[0:00] States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under

[0:05] God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[0:09] » Moment of prayer.

[0:15] Thank you.

[0:18] » Mayor Tuta? >> Here.

[0:19] » Council President Brickner? >> Here.

[0:22] » Alderman Waddle? >> Here.

[0:23] » Alderwoman Colter? >> Here.

[0:25] » Alderwoman Pflanz? >> Here.

[0:27] » And Alderman Fires is excused this evening.

[0:30] » Thank you, Rebecca. Telephonic meeting? None.

[0:34] » The meeting has been properly posted and noticed.

[0:38] » Public hearing? None.

[0:41] Presentation? None.

[0:43] Is there any alder person that would like anything removed from the consent

[0:46] agenda? Agenda, sorry. >> Mayor, I'll make a motion to approve the

[0:51] consent agenda as listed. >> Second.

[0:53] » Any further discussion? All in favor?

[0:57] » Aye. >> Opposed? Ayes have it.

[1:01] Recommendation of action from committees, commissions, and boards.

[1:05] Action to be taken from the licensing committee meeting held July 21st, 2026.

[1:11] Don? >> Mayor, we're looking for a carnival

[1:15] license for Wenzel Amusements LLC for September 4th through the 6th, 2026

[1:21] at 4320 South Kirkwood Avenue for Saint Francis Days.

[1:26] » I'll second. >> Any further discussion?

[1:29] » Mayor, if I recall, there was a in a contingency stipulation that you

[1:34] discussed during the >> License committee.

[1:37] » Licensing committee meeting. >> The recommendation, Mr. Mayor, is

[1:40] The recommendation from the committee was that it be approved subject to them

[1:43] providing a a certificate of insurance in compliance with code.

[1:49] » You didn't hear me say that? >> [laughter]

[1:52] » Yes, now that you mention it, it is very clear.

[1:54] » And Steve, do you agree with that? >> to it.

[1:56] » your your motion, Don?

[1:59] » Yes. >> Okay.

[2:01] And it was seconded by you, Alderman Wadowski.

[2:05] » And I said any further discussion, so all in favor?

[2:08] » Aye. >> All opposed? Eyes have it.

[2:11] » Thank you. >> [snorts]

[2:12] » Next, we're looking for a temporary Class B wine, Class B beer St. Francis

[2:16] Days for Rick Hackl, organizer of September 4th through the 6th, 2026,

[2:22] 4320 South Kirkwood. >> I'll second.

[2:26] » Any further discussion? All in favor?

[2:30] » Aye. >> Aye.

[2:31] » All opposed? Eyes have it. >> And that's all from licensing, Mayor.

[2:35] » Thank you, Don. Action to be taken from finance. None.

[2:40] Action to be taken from bargaining. None.

[2:43] Action to be taken from planning commission. None.

[2:47] Resolutions and ordinances? >> Ordinance to conditionally rezone

[2:51] certain lands in the city of St. Francis from the B2 general business district to

[2:56] the B2 general business district with a special use under statute statute

[3:01] 455-28C of the St. Francis zoning code 4136

[3:07] South KK Avenue. >> I'll move to adopt.

[3:11] » I'll second. >> Any further discussion?

[3:15] All in favor? >> Aye.

[3:17] » Aye. >> All opposed?

[3:19] Eyes have it.

[3:23] Discussion items with possible action. Investment policy.

[3:28] 07/16/2026 revision, Mark Carpol.

[3:32] » So, Mayor, this is a follow-up. The This is the second time this has come to the

[3:35] council this year. The first time was to the uh primary uh impetus to is to make

[3:40] sure that we had authorized people on the uh

[3:43] uh investment policy that were able to make investments on behalf of the city.

[3:47] Uh since then, we've had an opportunity to go back and

[3:50] uh this current uh revision uh incorporates a change in the statute

[3:55] that changes the deposit of the insured deposit limits

[3:59] under state law and so the language in that

[4:03] in this draft is intended to reflect that.

[4:07] » So do you need a motion to just place it on file?

[4:09] » I would receive and place on file and and do

[4:15] well actually adopt the revised resolution.

[4:18] » Okay, I'll so >> policy, excuse me.

[4:20] » I'll move to place on file and adopt the policy.

