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city of BELOIT,wisconsin PROCEEDINGS OF THE BELOIT CITY COUNCIL 100 State Street, Beloit WI 53511 Monday, June 20, 2011 Presiding: Kevin D. Leavy Present: Sheila De Forest, Charles Haynes, David F. Luebke, Eric Newnham, Mark Spreitzer, and James Van De Bogart Absent: None 1. The meeting was called to order at 7:03 p.m. 2. SPECIAL ORDER OF THE DAY/ANNOUNCEMENTS a. Finance and Administrative Services Director Paul York presented the Government Finance Officers Association Distinguished Budget Presentation Award to the City of Beloit for the 2011 City of Beloit Budget. Mr. York recognized the members of the Finance Department for their work and commitment to producing a high-quality budget document. Councilor Van De Bogart asked how many cities in Wisconsin received the award, and Mr. York indicated that 22 Wisconsin cities received the award in 2009. b. Proclamation recognizing July as Park and Recreation Month was presented by Vice President Van De Bogart to Director of Parks and Leisure Services Brian Ramsey. Mr. Ramsey thanked the Council on the behalf of the Parks, Recreation and Conservation Advisory Committee and the City of Beloit Leisure Services staff. He informed the Council about some of the department's summer programs and the golf course, and he invited the Council to attend the Parks & Recreation Tour on July 13, 2011. File 7148 3. PUBLIC HEARINGS a. Resolution authorizing an Exception to the Architectural Review and Landscape Code for the property located at 1255 Park Avenue. It was noted that Plan Commission recommended approval 4-0. Community Development Director Julie Christensen reviewed the staff report and recommendation. She said that the property owner planned to remove and replace his entire parking which required compliance with the landscape code and was applying for an exception to waive the open green space requirement and landscape strip requirement. President Leavy opened and closed the public hearing without participation. Councilor Luebke moved to adopt, second by Councilor De Forest. Councilor Newnham asked if the owner had exhausted all opportunities to add landscaping without losing parking spaces. He encouraged staff to always look at alternatives for additional landscaping, and he said that there may have been opportunities for additional landscaping along the alley. He noted that he is passionate about landscaping because he had lost parking at his former restaurant several years ago to accommodate additional landscaping requirements. Ms. Christensen said that the applicant has met the hardship test. Councilor De Forest indicated that any additional landscaping would hinder traffic patterns and that the applicant did address the spirit of the Ordinance by proposing additional landscaping on an adjacent property. President Leavy said that he was comfortable with the staff recommendation. The motion carried 7-0. File 8500 4. CITIZENS' PARTICIPATION a. Perry Vernor, 928 Copeland Avenue, spoke about residential street parking in the Merrill Neighborhood, specifically on the 900 and 1000 blocks of Copeland Avenue. He said that currently there are two-hour parking limits and even/odd parking, and he requested that the two-hour parking regulations be removed. He noted that parking regulations near the school are not enforced and that residents tend to park wherever they want. However, he received a ticket for parking on Copeland. b. Gary Fields, 13826 Sundance Trail, spoke in favor of the Ordinance removing the requirement to post rental dwelling permits. He thanked Councilor De Forest for attending the Landlord's meeting and encouraged other Councilors to attend the meetings which take place on the 3rd Tuesday of the month at 7 pm at Dominico's. Councilor Luebke left at 7:30 pm.