CITY OF HUDSON ANNUAL
ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING
MINUTES OF TUESDAY, APRIL
18, 2006
Meeting called to order by
Mayor Breault in the Council Chambers of City Hall at 7:00 p.m.
PRESENT: Mayor Breault and Alderpersons Randy L.
Morrissette II, Dennis B. O’Connell, Paul T. Radermacher, Lee S. Wyland, Scot
E. O'Malley and Carah C. Koch.
OTHERS PRESENT: Willetta Breault, Gordon Conard, Emily Wyland, Samuel Wyland,
Peter Wyland and Laurie Wyland.
ADMINISTERING
OATH OF OFFICE TO NEWLY ELECTED MAYOR AND ALDERPERSONS: Clerk Nancy Norvold administered the oath of
office to Mayor Jack Breault and Council members: District 2 Alderperson Dennis
B. O’Connell, District 3 Alderperson Paul T. Radermacher, and District 4
Alderperson Lee S. Wyland.
Mayor
Breault announced that the purpose of the meeting was to appoint individuals to
various committees, boards and commissions.
PRESIDENT
OF THE COUNCIL: Mayor Breault
called for nominations. O’Connell
nominated Scot O'Malley as President of the Common Council.
Mayor Breault called for additional
nominations. Morrissette nominated Paul
Radermacher. No other nominations were offered. Vote taken (by show of hands) for O’Malley, 4 votes. As two-thirds of the Council had cast their
votes for O’Malley, the voting for Radermacher was not needed, and Scot
O’Malley was elected as President of the Common Council.
PLAN
COMMISSION: Mayor Breault
explained that the Council needed to elect one Alderperson for a one-year term
on the Plan Commission, and a two-thirds Council vote was also needed. O’Malley
nominated Carah Koch for a one-year term on the Plan Commission. Mayor Breault called for additional
nominations three times; none were offered.
MOTION by O’Malley to close the nominations. Vote taken to elect Carah Koch to a one-year term on the Plan
Commission. All ayes, MOTION CARRIED.
STANDING
COMMITTEES: Mayor Breault
distributed a two-page list and announced his appointments to the Standing
Committees, as follows:
Finance
Committee: Mayor Jack Breault,
Chairman, and Alderpersons Scot O'Malley, Dennis O’Connell, and Paul
Radermacher.
Public
Safety Committee: Alderperson Paul
Radermacher, Chairman, and Alderpersons Randy Morrissette and Lee Wyland.
Public
Works Committee: Alderperson Scot
O'Malley, Chairman and Alderpersons Dennis O’Connell and Carah Koch.
OTHER COMMITTEES: Mayor Breault announced the following Alderpersons were appointed
as voting members of the respective boards and commissions:
Community Access Board - Alderperson Carah Koch
St. Croix EMS Commission – Alderperson Lee Wyland
Hudson Area Joint Library Board - Alderperson Scot O’Malley
Park Board – Alderperson Paul Radermacher
Advisory Joint Fire Board - Alderperson Randy Morrissette
ALDERMANIC LIAISONS: Mayor Breault appointed Alderperson Lee Wyland as liaison to the
School Board, Alderperson Carah Koch as liaison to the Tourism Bureau, and
Alderperson Randy Morrissette as liaison to the Public Utility Commission.
APPOINTMENTS
TO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS: Mayor
Breault announced the following appointments:
Board
of Zoning Appeals: Mayor Breault
appointed Karen Neset and Regina Herron to three-year terms, noting they have
both served as previous members. He
stated he would announce an appointment for Second Alternate at a later date.
Hudson/North
Hudson Community Access Board: Judy Kelly was reappointed to a three-year term.
Plan
Commission: Bob Bieraugel was
reappointed for a three-year term.
Police
and Fire Commission: Frank Rhoades
was reappointed for a five-year term.
Intergovernmental
Advisory Council: Mayor Breault
stated that he would continue attending the Intergovernmental Advisory Council
with an alternate Alderperson at each meeting.
Advisory
Joint Fire Board: Mayor Breault
appointed Lori Bernard as a citizen member at large.
Mayor Breault noted that pamphlets were distributed regarding
the New Municipal Officials Workshops and Regional Dinner meetings sponsored by
the League of Wisconsin Municipalities to be held in May and June. He noted that the Clerk’s office would
submit the registrations, and Alderpersons who wished to attend were reminded
to contact the Clerk’s office.
