Good evening everyone. Uh, welcome to the November 5th, 2025 city council meeting. I hereby call this meeting to order. Members of the public may attend this city council meeting in person or may watch and listen remotely by viewing the meeting on channel 8 WCTV and at the city's website at www.wisetta.org. org/wtv public comment during the public forum and or public hearing portions of the meeting may be provided in person at the meeting in advance or by logging into the team's call and raising your hand during the public hearing. When your name is called in the meeting, you will be seen and heard in our council chambers and the cable channel. You will be asked to unmute and then you may begin your comment. All public comments must include your full name and address. Second item on the agenda is the pledge of allegiance. If you could ask um if everyone would just please stand and follow me. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Next item on the agenda is roll call. I'll note that two of our council members are missing tonight. There are only three of us up here, but there were both with previously excused absences. Uh the council participated in a workshop earlier this evening and discussed the following. discussion of updates on the capital improvement plan for 2026 through 2035 and a discussion of future council topics. The next item is to approve the agenda. May I have a motion to approve the agenda as is or does anyone want to make any changes? >> Make a motion to approve as is. >> And is there a second? >> I'll second. The motion was moved by council member Sorenson and seconded by council member McDonald. All in favor signify by saying I. I. >> I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Okay. The next item is the public forum. Uh just as a reminder for those members of the public in attendance tonight and are interested in speaking, please state your first name and street name or indicate if you are representing a group and limit your comments to three minutes. If the item you wish to speak about is something that is on the agenda. For those that are in person, please fill out a form at the table and head it off to staff. For those who are watching via Teams, please send a note via chat to staff and let them know what agenda item you wish to speak about. We also require that your camera is turned on when you speak. City manager, do we have anyone on teams? >> Uh, Mayor Prom, we do not. >> And I don't believe we have anyone in the audience here that wants to speak generally. We have an item later. I have one here, Miss Mr. Fischer, and I think you're on for a little bit later. So, we'll call you up at the right time. So, uh, next agenda item is, uh, number six is new agenda. Council, does anyone have any new agenda items to discuss or bring up? Okay, very good. Next item is the approval of the consent agenda. And those items are, it's rather short tonight, approval of city council workshop and regular meeting minutes of October 21st, 2025, approval of the check register, approval of municipal licenses, and the receipt of the police activity report. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented or anything anything you'd like to pull? >> I'll make that motion, Mayor Prom, to approve the consent agenda as outlined. >> Second. I would second that. >> Okay. Having been moved by uh council member McDonald and second seconded by council member Sorenson, go to a vote. All in favor sign by saying I. >> I. >> I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Moving right along here. Okay. Where are we here? Uh we have no items for public hearing it looks like. Is that correct? The next item is uh 9A to consider approval of change order for additional landscaping at Clapbridge Park. City Manager. Uh thank you, Mayor Prom and Council members. I'm going to turn it over to parks and environment planner Keys, who's going to give an overview of both of the change orders um that are listed under new business um to give you an overview of both of those. >> Thank you, Manor Jerger, Mayor Prom, and Council. So again, there's there's two items on new business tonight, but I'll just kind of roll them into one presentation here. Uh so they are to consider approval of change order for additional landscaping and slide alterations at Clappage Park. So to start with a little bit of background here, uh in August of this year, council approved a change order of just under $35,000 for additional hillside landscaping um and a construction of a retaining wall at Clappage Park. I'll show an image on the next slide that goes into this a little bit more detail, but really this change order was to um try to address some concerns of the neighborhoods or the neighbors just north of Clappage Park on the western side to help fill in some of the gaps um from the trees that were removed from that hillside. So from that or following that installation of that landscaping plan and that retaining wall, uh staff and council received some concerns from those residents uh regarding that installed landscaping plan and wanted to talk about some additional um landscaping or additional screening uh to the park from Park Street. Uh, in addition, there was some concerns about the design of the new hillside slide