RIVER FALLS — A 25-acre parcel on Powell Avenue near Winter Street was proposed for annexation from the Town of Troy and rezoning to allow Rolling Hills Development LLC to launch an 86-unit single family subdivision. The meeting marked the first reading for the item, which is expected to return at the July 8 meeting.

Two residents spoke on safety of pedestrians walking along and crossing Powell Avenue.

Senior Planner Harley Mehlhorn said pedestrian crossings will be evaluated by the city engineer, evaluating speed limit, lane size, visibility and more. With a posted speed limit of 40 miles per hour on Powell Avenue, Alderperson Sean Downing asked how a new speed limit could and would be determined through the analysis.

“Currently we are reviewing a number of streets within the city for speed limit safety, enhanced crossings,” Mehlhorn said. “Once we get more and more development on that north side, even the south side, considerations regarding speed limit adjustments if they are necessitated will be evaluated by our city engineer.”

City Administrator Scot Simpson said they cannot simply arbitrarily lower the speed limit to make the road safer. He said the road’s shape, visibility and more affect the speed people travel on the road, and the engineer needs to account for the speeds people naturally drive along the road as well as safe speeds for the road.

“It’s more likely that safety enhancement and changes in speed limit will come when there’s any kind of reconstruction or redesign of a street,” Simpson said.

Resident Lexi Larson asked if the current tree line was going to be entirely removed, partially removed or completely maintained. Larson mentioned having a 4-year-old child that enjoys the current wildlife.

“There would be a minimum mandatory setback on this project,” Mehlhorn said. “I’m not entirely certain where all of those trees fall, but it may be the case that many of those trees fall upon the residents’ property, and those would not be affected,” Mehlhorn said. “However, some trees may be affected during this process, but we do have a minimum subdivision ordinance trees per subdivision. Those typically go in the boulevard, but there are cases where, depending if it’s something like a drainage easement, electric easement, etcetera, we can maintain some trees.”

After the approval, a likely platting process will allow the public to speak on the area again if their concerns persist.

Property Value Assessments

Dana Remien of Accurate Assessor presented a market update for the city for the first time since 2021, showing about a 38% increase in property values in the city. An example was given of a home worth $174,900 now being worth $240,300.

A rough mill rate (total taxes needed divided by total assessed value) estimate saw a decrease from .18 to .13, allowing the taxes paid to shrink from $3,148 to $3,123.

“Your taxes would go down just slightly,” Remien said. “This has nothing to do with any type of referendums if there is one, emergency services, just your assessed value on your home.”

Simpson said while the mill rate was illustrated as an example, the city’s mill rate is about .08, without factoring in the school district.

“I don’t want to give ourselves credit for a higher rate than we have, because we’re in the lowest quarter in the entire State of Wisconsin, quartile, for mill rates for the city only portion,” Simpson said.

Remien mentioned just because your house looks identical to your neighbor’s home on the outside, assessments can be completely different because of what is on the inside. On July 14, Open Book takes place, allowing appointments to be made at accurateassessor.com to discuss property values with an assessor. They can share their analysis and how they came to the final assessed value. Only after speaking to an assessor, if disagreement still looms, residents can head to the Board of Review on Sept. 10. Remien said the board operates like a court of law, with facts and evidence of improper assessment being the pillar.

“The burden of proof is solely on the taxpayer,” Remien said. “The assessor’s value is presumed correct by state law until proven otherwise.”

Community Garden

During public comment, members of the public spoke on proposed relocation of the community garden from Hoffman Park.

“I am greatly opposed of moving Grow to Share over to that area of DeSanctis Park,” resident Matthew Uetz said. “That area of DeSanctis Park, back in 2016, 2017, the city tried to do a land swap, putting residential housing back there. Now, since 2023, it has not been mowed the same as the rest of the parks in River Falls.”

Uetz opposed the move in general, but also asked for the park to be mowed the same as the others if the change does go through.

Other Business

• Approved a $238,000 loan request from the Housing Authority to address windows and other capital improvements at Windmill Place, a senior housing development. The city’s housing reserve fund will be used to finance the loan.
• Approved a specific implementation plan and developer’s agreement for the Sycamore Two project. The site is proposed off of Broadway Street for 24 units of memory care and eight units of independent living, previously discussed at an April council meeting.
• Approved the Wastewater Treatment Plant’s 2024 Compliance Maintenance Annual Report. The city received a 4.0 GPA out of 4.0 for the collection system.
• Approved a series of liquor and beer license renewals for businesses and organizations throughout the city.