08-18-98PROCEEDINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING
CITY OF JANESVILLE. WISCONSIN Tuesday. August 18. 1998
Present: Council President O'Leary and Councilmembers Brien. Murphy. Noll. Schneider. Stehura. and
Westphal. Present from the Administration: Steve Sheiffer. City Manager; Tom Rogers. Assistant City
Manager; and Jennifer Petruzzello. Management Assistant.
The Council met at 4:00 p.m. at the Fire Training Center to conduct a strategic planning session on the
Council's major priorities and projects. Council President O'Leary served as facilitator. The Council engaged
in an open discussion where individual councilmembers listed the following as broad priorities: public safety.
spending control, application of technology, customer satisfaction, land use planning, quality of life. and
economic development. Councilmembers then individually ranked these priorities from one to seven. Based
upon the individual rankings, the Council then listed these priorities in order of preference/importance: 1)
Public Safety. 2) Spending Control. 3) Economic Development. 4) Land Use planning. 5) Quality of Life. 6)
Customer Satisfaction. and 7) Application of technology.
The Council then listed possible projects for each of the five top priorities. Those projects are as follows:
· Public Safety - additional police statTlng; emphasis on alcohol, drug. and gang enforcement; over-
specking of vehicles; 911 system reporting enhancements; a police car for each officer; video
monitoring; applying new technology; gun education and safety measures; increase in prevention;
space needs/new station.
· Spending Control - consil~wnent of parts inventory; changing hours for maintenance staff; leasing
Dawson Field; Administration to identify budget cuts; shared services with the county and school
district; reduction in long-term debt; hold budget to the rate of inflation; study/evaluate services where
viable outside alternatives exist; volume based fees for trash; remove Trader Park ice skating; identify
alternative revenue sources;
· Economic Development - GM (retain or replace jobs); Non-auto business attraction; business
retention; 4 business corridors (southside. downtown. Pine Tree. Milton Ave.); downtown
revitalization; New Century Pro.am; City Manager/Economic Development Director to meet with
GM two times per year; CEO round table; continued use of TIF Districts; more private sector
contributions for downtown; Council industry visits; hip~h tech business park; and parking ramp.
· Land Use Planning - riverfront study; Parks and Open Space Plan implementation; evaluation of
park's usage; drainage review for new development; no impact fees; no development moratorium; map
showing flood areas and flood standards; land use plan; add maps to web site; unified vision for
~owth; and address duplexes in R-1 zoning.
· Quality of Life - senior center; review of snow removal operations; code administration and strict
enforcement; traffic light at comer of Pontiac and E. Milwaukee; municipal cable; no municipal cable;
feasibility of skateboard park4 way to clean up storm damage; 3rd golf course at Rockport; customer
satisfaction; Milton Avenue circuit; connecting bike frails to parks; and review of Rockport pool and
aquatics prol~am.
The session adjourned at 8:35 p.m. The Council will schedule a follow-up meeting to prioritize and provide
additional direction to the administration on the listed projects.
Submitted by Jennifer Petruzzello. Management Assistant