City council approves excavator, squad car and tree purchases

The Rhinelander city council looked at several resolutions at its meeting Aug. 25. The first was the adoption of the ordinance to approve provisional liquor licenses, as previously reported. The next item before the council was the ending of Tax Incremental District (TID) 6.

TID 6, mayor Kris Hanus said, includes the industrial park and airport area. The TID, he said, was at the end of its life, and needed to come to the city council to be closed. An audit would be completed by Baker Tilly, a tax accounting firm, and the city would then receive more documentation to see how it performed. He said it seemed as though it was a successful TID, ending “in the black rather than in the red.”

City finance director Wendy Bixby said the TID was estimated to have approximately $800,000 to distribute back to the taxing jurisdictions, and the city’s portion was approximately 40 percent of that. 

“This TID was set up in 2002, and then it was amended two more times, the project plan of it,” Bixby said, as a response to a question from alderman Gerald Anderson regarding how a TID functioned on government-owned property that was not taxed. “The benefactors were ABX came to town, Spee Dee Delivery and Red Arrow were three of the bigger ones that were out there.” When it started in 2002 it was government property for the most part, Anderson said, and then other things were added. He also said this TID seemed to do a good job bringing industry to the area, but that there seemed to be nothing else working toward that end. He wondered whether something should be in the works that could bring about the same results. He said he felt it would be a good idea to look ahead to see what else could be done similarly to bring about more of this type of industry that would produce the same type of results. In the end the council voted to approve the termination of the TID.

Later, the city council also authorized Mayor Hanus to sign a letter of engagement with Baker Tilly for the required dissolution audit for the TID.

Town purchases

Next, the council undertook the matter of the purchase of a mini excavator for a $68,250. City streets foreman Justin Ernst said the funding was originally slated for a woodchipper.

“After talking to the crew as a whole, the group in the street department, we all discussed it,” Ernst said. “The current woodchippers do exactly as intended. Replacing them at this point isn’t going to get us any farther with productivity or efficiency in the work we do. So we talked about having a mini excavator, having a thumb on it, having a little breaker on it, being able to trench a narrower gap in the surface for, like, electrical conduit, like smaller utilities like storm water utilities.” 

Ernst said, with the current backhoe, when the operator straddles an excavated hole, they are taking up at least a lane of traffic, if not more. A mini excavator would not only alleviate that, but would also be more flexible in the work that it could do. He said it would also increase their efficiency doing concrete work with the mechanical thumb. The mini excavator the street department was looking at, he said, also had an enclosed cab, meaning greater operator safety as well as the ability to work in inclement weather.

Ernst said it was difficult to know the exact pricing before the actual purchase, but in the end, it would all even out, as some purchases would come in above what was budgeted and others would come in below, as had been the case with plow trucks in the past.

“We’re just trying to get what we need and not wishing we had more,” Ernst said. “We’re just trying to do it right the first time.”

Mayor Hanus asked what percentage was expected to be from a wastewater operation standpoint and what would be streets operation, roughly. Ernst said it would depend on the projects in front of the crew. He asked whether Hanus was asking whether part of the cost could be slated to wastewater utilities.

“It sounds like this is the only type of equipment like this that we have,” Hanus said. “We’re not buying a second one just to have a second one. We’re buying one for the city as a whole, and if we think that, say, 50 percent of the use would be a department that’s not the general fund, when we allocate the cost of it, it’s kind of — how do we divide up that cost?”

Ernst said it may be split with stormwater, and water utility may be able to use the equipment as well.

“But then you get into that conundrum of, if they break it, then what?” Ernst said. While departments did use each other’s equipment, he said, someone would have to pay for repairs, which had mostly been the street department. He cautioned about loaning out equipment for that reason. “It gets a bit tricky. I’m not against it. But that would have to be a discussion.”

Mayor Hanus asked whether there would be cost savings in equipment rental and whether the city had needed to rent a mini excavator in the past. Ernst said, with the curb and sidewalk replacements on tap, he felt the mini excavator would be able to complete those projects much more quickly. While there had been no rental of a piece of equipment like this in the past, the savings realized would be in the efficiencies it would afford the street crew. 

“It sounds like you guys have it really thought out,” said alderman Tom Barnett. “And I’ve always said that if you want your employees to do a really good job, give them the equipment to do it with.” 

With that, Barnett made the motion to approve the purchase of the mini excavator. After a few questions regarding the versatility of the mini excavator, the council was satisfied that this would be a good purchase for the department, and approved the purchase.

The next matter was that of the purchase of a 2025 Dodge Durango squad car from Brickner’s Park City Dodge for $27,461.50. Police chief Lloyd Gauthier said, of the vendors he contacted, Brickner’s was the only response. They had been a long-time partner of the police department and had gone above and beyond what had been expected of them. Brickner’s he said, was able to provide a 2025 Durango, which other local vendors could not. The price difference between a 2023 and a 2025, he said, was only $296. Further, he said, the department received a very favorable trade in value for their current squad.

Gauthier said he also had a strong interest in keeping the same make and model of vehicle. With the charger no longer being available, other than in an electric model, the department needed to look at what vehicle they would transition. The Durango, he said, had received positive feedback. 

Tom Jerow of the city tree board came before the council in the matter of approving a street tree purchase and planting bid from Foley’s Tree Service for $19,500, which he said he wished to increase to $25,000. Jerow said he had anticipated a price tag of $500 per tree, but the bid came in at $400. He wished to purchase an additional 12 trees to be planted. He said the funding source for the additional funds was the Catastrophic Storm Grant and the city was under the deadline to get the trees in the ground this fall. He said he was denied an extension in order to do a spring planting. 

When asked whether there would be an issue with changing the dollar amount, city attorney Steven Sorenson said the resolution was before the council to perform the services, and the dollar amount could be amended. That would not change the purpose of the resolution, he said, and the change was within the council’s purview. The recommendation was approved as amended, to $25,000. 

The next meeting of the Rhinelander city council will be at 6 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 9, at Rhinelander City Hall.

Beckie Gaskill may be reached via email at [email protected].