The River Falls City Council spent a great deal of their meeting last Tuesday night dealing with COVID-19 pandemicrelated issues.

From the consent agenda, through emergency proclamations and a report on the fiscal impact of the virus, the city council discussed the effect COVID-19 is having on city operations.

Aside from the obvious effect of COVID-19: Viewers were again watching the council in action, sharing split screens with four council members or staffers visible at a time in the online meeting.

From there, it was on to the consent agenda, where concern was expressed about meetings being delayed and projects being stalled. A couple items related to the final plat of the Sterling Pond Second Addition were referred to the plan commission for 30 days.

Since the plan commission won’t meet in May because of COVID-19, those actions can then come directly to the council for a vote in June.

“The concern I have with the COVID19 and the committees not meeting is we have to put these items out 30 days and prolong the building process,” said council member Chris Gagne. “It just kind of concerns me that we can’t streamline this and have the plan commission meet and report back to us.”

In addition to Sterling Ponds Second Addition, the Sterling Ponds Cottages Final Plat also was referred.

Senior Planner Brandy Howe wrote to the city council that staff is reviewing the projects during this time.

“GMTZ, LLC filed a final plat for Sterling Ponds Second Addition, the next phase of single family homes in the Sterling Ponds neighborhood. Per the Municipal Code, the standard process for final plats begins with Plan Commission review and recommendation, the City Council review and action. Given the state of emergency due to COVID-19, the Plan Commission will not meet during the month of May to review this plat. To allow this item to move forward, the City Council will refer the plat to the Plan Commission for a 30-day waiting period…After the waiting period the Council will then review and take action at its June 9 meeting,” Howe’s memo states. “During this waiting period, staff will review the final plat and provide a report and recommendation to the City Council at its June 9 meeting.”

Developers are allowed to do “earthwork” ahead of time, as construction plans and engineering documents have received staff approval already.

From there, the council voted to amend a developer’s agreement with TW Equities, LLC for 4.5 acres in the Sterling Pond Corporate Park.

Under the agreement, the developer “is obligated to construct an approximately 60,000 gross square foot warehouse facility with office and light manufacturing space.”

The company also has to pay the city $495,000 for the property over four years.

“Due to COVID-19, TW Equities, LLC requested a deferral of their $7,000 monthly payment to the city as required by the 2019 development agreement,” a memo from Economic Development Manager Keri Schreiner to the city council states. “They stated that deferring the payments would help to preserve some capital in order to pay their employees.”

The plan OK’d by the council calls for deferred payments from April through Sept. 30. The six deferred payments will b added to the end of the firm’s payment schedule, extending it to March 2025.

Council member Scott Morrissette suggested in the future, deferral requests should be for principal amounts only and not interest owed the city.

“Going forward, I think we’re going to encounter more of these questions or deferrals,” he said. “In the future, it would be my recommendation and suggestion that we defer principal and not interest. I think asking them to pay the interest is the first step. If they can’t do that, it’s case by case. Going forward, I think that would be a good policy decision.”

Police Chief Orders

The city council approved a resolution ratifying emergency government proclamations made by Police Chief Gordon Young on April 13 and 16.

Young’s proclamations were: Done on April 13 1. The River Falls Public Library is closed to the public.

2. City Hall is closed to the public, except for limited exceptions approved by the Mayor or City Administrator for the purpose of required public meetings or events.

3. All park shelters, bathrooms, and playgrounds are closed.

4. The opening of Glen Park and the City Pool are indefinitely postponed.

5. In-home visits conducted by River Falls Utilities are suspended except for emergencies as determined by the Utilities Director.

6. Disconnections of utilities operated by River Falls Municipal Utilities are suspended.

7. No late fees will be assessed on utilities operated by River Falls Municipal Utilities.

8. All City of River Falls committee, commission, and board meetings are suspended unless preapproved by the Mayor or City Administrator.

9. To the extent authorized by Wisconsin law, any matter which is to be reviewed or approved by any City committee, commission, or board pursuant to the City's Ordinances may be reviewed and approved by the Common Council.

10. All City Ordinances which require a matter to be referred to or reviewed by the Plan Commission are modified as follows: a. If Wisconsin statutes require referral to or review by the Plan Commission, the matter shall be referred to the Plan Commission and the Common Council may act pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 62.23(5) after the30-day period has expired. During this 30-day period, appropriate City personal shall review the proposal and present a recommendation to the Common Council. b. If Wisconsin statutes do not require referral to or review by the Plan Commission, the Common Council shall act in place of the Plan Commission to the extent authorized by applicable Wisconsin law. On April 16, Chief of Police Gordon Young, issued an attached Proclamation containing a list of orders as follows: Done on April 16 The River Falls Dog Park will be closed starting on April 17, 2020.

The council circled back to the fact that the plan commission can’t meet and that could stall needed projects in the city.

“I would like us to potentially take a relook at the plan commission. That affects the livelihood of essential businesses,” Gagne said. Said Morrissette, “We’re happy with the chief’s directions and his orders but we’d like to allow staff to explore how they could put together a plan commission meeting to move that project forward.”

“I think what I’m hearing is there’s an interest in making sure the order itself is not unnecessarily delaying projects that have general support,” said City Administrator Scot Simpson.

Gagne said a lot of work has been done to get Sterling Ponds developments ready for construction already.

“We have official studies that were ordered by the council and city staff for housing projects and particularly Sterling Ponds has been a growing development,” he said. “The big thing there is we’re not getting in the way of these projects especially when they have five months to get these projects underway. We have a housing need. We have builders that this is their livelihood. We don’t want to hold them up.”

At that point, City Attorney Christopher Gierhart, who was on the line at the meeting also, directed that regardless of the proclamation, the mayor and city administrator can authorize a plan commission meeting to be held for specific items.