.

Empty bowls, I'm sorry.

But all of this is at risk.

This constant instability is causing us to lose our valuable workers to other communities.

So simple common sense requests in our contract.

We brought forward a simple, compassionate solution to add to our existing contract based on the last two years of experience.

We wanted free parking during voting.

You guys don't know this, but when the voters elderly came to vote, they didn't know how to use the app.

They walked out, there were tickets on their cars.

This is unacceptable.

Managing the parking lot rentals.

If an if an event wants to rent the parking lot, they gotta go through hoops and ladders to make that happen.

Most of the time they get denied.

Let us manage the parking lot so they don't have to do that.

The other request was direct utility building billing.

We pay currently for the boat launch, fish cleaning station, public pathway lights, and the old M and I bake building, all of which we can't use.

But that's all in our budget that we have to pay.

And we asked for a temporary month-to-month agreement under the original terms just to keep our insurance valid while we negotiate.

So if something happens today, our insurance will likely not um honor the claim.

So the comp the city completely ignored the needs and handed all three strict demands instead, which I only have 13 seconds, and I don't have time to read them.

Um but the reality is we deserve this contract, and my team deserves to keep their jobs, and we need you guys to pay attention.

The next speaker is Ashley Herbal at 5719 Heather Way.

Hi, I am going to make this as brief as possible.

I'm here um on behalf of a good friend of mine, Christine.

I am speaking um just to support some of the work that I have seen her do um over the last four months that she has been dealing with the loss of her vehicle.

You may have seen it in some social media posts and on WISN 12.

It was a fiat parked outside of the Maples that was frozen to the ground.

It ended up being a total loss due to it being frozen to the ground and there not being anything done about it.

Over the last four months, she is now homeless.

And I have two disabled children that I stay home with.

And we are currently helping Christine.

But we are running thin, she's running thin while we wait for her and help her work with ministries like RBM, Restine Vocational Ministry, to get work, um, to get a vehicle.

But without the city's help to resolve this issue, her no matter what responsibility she takes for this, nothing can replace a vehicle, nothing can replace homelessness.

If she has no income and she has no vehicle to make an income, there's nothing that can be done for her.

So I am here asking that as somebody who is watching her take responsibility over the last four months.

Please look at what she has come to you guys with and take responsibility on your part.

Um revisit anything that she has communicated with you about this tragedy that she has faced before it's too late and before time has run out for her, and before my family has run out of resources to help her because we're running thin and it's breaking our hearts.

So thank you.

I appreciate your time this evening, and I appreciate any work that you can do to help her further um resolving this issue.

The next speaker is Josh Sozback at 3212 Terrence High.

I think probably half of you know me.

I'm Josh the banker, uh, but also the president of Salmon Unlimited, Wisconsin.

Uh speaking on behalf of our organization, its board, its members, and the team on the Salmonorama Committee.

Uh, we've been blessed the past few years to have been able to bring the Salmonorama Tournament as well as the festival back uh to Festival Park under the partnership with the City of Racine and with uh Festival Park LLC, as you've heard about.

Uh although it's not a perfect relationship to either side, uh it's you know, we sat down and created a structure about two and a half years ago uh that benefited both the city with a revenue share and our organization to ensure that our operations and the volunteers uh would not only be reinvigorated to help but uh also sustainably allow our organization to generate proceeds that are directly utilized to fund our community outreach events as a nonprofit.

Those include uh include over a thousand pounds of donated fish uh back to the Veterans Outreach Center, our free fish boil, and other sources.

Uh, soon to be more with a new project that our club's working on.

Safety life rings on the south wall of uh Reef Point Harbor Walls and a city beach that we donated a life ring to, the annual Root River Cleanup, Wisconsin DR partnership with the Weird Day Education Event, Return of the Cops and Kids Fishing Event that we're bringing back this year in partnership with the uh City Police and the Cop Houses, numerous grants and other publicly accessible attributes like our free uh freely accessible weather buoy out on Lake Michigan.

Planning for this event spans over a year in advance and involves our organization committing 30 to 50,000 in expenses on a typical year before we even reach the festival dates.

While I do understand the city is considering viable parties to manage Festival Park, and I respect their right to do so.

I would ask uh the two items be heavily considered by the council and in an immediate matter.

And uh just after a couple conversations say I'm also speaking on behalf of uh Saints on the Lake as well as Harborfest and talking to them because they were a little surprised about the situation.

Nobody had notified them either.

But because of the timeline it takes to plan these, we asked that you consider extending the contract with Festival Park LLC through the peak season.

Uh just creating and ensuring continuity for the operations.

Uh Saints on the Lake and Harbor Fest and Salmon Aram are in the next 60 days.

It is terrifying to us to have committed the amount of capital we have and not know if our contracts are even going to be respected if something does change through a different operator.

Uh we don't know if our contracts are going to be guaranteed by the city or by any new party if they do change.

The logistics in implementing the upcoming events is not a couple week process.

It takes months to years to plan these.

I'm sorry, your time has expired.

The next speaker is Lily Sobek at 3212 Terrence High.

Good evening.

My name is Lily Soapchalk, and I've come in support of Salmon Unlimited.

I volunteered over a hundred hours last year at Salmonarama, and from experience I can tell you that the planning is crucial for the event to work.

There's so many details to be worked out, and something as big as a location mishap could be detrimental to the event.

The next speaker is Jeff Kingsfield at 5903 Regency Hill.

First of all, I'd like to thank you to let us talk about the festival site.

Um I started fishing down at the lake in 1974 and participated in all the festivals over that period of time.