entrance, which I'll go into a little bit later, too. So, in October of this year, staff and a couple council members, Mayor Mullen and Council Member McDonald, met with uh those neighbors to discuss those concerns and try to come up with some u solutions to those concerns. So, at the dis at the October 21st council workshop, council directed staff to look into different options and ultimately provide a recommendation to help address those neighborhood concerns regarding that hillside landscaping and slide entrance. So, starting with the landscaping, this is essentially a site plan aerial view of this hillside that we're talking about. So you note the um trees in the light blue color are the deciduous trees, smaller deciduous trees that were planted on the hillside. Uh but the more uh significant trees were planted at the top of the hillside. So everything in green were the completed evergreen trees. The four larger ones were those four spaded trees that went in larger spaded trees. And that is where that land retaining wall was also located as well to accommodate those trees. The uh three smaller trees to the east or to the right of this image uh were this were the arborvite trees and then to the west or the left of this image were um about 12 foot bald and burlap trees. So when we met with the neighbors we saw uh you know a number of these gaps in the screening in the landscaping that we wanted to address here. So everything in purple are the proposed um additional landscaping on the hillside. Majority of these are um the bald and burlap trees. So balsom furs at about 12 ft in height. So it's essentially the same trees that were planted as those bald and burlaps um on the west side of the hill. Adding about adding nine of those trees back in to fill in those gaps. And then the other note that we have here is the cardinal dogwoods. They're essentially in the center of the hillside. Now, we stayed away from this area purpose to stay there's a storm water pipe that runs up that length of the hill that we didn't want to be impacted by adding a tree there. So, we're proposing adding some cardinal dogwoods in there to still provide some screening uh all year round. the specifically for the dog woods, those planting heights are 3 to four feet in height with a mature height of 6 to9 feet. So with this uh updated landscaping plan, the additional cost would just be a little over $16,000. And that's just for really just for the evergreen trees to be planted. There's no additional cost for the dogwoods because staff already has possession of those and can install those. So, we're hopeful that this will um cover those openings and add some additional screening for those neighbors. Now, moving on to the slide. Now, again, the main concern at this point is the slide entrance. So, to the left image here, the original slide rendering is what the slide uh was shown to be. You can note the entrance kind of had some slats or some covering coverings around the uh perimeter of that structure. Those were ultimately removed um to help be less obstructive of the view. Now, when you look what was installed here to the right, um when we contacted the playground vendor, uh asked for options or opportunities for this uh slide entrance, and I'll go into what's proposed here in a second, but um one of the ideas was to remove the top of this structure, the kind of pyramid on that, but unfortunately that is a structural part of that slide entrance and that would void the warranty, which we did not want to do. So that's when we went back to the playground vendor to look at potential different options again to mitigate any kind of uh significant obstructions on that hillside, make it more aesthetically pleasing. So this is what the playground vendor came back to us with. The image on the left is a rendering of what that slide entrance could look like. And the image on the right is actually what is installed today down at the park as well. That is an image of uh another embankment slide at Clappage Park. So it' be it would be similar to that um not mainly just with the two po post and footings in there and the small platform to enter the slide. Going into costs here, this is just a short little table showing cost. So, the parks and trail CIP allocation originally was just under 2.7 million. The approved construction bid total was 1.973. The current construction cost of the improvements are 2.071 million. And so when we look at the proposed change orders here, the landscaping change order is just over 16,000. The proposed slide alteration change order is just under $5,000. And that would bring us to a total of just under $2.1 million for the total construction cost. I wanted to note that as well. Uh so with that, I'll bring it back to council for any questions. And those are the two motions. I don't know if we can make it into one if we need to or we can talk about that. But those would be the two proposed motions. >> Okay. Thank you very much. I I know that we before we bring it to council, I know we have one member of the public who wanted to address one or both of these issues. So, Bob Fischer, if you would please stand up, uh go to the podium, make sure the mic is turned on, and uh state your name and address, please. >> Is it on? >> Yes, it