[4:25] » I'll second. Any further discussion?

[4:30] » Who seconded? I'm sorry. >> Steve.

[4:33] » Okay. >> All in favor?

[4:35] » Aye. >> Aye.

[4:36] » All opposed? Eyes have it. Block party street closing Trestle Creek

[4:42] August 27th, 2026. Mark.

[4:50] » I believe this was submitted This is their same block party that they have

[4:54] each and every year for Trestle Creek. The recommendation is

[4:58] to approve. >> I'll move to approve the application.

[5:01] » I'll second. >> Any further discussion?

[5:05] All in favor? >> Aye.

[5:06] » Aye. >> All opposed? Eyes have it.

[5:11] Appointments to committees, commissions and boards.

[5:14] None.

[5:17] Action concerning any currently outstanding appointments to committees,

[5:21] commissions and boards. None. Correspondence with possible action or

[5:26] referral. None. Unfinished business.

[5:30] None. Other business.

[5:34] None. Citizens comments. Marty.

[5:45] » [laughter] >> Within the first 5 minutes.

[5:50] » Marty Soborski

[5:56] » Rick

[6:02] » Marty Soborski 3535 East Siver. I think that's better.

[6:07] » Um, good evening. Uh

[6:09] We had a newsletter come out, the civic newsletter come out and there was an

[6:13] article in there about the tax incremental financing.

[6:17] However, that article told only part of the story.

[6:20] Uh, the article focuses on higher property values and lower mill rates

[6:24] without discussing the cost of getting there.

[6:26] What did these developments actually cost the taxpayers of Saint Francis?

[6:31] According to the city's own projections, there are expenditures totaling over $98

[6:35] million in projected developer incentives plus interest,

[6:39] administrative, and other project other project cost.

[6:42] These obligations are real public commitments and there's a real risk to

[6:47] city taxpayers if somehow the the developers back out on projects.

[6:53] The report cited in this article should be available on the city websites like

[6:56] other cities have on their websites. Um, I only got them through an open

[7:01] records request and this is not very transparent.

[7:05] Uh the taxpayers of Saint Francis deserve

[7:08] to know exactly how much that interest and administrative expense

[7:12] accompanies each development project. We need to see the project tax revenue,

[7:17] not just the project the projected value.

[7:22] Residents should see a project-by-project accounting showing

[7:25] the developer incentives paid, the taxes generated, and the net benefit to the

[7:28] city. Our group, Community for the Triangle,

[7:31] supports responsible development. We simply believe every major

[7:34] development should be evaluated using complete financial information so

[7:38] citizens can determine whether the benefits justify the public investment.

[7:43] Please check out our website at communityfortriangle.com

[7:47] for more information. Thank you very much for your time.

[7:50] » Thanks, Marty. Kendall?

[7:58] » Hi, Kendall Palmer. 3966 South Packard Avenue. I'm a little

[8:02] shorty here. Um so, I just have I I noticed um after

[8:07] I was watching back on the last council meeting that there was a change to the

[8:11] agenda. Um I had spoken to you, Mr. Tutai, previously about um public

[8:16] comment. Um and we had discussed several things about how council meetings run.

[8:21] Um and there [clears throat] was talk then about

[8:25] that public comment is not required, but then I did notice that last meeting and

[8:29] this meeting that the public comments are now at the tail end of the meeting.

[8:33] And I was just wondering if someone at some point could elaborate, and I know

[8:37] you can This is not a back and forth. I like I do appreciate that we're we have

[8:42] some kind of openness in in a public setting. I do appreciate, and I realize

[8:47] that everyone has been very willing to communicate via email, but I do

[8:50] appreciate that other people at a bigger audience can hear your responses as well

[8:56] to these questions that affect other residents.

[8:58] Um so, I'm just wondering because I feel like it is a really good opportunity for

[9:02] residents to have a chance at the beginning of a meeting to comment on

[9:06] things that are on the agenda before uh our council makes a decision about it.

[9:12] Um especially because some of we're only required to have that agenda about 24

[9:16] hours before the meeting, and a lot of times it's more than that ahead of time,

[9:20] but it is just nice to for residents to be able to share that. Um so, that's the

[9:25] big question that I have for tonight, and again, you don't have to answer that

[9:29] immediately, but just question overall. Thank you.