And at a certain point, the city said it was so important to build a structure for events, and they built one with taxpayer dollars and taxpayer businesses that help make it happen.

Um it was great for quite a few years, and at some point it started becoming um financially not feasible for nonprofits to actually go down there, and it actually saw the festival site go from a vibrant um show case of racine, and it was actually empty week after week after week, year after year after year.

And thanks to Patrick Flynn, he made it viable that our nonprofit was able to financially put a show on showing off racing and the festival site, and he's done very good for us the last two years.

I think he's done very good for the city.

Um I think it's unacceptable that he hasn't had a contract minimum at the beginning of the year, so that we could do our planning, and different businesses and taxpayer businesses that have donated their money to make this viable, and basically we're sitting here two months away, and we don't know what we're doing, and neither is he.

You ought to be ashamed that you haven't done something.

Thank you for your time.

The last speaker is Christine Daughtery.

No address was given.

Christine Doherty, and I don't have an answer.

Address.

One was a crossing guard for the city of Kenosha, and one was in home caretaker for people that needed the help.

I can't do either one.

I can't even get to a place to do those.

I hear take an Uber, take a taxi.

I would be paying more to go to work than I would bring home.

I am just asking for fairness, and during this whole four-month process, my mental health has declined.

I have had panic attacks almost every day, if not two or three of them a day.

I have had suicidal aviations because I don't know what's going on.

And for you not to approve.

Anything would be very shameful.

My mental health means something.

I lost wages means something.

So I hope you do the right thing.

And you approve what you need to approve.

Thank you and have a great night.

This concludes the public comment segment.

We'll move on to referrals to committee.

Alder Land, would you like to make a motion regarding the items referred to finance and personnel?

I'd like to refer the following items to the finance and personnel committee.

Item 0401-2 communication.

Submitting the claim of Linda Smith for consideration for disallowance.

Item 0402-26.

Communication.

Item 0403-26.

Communication.

Item 0407-26.

Communication on behalf of the fire chief requesting that the mayor, city clerk, finance director, and fire chief be authorized to accept the city of Recene portion of the Wisconsin Urgent Emergency Management State Urban Search and Rescue Emergency Services Agreement.

Item 0429-26 Communications sponsored by Mayor Mason requesting permission to accept for a $2 million grant from the state of Wisconsin Department of Administration Local Community Development Program for the construction at Lincoln King Community Center.

Item 0432-26.

Communication requesting to approve a contract with G strategies for the Lincoln King Community and Lincoln King Community Center Project.

I'd like a second.

Aye.

Opposed.

That motion carries.

We'll now work move on to public works and services.

Alder Harmon, would you like to make a motion regarding these items?

Yes, I would like to make a motion to forward the following items to public works and services.

Item 0394-26 communication sponsored by Alder Harmon on behalf of Department of Public Works.

Submitting change order number one to Contract 2025 094.

Item 0395-26.

Communication sponsored by Alder Harmon on behalf of the Department of Public Works, submitting final payment for contract 2025 094.

Item 0396-26.

Communication sponsored by Alder Harmon on behalf of the Department of Public Works requesting a final resolution for paving the following accessible streets.

Av, Biscayne Av from Oakwood Drive to Monarch Drive, Crab Apple Drive from Hickory Way to Cold-de-Sac, Deborah Lane from Delaware to Winthrop Avenue, Howland Avenue from Roe Ave to West 6th Street, Indiana Street from Durand Avenue to Pierce Boulevard, King's Circle from Cold Sack to Oakwood Drive, Lombard Avenue from North Main to Chatham Street, Monarch Drive from Instant Hills Road to Regal Court, North Wisconsin Ave from Cold de Sack to Carlton Drive, and Riker Court from Michigan Boulevard to Dead End.

Item 0397-26.

Communication sponsored by Alder Harmon on behalf of Department of Public Works.

Requesting a final resolution for paving the following accessible alleys.

DeCoven Alley.

De Coven Avenue as listed.

Through Harriet Street as listed.

Short Street through North Street and Douglas Ave is listed.

Victory Ave through 16th Street and Grove Ave as listed.

Walton Ave through Laird Ave and Geneva Street as listed.

Walton Ave, Laird Ave, and Geneva Street as listed again.

15th Street through Washington Ave and Grange Ave is listed.

15th Street through Wright Ave and Hayes Ave as listed.

15th Street through Wright Ave and Hayes Ave listed again.

15th Street through Wright Ave and Thurston Ave.

15th as listed, 15th Street through Wright Ave and Thurston Ave again as listed.

16th Street through 15th Street and Hayes Ave as listed.

16th Street through 15th Street and Villa Street as listed.

16th Street through 15th Street and Villa Street listed again.

Clearance Ave through Carmel Ave and Chicago Street is listed.

16th Street through 15th Street and Thurston Ave as listed.

Thor Ave through Carmel Ave and Balmont Ave as listed.

Thor Ave through Carmel Ave and Graham Street is listed.

Walton Ave through Laird Ave and Charles Street as listed.

Item 0398-26 communications sponsored by Alder Harman on behalf of the Assistant Commissioner of Public Works requesting approval of the Transportation Project Project Platte.

Item 0399-26.

Communication sponsored by Alder Harman on behalf of Commissioner of Public Works, submitting amendment one to contract 20200063, the state municipal financial agreement for state project ID 2703-09-01 2771.

Item 0400-26 communications sponsored by Alder Harmon on behalf of the Department of Public Works, submitting bid results for contract 2026-045-multi-site roofing.

Communications sponsored by Alder Davis requesting consideration for installation of a pedestrian crossing beacon at the corner of DeCoven Street and Taylor Ave to improve pedestrian safety and crossing accessibility and communication 0428-26.

Communication sponsored by Alder Widener to discuss funding mechanisms and options for alley improvements, maintenance and reconstruction.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Opposed that motion carries.

We'll then move on to Alder Pete.

Alder Pete, would you like to make a motion regarding the referral of these items?

I'd like to make a motion to refer to following items to the public safety and license committee.

Item number 0385 and 26.

Communications passed by Alder Pete submitting a renewal application for a public dance hall license.

LLC DBA Banquet Hall, Brams LOC, which is located at 3319 Warton Avenue.

Georgiana Posada Agent.

Submitting renewal requests for intoxicating liquor and fermented malt beverages for the 2026 through 2027 year.

Item number 039226.

Communication sponsored by Alder Peter on behalf of the City of Racine Police Department for the licensed premises report.

Item number 039326.

Communication sponsored by Alder Pete requesting any consideration, any formal expression of concern or other actions pursuant to the police report.

Item number 040426.

Communication sponsored by myself on behalf of the city clerk's office, submitting a new application for a Class B and Class C wine license for Banquet Hall Brims, LLC DBA Banquet Hall Brands, which is located at 3319 Watson Avenue.

Item number 0405 hyphen 26 communication sponsored by myself, submitting a renewal application for a massage extablishment license quiz.

Item number 0405, Hyphen 26, communication sponsored by myself, submitting a renewal application for a massage extablishment license quiz uh song DBA Main Street, which is located at 1324 North Main Street, Quincy Song owner.

Item 040626.

Communications sponsored by myself, submitting a change of agent application for a cigarette tobacco and electronic vaping device license for Walgreens Company DBA Wall Greens 07437, which is located at 3825 Durand Avenue.

Kristen Hansen Agent.

Item number 040926 communication sponsored by myself on behalf of the city clerk's office requesting the appearance of Travom Darrell for a new operator's license.

Item number 042726.

Communication sponsored by Alder Pete on behalf of the city clerk's office, submitting a list of liquor license which have not submitted renewal paperwork for intoxicating liquor and fermented malt beverages for the year 26 through 27.

Item 0431 26.

Communications sponsored by Alder Widener for the Department of Community Safety to present quarterly reports of all department activity grant applications received, applied and pending, and expenditures to the public safety enlargement committee with first the first presentation on or before June 1st, 2026.

Those in favor of referring these items, please say aye.

Aye.

Opposed that motion carries.

Moving on to uh the action we'll be taking this evening.

First up is the finance and personnel committee.

Alder Land, did you have any requests for items for separate consideration?

No, I do not.

Alder Widener, did you have a request for separate consideration?

Uh I do have a question on the first item on the report.

Please take your question.

So I see we're going to, according to the resolution, take uh $7,600 from a fund that we have for aldermen to have cell phones.

So the total amount is $7600 per year, and that comes out to about $506 per year for cell phone use.

And I'd like an explanation on how this is supposed to work and why we are going down this road.

Would you like to refer your question to uh to the author of the bill or to uh staff person or uh where would you like me to direct your question, Alder Weidner?

Well, generally these kind of items come with uh a uh briefing uh memo, and there is none here except uh resolution that doesn't really tell us what this is about.

So are we gonna purchase phones for the aldermen and pay their phone bills now?

Is that what this is about?

Um, this is uh an initiative that came from Alder Pabone.

Alder Pabone, would you like to explain the intent behind it?

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

So um, not to get too far into it, because not special subject consideration, but this is to break it down essentially um to allow us to have city issued phones that would help on a multiple of fronts.

Um, as far as from a legal perspective, allowing us to have that protection of having a separate device for work and a separate device for our personal business.

So, in the case there is a lawsuit that we are not subject to said lawsuit for our personal devices.

This is also from in um MIS standpoint for them to allow us to make sure that we have the most security on our phones, the more secure updates, and allows them to to monitor that or for any potential security incidences.

Now, each of these hardware is what they call it, is a phone, so it would be a dollar because the city purchases at a bulk rate, and right now uh the amount would amount to about 35 dollars per alderman per line.

The 7600 dollars is just how to give us some wiggle woman in case it gets that high because everything has been going up in cost.

Um, and so that's why it's there.

Um, and this is not any new money, it's just reappropriating the funds.

Alder Wyner.

So uh the MIS department is going to provide phones to each of the aldermen.

In the same way they in the same way they do the tablets, yes.

And when do we anticipate this is going to happen and and how is that gonna work?

We all have our business cards with our our phone numbers on it.

I've used the same phone number for 20 some years on people that know my number.

Am I gonna use the same number and it's just gonna transfer to a business phone?

How is that gonna work?

And this is an initiative from the council, Alder Widener.

I think it would be up to the council to decide if they want to adopt it, and then I think the administration will be tasked with figuring out how to implement it.

Okay.

And I guess my last question is because it was brought up about some kind of legal uh indemnity that we might have regarding our personal phones.

Maybe the city attorney can speak to that.

Sure, I'll ask the city attorney to respond and maybe echo the comments he made at the committee regarding uh public records and open meetings law.

Well, you know, I'll be honest, it's always a concern uh for me when anybody that is related to the city, an official or an employee uses their personal devices for city business because you're opening all your personal devices to potential requests under the Wisconsin Public Records Law or frankly something uh deeper than that.

Uh some of you were around uh 15 years ago when there was a lawsuit that named a number of alders include and the city, and in the discovery process, all the alders who were named had their cell phones and uh laptop or computers uh taken, copied, everything on them, copied and reviewed by the uh plaintiffs in that lawsuit.

Um if you only use city of receipt email, only were to use the city receiving telephone for all city business, then that's the only thing that could ever be an effort to obtain any of that information is your city-owned device, and most of the city employees I know carry two cell phones and never do city email on their personal laptop, for example, for all those reasons.

No, no quite no other questions, thank you.

Okay, and just to be clear, those were just questions you weren't asking for separate consideration on that item.

Okay.

Uh Alder Land, any other items for separate consideration?

No.

Uh, I'm sorry, Alder Allen.

You're you were in the queue.

Did you want to ask any questions regarding this item?

No, no.

Okay, thank you.

Um then the queue is empty.

We have no requests for items for separate consideration.

Uh seeing no other items requested for separate consideration.

We'll refer the remainder of these items to the consent agenda and move on to the public works and services committee.

Alder Harman, do you have any items requested for separate consideration?

Do not you mayor.

Then without objection, we will place this report onto the consent agenda and move on to public safety and licensing.

Alder Pete.

No, sorry, I do not.

Okay, then without any items requested for separate consideration, we will move uh that report to the consent agenda, which then takes us to the committee of the whole report.

Uh Alder Jorgensen is not here, so I will ask Alder Allen to please read the item and make a motion.

Okay, thank you.

I'll make a motion that the following be approved.

So it is item 0363-26, subject communication sponsored by Mayor Mason to give a presentation on redevelopment strategy and upcoming TID plans.

So motion and a second to approve the item discussion on this item.

Alder Widener.

So all we are approving is a receive and file, and I'm not sure why this item was read and not all the items that were on the previous committee reports.

So is there something more to this approval?

I'm kind of nervous about approving the receive and file.

The the vehicle on this item is uh what came forward from the committee of the whole.

As you may recall, Alder Weiner, your change to ordinance requires received and file items to go to full council as well.

The actual legislative action on this item would be the next under item under planning heritage and design.

I understand that, but uh what I'm not understanding is why this committee report was read and the other committee reports were not read.

So you just ask if this was should go to the consent agenda for the previous three committee reports, but this committee report you asked to have read, and I'm I'm wanting to understand why, what the difference is.

Okay.

If there's no objections on this item, this receive and file can be sent to the consent agenda.

Any objections?

Seeing none, we will move on that item to receive and file that report to the consent agenda, and then move to Alder Pete on the planning heritage and design action taken.

Alder Pete, but would you please well?

Have you had any requests for separate consideration on this item?

No, but I see a couple of lights on.

Okay.

No one asked me though.

Are there any requests for separate consideration on this item?

Request separate consideration on this item.

Then Alder Pete, would you please read the item and make a motion accordingly?

Item number 041426.

Communication sponsored by Mayor Mason for consideration of a resolution approving amendments to the project plan of tax incremental districts numbers 11, 13, 23, 28, and 31.

The amendment to the project plan and boundary of tax increment incremental district number 22, the creation project plans and boundaries of tax incremental districts number 32 and 33.

And the closure of tax incremental district number 10, 16, and 27.

Is there a second on this motion?

Seconded by Alder Pabone.

Discussion.

Thank you.

I have a couple questions.

Uh this would probably be for the finance director, but I'll let you determine that.

My first question is the Ellers plan projects 21 million dollars in development incentives for the 725 Lake Avenue.

I want to know what that uh figure was based on.

If there's a specific developer with a specific pro proposal in a financing plan, or is it based on an assumption about what might someday be built there?

I'll ask the finance director or the I'm sorry, the assistant development director is going to approach the Diaz to answer Alder Weiner's question.

Thank you.

Good evening.

There is no specific developer in mind.

Um that figure, it is a projection.

It was based on costs of uh the Hub D building, which is the most recent building of a similar lakefront building on a very similar site in terms of their costs and what the projected gap was there.

So that is uh purely a guess based on market and what we suspect an ask could be there is no developer for the property.

Thank you.

Yep.

I do have a couple comments to make.

Okay.

Um please proceed.

Thank you.

There is no developer yet.

You know how many times I have voted on creating another TID when there is no developer, just to name a few.

We have several others.

I want the new council members to understand what uh vote for this means.

You just heard that there is no developer, there's no proposal, there's no financing plan, there's no private party as committed to anything at this site.

But we are being asked to vote yes tonight on a $30.8 million dollar public financing structure built around a number someone modeled on assumptions for development that does not exist on a site that the city acquired for 12,500.

And when we vote yes, the Racine Unified School District, Gateway Technical College, and Racine County are locked out of every dollar of new value that this site ever generates for the next 27 years.

And if uh TID number nine is any evidence that 27 years will expand to 35 years, those taxing bodies will get nothing.

35 years tonight, before a single shovel hits the ground, before any developer even signs a letter of intent.

That is what it means tonight.

The public carries all the risk.

No private party has committed anything in our schools, our college, our county, all of them already asking residents for more money, have to wait until the year 2053 before they'll ever realize any kind of tax dollars being contributed to the general funds of any of the taxing bodies.

So before we vote, I want to make sure every council member, especially those are new, understand what a TID is and why everything about tonight matters.

When we create a tax increment district, the property tax base inside the district is frozen.

$12,500 is the value of the property at the YMCA.

Any new value, rising assessments, new developed, generates what's called tax increment.

That increment does not go to the school district, it does not go to gateway, does not go to Gateway Technical College, it does not go to Racine County.

It goes into the city or the mayor's controlled fund for up to 27 years or more.

When the city acquires a property and assesses it at zero or near zero, and then the development brings the value up to millions.

When the city acquires a property and assesses it at zero or near zero, and then the development brings the value up to millions, every dollar of that new assessed value is locked inside the TID.

Our USD gets nothing, gateway gets nothing, the county gets nothing.

That is what yes tonight needs, not just for those two new TIDs that but combined with all the neighborhood TIDs on the same agenda.

We are talking about millions of dollars locked away from institutions that are already struggling.

RUSD passed $191 million emergency referendum.

Gateway leadership said two months ago that the tax levy can no longer be relied on.

Racine County implemented a new sales tax, one of the last counties in Wisconsin to do so.

The Racine City taxpayers are carrying all of this too.

Now ask yourself why does a cleared lakefront property in Racine need $21 million in public incentives to attract developer?

Prime Lakefront real estate should attract developers with their own money.

That is what the market is for.

The law requires us to prove development would not happen without TIFF before we create a district.

I am not convinced we can make that case for a lakefront site, especially when the developer already had a signed contract on this property before the city eliminated them.

Which brings me to why the email I sent you before tonight matters.

The city acquired the property for $12,500.

Taxpayers paid over $1 million to demolish it before with using federal CDBG dollars.

That could have gone to this poor woman here that lost her car and her home and everything.

And the TID money routed through two other districts.

Tonight we are being asked to create a $30.8 million TID on the same site with no developer identified.

The plan calls it a market failure.

Before this council vote, yes.

No, again, there is no developer.

What happened to the one who had the contract, and why are we committing 27 years of school district county and technical college revenue to a vacant lot with no development plan?

Then there's TID number 32, the Lincoln King neighborhood.

The state of Wisconsin already invested $35 million in that neighborhood.

35 new townhomes are under construction right now, today.

Without this TID, development is happening because the state made it happen, not because the market failed.

The law requires us to prove that development would not occur without TIFF.

That is what's called the butt for test.

How do we apply that test to a neighborhood where construction is already underway?

And here's the part that should trouble every one of you.

RUSD, Gateway, and Racine County contributed to that $35 million state investment through their state taxes.

They already paid once to generate this development.

Now we are being asked to create a TID that ensures they forego the local tax increment from the value that investment created for another 27 years.

They pay twice.

They wait until 2053.

Meanwhile, the same agenda closes TID 27, a neighborhood TID created in 2021 with a termination date of 2048.

Last year was its first year of meaningful revenue, $971,571 collected.

Infrastructure spending that year, zero, zero dollars.

Cumulative infrastructure spending across its entire life, zero dollars.

We are closing it 22 years early, not because it fulfilled its purpose, not because the neighborhood got what it was promised when we approved those plans, but because we need to cap room to open the two new TID districts.

The residents whose property generated TID 27 increment will never see the infrastructure their neighborhood was promised.

Two new TIDs, one closed neighborhood TID that never spent a dollar on infrastructure, millions and 10 million in foregone this year alone.

Gone uh foregone to institutions already in crisis.

No developer identified for the prime site and the documented record showing the city eliminated the private solution that existed.

That is what's before us tonight.

And for the new members of this council, you're elected to represent your constituents.

Your constituents include every family whose child attends RUSD, every student at Gateway, every county resident who now pays a sales tax that doesn't exist anymore.

Every city taxpayer.

When you vote yes tonight, you are telling them all to wait 27 more years for the value of this that this development creates.

The original TID plan came before the council, and that's what what was approved for TIDS 22, 23, 27, 28, and 31.

This year generated 10 million dollars in tax increment that sits in a pot of money that we have no control over how it's spent.

It was approved by this council, and it did not grant authority to the CDA for plan or policy modifications.

What you have before you tonight gives that authority to the CDA.

It completely abdicates your responsibility to your constituents to an unelected board.

The council was not even informed about the changes in the plan that was approved by the CDA that took place last January.

There will be no council oversight when your constituents' taxpayer dollars are moved from your neighborhoods within the TID to another neighborhood.

One that is not contributing their tax dollars for the purposes indicated in the original plan.

This action you are being asked to make tonight codifies something that was never approved by the council.

That is the decision to create focus areas within a TID, redefined what public infrastructure is, giving the CDA authority and the ability to redistribute tax dollars taken from one neighborhood TID to within a half mile of that TID's border.

Approving this also will allow the 25% of excuse me.

Uh call for question.

I'm almost done.

It's been 10 minutes.

I have the floor.

It's been 10 minutes.

I have the floor.

Ma'am, according to Robert's rule of order.

You've been talking for over 10 minutes now.

Thank you so much.

I just want to clarify.

Are you making a motion to call the question?

I am making a motion to call for question.

And I also had a comment.

Is there a second on that motion?

Call the question has no motion to call a question.

Or is I'll refer to all the vote.

I'll refer your procedural question to the city attorney on the motion to call the question or close debate.

What is colloquially called them called the question is actually a motion to uh end debate.

Um it must be seconded if to move forward.

It is not debatable or amendable, and it would have to pass by a two-thirds vote.

Okay.

So there's a motion to what is it formally called?

And to end debate.

To end debate.

Is there a second on that motion?

There's a second on that motion and no debate.

No debate.

Okay, so we do have two alders who are here virtually, so we will be doing roll call votes this evening.

So when the clerk calls your name, please vote as you wish.

Again, the vote is to close debate on this item.

Hang on just a second, Alder Mac.

Let me let me turn your microphone on if you're trying to make a point of order.

According to my cheat sheet to end it be we moved the previous question.

However, that motion should not interrupt a speaker.

But you I'll refer your question to the said it's correct.

I'm sorry.

Thank you.

Okay, I missed that.

So then that motion currently is not in order.

You have the floor.

Thank you.

I was almost finished.

I just wanted everyone to be clear on what's going to happen, especially those that represent TID 31.

So we had a public hearing the other night regarding uh alley uh re resurfacing.

Several speakers came before us and said they cannot afford to have that public infrastructure done at their expense, especially with the increase in the property tax there that they're paying within that TID.

So now we're going to take the public infrastructure out of TID 31 and we're going to move it over to a development on Bird Avenue.

That was never the intent, and that's not how this council approved those neighborhood TIDs.

They are changing in the most fundamental way, and we are abdicating ourselves of any oversight, any responsibility to how that 10 million dollars a year is being spent.

And I think this council needs to be very much aware of.

I would make a motion that this item gets sent back to the committee of the whole for a further review and action to be taken on these TIDs individually.

That motion fails for a lack of a second.

Any further discussion on this item?

Alder Pabone.

I'm sorry, Alder Allen was in the queue before you, Alder Pabone.

Alder Allen.

So I just wanted to make uh a couple of comments based off of what Alder Weiner shared.

One was about the lake the Lake Street property.

Okay, so there was Alder Allen has the floor.

Alder Wynner, you've just been speaking for I finished speaking.

And now we will um sign that motion was withdrawn because she's because you had the floor.

That doesn't mean that the motion immediately comes back.

Alder Allen has the floor.

She could make that motion if she would like, or she could speak to the motion.

She has the floor.

Alder Allen, please proceed.

Thank you.

So there was uh a person or a company that was interested in having that uh development, but since we're giving lessons on TIDS, TIDS itself cannot be more than 12% the value of the city, but it cannot be more than 15% of in the uh particular TID.

Also, it can't it can't be a for lack of a better word, a subsidy project.

So that project had it gone through, was not going to make the money back for that TID, so that's why that was withdrawn.

Secondly, um, let's please stop talking about racing unified because our referendum for racing unified was a direct result of why we're not able to access those funds at the state level, so asking the city to support the racing unified school district, the families and the students there, bringing them always into this conversation is a little uh off skew.

And then uh thirdly, uh if we remember that we sat through this rehashing of this topic at our last committee of the whole meeting, and that conversation was a whole review of what we discussed at our budget process.

The what we also walked away with from our last committee of the whole meeting was to understand that if we do not vote on this package deal, it doesn't have anything to do with uh these other topics that are being brought into play as to whether or not we have given or whether or not we want to take back our overview sites.

We are really just talking about whether or not we are going to be able to go forward with the projects that we have going on with the linking center.

If we do not do this, that becomes a stale in the wall.

We are not relying on state dollars at this point for that.

So we either go forward with our plan here or we stall development in that area because we do not have the money to cover that.

So that is something if we want to remember and recall anything and vote forward.

That is what we are considering.

Anything else is um fodder and can it will lead everyone who's listening to this down the wrong path of understanding.

Alder Pabone.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Um, a part of the reason that we're in such the straits that we are is we have over a billion dollar surplus that isn't allocated to the local municipalities by the state.

So we have to do what we can to ensure that development continues here.

One of the tools that we have, really the only tool that we have from what I understand, are TIDS like such.

So if I could ask Director Fisher to come up and just explain exactly the the tool and the way that this is vital to what we're doing in the community, what we're doing going forward, and also how can you move that money in between the TIDs and what benefit is seen by the city in doing that?

Thank you.

Sure, I'll try to answer all of that in in as best as I can.

So let me start with, as I talked about in the committee whole very specifically, economic development and the tools that we have available to us, TID being the most powerful tool that we have available to us in the city of Racine is absolutely essential to the long-term fiscal sustainability of this community.

City of Racine desperately needs development.

TID is our tool to be able to attract and build development in our community.

One of we have many struggles in this community.

The land itself is very difficult to build on.

So we do need TID in this community to help support economic development.

Absolutely vital tool.

To talk a little bit about the transferring or the sharing of tax increment between TID districts.

So this proposal does include a couple of districts that will share with other districts, specifically number 11, number 13, and number 28 will have sharing that will share with other districts.

That was an intentional amendment to be made.

Number TID 11 and number 13 are in the later of their lives.

They have very little time left in that district to be able to have public expenditures.

There's an expenditure period.

Both of them are coming to the end of that.

The only way that we can utilize those funds for the city of Racine and for economic development is to share them into another TID that could use them for economic development into the future.

So we do that with many of our TIDs.

Many other communities do that, including Penosha does it regularly with their TIDs, particularly later in life.

TID number 28 and the sharing that's imagined for TID number 28 is to be used for neighborhood grants to cover the majority of the area that TID 27 was in place for because we have to close TID 27.

So that will allow for neighborhood grants in that larger area so that the community doesn't feel a huge impact from the closure of TID 27.

So again, the the staff in our team and our team of Lers, we worked really hard over the last six months to come up with the most efficient and effective way to be able to have the least impact on the residents that are within neighborhood TIDS right now, and to have the long longest fiscal sustainability for the city of Racine to promote economic development.

Thank you.

I yield the floor.

This will just be a question for the finance director.

State your question.

So the CDA back in uh January 14, 2026, approved on this agenda briefing uh memorandum.

100 applications for TID 28, 225 applications for TID 27.

All the funding for the applications for TID 27 came from TID 27.

So now next year, TID 27, which will collect the same amount of money.

Uh, in this case, it was 2,531,500 500.

That's gonna have 100 less grants available to the people that actually paid into that two and a half million because we'll be sharing with TID 28.

No, actually the opposite.

So for 2027, TID 27's increment will still come in as of one one of 2027.

The residents within TID 27 right now, even though we are closing it or proposing to close it today, will still have access to that that funding for homeowner grants in the entire 2027 district.

Okay, so that's for 2027.

Going into 2028, okay, the 2027 district will be out of money.

We will have spent that on homeowner grants, and now at that point, TID 28 will share with actually TID 22 will share into 28, that'll share into 27 to be able to spread those grants around to ensure that the same number of residents or at least a good portion of those residents still have grants available to them in TID 27.

So that's because of the new half mile radius rule.

Yes.

Okay.

Another question for the finance director.

Um I I believe the I'm not sure if it was a finance director or if it was city development that promulgated the language that says that the CDA rather than city being us would have the uh ability to modify the plan.

So I'm not sure who that question is for I'm gonna kick that to assistant director hence so I'm looking at page 15 of one of the TIDs.

I'm sure all of the TIDs that are being neighborhood TIDs that are being modified will have the same language where it says here the CDA may amend or otherwise modify this program without seeking amendment to the plan.

Um so we are saying that the council will no longer have any oversight or anything to say in how these plans get amended.

So a plan amendments that you're seeing today of like a substantial nature would go back through if it was something dramatic, like the CDA decided we don't want to have a neighborhood repair program anymore.

That would you know be a planned amendment that would be something substantially different.

What that language is getting at is that if there's going to be a focus area or something along those lines that we've already done and already exists in the plan, we just wanted to make sure the language was clear in terms of that ability.

It was it already existed.

We wanted to make it clear so everyone would know that that's what will that's what was happening going forward.

What already existed?

The CDA already had the ability to fund, you know, the the council gave the CDA the ability to run a homeowner repair program through previous approvals and resolutions.

The CDA already had the ability to determine how they were going to administer that program.

We didn't change that there was a program, there was never any change to the homeowner repair program, it still existed, people can apply for it.

It simply clarified, and the intent of that language is to clarify that if the CDA needs to have a rule or something, like when the rule when the plan when the program first launched effectively, it was never contemplated that there would be so many applications that we couldn't fund them all.

There was really no rules to deal with that.

We had people receiving two and three grants, uh things of that nature.

So that intent was always to allow the CDA to operationalize this program in a way that could be run and make sense so that it had rules that everyone would understand and be aware of up front.

So that's all that that language is getting at.

It's not trying to you know, um, avert or change anything that this council has authorized the CDA to do.

There will still be a homeowner repair and enhancement program as noted if something dramatic like we don't want to have that program anymore was going to be contemplated.

This body would have to approve that any further discussion on this item.

Thank you.

I'm not sure if this question is for the assistant director, city development or director Fisher.

For these TIS that for this that's being proposed.

Do we have to does it have to be a vote of closing and creation as one, or is there a possibility to close and come back to creation?

I may defer this to Scott, but my understanding is that based on how it is agendized and listed, this is one vote under uh the item that's listed on the agenda, but I would defer to the city attorney on if that's accurate or not.

Alder Davis, was that your question?

Yeah, that's the question.

Is there I'll refer your question to is there a chance for amendment where we're able to close certain tids and then hold off into vote to hold off into the creation?

Right.

So it's it's one uh well as the city attorney to clarify.

Well, you know, it's defined.

Yep.

Um it is written as one agenda item.

There is a procedure that would allow division of the question if there is something that wants to be separated out, but it's written as one agenda item.

Well, I would like to make an amendment to the motion to separate it out where we um for the creation and the closing.

Could you be more specific?

Make an amendment to take the item number.

So instead of so there's some parts of the motion, part of the reasons won't if we if we don't close some of the TIDs, there are other actions that cannot occur.

So while you can separate the question, um I don't know that it would depend on what amendment you want to make.

Um, but if the practical effect of part of the motion is to essentially defeat the functionality of the motion itself, um that would raise issues in terms of what that would look like.

I guess I would um ask you to sp specify specifically what amendment you would like to make to the main motion in terms of the the make sure I'm reading this districts that the closure uh 10 16 27 occur that wait wait wait give me a moment and okay so yes, wait, getting it all together.

The uh approving of the tax increment districts of 11, 13, 23, 28, and 31, but holding off removing the creation of number 22 is already created.

Oh well, 32 and 3.

So you're in whichever the the whichever the YMCA one is as well.

That's that's 33.

That's 33, okay 32 is Lincoln King.

33 is the YMCA.

Yes.

And the first part of your so is your you so your amendment is to not create those two TIDs, is that what you're saying?

Correct, not create the TIDs.

32 and 33.

Okay.

So the city attorneys before me, and technically it's it's not an amendment to remove it, it'd be asking to vote on it separately.

So if you want a separate can uh to divide the question to vote on the creation of TID 32 and 33, um and that is what is on the floor right now.

Would you like to speak further on dividing the question on the create on not creating TID 32 and 33, Alder Davis?

Uh I wanted to hear more about the consequences, yeah.

The consequences.

I'll ask um Alder, I'm sorry, I will ask if it's all right, Alder Davis, the finance director to explain what the impact would be if we did not create 32 and 33, what the impact would be in those two areas.

So I'm gonna talk specifically about TID number 32, which is in the Lincoln King area, so Alder Hodges district.

There are specific costs right now, as you know, there's a lot of construction going on there.

There are specific costs that we are waiting on and specific projects that we are waiting on for this district to be created.

If we spend um project costs before the district is created, they are not capturable in terms of economic development, and they're not reimbursable with TID expenses.

