County to help with Lakeview park project

By MICHAEL ROY

Editor

The Janesville Council swore in two members and the mayor at its Monday, January 9 meeting: incumbent Melissa Kopachek, incumbent Mayor Andy Arnoldt, and new council member Ivan Maas. Kopachek and Maas beat out Daniel Frenk for the two open seats, while Arnoldt was left unchallenged for the mayoral position.

To start the meeting, the council was presented with a housing study performed by Stantec, a city development and engineering company out of St. Paul. Tom Leighton, senior urban planner for the company, presented the results of the study to the council. Further details are available as a separate story in this week’s issue of the Pioneer.

Public Forum

Dan Seys brought up concerns about the lack of plowing on Main Street on the block with the Janesville Bowl, the Mayo Clinic, and the library. He explained that he took a picture of a truck parked four feet into the road and presented it to the city’s office manager Andrea Moen. Moen confirmed that she did get the pictures and presented them to public works manager Joe Ziemke.

“He has been made aware of the situation,” she assured.

Seys also questioned whether the county was to maintain the roads, not the city. Moen confirmed that, too. “They plow that road since it’s considered a county highway, while we clean the sidewalk.”

After getting his questions answered with that issue, Seys claimed that after 20 years of paying taxes to Prairie Ridge Golf Course, the taxpayers should get some return on investment from them.

“I go there, don’t get me wrong,” he said. “But I have a problem with them giving discounts to people living ten to 20 miles from here. Yet people who live here don’t get much of a discount. I think if they’re doing so well, it’s time to think about the taxpayers getting something from them.”

Other Business

The council approved the agreement between the city and the county for a rehabilitation project planned for the trail leading from the north end of Janesville to Lakeview Park.

City Administrator Clinton Rogers explained that last November, the council adopted a resolution of support when Waseca County applied for a MnDOT Active Transportation Infrastructure grant to get funding for a new pathway for Lakeview Park.

He reminded them that, if the grant is acquired, funding for the park would be through the state. “If not,” he said, “The county and city will split it 70-30. The cost is about $100,000, which means we’d be paying $30,000.” He did point out that the council could allocate some money from the American Rescue Plan Act to fund the project.

The council then made its annual appointments. Andy Ahlman was selected to be Acting Mayor once again. After that, the five council members decided who would hold positions on each of eight city boards: Ahlman would stay on the golf advisory board and personnel committee; Jim Mulcahey will continue to be on the park board and join the planning commission; Melissa Kopachek will join the Whispering Creek nursing home board and remain on the personnel committee; Andy Arnoldt will remain on the Economic Development Authority and utilities commission; and Ivan Maas will officially join the EDA and Housing Redevelopment Authority.

The council discussed President Joe Biden’s executive order which requires law enforcement to inform their local governing body of what items they plan to purchase using federal grants. In this case, the Janesville Police Department must notify the council when it makes purchases using federal grants.

After approving the master fee schedule, the council discussed allowing Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton school to put temporary handicap signs out in the front of the school (Third Street) during events. Rogers used an example of polling places that do this on a regular basis.

Mulcahey suggested that no more than three temporary handicap parking spots be allowed at a time. He also noticed an error in the language of the resolution that stated the council would allow the school to establish a temporary no parking area, not a handicap spot.

Reports

Rogers reported that the city received the other half of its Local Government Aid for 2022, which was $424,000.50. The city also received $17,649 in insurance dividends which pays for city staff’s insurance. He was also happy to share that the golf course had another record year with its membership drive. No specific details were given.

Mayor Arnoldt told the council that the utility board is getting bids on different items for the power plant’s substation. The board also discussed the early stages of acquiring territory from Xcel Energy to prepare for the possibility of new houses on the west end of town.

“It sounds like a headache, and it’s expensive,” he admitted. “But it needs to be done.”

Mulcahey asked him how much the current power system can handle with expansion. “When it comes to residential, a lot,” he replied. “Commercially, we’re not exactly set up for that.”

Ahlman added that the city may need a lift station to meet future demands for commercial electricity.

The meeting adjourned at 8:17 p.m.