How the City of Middleton might not fail its business community (I)
Five months almost to the day after governor Tony Evers forced many Wisconsin businesses to close to slow the spread of coronavirus, the Middleton Common Council has begun an earnest debate about ways to help local businesses. Council members and other City officials seem to now be realizing that, dashing earlier hopes, this pandemic is not going to go away anytime soon, and that without additional help, many businesses are not going to make it through the fall, let alone next year.
The fact that many local businesses are in dire straits has been known for quite a while inside City Hall, but apart from limited, albeit somewhat effective in their way, efforts by the Community Development Authority (CDA) to help downtown restaurants and bars, and the City encouraging expanded outdoor dining areas, the only other stab at a City-led initiative (and the only one involving the Council) was an aborted attempt on May 5 to create a financial support program in collaboration with an unwilling because unable Middleton Area Development Corporation.
As this newsletter has reported earlier (as did its print companion, the Middleton Review), other cities in Dane county have established local financial-aid programs to help their businesses. Research by City staff has shown, however, that loan programs created by Fitchburg (two loans taken out) and Sun Prairie (one loan) have not been successful, while a grant program in Verona has seen more takers.
Anecdotal evidence presented at yesterday's (August 18) Council meeting suggests that loan programs are increasingly unsuccessful because their terms are often too strict, and because many businesses are reluctant to take on even more debt. As district 3 alderwoman Katy Nelson, who owns and operates her own business, reported, she received a federal Small Business Administration (SBA) loan, and while repayment is not required until some time next year, interest has been accruing from day one. This apparently has come as a shock to many SBA-loan recipients, and means that their debt burden could be much higher than anticipated. As City Administrator Mike Davis said, businesses are "saturated with debt".
Since grants are basically free money, it is not really surprising that such programs should be more popular. Early in the discussion it quickly emerged, however, that a City-sponsored grant program would be difficult to get through the Council. District 8 alderman Mark Sullivan, who is also the chairman of the Finance Committee, was especially adamant in his opposition to what he called "essentially a property-tax rebate", interpreting a grant program as a way to support the few at the expense of the many. He wondered what would then prevent any home owner in the city to demand a grant.
An argument could of course be made that local businesses are different from other taxpayers in that they provide many jobs, and that letting businesses fail will result in even higher unemployment, which would lead to a whole other set of problems, including undermining the City's workforce-housing policy. That argument wasn't made, however.
One way or another, any type of financial assistance to businesses would cost the city, i.e. its taxpayers, money, directly or indirectly, depending on the funding source. TIF money could potentially be used, but only within existing TIF districts, excluding large parts of the city. The City would almost certainly have to borrow money to lend money. There might be other options.
District 1 alderwoman Kathy Olson, who represents the Greenway and downtown areas, both with heavy concentrations of retail and hospitality businesses, was more sympathetic to a grant program, pointing out that many businesses "took a chance" on Middleton, especially the TIF districts, and contributed significantly to its economic growth: It was now time for the city to help them in turn.
District 7 alderman Dan Ramsey wondered what amounts, in loans or grants, might work for businesses? Small amounts might not be worth the effort (for the City or the businesses), while large amounts might be beyond the City's abilities. District 5 alderman Luke Fuszard, at whose initiative the Council was discussing the topic, saw any financial help from the City more as a "bridge" than a complete solution.
During the public-comment period at the beginning of the Council meeting, two local business owners' comments illustrated different types of support that are needed: financial and non-financial.
The Mustard Museum Gourmet Gift Shop (a for-profit entity separate from the museum part) reported a drop in retail sales between 65% and 90%, and an urgent need for cash.
Scooter's Coffee, a drive-through coffee shop on University Avenue, got dealt a blow by the City bureaucracy in March, when the Public Works Committee (PWC) denied a request by the business to install a new sign that would be more visible from the road. Visibility to drivers is a cornerstone of the store's business model. In June, the owner asked PWC to reconsider (the Plan Commission had previously approved the sign, contingent upon PWC approval), but the Committee decided to do nothing, effectively denying the request. The original motion to deny the request on March 9 was made by district 2 alderman Robert Burck, and seconded by district 6 alderwoman Susan West. Removing such bureaucratic obstacles might help some businesses. The Council approved a motion by district 4 alderwoman Emily Kuhn, seconded by Kathy Olson, to refer the matter back to PWC for reconsideration.
At yesterday's Council meeting, that same Robert Burck, maybe remembering and regretting the error of his ways (assuming, without prejudice, that he is not a phenomenal cynic), suggested that the City take a look at non-monetary ways to help local businesses, explicitly providing Scooter's Coffee and their need for a better sign-location as an example. He also suggested that the City could maybe close some streets on Fridays and Saturdays to provide a better dining and shopping atmosphere. It was essential, though, that the business owners themselves tell the City what their needs are.
The importance of this last point is difficult to overstate. The City's decision-makers are not only not clairvoyant, many of them, especially among the elected officials, are also woefully uninformed when it comes to knowing what goes on in the city, their own districts even. Considering their workloads, including their day jobs, this is almost unavoidable (although some are retired). The consequence is that 'the squeaky wheel gets the grease', i.e. it's the constituents who contact their alderperson or other City official with a request who get the attention, and often the fix.
A number of speakers, including Kate Wicker, the executive director of the Middleton Chamber of Commerce (although she kept introducing herself as director of the Fitchburg Chamber, her previous position - a Freudian slip maybe), pointed out that most small-business owners do not have the time to research support programs, or read and reply to survey emails - they are more than busy trying to keep their businesses afloat.
