City of Mequon Weekly Bulletin - February 8, 2019

Upcoming Meetings
Planning Commission: February 11 – 6:00 P.M. (Agenda)
Festivals Committee: February 11 – 6:00 P.M. (Agenda)
Architectural Board: February 11 – 6:30 P.M. (Agenda)
Public Welfare Committee: February 12 – 5:00 P.M. (Agenda)
Public Works Committee: February 12 – 6:30 P.M. (Agenda)
Finance-Personnel Committee: February 12 – 7:15 P.M. (Agenda)
Common Council: February 12 – 7:30 P.M. (Agenda)
Library Board: February 13 – 6:00 P.M. (Agenda)

S&P Assigns Rating to City's General Obligation Debt
Last week City staff participated in a teleconference with analysts from Standard & Poors Global Ratings (S&P).  The purpose was to assign a credit rating to the City’s general obligation debt in advance of the forthcoming debt issue to fund local road and parking lot reconstruction projects over the next three years. This is the second time the City has sought a rating from S&P for its general obligation debt. S&P assigned the City a rating of AA (stable), which is two grades higher than Moody’s current rating of A1. As part of its credit analysis, S&P cited the City’s very healthy economy, strong management and ample liquidity, while cautioning against future budgets that result in a further decline in the City’s general fund balance. On Tuesday, February 12, the Finance-Personnel Committee and Common Council will take up the matter of awarding the sale of approximately $5.1M in notes that will have occurred earlier that day.

Donges Bay Road Quiet Zone Update
On January 2, 2019 staff sent a Notice of Establishment of a partial quiet zone to the jurisdictional agencies in charge of quiet zone establishment.  On January 29, City staff was notified of the rejection of the quiet zone establishment. City staff has since corresponded with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and has determined what revisions need to made to the letter in order to establish the quiet zone. Staff is anticipating that a draft can be provided to the FRA for review during the week of February 11. Once reviewed by FRA, the package will be resent to all agencies for review.  Once the package goes out to the jurisdictional agencies, there is a minimum of a 21 day waiting period prior to any quiet zone taking affect.

Judicial Candidate Forum at City Hall Sees Large Turnout
The Ozaukee County Bar Association sponsored and moderated a Candidate Forum for candidates running for Ozaukee County Circuit Court Judge, Branch 2 at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, February 4. The forum saw a large turnout and almost all seats in the gallery were full.

A second Candidate Forum is scheduled for Monday, February 11 from 7:00 p.m. - 8:15 p.m. at the Ozaukee County Administration Center, 121 W. Main Street, Port Washington. The second forum is being hosted by the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin. Please see the attached flyer for further details.

Mid-Moraine Municipal Court Releases Year-End Data
In 2018, the City saw 2,966 citations processed for the year, which is a 16.31% increase over the number of citations processed in 2017. Additionally, a total of $134,411 in fines was collected, which represents a 2.39% increase from the same period in 2017. Looking at the entire year, the number of citations processed remained consistent to above average in almost every month of 2018, when compared to the prior year.

Gallery Event to Benefit the Jonathan Clark House Scheduled for Saturday, February 9
The Pink Llama Gallery in Cedarburg on W62 N580 Washington Avenue will be hosting a Valentine’s Day event to benefit the Jonathan Clark House this Saturday evening between 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. Visitors will enjoy complimentary refreshments and mingle with local artists. The gallery will donate a percentage of event sales to the Jonathan Clark House. There will also be a silent auction. For further details, contact Nina Look at jchmuseum@gmail.com / 262-618-2051.