By Ryan Whisner
The Fort Atkinson City Council Thursday, April 6, adopted a resolution, declaring its intent to reimburse the city’s general fund expenditures, using proceeds developed through a planned 2024 borrowing.
Upcoming project expenses, totaling some $25.7 million, include construction costs associated with a new Department of Public Works (DPW) facility, public infrastructure for new development, and public safety equipment replacement, according to a chart shared within the early April council meeting packet.
“This does not obligate the city council to borrow that full amount,” Fort Atkinson City Manager Rebecca Houseman LeMire said. “It only obligates the council, when funds are borrowed, to reimburse the city’s general fund through the proceeds of that borrowing for the specific projects that have been approved already.”
She noted that among currently proposed purchases on the list, which includes various vehicles and equipment for different departments, all have been on the city’s capital improvement plan budget for several years. None have been formally approved through the budget process except for a land purchase and architectural services related to the new DPW facility.
The resolution, unanimously approved by the city council, authorizes reimburse of the city’s general fund through borrowing. The council approved the resolution with the understanding that it was not an approval to expend the funds.
“I think it’s important to point out that even if we do approve this tonight, this does not mean that this is all by any means going on the tax roll right away,” Councilman Mason Becker said. “I’m sure if there are appropriate grant opportunities out there or other funding mechanisms the city will very aggressively pursue those. It’s important to remember this isn’t all going to come out at once and not necessarily going to go on the property tax roll.”
The process leading to the approval of the resolution began earlier this year when the council approved plans to move forward with the concept of the development of a DPW facility at its current site. At its Jan. 3 meeting, the council acquired property adjacent to the DPW for the development of the new facility for $500,000.
At a subsequent meeting, a $475,000 contract was signed with Angus Young Architects of Janesville for the design of the new DPW campus.
Payment for the design and land purchase were each approved to come from the city’s general fund with the intent to reimburse itself from a borrowing in 2024 that will also pay for the construction services.
Following approval of the resolution, the council approved a contract not to exceed $9,500 for surveying services with Ayers and Associates for survey data collection and base map preparation of the existing campus land and adjacent lands under purchase agreement to properly close the acquisition. Like the previous expenditures, this item is also intended to be reimbursed as part of the construction services.
LeMire pointed out that other purchases on the list are a normal part of the city’s CIP budget.
“These might change in the fall as we look forward to the 2024 budget as well as the 2024 capital improvements budget,” she said.
In addition to the anticipated CIP acquisitions and DPW facility construction, there is some infrastructure work included in the anticipated expenditures.
“There are several other residential projects planned in the Banker Road area, including on the city-owned land and public infrastructure necessary to support the development of those city-owned lands as well as mitigate the traffic concerns in the area,” she said.
The city purchased 75 acres along Banker Road and with Vandewalle and Associates developed a neighborhood master plan, in 2021. The area was annexed into the city that year and is included in the new Tax Incremental Financing District No. 9.
Last September, the council chose the Hoffman Development Group LLC and CedarPrise LLC
team as the master developer to develop the multifamily components of the neighborhood plan.
The site must go through rigorous financing, design, and build phases before construction is anticipated in June 2024.
“Some of the projects and project costs may need to be expended before the receipt of those funds,” the city manager said.
Not all the revenue sources to pay back the bonds are from the general fund. LeMire said there are funds from the water and wastewater utilities related to some of the infrastructure projects.
“We do know that some of the funds that are borrowed will be paid back through some of the city utilities and other sources,” she said. “We don’t have that exact proportion, those are estimates that are in there for DPW facility, which is by far the largest project that we have in that at a total of $20 million split between utilities.”
The city manager noted that once the design portion is complete, staff will have a clear picture of the anticipated costs for the facility.
“From there we can work with our financial advisors and the Public Service Commission to understand how much of that debt can be repaid by the utilities,” she said.
To accommodate the estimates, the city manager said the resolution was worded in a “not to exceed” way to ensure there are sufficient funds to cover the projects within the CIP budget and the estimated costs of the DPW facility and Banker Road infrastructure improvements as well as any additional borrowing the city typically endeavors every other year.
In addition, she echoed Becker’s statement that she and City Engineer Andy Selle are continuing to pursue any option for grant funding or borrowing program through the state or federal government that is available.
“There is not a lot out there, but we are definitely pursuing any option, including reaching out to elected officials at the state and federal level,” LeMire said.
In other business
In an unrelated action, the council approved a certified survey map (CSM), rezoning, and a Specific Implementer Plan (SIP) for the first phase of a multifamily housing project on the city’s northwest side.
Ryan Quam is developing two apartment buildings at 1310-1320 Campus Drive on land owned by Tip of the Spear LLC.
He plans to construct two four-story, 36-unit apartment buildings on the site, which was annexed to the city last year and is in the new Tax Increment District No. 9. The units will be a mix of one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and two-bedroom-plus-loft apartments, with both underground and surface parking.
The primary access road will be off Campus Drive. Construction of the first building will begin this summer.
A chart, titled: “City of Fort Atkinson Planned 2024 Borrowing,” shown above, as supplied in the April 6 council packet, outlines upcoming expenses, totaling approximately $25.7 million, which could be paid through a general fund reimbursement procedure using borrowed funds. A larger view of the chart is here: http://fortatkinsononline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-15-at-10.58.08-PM.pdf.
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