November 15, 2006

Parking regulations go into effect

Beginning today, Nov. 15, and extending through March 31, the city will enforce alternate side parking for snow removal between the hours of 12:01 a.m. and 6 a.m. regardless of whether there is snow or not.

Residents are advised that, when parking their vehicles for the night, they should park for the next calendar day. If at midnight the next day is an odd day, for example, park on the odd side of the street.

There is no parking in the 100 block off of Blackhawk Avenue from Marquette Road to Main Street during this time. Any exceptions will be posted by street signs.

Violators will be issued a parking ticket.

Council continues hearing on stormwater utility

No decision was made about the proposed stormwater utility at last night's public hearing, but council members heard an abundance of statements, most of them negative and most from area business people, who would be hit the hardest by the creation of the utility. The proposed utility would shift the majority of stormwater costs from residential property, which currently bears 61 percent of the burden, to nonresidential property, reducing the homeowner's share of the cost to 28 percent.

Opposition

The first to address the issue was Chris Mara, speaking on behalf of a group of area business people. Mara cited several reasons for their opposition, which included: it would be an expansion of government; he feels it is a way for the city to get around tax caps; the city currently has the authority to budget for stormwater costs and doesn't need a utility to do so. If they budget for it, he said, they should stick to the budget. He concluded by stating that creation of the utility would put the city on the cutting edgeÐthe cutting edge of taxation.

Other speakers opposing the utility felt it would be a deterrent to attracting new businesses. Bob McDonald, president of Prairie du Chien Industrial Development Corporation, said the city is already competing with communities in and out of he state to attract business. "Adding an outrageous storm sewer fee will only put the city's development and expansion in jeopardy," he said.

Echoing McDonald's statement was Blair Dillman, who said the city needs to consider the impact of a storm water utility on prospective businesses. Dillman also brought up another issue, that of charging a utility fee to businesses which already have their own stormwater containment systems in place. In effect, they would be paying for a service they don't use or need. Joe Dorava, of Vierbicher Associates, the city's engineering firm, responded to that issue, stating that there would be credits for businesses with their own containment systems, but the credit would not be 100 percent because part of the storm sewer cost is for maintenance and upkeep not directly related to runoff generated by a particular piece of property.

Paul Bower, of Prairie Beer Distributing, proposed that council members sit down with area business people to create a "plan that works."

In addition to several other business people who spoke against the utility, Mark Anderson of Faith Evangelical Free Church spoke on behalf of churches and other tax exempt organizations. As currently proposed, these organizations would also be billed for the stormwater utility. "Churches are tax free for good reasons, he said. "It's because they're good for the community. They serve it and contribute to it." Anderson said that if faced with higher expenses, churches simply have to limit their ministry. Anderson requested that schools and churches be exempted from the utility fee.

Support

Not all of the speakers were opposed to the project, and several people spoke in favor of the proposal.

First to speak in support of the issue was Luanne Neumann, former council member. She said she felt scare tactics have been used, and said "I was surprised when I heard the buzz about raising taxes for residents; this should lower taxes."

Neumann said it was clear to her that it was not a ploy to create a new bureaucracy, and that Prairie du Chien was not the only city that was either considering or already had a stormwater utility in place, so the utility shouldn't deter businesses from locating here.

She added that many businesses that are complaining have benefited from citizens' taxes used in their behalf, and questioned whether residents might be afraid to speak out in support of the utility for fear of losing their jobs.

Ken Panka, who served on the stormwater advisory committee addressed the problems of inadequate drainage around the hospital, creating safety problems for walking and driving. "We have water problems; we have to take care of them. We tried to make it fair for everyone."

Council member Joe Ruskey left his spot at the council table to address the issue on the floor. Also a member of the stormwater advisory committee, Ruskey said he was happy for the recent newspaper ad opposing the utility, because it caused residents to call him. 
"They were initially very upset," he said, "but when they understood what we're trying to do, they were happy."

He said "some of the businesses making the loudest noise are either in the TIF district (which uses increases in value generated by new business construction to provide assistance to business locations) or went to Cabela's when they moved here and talked them into lowering their wages." Ruskey said he has his own business, and a new utility would cost him, but it was the most fair system. He said, "Individual homeowners have subsidized business. If we want to continue it, we vote against it. If we want it fair we vote for it. We have two solutions, either raise taxes for individuals or create a utility and make it a fair burden."

The public hearing for the utility was continued until a future date, which has not yet been determined.

In other business:

´After discussing the pros and cons of televising the Committee of the Whole meetings, which now follow the bimonthly council meetings, council decided to continue to televise them. Mayor Mader said she had no strong objection to televising the meetings, but felt it would promote freer discussion if it were not televised (it would still be open to the public). However, other council members felt it would permit access to people who otherwise would be unable to attend and would allow the public to see how the city conducts business.

´Council approved a change in fee structure for groups using St. Feriole Island. The new fee structure will be based on the number of blocks used rather than the number of people in attendance. Attendance-based fees created problems both for the city and the groups using the facilities.

PDRI gets high marks from Main Street evaluators
Following three days of touring, interviewing and picture taking, a team of specialists presented the results of their study to the Prairie du Chien Downtown Revitalization organization (PDRI) Nov. 9, giving the city high marks for the progress already made.

The team of five was in town to evaluate the progress of the city's Main Street program and offer suggestions for the future.

Jim Engle, Director of the Wisconsin Main Street Program, evaluated the assets of the organization itself. Among these were a smooth transition of managers, community involvement and awareness, the newsletter and the downtown office location.

Engle suggested wider distribution of the newsletter, involvement of young people, and joint efforts with other fund-raising organizations as things that might make the organization even stronger.

Kevin Pomeroy, Planning Director of One Thousand Friends of Wisconsin, presented a slide show of the city's downtown. St. Feriole Island, he said, is a wonderful extension of the downtown. He also recommended that, when the time comes to redo the streetscape, (for which the city has received a grant) the city not try to do everything at one time, but concentrate on doing "a couple of blocks just the way you want them." The reason, he said, is that there probably would not be sufficient funds to do everything, and they might get additional contributions when people see the improved areas. He suggested that the improvements start at the island and proceed up Blackhawk.

Lauren Adkins of the National Trust Main Street Center addressed the issue of economic restructuring. The tasks of that committee are to gather market information, strengthen existing businesses, help existing and new property owners, rehab buildings and recruit new businesses.

Adkins noted that the organization had created a $2.1 million loan pool, created a $10,000 facade and sign grant, secured a Wisconsin Department of Commerce grant of $2.1 million to recruit Walgreen's and had seen more development than expected.

Her suggestions for recruiting businesses included finding prospects from within the community and hosting a "how to open a business workshop.

Catherine Dunlap of Wisconsin Main Street program had many recommendations for promotions, which included designing a diverse promotions calendar; adding tourism activities such as a welcome group for riverboat travelers or a bike tour; starting an "Alive after 5" campaign by promoting extended business hours one night a week and adding other evening activities; adding retail promotions such as girls night out, a pub crawl, or a boat parade; creating business excitement with "open for business" banners, lights on at night and effective window displays; and doing image campaigns such as a shopping and dining guide, a Welcome Wagon and a gift registry.

She identified the strength of the community as having children's events, history, tourism, a business cluster and partnerships with the local media.

In the last presentation, Ben Muldrow of the marketing firm of Muldrow, Arnett and Muldrow Associates from Greenville, S.C., presented the group with a proposal for a branding campaign with a recognizable logo which identifies the community in all promotional materials, signage and advertising.

The one he recommended incorporates the city's name or initials with a set of three waves or hills which represent the three parts of down town: the mall, the old historic part of the town and the island.