is. Sounds like it. So, yes, I'm Bob Fischer and thanks for allowing me to speak and convey some thoughts. Uh, we're at 353 Park Street. So, our driveway, if you walk up the stairs, uh, that were just built, it goes right into our driveway. So, we're the house on the hill up there. And, um, we moved about a year and a half ago into that house. um we were in the neighborhood but liked the idea of coming to Yisetta uh the walkability and um you know the park and all of that. We we were not real as informed as we probably could have been about what was going on in the park and we would have been maybe a little more proactive at at an earlier stage. But essentially uh what what we experience is a fair amount of light pollution from the entrance off of Wisetta Boulevard coming into the park with cars and [clears throat] then the stairway comes straight up the hill um towards our driveway and u so we're pleased that the council and the city has uh done some mitigation on tree planting there and so on the west side towards the middle school, there's some fairly large trees that were planted. And then on the east side, there's four very small ones. Um, they don't look like they're going to grow to be uh very big ones over time. And I don't know, you know, what the what that's going to really look like, but our request is that um we get more robust um coverage and and trees planted along the east side of that stairway. Um particularly, and I can't speak for all the neighbors. I I know that our other neighbors have, you know, maybe other concerns um related to the ones the larger trees that were put in there, which I I think everybody appreciates and uh but not sure if it if it covers all the concerns of the neighbors that are along that stretch, but particularly we get a lot of uh light um just from people coming in and out of the park from the Weisetta Boulevard area and it comes straight up, you know, into our windows and the trees that were there have blocked a lot of that light, what we call light pollution. Now, um, so that's a that's a factor. So, we're we're hoping to get more robust trees. The three or the four that are planted on the east side of the, uh, stairwell are very tiny. I don't know, Nick, if they're going to be growing into big or more robust ones over time or how long that would take or any of that kind of stuff, but I know that you there are trees available that can, you know, they could be arborites or some other, you know, type that provides light light coverage and uh I think it would go a long way to help what what our concern is. I think some of our ne direct neighbors share the exact same concern. Um there's sort of a secondary thing that's going to I think will get attention over time and that's parking in the area. Um there's not really any place to park. So, we do see cars parking in different places uh in some cases uh with little children that I've seen in the last week that park on the north side of the street and then the kids, you know, are are running across the street to get to the slide, the new slide. And that's concerning. I'm given the speed and that some cars go, you know, up and down that parkway. So, and kids on motorcycles and other things like that. So, I have a general concern about that. But, but with respect to the uh the trees planted, we're requesting more and more robust trees on the east side of the stairwell. Uh, and that's the request and we appreciate your consideration of it. And if you have any questions for me, my wife was going to show up, but she had another commitment. Um, so I'm happy to answer any questions you have for me, councel. >> Thank you, Mr. Fischer. >> All right. Thank you very much for So, um, based on what we just heard, uh, is there a way for you to point out where the stairs are on this slide here? >> I guess I can't see it on the screen here. Can I? >> It's not. Where's it? >> Right here. >> Yeah. Mayor Pro. Sorry, you can't see my >> Oh, there. Okay. >> Cursor there. So essentially the stairs go up where the far right balsom fur um point is >> that label. So essentially we proposing to add two of those balsom furs on either side of the stairway. >> So they're not in yet. >> Correct. Okay. >> Uh what's there right now to the east um to the east of the stairway are about five or six arborvites smaller arborites I think Mr. Fisher was noting. And then to the west are those four spaded trees. So we're looking at adding two more bald and burlap trees, those six foot in height bald and burlap trees, the evergreen trees, and then three additional evergreens to the east of that stairway as well and keeping a few of those arbor vites kind of in between. We're planning to plant those additional evergreens. Okay, >> any questions for staff? Um yeah, I I um is is there those were very kind of scrawny um arborvite that was planted there and I'm just curious if there was a reason why that spot wasn't I I guess what I'm asking is there concern about them not getting enough light underneath that big oak tree. Um, you know, are these gonna how do we feel about their their vitality once they're in the ground? >> Yeah, good question. Um, council, thank you. They so the initial idea there with the arbivites that were planted was I mean they are right underneath