City of Oak Creek

Common Council Report

 

 

Meeting Date:  March 18, 2008

 

Item No.:        

 

 

Recommendation:  That the Council adopt Resolution No. 10841-031808 approving a memorandum of understanding with the city of Franklin pertaining to the payment of the contract price of an agreement for professional services for the South 27th Street corridor plan area streetscape design to include development of a third party review process for proposals within the 27th Street corridor as well as for detailed engineering services to implement the 27th Street corridor streetscape manual and further addressing the funding source for such agreements

 

Background:  On January 15th of this year the Common Council adopted the South 27th Street Corridor Streetscape Manual.  As part of the continuing process in the joint development of the 27th Street corridor, there have been a number of joint planning studies undertaken.

 

At this point in time the two communities are beginning to make the transition between the planning and implementation phases of this project.  As such, the concepts that have been adopted as part of the corridor streetscape plan need to be further refined and engineered in order that they can be integrated into the design plans for the reconstruction of South 27th Street by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.  The reconstruction of the highway (Drexel Avenue north to College Avenue) is tentatively scheduled to occur in 2013.  While this may seem distant, it is important to understand the planning and design process that WisDOT follows in the reconstruction of a corridor such as this.  In order to incorporate the streetscape design concepts into the WisDOT’s reconstruction plans, the detailed engineering and design for the streetscape improvements would need to be completed this year.  The cost of this additional streetscape design is $309,974.  Under the terms of the proposed MOU the City of Oak Creek would be responsible for one-half of this amount, or $154,987.  The contract would be between HNTB and the City of Franklin.  Oak Creek would reimburse Franklin according to the terms of the MOU.

 

Another expense proposed to be covered under the MOU is the creation of a third party review process for developments within the 27th Street corridor.  Under this proposal, an independent third party, such as an architect, would do preliminary reviews on all development proposals within the corridor prior to review and approval by the appropriate municipality.  The cost to design this third party review process, including application forms, review checklists and report templates is $10,945.  Under the terms of the proposed MOU the City of Oak Creek would be responsible for one-half of this amount, or $5,472.50.

 

Fiscal Impact: These additional costs ($160,459.50) are reimbursable expenses within the City’s tax incremental financing district.  However, the initial funding source for this investment would be a transfer from Fund 21 – Debt Amortization to TID No. 7 to be repaid at an interest rate of 7% from increment generated by the District.  The 2008 budget for Fund 31 (Economic Development) contained funding for the conceptual streetscape plan, as well as the marketing plan, but not this detailed engineering design work.

 

Prepared by:

 

 

 

Doug Seymour, AICP

Director of Community Development

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Patrick DeGrave

City Administrator

 

 

Fiscal Review by:

 

 

 

Beverly A. Buretta, CMC

City Clerk