Das Barrel Room Is Back! Village Board in 2017 Created This Subjectiveness Re Sound - Moving Away From Scientific & Tech Methods Of Tracking, Diluting Ordinance.

EDWC, Christian Tscheschlok, Executive Director, Fails To Disclose That The Current Head Person At Sterling Pharma Is On The EDWC Board While Presenting The TID 9 Extension. Who Is Bailey Copeland?

From agenda packet.

7/1/2024 Village Board Meeting agenda packet here.

Recording here.

Min 12:22 meeting starts. Announcements after the pledge of allegiance. Long list of events going on including 4th July parade with entertainment and fireworks afterwards. Concerts, Taste of Germantown in July, and 50th Anniversary of Historical Society too. Other announcements of meetings, and a library survey from their website. The information will be used for the new library programing.

Min 20:00 public comments. Das Barrel Room (DBR) is like “Cheers” with music. DBR raises funds for charities around the area. DBR is hiring, friendly people, people are happy. The IRS shows up?? DBR is the best version of itself in 25 years. Decibel limit in the muni-code. Return the conditional use permit fee to the resident who was inquiring about buying one of the Grosenick properties, and was jumped by the village who bought them both. They took his money knowing they were negotiating. Open records request have not been responded to yet. TID was discussed in a closed session. Acquiring a parcel from the TID 9 expansion background information. Survey for library is for helping to get a grant. TID 9 expansion, why are we paying back an international business’ loan? The Sterling Pharma website has “hazardous” all over the place, should this type of business be expanding so near to residential areas? DBR, 2017 ordinance had decibel levels, and was made less specific. Current situation is inequitable with rules for some and not others. Get back to a clear set of rules for everyone to understand and follow. Budget time. Where is the audit? Takes 6 months to get this done, that’s too long. Thank you Trustee Pieper for suggesting that citizens can contact their trustees to add things to the agenda. The handout is an article about zero-based bugdeting, by our neighbor, Richfield’s village administrator. Trustees not returning this man’s request for being contacted. DBR was a super club in 1960s called Jim and Betty’s. Residents should just accept there will be noise from DBR. Resident who lives near DBR says it wasn’t there when he moved there. Six months out of the year can’t relax in home without the noise from the outdoor stage. People are walking through his yard now. Traffic has increased. Parking in non-allowed parking areas. DBR manager claims that a Trustee and a local resident was threatening the BP owner - This should be verified. Three minute clock, what’s this? Waiting until the last possible day to deal with a license, which affects the DBR as a business. There should be a standard on sound levels so people know what to do. Go back to the law and fix it with a standard to stop the fighting. Bar manager went to the BP and heard about a plot map and parking being torn up.

Min 53:40 Consent agenda.

Min 54:15 DBR outside premise application. Attorney goes through terms quickly. The business manager has suggested that he can reorient the stage in a proposal. He has 30 days to do that after the license is renewed. Set hours until 10:00pm on Friday and Saturday. 9:30pm on Thursdays. An additional one time event for fund raising purposes. Business owner does not have the document. Trustee Pieper makes a motion to pass the outdoor premise for the license. What is the sound level for music allowed? Heard over a property line, is too loud. Considered a nuisance. Police has been there thirteen times. At times a problem, not always. Yes, it’s subjective. Decibel limits being removed were based on attorney’s recommendation in 2017. He says the decibel sounds vary, and are heard differently by different people. And, the weather.

Parking is also a problem. What are the limitations for parking off premise? Has an arrangement to park some cars on BP across the road. This should have been on the full alcohol license. Needs a conditional use permit to park on neighboring property. It’s not good practice to blend land use and licensing matters.

State laws have decibels. No consistency in how the village deals with this situation. There are no “no parking” signs on Appleton. Trustee Pieper makes a motion, and is passionate, and told to stop by President Wolter.

Trustee Hudson wants a mutual agreement and to move forward. Basic math is allowing 208 days potentially of music per the current agreement. Limit the number of days where concerts are allowed.

Here the attorney swears in the business owner and goes through a series of questions.

Conducting a hearing in the midst of a motion, is that what they are doing? Blur the lines, per the attorney, so that the hearing is in the discussion.