Mayor Breault asked each Alderperson to express some of their
individual objectives for the coming year.
Randy Morrissette indicated that Public Safety issues were
important, as well as assuring that the Parks projects are finished. He called attention to street repairs and
Mill and Overlay projects for streets that have high usage, and also noted his
support for a new Fire Station at some point in the future.
Dennis O’Connell thanked the voters in District 2 for their
support in his re-election. He
explained that District 2 was very large and had three roads with very busy
traffic: Hanley Road, Carmichael Road, and Highway 35 to the east. He stated he would attempt somehow to find
funding for a walking path on Hanley Road to accommodate the many new families
that enjoy walking in that area.
Paul Radermacher thanked the voters in District 3 for
re-electing him. He also concurred with
the statements of the other two Alderpersons, and called attention to the
triple-left turn lane on Crest View Drive to Carmichael Road. He stated he was aware the project was still
being developed, but he hoped it would eventually help with traffic congestion
in that area. Radermacher noted the
cost of health care for the employees and suggested exploring other companies,
health savings accounts, or other options to cut costs for the City and yet
provide full coverage for the employees.
Lee Wyland reported that while out campaigning, he obtained a
long list of issues from the citizens, and many were related to safety,
speeding, traffic, and noise issues from “jake breaking” by trucks. He stated he would like to make sure that
the neighbors are happy with any decisions or final approval for the former
hospital property. He stated that we
need to keep the park area and satisfy the neighbors as well. He also thanked everyone who elected him to
the position, and noted he was excited to learn and happy to be on the Council.
Scot O’Malley stated he was very glad to have Lee Wyland on the
Council. He explained that his goal for
the coming year was to work with the neighborhood and the business people
downtown, all in his 5th District, to maintain the charm of the
community and the older neighborhoods.
He stated he shared Lee’s concern for Prospect Park and the future of
that area. He stated that in the coming
year he would like to work with the Council members and the Mayor on improving
communications with the people they represent, and to increase clarity of
actions, so they have a better understanding of what occurs at Council
meetings. He stated that the Council
sometimes gets accustomed to certain procedures, which can be confusing for
those attending a meeting or viewing it for the first time. He stated it was important to help them
better understand the issues and how things happen, and he would be working on
that during the coming year.
Carah Koch also echoed O’Malley’s comments regarding
communication. She stated that many
people do not understand how things happen or catch it in time, and she
suggested looking at the City’s Internet site and making it more
interactive. After the IT person is
hired, she hoped that could happen. She
also noted the City’s Comprehensive Plan and thanked everyone for again electing
her to the Plan Commission. She stated
she looked forward to reviewing the (Comprehensive Plan) surveys and getting a
plan and a vision for Hudson so we can keep it a great place.
Mayor Breault thanked the voters for their confidence not only
in electing him as the Mayor, but also for electing the Council members. He stated that they are young, progressive,
concerned and involved. He noted that
in the next years he believed they would impress Hudson with some of their
goals mentioned earlier, plus others.
Mayor Breault called attention to his great interest in the
budget, noting that some Departments went over budget last year. He reported on help from Finance Officer
Betty Caruso, who updated him on figures to date. He stated that he would be sending a memo to the Committees
requesting them to review their Department budgets on a quarterly basis. He stated that the Finance Committee would
also be keeping a close watch, as this year or the next would not be the year
to have even one penny be over budget.
He explained that there would not be any additional money available, and
the pressure from Madison means the City would have to be very, very careful
with the budget.
Mayor Breault also agreed with Carah Koch’s comments about the
Comprehensive Plan. He explained that
after all the information is received, the City would be better able to define
its objectives and make sure they are communicated to all the constituents.
Mayor Breault stated he believed this would be a challenging
year, and a good year. He thanked
everyone for voting for the Council members, who make his job easy. He stated that the City has a tremendous
Staff that makes all of our jobs easier.
He urged everyone to work together and to bring forth their suggestions
for consideration.
MOTION by Morrissette, second by O’Malley, to adjourn. MOTION CARRIED – 7:19 p.m.
Nancy
J. Norvold
City Clerk
I hereby certify that the Clerk has submitted the foregoing
minutes to me, and I hereby by my signature approve said minutes and all acts
of the Common Council as set forth therein.
Jack
D. Breault
Mayor
Date Approved
By Council: