Home » News » New London News » City ends contract negotiations

City ends contract negotiations

Committee scrutinizes project consultant, broker

By Robert Cloud


A tie vote ended contract negotiations with a consultant working on the New London riverfront development project.

The New London Economic Development Committee voted 5-5 on a motion to continue contract negotiations with Todd Hutchinson, a consultant with Wisconsin Redevelopment LLC in Oshkosh.

A tie vote meant the motion failed.

Committee members spent more than an hour April 28 questioning the proposed contracts with Hutchinson and Chris Mokler, a real estate broker with Keller Williams.

An attorney for the city had earlier reviewed the contracts and suggested changes.

Not all of the changes were made to the revised contracts.

The committee questioned the three-year term on Mokler’s contract, its exclusivity rights, commissions and fees.

“I’m in favor of the shorter terms,” said Mayor Mark Herter, saying he did not want to hire Mokler for three years without knowing how well he would perform.

He wanted a one-year term on the contract.

Molker noted recruiting developers for a project takes more than a year.

Mike Pinch said he wanted to look at other real estate brokers before making a decision.

“How can we get out of this contract without penalization” Herter asked.

“If there weren’t penalization what good would the contract be?” Mokler replied.

Ald. John Faucher noted the city has been trying to develop the riverfront area for about 10 years. He said the city has worked with other developers, marketing people and Realtors, spending tens of thousands of dollars on this project.

“I felt like this was a positive step in getting something going,” Faucher said. “Now, I feel like we’re backpedaling and spinning in the mud, again.”

Mokler also defended the contract’s exclusivity clause, saying it serves “to better incentivize it for me and my staff. We’d like an exclusive contract so that we know we’re going to hopefully have something at the end.”

City’s goals

“What is the goal of the city of New London?” Faucher asked. “To sell the property and get it developed. I think we’re getting hung up on the wrong kind of details.”

“The goal is to move the city forward, but you also have to keep in mind that you have to be fiscally responsible,” City Administrator Lou Leone said. “You can’t just give it all away.”

Hutchinson’s contract included a timeline that indicated he would spend 30 days reviewing past proposals.

Leone noted Stadtmueller and Associates’ original plan had already been reviewed both internally and by a consultant. They found it could not be made to work, both in terms of siting the library and paying for it.

“That plan does not work and would cost the city about $10 million,” Leone said, noting the library had raised only $1.5 million. “We don’t have that much room in our debt ratio that we’re allowed by the state.”

Hutchinson said part of his role would be to work as a conduit between the city and the library to find a site for the new library that could work.

Faucher made a motion to continue negotiations with Hutchinson.

Voting in favor of the motion were Faucher, Bill Bishop, Dave Morack, April Kopitzke and Mike Barrington.

Voting against the motion were Fred Zaug, David Dorsey, Pinch, Stephen Thompson and Tom O’Connell.

At this point, New London has no contract with a consultant or a real estate broker on the riverfront development project.

Scroll to Top