9 outside performances to date due to weather. Have 42 days scheduled for this season. No complaints when the bands are inside. Is a range a better way of thinking about a way manage the numbers of performances.

Turning the stage will make a big difference. Adding a wall to block sound at the deck. Test out the wall. Port-a-potty has always been there. It’s a handicap styled port-a-potty. Parking lot is scheduled to be paved July 15th. No penalties for any of the past violations.

Discussion about the fund-raising event, and how the process works.

Trustee Jan Miller makes a statement about the BP manager conversation and parking is to do with a disputed property line, not the DBR. Village clerk stops the conversation.

Trustee Warren says it’s frustrating to not to be able to use numbers as in decibels. He makes statements about noise reflecting, and asks what is acceptable? If the flipping the stage doesn’t work, what are the other options? Turn sound down. Sound sensors may work.

It’s only one person who has complained. We can handle that.

Off topic in a public hearing. Fairness about how licenses are applied to all is important.

Last statement from business owner, if our customers cannot fill up and park, how are we supposed to deal with that?

Call the question.

Min 1:56:20 Short recess.

Min 2:00:15 Goes back into meeting. Historical Society event on July 13th 50th anniversary party at Dheinsville. Various other approvals for events.

Min 2:03:10 Sterling Pharma being added to TID 9 to allow taxpayers to pay for a loan in the TID for an international business. A month or two ago Ehlers looked at either adding TID 10, or amending TID 9. Main reason is TID 9 is an industrial use. Will potentially close out the TID 5 years earlier, 2037.

Link to Sterling Pharma website here. In agenda packet the information starts at page 68. See link at top of this newsletter.

Ehlers rep goes through the TID 9 and how it helped get the DPW sewer and water, as well as an industrial building, that remains empty. There would be added jobs. They show the existing TID 9 map, but nothing for the proposed version.

Sterling Pharma has a significant proposed expansion, possibly. No outlay by village of funds. It would be MRO, municipal obligations, or bonds.

There is also a possible loan from EDWC for $1M. The loan interest covered by the TID. 33% of increment phases, they will get at each phase as completed, see page 78 from agenda packet.

The company wants the village to move fast.

One parcel would be added to the TID, currently owned by Germantown, must be contiguous. No purchase and no discussion of future activity in this TID. Add the GFL property to the TID.

EDWC executive director, Christian Tscheschlok, presents details about the phases. Phase one releases the others. This is an existing business, with history in the village. Other locations, within the company, are competing for their own business dollars and approvals to go forward. It’s not a done deal.

Payroll numbers don’t appear to add up. Initial phase jobs are not high paying jobs. What are the spin-off jobs?

The $1M is to off-set the costs of wage differences based on Germantown versus a location in Ireland. The $1M is for the Bay Five project, which triggers the rest of the phases.

Who approached whom? They keep in touch.

This would have been the perfect time to mention that the head guy is on the EDWC board.

Is there a plan B?

Trustee Pieper asks why Germantown is funding a huge company. Competing for an opportunity, is there a payback? Favorable outcome.

EDWC is being paid back by the increment. Discussion about how this is not the village money directly.

President Wolter explains how in 2007 and 2008 a failing TID was saved by doing this type of arrangement. Trustee Jan Miller says “We aren’t in the red right now.” President Wolter says she is missing the point.

Trustee Rick Miller makes a motion to continue with the process to amend TID 9.

Trustee Cutts makes a comment that if the TID is bigger it will increase the levy by increasing the value of any building added. President Wolter says that if money is needed for the 2025 budget, then could use the full resources of increment to increase the levy. They have not used the full increment of the levy in the past two years.

Motion passes.

Min 2:52:50 District One Polling needs to change for 2025 due to a renovation. It will move to the senior center.

Min 2:55:00 Village Center discussion. They go into closed session. Attorney, Director of Planning Retzlaff, Ehlers, Bailey Copeland, and, Jordan Yanke, assistant planner.

This can only mean more legalese with possible bond, or TID, and more of taxpayer monies going to something we have never even been told about. Great.

Who is Bailey Copeland working for now? She was with Greywolf Partners.