Kell gives options to city council

By Bert Lehman

How the mayoral vacancy will be filled when Clintonville Mayor Judy Magee resigns on Jan. 1 was discussed at the Nov. 10 Clintonville City Council meeting.

Clintonville City Administrator Chuck Kell addressed the council regarding the mayoral vacancy. He said the council should make a decision about the vacancy at its December meeting.

“With the mayor resigning on Jan. 1 you should have a plan in place in December for what’s going to take place going forward after that,” Kell said.

According to state statute, Kell said the vacancy can be filled by an appointment of the council or by holding a special election. A special election is not required in Clintonville’s case because of the late date of the resignation, and the next election scheduled for April 2016.

A Clintonville citizen can be appointed to fill the mayoral vacancy. The appointed person doesn’t have to be a current member of the city council.

Kell said the council also has the option to leave the vacancy open, and have the council president assume the mayoral duties until the election in April.

Clintonville City Attorney April Dunlavy added that if a council member is appointed fill the vacancy, the council member would have to give up the remaining portion of their council term. The council would then seek appointments to fill the open council seat.

Alderwoman Mary-Beth Kuester asked if someone can run for a city council seat as well as mayor in the April election.

Kell said a person can run for council and mayor in the same election. He added that if the person wins both elections, then they choose which position they want to fill.

“And then you have another vacancy to fill if that happens,” Kell said.

Before the discussion concluded, Kuester asked the council if anyone was interested in being appointed mayor.

Magee said if anyone was interested they should send an email to Kell and herself, so council members wouldn’t have to disclose yet if they were interested.

Mayor’s report
Magee brought up the appointments of Greg Rose and Jim Krause to the Clintonville Transit Commission during her absence.

“I did not make those appointments. No way would I have appointed Greg Rose after he was recalled,” Magee said. “That would be a direct slap in the face against the community members that voted against him in the recall.”

She asked for Rose and Krause to resign from the committee, and if they didn’t she would remove them from the commission.

Dunlavy said Rose and Krause can’t be removed from the commission without cause.

Aster update
Dunlavy told the council that during the process of filing a claim against Aster, discrepancies were discovered in some of the paperwork.

“At this point I am looking for some paperwork that wasn’t in the development agreement that we had,” Dunlavy said.

Hemlock bridge
Kell informed the council that the cost to repair the bridge on Hemlock Street will be around $150,000. The actual bid for the project is $142,866. The low bid was provided by Pheifer Brothers Construction Company of Neenah. This is the same company that did the bridge work on the recent Main Street project.

The final bid amount is less than the original bid because after speaking with the contractor and the painter, the city decided to go with a lower cost paint option, which lowered the cost, Kell said.

Kell also said the city will contract with the county or another entity to replace the asphalt because it can be done cheaper than what the bid was for.

The council unanimously approved the bid of $142,866, and a total of $150,000 for the entire project, including the asphalt needed for the project.

The funds will come from the 2016 capital budget.

Main Street
Kell informed the council that Wisconsin Department of Transportation officials have informed him that the second phase of Main Street/Highway 22 reconstruction will take place in 2017.

“They have not heard anything about the project being moved up to 2016, and they feel they would have heard something by now if that was going to be the case,” Kell said.

Kell said all the plans for the project have been completed, but nothing has been put out for bid yet.

Developments
Kell informed the council that the city has received a submittal regarding a new 14,000 square foot Chrysler dealership on the Klein property, adjacent to the Chevrolet dealership.

“The building inspector is working through those plans and we would expect the permit to be issued relatively soon,” Kell said.

Kell said he wasn’t sure if construction would start this year yet.

Kell told the council he’s also been working on a residential development project for the city. He said the development would be on 17 acres of land and consist of 30-35 assisted living units and 24-28 condos.

“I think the project overall should bring a new value to the city of probably $6 million or so if its built as is,” Kell said.
Local and out of town investors are working on the project, Kell said.

The council met in closed session to discuss the development.