In a commendable moment of self-awareness, the Council members realized their shortcoming and, at the suggestion of Katy Nelson, decided that they would go out and contact the businesses in their districts to ask them about their needs in the current situation, and what the City could do to help. (Robert Burck and Mark Sullivan needn't get up - their districts are purely residential. But maybe they and Dan Ramsey, whose district is also very light on businesses, could help out some of their colleagues.)
Meanwhile, the Council unanimously approved a motion by Robert Burck, seconded by Kathy Olson, that the City explore ways and establish a framework to provide non-monetary help and zero- to low-interest loans to businesses. A 'friendly' amendment by Mark Sullivan puts the Finance Committee in charge of the financial details of the loan program. This should be on the Council's agenda again when the alderpersons will have reported back after their fact-finding missions, and after the Finance Committee has done some groundwork.
As a small mercy, mayor Gurdip Brar's audio-feed kept cutting out during the virtual Council meeting, so, for a little while at least, the other Council members and City staff could have a fairly uninterrupted meaningful discussion.
City triples parking fines
And talking about non-monetary help, the Council voted unanimously to triple the fines for exceeding the two-hour parking limit and similar restrictions from $10 to $30, rising to $40 if not paid within five days. One of the stated goals of the measure is to discourage downtown residents, employees and business owners from hogging the time-limited parking spaces that are supposed to be for retail and restaurant customers.
Mayor and protégée lobby for athletic field
For its August 17 meeting, the City of Middleton's Park, Recreation and Forestry Commission (PRFC) was asked to discuss possible improvements to the athletic field at Lakeview Park (i.e. improve drainage), and make these improvements a priority in its 2021 capital budget, and never mind that PRFC finished its capital budget prioritization on August 3 (without including the Lakeview Park athletic field).That request came from mayor Gurdip Brar.
According to background information provided by Matt Amundson, the City's director of Public Lands, Recreation and Forestry, "(...) the athletic field is available for a host of recreation programs, rentals from groups like rugby, and as open green space for the public to enjoy. The space is frequently wet, drains poorly, and is difficult to maintain. The space was last elevated in 2012 with dredged material from the Lakeview pond, and anecdotally, it hasn't helped much. Repeating a similar effort and/or installing drain tile and/or grading for better water management would trigger the need to complete a wetland delineation of this entire area. (...)"
It has been the consensus in the past that improvements at that site would be, as district 8 alderman Mark Sullivan put it, "hugely expensive", and their effectiveness doubtful because of the soil (peat) and the high water table, which make it prone to flooding and soggy conditions. It is also known that a wetland delineation, i.e. creating a map to indicate which part of the park is wetland (as determined by the DNR), would most likely lead to severe limitations (imposed by the DNR) on what could be done with the site, as Matt Amundson pointed out during the PRFC meeting.
But if the City wanted to go ahead with improving the athletic field, the first step in the process, according to Matt Amundson, "would be to hire a consultant to conduct a wetland delineation as would be required by the DNR. This could cost as much as $10,000. Once the delineation is completed, we would need to develop a scope of engineering services regarding a design and what the project goals are. This could cost as little as $5,000 and as much as $20,000. For the actual construction, it would really depend on the scope of the project and whether we are going to just add fill, and/or increase storm water management, improved site grading, and/or install drain tile. The total project could exceed $300,000 if all of these elements are considered for the entire site. One thing that I do not have a good understanding on is how to evaluate how long an improvement project would last. My best guess is that an engineering firm would distance themselves from giving any indication, citing a number of factors including fluctuating rainfall totals."
As Matt Amundson explained, the new Lakeview Park shelter should help reduce stormwater runoff to the athletic field somewhat, since the water will be collected rather than allowed to just flow over the field.
Over two years ago, on January 15, 2018, PRFC did vote in favor of recommending to the Finance Committee and the Common Council that the engineering firm MSA start work on improvements to the athletic field and the path (Mark Sullivan was absent from that meeting), but the following day, both the Finance Committee (which Mark Sullivan chairs) and the Common Council voted only to approve work on the path, not on the athletic field.
While on August 17, PRFC discussed the item at the request of Gurdip Brar, and while he had contacted some if not all commission members before the meeting to do some behind-the-scenes lobbying, the on-stage lobbying during the meeting was done by Kathryn Tyson, a district-2 resident and Brar supporter, current member of the Plan Commission (appointed by Gurdip Brar in November 2019 to replace the late Wayne Pferdehirt), and former member of PRFC (from 2011 to 2018, when she did not apply to be reappointed).
Not least for personal reasons (one of her sons has had, and still has, a distinguished career as an active player and Middleton High School rugby coach, as well as a college-level rugby coach), she has long been a staunch supporter of Middleton rugby, and during her tenure on PRFC, she fought vigorously to ensure that the Lakeview Park athletic field could be used for rugby practice and games. It is apparently the only athletic field in Middleton large enough to serve as a regulation-size rugby field, and the only one open to the public (all other public athletic facilities in Middleton are 'public' in name only, since, although owned by the City, their use is governed by private clubs under contract with the City).
After a brief discussion, the PRFC members decided unanimously to not revisit their 2021 budget prioritization, but rather give the new Lakeview Park shelter stormwater infrastructure a chance to prove itself. The item of improved drainage for the athletic field was deferred until this time next year.
Canadian strike impacts park shelter construction
On a sort of related note: Matt Amundson announced at the end of the meeting that the tiles for the Lakeview Park shelter are stuck in customs in Canada, and that, because of a strike by Port of Montreal longshoremen, it is not known when they will arrive in Middleton. As of this writing, the strike was in its tenth day, and negotiations between the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Maritime Employers Association were ongoing. Can't even blame the mayor for that one.