a really substantial red oak that's that's there and doing well. Um so you have uh limited light and also competition overhead. So we didn't want to plant anything that would compete or conflict with the oak above. Um, so, uh, that's kind of how we landed on those arbites because they max out at about 15 feet, um, which seemed like the right size, but I I think this could work, too. And these will be more substantial right out of the gate. So, balsams are more tolerant of shade, um, compared to some of the other species along the sidewalk there. Um, and we're starting out at 12 feet rather than, um, the herbs that are there now are maybe five. So, um, I think I think we'll be okay. It might may require some some scriptive pruning of the oak tree later on, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. >> Okay, >> that's great. Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> Yeah. Um I just wonder if maybe staff could comment with if if we approve this and do what is indicated, how that might address some of Mr. Fischer's concerns tonight. >> Yeah, Council Member Sorenson. So, sounds like Mr. Fischer was really concerned about east of the stairway. Um, and essentially we are adding four of those Balden burlap trees. So hopefully that helps mitigate a good significant amount of that. Uh, what I will say I mean this is like we've see here this kind of evolving situation too. So, if we do see that there's other gaps or anything like that, you know, over the years, we can certainly add more or look at it uh in more detail as we are doing here tonight, even just with our regular tree planting that we do around the city as well. Um, but we're hopeful and confident that this, especially on the east side of that stairway, will add more screening from those from that light pollution. Good. Okay. I I actually have a few questions here. Uh first off, how long is it going to take for these trees to get to maturity, particularly the ones uh the six cardinal dogwoods, the smaller plantings there? >> Yeah, good question. Um so the the dogwoods I would expect them to reach mature height uh within probably three or four years pretty quick. The balsams are going to be a slower growing tree in the shade. Um, and we're using them because they're shady spots for the most part. Um, so mature size on those is is only about 40 feet um in in ideal conditions. Um, so that's, you know, 30 years down the road. Um, but in the meantime, I mean, we should expect to get, you know, a few feet each year um, in a good year. um drought years will be different. You know, there's a lot of variables, but um yeah, the dogwoods will be quick, the balsoms will be slower. >> Okay. And we we commented about there was a storm water pipe and a gas line that were interfering with what we could do uh with plantings. Um could you tell us all what was there before and what is maybe new in this plan that we had to contend with? >> Yeah. uh Mayor Prom that the there was nothing directly above the storm pipe before for the same reason. Um and really the issue is not um the concern is if and when we do have to maintain that pipe or replace the pipe. >> Um we don't want to contend with a bunch of substantial tree roots. So we chose the dog woods as an alternative because if if that were to happen, we had to replace the pipe. We could actually cut those down to the ground and dig and they'd be fine. Um they would come back, you know, over the next couple of years. Can't say the same for an evergreen. >> Yeah. And Mayor Proen, maybe I'll just add a little bit too to that. And uh like our city force city forester noted, there wasn't anything directly above that storm sewer pipe, but there were larger trees, so a lot of that overhang might have went over that storm water pipe to fill in that sort of that gap that that pipe. Great leadin for my next question, which is can you give us uh some sense of what did the screening look like along that street before we entered this project? Cuz uh some of these trees are replacing older trees that were there and some spots might have not had anything at all there before. So, if you could give us a sense of that. >> Yeah. And Mayor Pro10, I'll just note there was significant screening on that hillside just because there was a a number of large evergreen trees there. Um so most of that hillside was screened from the park from Park Street. Um there wasn't obviously no access up there either with a stairway or anything either. So most of that hillside was majority screened from the park. >> Okay. Once these trees reach full maturity, I know it's a little bit of a guess here, but what will the screening look like then versus what was there before? I would expect something similar. Um, it'll be, you know, slightly different, just there are certain gaps, um, you know, like where this the new sidewalk is, um, we can't allow that to fill in because we need people to be able to walk through there. Um, and the the storm water pipe I would I would guess in the long run will get filled in like it was before um and still maintain that access. The other thing is the a lot of the trees down below. So the trees that are shown in blue, yes, they're all deciduous trees, so it's not going to be year- round coverage, but um most of those