[9:33] » Thank you. Is there anyone else that would speak for citizens comments.

[9:39] Moving on. Department heads.

[9:43] Young William.

[9:46] » Good evening. Just a few updates tonight.

[9:50] Construction has progressed on with the street street improvements

[9:55] projects. As of today, all four streets have been paved. That's Eden, Ellen,

[10:01] Vermont, and Kansas. So, full access to the streets is

[10:06] restored. The only work that's remaining is the restoration by the curb lines,

[10:12] which will take place in the next next few weeks.

[10:15] Once all those are done and we verify quantities, then we'll start proceeding

[10:20] with verifying the numbers for special assessments at that time. So, I'll work

[10:25] with Rebecca once we get to that point. But, the

[10:29] project has gone well. The water main pavement repairs,

[10:33] we understand that all of the previous pavement repairs from the old

[10:38] water main breaks have been completed. We still have some correspondence back

[10:44] with Milwaukee Water Works because I believe there is some

[10:47] repairs that

[10:50] may require some additional modifications to them just from cracked

[10:55] concrete and such as that, but to my knowledge, everything has been completed

[11:00] that will be completed this year. Uh

[11:03] as far as the PPI projects, the drain disconnect project has completely

[11:08] wrapped up. We're just working to close that out with MMSD.

[11:12] Our smoke testing has completed within the city of St. Francis.

[11:17] We're compiling results right now and we'll end up presenting our findings

[11:23] as far as some of the things that came out of that investigation.

[11:27] And then we're still planning for some dye water testing later this year.

[11:31] The MMSD annual report, that is an annual report that is required,

[11:36] um, for basically identifying all of the storm water projects within the city.

[11:41] We're wrapping that up. That's due annually in, uh,

[11:45] on July. Um, so we're just, uh, I've just got to

[11:48] review that and then that'll get submitted in the, uh, coming days.

[11:52] And with that, I pass. >> Thank you, Bill.

[11:55] Jess. Welcome.

[11:57] » Hi, yeah. I'm Jessica Kettner and I'm the current interim director at the

[12:02] Saint Francis Library. And, uh, a couple

[12:06] more pertinent things. We are halfway through our summer reading program and

[12:11] it's going until August 1st. We have lots of prizes we're giving away. We've

[12:15] already had a really great turnout for the summer.

[12:19] We also have a lot of programs still coming up. We have our second year of

[12:24] touch-a-truck, which will be next week. This is our

[12:28] community program where we connect with, uh, the fire department, DPW, police.

[12:36] Uh, we have TMJ4 coming with their storm chaser, so it's an all ages event that

[12:41] will be held across the street from the library next Thursday at 1:30. And it's

[12:46] an opportunity for kids and big kids of all ages to get to, uh, explore

[12:52] different vehicles in our community. And, yeah.

[12:57] With that, I pass. >> Thank you.

[13:01] LT.

[13:03] » On the police department front, uh, Officer Frank was promoted to detective

[13:08] yesterday. So, congrat- congratulations to him.

[13:12] Uh, we should be starting our, probably our application process once again soon

[13:16] in the upcoming weeks. Uh, we had several officers and our

[13:19] chief that went to the Cops Kids Camp that was held July 13th through 18th.

[13:25] It's, uh, Stands for Concerns of Police Survivors

[13:28] and it's uh held at the Salvation Army camp in Salem, Wisconsin. It's a camp

[13:33] for surviving children and families of law enforcement officers that were

[13:37] killed in line of duty. And then our officers are doing a lot of

[13:40] good things. Just uh one real recent uh event was uh

[13:44] yesterday evening one of our officers was on a traffic stop and a gentleman uh

[13:49] was screaming for help running towards him

[13:52] and the gentleman cut his arm really bad with bleeding profusely and our officer

[13:57] within a matter of a minute and a half put two tourniquets on his arm and

[14:00] stopped the bleeding prior to fire department arriving. So, that's Officer

[14:03] Jason Berres did a phenomenal [clears throat] job yesterday. With

[14:07] that, I pass. >> Thanks, LT. And that is an

[14:10] amazing and probably saved that person's life.