Some of those types of expenses are infrastructure expenses, they are not for the clinic itself, they're not for the community center.

This is to enhance the housing piece of Lincoln King.

These are sidewalks, these are decorative street lights.

This is widening of roads for emergency vehicles, and for parking.

This is for additional parking for the residents as well as the surrounding community.

Really, really important public infrastructure that any delay in the creation of that district in particular would inhibit our ability to recapture those costs through TID.

So to me, from a fiscal sustainability, that is not something that I would would prefer, to be quite honest with you, is to delay that one.

Number 33 is again that Lake Avenue TID.

That one there, we don't have any specific project costs or a specific developer.

So that one I suppose could wait, but again, we brought it together as a full package so that we can market that property to developers quickly so that we can bring in that net new construction as quickly as is humanly possible.

Again, on a very valuable site in the city of Racine.

Thank you.

I have a follow-up question.

Please take your question under David's.

Yep.

That would help with the infrastructure over there.

Is this are these numbers that came of the numbers for the infrastructure and whatnot?

The projects came up.

After the other numbers, like far the other grants and all the other prices of the development for the leaking key.

So did this come up later?

So why are we seeing this now?

Why wasn't it?

Why wasn't maybe this proposal was before to create this t when we we started with all of Lincoln King and everything?

Very good question, and thank you for the question.

Couple of things.

So the housing and the development of the housing and the building of the housing is covered by a grant primarily from the state of Wisconsin.

That's a $15 million grant from the state of Wisconsin for those housing.

That grant was never imagined to cover roads and sidewalks and decorative street lights.

We always knew there was going to be an infrastructure component.

There are things that have come up since we started construction.

Please keep in mind to all of the Alders.

This is the first time we have done this type of construction in our community.

It's beautiful, it's super exciting.

But yes, we learned things along the way that we didn't know.

An example is there is a there are many streets over in Lincoln King, if you're familiar with the area that are extremely narrow.

I mean extremely narrow.

And when you put up put up new housing units and you start seeing where these housing units are going to go, you start saying, wait a minute, these streets weren't built necessarily for this type of housing unit, or could we widen this road to make it more accessible?

Sidewalks, those types of things.

So that did come up later and wasn't something that was anticipated at first.

Now, when did these things come up?

And we started seeing these things about six months ago when we started this whole conversation.

And when we started that conversation, the first thing I said was we need to look at creating a TID in Lincoln King, and that is when the whole thing came up that we were over the 12% limit and we couldn't create a TID.

That is why all of these things are together as a package, and that is why they impact each other as a package at this point in time.

Thank you.

Alder Frazier.

I have a question for CD City Development.

Please say your question.

What is the process for bringing developers to the table?

What is that recruitment process?

What are the conversations that are being had?

Who's a part of the conversations?

Or any one of us have acquired, we we hear the same thing of there's nobody, there's nobody here.

Uh there's nobody interested in the site.

Um but they were also told that this is a prime site that and the walker site.

So I'm just curious to know what that process looks like.

So I'll um ask uh Jeff Hence to come to the to the DS and try to explain that.

I will I will just um for clarity though, I know there's been a number of rumors about like plans that are in place that are not plans in place for the site.

When you well, I'll like Alder, I'm sorry, I'll let um assistant director hints explain the the purpose of creating a TID as a vehicle to attract development.

Um Mr.

Inns.

Thanks for the question.

This is a good question.

Um, while the site is a prime site, I don't think any of us debate that it's on the lakefront.

It's one of the best sites in the city, certainly.

Um, just based on other prime sites that are on the lake front in recent history, developers come to us generally with their financial stack, and they always have an ask for the city that there's a gap that they just can't close.

They can't get a lender for whatever reason.

Um the developer from a couple years ago had a TIFF ask actually that you know was referenced.

They were looking for about 15 million dollars over 10 years, and it emailed uh me and assistant director uh Reg at the time.

So the developer from several years ago is actually looking for a TIFF to develop this site.

So we know there's going to be a gap in financing.

The development of that site is likely going to be you know between 80 and 115 million dollars, depending upon how big and you know what what they're willing to afford and uh bite off essentially.

Um so the TID is really the only tool we'd have to be able to help them close that gap despite the fact that it is a prime site.

Uh in terms of the process, it's not a thing where city development or the CDA owns the property.

It's not a thing where the CDA is necessarily going to just pick somebody out of thin air and say you should take this, we'll sell you the lot.

Um we've very much envisioned a public process where there is an RFP or RFQ of some sort where people will turn that in.

Um the CDA would be involved as it is their property, and since there is a gap in the incentive and the people would likely want to or a gap in their financing is expected, uh this common council would be involved in some sort of a development agreement to potentially uh provide them incentive.

Without the TID in place, that conversation would never happen.

So we know that from the interest from several years ago that anyone coming to develop that site is going to need some assistance to do it.

So that's the process.

Currently, we're working with an architect on some massing models and things like around a site plan that would give a developers a head start in terms of not guessing what we're looking for on the property, and then they would turn in proposals and ultimately uh the CDA and this council would be involved in that process to select who would move forward and what that would look like.

Um so I'm not opposed to the TID.

Um I think that it's a good idea.

I guess my question, because I I get a lot of emails from um I'll say concerned citizens, um, as they as they uh name themselves who are just curious about the process, uh, because they're you know, as myself, tired of looking at you know, you know, empty land.

Uh and so uh I'll follow up with you in an email.

Um some of the questions that I have are real aren't really important to the to the council and uh and then we can just continue our conversation.

Sounds good.

Thank you.