are larger species, so they're sugar maples and basswoods and stuff like that. Um and those will probably grow a bit faster than the evergreens. So, they're downhill, so you lose some height naturally. Um, but those will fill in too, and that will provide um quite a bit of screening even though it's not evergreen. So, something else to consider. >> Okay, very good. Now, you all presented our next two items in succession in one briefing, so we're not going to have to go back to you, but uh I'd like to bring it back to council to talk about these in that order. So, let's first talk about the landscaping. And I I would like to vote on those separately just in case there's anything going on. >> Mayor Prom, may I ask another question to staff before we get rolling on that? Um I too have noticed some cars parking on Park Street to um access the playground. Um a couple I know were residents, so that was exciting to see that they were utilizing the park. But is the parking lot open? So I I I wondered and looked to at okay is it human instinct to go to the street and park or is it because the parking lot is not open yet for >> Yeah. Council McDonald, that's a good question and something we've been dealing with these last few days here. Um we really want people to know that the park is closed right now. When I say the park, the entire park is still a current construction site. We don't want folks playing in the park, especially kids playing near a construction site. So, we've been saying and we're trying to message more and put more um fencing up and barricades up at the park to make sure that folks stay out of the park. Um and to your parking lot concern too, the parking lot has construction materials in it too. So even the spots are taken up by the construction activity as well which might have left um you know signaled people to go up on the street to park two. But again I want to reiterate the park is closed. Please please try to stay out until we're u finished with the project. >> I think that orange fencing you added is going to help remedy that situation. So glad you put that up there. I just want to note that um the parking is something I think about and I'm aware of and I think have a a firstand view of it. Um I'm not everywhere all at once but and I think the neighbors are um quite comfortable of keeping us informed of how things are going on Lake Street. So just a just a a sentiment to Mr. Fischer who's here and anyone else who might be watching or reading minutes. But um I I do think it's more of a wait and see at this moment until the park is functioning and built before um we take other bigger steps. It's um it's something I'm thinking about too. I'm sure the rest of the council is as well. >> Thanks. >> It actually triggered another question for me. Uh it relates to the comments that Mr. Fischer made is I too would also be concerned about people parking on the north side of the street to have little kids walk across or run across the street to get to the park. Um addressing that, is there first off, is there parking on both sides? I think there is right now, right? So people can park on the south side and that seems almost kind of natural, but can we put signs up on the north side of the street saying it's for neighborhood parking only or not for for uh Clapbridge Parking or can we do something like that? Yeah, Mayor Prom, we certainly can. And I think when we had that discussion early on to Council Member McDonald's note, too, is kind of wait to see how it really operates, the park operates, especially with the new parking lot, uh, and then make those, uh, decisions. And we also heard from the neighborhood that they wanted to have parking access on the street as well. So, we don't want to interfere with that, too. But there certainly is different options we can explore if and when that becomes a serious issue. >> Okay. Thank you. So, I think we're ready to come back to council. >> Thank you. >> So, on on the first item only, the the landscaping with the tree plan, >> what are your thoughts? >> I'm in favor of the additional landscaping. I think it's um important and um I support it. Um yeah, I I know there's been considerable time and effort um from a lot of um from our staff and for others and trying to uh do what we think is the right thing for the park, for the community, and and for the neighborhood. Um I would just like to remind people it's a city park. It's not a neighborhood park. Uh and it's for the enjoyment of everyone in the city and and elsewhere to really enjoy. So, I'm in favor of this change order. Um, I would like to add though that um I just encourage everyone who's kind of engaged in this issue to just take a pause. I mean, we've we've spent a lot of time on this. This this is the second change order and possibly a third change order to the extent of $55,000 to address uh concerns of the neighborhood and and others. I'm not saying anyone's right or wrong, but I think we've I think we've dealt with it appropriately. I think we need to need to let the trees grow and and and and we can react to that. But um I can tell you from my perspective, you know, I would not be uh keen on entertaining any more discussion about this issue in the short term until we let this uh project develop a bit and the trees grow and kind of see where we're at. >> Okay. Thank you for that. Um I I I echo the sentiments here. I'd just like to point out that the original plan was a little more sparse than this one and uh we listened to the concerns of the neighborhood and I think they were legitimate concerns. We did listen. We have this plan here to address it and I would echo your sentiments that uh I think we've got a pretty good plan. This is about as good as I think we can get right now. Uh but like anything, when you landscape a new home, it just takes a little bit of time to get to where you know it where you really want it. And I think waiting a few years might be just that. But I think what we've got right here is also going to uh mitigate the problem right now better than it was before. So I would be in favor of this as well. So can I have a motion to approve the change order for additional landscaping at Clapbridgeidge Park? >> I'll make that motion. Mayor Prom >> and a second. >> Second. >> Okay. Having been uh moved by uh Council Member McDonald and seconded by Council Member Sorenson, all in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Any opposed? >> Motion carries. So now we'll move on to the second point which is to prove the change order for slide alterations at Clapbridge Park. Are there any questions of staff on that particular issue? I have one and that is with the change in the structure at the top of the slide. It's going to be different now and it won't have a it looks to me it won't like have a covering on it. Is that going to cause any kind of a snow or rain issue? anything I can get down the slide without the covering. >> Mayor Prom, um, we weren't necessarily having a complete cover to the original design either. Um, there certainly is going to be some winter maintenance that we're probably going to have to uh, conduct on this slide. We don't necessarily know exactly what that's going to look like at this point. Something we're going to have to evaluate. Um, so I don't have a good answer for you on that aspect right now. So maybe it's another one. Let's wait and see and react to it if we need to. Now I did hear some tones over there. Do we have anybody online that wants to make any comments that we didn't see? >> Uh, Mayor Prom, we have had another member of the public join. Um, but I haven't heard if they're interested in providing public comment. >> Okay. No hand raised or anything? No. Okay. Uh, so any no other questions of of staff or anyone? Well, then I'll bring it back to council for discussion on that too. >> I'll begin. Thank you. Um, I think I support this change order as well. I lesson learned of trying to make change orders from the dis without having complete information. So, um, with just take the house off. Um, so I'm glad we found a solution. I think this is better than the original design. And, um, I I'm glad we'll mitigate some of that. I don't know what to call it, the view of park equipment from from the neighbor's vantage point. So, I think this is a good solution. I support it. >> Yeah. I I I'm in favor of the change order. Also, I think it's a sensible thing to do in response to some of the concerns that have been raised and I'm glad we found a solution. So, I'm I'm in favor of approving this. >> Okay. And I would be too and just reiterate that it's nice to have input from the community when as as smart as the people are and the staff and us up here, sometimes we don't think of every little thing. So, uh but this is a community that listens to the people out there and we do respond. So, I'm in favor of this as well. So, I will entertain a motion to approve uh change order for slide alterations at Clapbridgeidge Park. >> I'd make that motion, Mr. Mayor Prom. >> I'll second. >> Okay. Having been moved by Council Member Sorenson, seconded by Council Member McDonald, I'll take a vote. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Any opposed? >> Okay, that motion carries as well. Uh, next item on the agenda is a city manager report. City manager. Uh, Mayor Prom, the only item I had on my city manager report we've already talked about, but I will stress it again anyway, that Clapbridge Park is actively under construction. I know when you see the playground equipment there, it's very exciting and enticing, and you want to go check it out. Um, but like um, Nick mentioned, it's an active construction site. There's a lot of work still being done on the warming house. So, even though it looks enticing, please stay out. We would love for you to enjoy it when the park is fully opened later. So, just a word. um a warning to the public and we'll keep communicating that over time. >> That's all I've got for you. >> Maybe we should put that in uh the communications over the weekend. >> Yeah, absolutely. >> Be smart. Okay. >> Okay. Thank you, city manager. And uh before I move for adjourment or ask for a move, is there anybody on teams that wants to make any kind of comment? >> I don't believe so, Mayor Prom. >> Okay. Then I will entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. >> Moved. Second. Having I'm going to take a short circuit here. Having been moved and seconded, all in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? Okay, we are ajourned. Thank you.