[14:15] Rebecca? >> Um sewer billing went out uh in the mail

[14:18] on July 16th. I was late um because it was my first sewer billing ever. So,

[14:23] I've learned a lot and read a lot about um

[14:26] sewer sewer usage numbers and data and how to process that. So, I am looking

[14:31] forward to third quarter bills being out on time. Um we have had calls and we are

[14:36] giving people um until August 31st to pay those bills um instead of the end of

[14:41] this month. Um in-person absentee voting begins next

[14:46] Tuesday. Um it's open from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. our standard office

[14:51] hours, Monday through Friday uh except for next Monday. It begins on Tuesday

[14:56] and it runs through the following Friday. So, um

[14:59] everybody needs to show photo ID, but anyone who wishes to vote during that

[15:03] time is able. Um and finally, August 14th at 5:00 p.m. is the deadline to

[15:09] submit an application of intent for uh third district alderperson vacancy that

[15:14] is currently open. Um that should be directed as an email to me with a letter

[15:20] like a letter of intent and uh and or supporting documents and resume if if

[15:25] possible. Um that's all I have this evening.

[15:28] » Thank you. Paul. >> Thank you. Congratulations to you,

[15:31] Rebecca, on learning more about the wonders of the city's sewer system.

[15:35] » Thank you, Paul. >> [laughter]

[15:37] » As I indicated to you, I'm sure Bill can get you lined up to see some visual

[15:41] sewer videos, which you won't want to watch

[15:44] during your lunch hour. Um

[15:46] I just have one I would like to respond to the comment with regard to the TID or

[15:52] TIF article that was in the newsletter. Um it, although it is it may be

[15:58] technically accurate to say that TIF uh financing can pose a risk to the

[16:05] city. Uh in this instance, the statement is inaccurate simply because of the

[16:10] terms of our agreement with the individual developers. Those

[16:15] uh the city's obligations with respect to any developer in TID 5 is limited by

[16:20] contract to tax increment positive tax incremental

[16:25] financing that is actually generated through TID 5. And in most instances,

[16:29] it's specifically with respect to the the specific property

[16:34] uh of that developer. So, in other words, they are the the when we talk

[16:38] about pay as you go, the payments that the city may have may have an obligation

[16:44] to make are limited by virtue of the positive tax increment that that

[16:50] developer is generating. So, they are paying taxes,

[16:55] the city then gives a portion of that property back to the extent that there's

[17:00] positive tax increment under those developments. There's specific language

[17:04] limiting that, and so at no point is the city's general fund exposed to any

[17:10] obligation of any developer in the city. So, when we so it is inaccurate to refer

[17:16] to the city's tax incremental financing and saying that it poses a risk to

[17:21] city's taxpayers because that's just not the case.

[17:24] We are smart enough, savvy enough, and experienced enough to make sure that the

[17:28] agreement language doesn't expose the city's general fund to liability. And

[17:33] with that, I pass. >> Thank you, Mark.

[17:37] » Thank you, Mayor. >> [clears throat]

[17:38] » In this month's League of Wisconsin Municipality magazine is an article

[17:42] written by the Wisconsin Economic Development

[17:46] Corporation. Um and that article outlines

[17:51] TIF in a very similar viewpoint that was provided within the newsletter. We'll

[17:57] duplicate that article and put that on our website as well so that the public

[18:02] can see the viewpoint of TID from the Wisconsin

[18:07] Economic Development Corporation that was published in the League of Wisconsin

[18:11] Municipalities magazine.

[18:16] » Debbie? >> I pass, Mayor.

[18:19] » Thank you. Steve? >> I'll pass this evening, sir.

[18:22] » Thank you. Don?

[18:25] » I will join the crew and pass also this evening.

[18:31] » Sarah? >> I can't disagree with any of the rest.

[18:34] I'll pass as well.

[18:38] » Unfortunately, I can't. I got to congratulate

[18:41] Jen for Touch a Truck last year. That probably got the most attention coming

[18:46] back to City Hall. You guys do an outstanding

[18:50] job with that, and thank you. And with that, can I get a motion?

[18:54] » Turn. >> Second.

[18:57] » All in favor? >> Aye.

[18:59] » All opposed? >> I say

7/21/2026 Common Council Meeting

Transcript