Council OKs plans for riverfront

By Adam Tobias of the Daily Times staff
Thursday, July 5, 2007 1:06 PM CDT

The Watertown Common Council unanimously approved a resolution on Tuesday adopting the riverfront redevelopment master plan and arts and interpretation plan for the river walk project along the Rock River from Cady Street to Milwaukee Street.

Vandewalle & Associates of Madison, the firm responsible for drafting the two plans, estimates the river walk project will cost around $9 million to complete, but Watertown Mayor Ron Krueger said the city is not entitled to spend that much money and does not plan to.

“We are planning on looking over all costs with a magnifying glass to make sure that nothing is in there that doesn't have to be in there,” Krueger said.

Some of the projects included in Vandewalle's master plan are a pavilion on the former Empire Globe site, an amphitheater adjacent to the senior and community center, a botanical and sculpture garden between the senior and community center parking lot and Milwaukee Street and a pedestrian bridge north of the lower dam.

The four themes that Vandewalle & Associates have focused on that can serve as a basis for the design and content of the river walk are water, fish and fowl, river crossings and invention and industry.

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Some of the artistic approaches in the arts and interpretation plan include traditional three-dimensional outdoor sculptures, painted murals on retaining walls or buildings, wall-mounted mosaics, water-powered installations, bubblers, floating art features, airborne sculptures of migrating geese, stepping stones in the water where fish can be viewed, rain gardens and story telling sculptures.

Although the council did approve the riverfront redevelopment master plan and arts and interpretation plan, the city does not have to follow every single idea suggested by Vandewalle & Associates.

As part of the agreement with Vandewalle, the company has been actively pursuing grant money for the project.

Vandewalle has submitted an application for a $109,000 grant from the state Department of Natural Resources to purchase some of the right of way along South Water Street that is valued at $218,000. The city would also have to pay $109,000 for the right of way.

Vandewalle is also seeking a $900,000 grant from the state Department of Commerce to build a seawall on part of the west side of the river from Main Street to Milwaukee Street. The city would have to pay between 10 and 20 percent of the total to receive the grant.

“It is important for us to get these conceptual plans and design standards in place to support our grant applications that we have under way and then also to guide development which we hope will start sooner rather than later,” Alderman Tony Arnett said.

In other action Tuesday evening, council members approved a resolution authorizing Krueger to complete and close an offer to purchase contract with Larry Mistele, Joanne Mistele and Empire Globe Properties for a parcel off South Water Street west of the Rock River. The contract is for $550,000.

The city is looking to redevelop the property as part of the riverfront plan and Vandewalle & Associates has recommended that the city obtain control of the property in order to oversee development.

“We could have sat back, we could have waited for development to occur, but it would take years,” Alderman Ken Berg said. “With the approach being suggested and our potentially having an ownership interest in some of the land to encourage development, it is very likely that we are going to have that development occur sooner than later.

“There are options we are always going to have, and I just appreciate the more aggressive approach we took here because I think it is going to pay dividends versus more of a laid back, wait and see type of approach,” he added.

The river walk project is located within the city's downtown tax incremental financing district and Krueger said the city is using a formula that will hopefully get the same financial results as the former Welbourne Hall that was recently re-opened as an assisted living facility.

“We took a building that was valued at $1 and turned it into a $5 million kind of jewel on the east end of the city,” Krueger said. “I just want to assure the taxpayers of the city that we aren't wildly out spending your money on fountains and artwork and things like that. We are going to follow the formula that worked with Welbourne Hall to try to get development along the riverfront.

“We will cautiously guard your dollars and that I promise you,” he added.

The grants for close to $1 million that are pending with the DNR and the DOC are contingent upon the city having control of the property.

“I view this as a revenue generator for the future, so it is an expense in the immediate term, but I am taking the long view term that over time this will more than pay itself back,” Arnett said.

“I would also like to emphasize that in an era where everybody talks about sprawl, we are investing in redeveloping,” he added. “So rather than continuing to throw boarders further and further out, we are looking in and finding ways to redevelop areas that have been neglected for quite some time.”

Aldermen approved the first reading of an ordinance annexing approximately 50 acres of land owned by Michael and Judith Blonien that is located east of Gateway Drive.

The Bloniens have one year from the closing on the land to relocate their cows and mobile home out of the city. If a valid complaint is made to the city's Health Department concerning a public health or safety concern, the Bloniens will have 60 days to fix the problem or they will have to remove the cows from the property.

A resolution authorizing city officials to construct a sanitary sewer line and water main on sections of Jefferson Road was approved by the council.

The city is looking to install the sewer line and water main under Jefferson Road from the existing sanitary sewer in South Church Street to the east 378 feet, and under Airport Taxiway C, an access roadway to hangars at the airport, from Jefferson Road to the south 750 feet.

The properties that will be benefited will be assessed at a rate not to exceed $94.75 per lineal foot for sanitary sewer and $81.25 for water main.

Council members approved a resolution extending the mature date for a $60,000 economic block grant loan issued to CM-Glo Inc. in 2002 by five years. The original mature date was July 15, 2007.

The city, through the Economic Revolving Loan Program, will also partially release the collateral interest in inventory, business equipment and accounts receivable for CM-Glo so that Park Bank of Milwaukee can increase the company's operating line of credit from $750,000 to $1.25 million.

CM-Glo is looking to expand its business base and obtain contracts from Corona, Anheuser-Busch and Miller Brewing for point-of-purchase products and promotional items. The company is also looking to obtain contracts with other vendors.

The city will still retain collateral in the form of personal guarantees from two principals of the company, the mortgage on a patent and a first lien mortgage on a 10-acre parcel of vacant real estate in Rock County to secure a $160,000 economic block grant loan the city made to CM-Glo in 2005.

A resolution authorizing city officials to enter a $174,512 contract with Visu-Sewer for the trenchless rehabilitation of sanitary sewers and the repair of manholes in the city was approved by the council.

Aldermen also approved a resolution authorizing city officials to enter an agreement with Davies Water for the sandblasting and painting of 78 fire hydrants in Watertown. The contract with Davies Water is for $8,580 or $110 per hydrant.

The final reading of an ordinance amending the city code regarding sewer use and the disposal of amalgam was approved by the council. Amalgam, which is any mixture of mercury and another metal or alloy, is commonly used in dental fillings.

Dental offices and other businesses in the city that handle mercury will no longer be able to dispose amalgam into the sewers. The state Department of Natural Resources said the city should be at or below the mercury discharge rate in around three years if all dental offices and other businesses stop discarding amalgam into the sewers.

Council members unanimously approved the final reading of an ordinance amending the subdivision regulations regarding extraterritorial land division requirements.

Landowners who submit preliminary plats and certified survey maps for land divisions within the city's extraterritorial land division jurisdiction will now have to pay a fee of $50 to help defray the administrative cost of review.

The final reading of an ordinance rezoning several lots in the South Concord Estates subdivision to single-family residential will also be on the agenda of the council.

The properties included in the rezoning are 100, 105 and 233 West Haven Drive and the park area in the subdivision that is dedicated to the public.

The rezoning is needed because when the final plat was submitted a few years ago it showed a mixed zoning of several single-family lots. Those properties should have been zoned single-family residential.