Schreiber Commits!

This is good news. Port Plaza will be removed and Schreiber is building. Simply outstanding. Baylake gets their money back and the city can start collecting property taxes again.

There will be controversy about this though. The first thing I note is this:

"...met with council members today in small groups to lay out terms of the deal."

2.3.1. Walking Quorums. The requirements of the open meetings law also extend to walking quorums. A "walking quorum" is a series of gatherings among separate groups of members of a governmental body, each less than quorum size, who agree, tacitly or explicitly, to act uniformly in sufficient number to reach a quorum. Showers, 135 Wis. 2d at 92, quoting State ex ref. Lynch v. Conta, 71 Wis. 2d 662, 687, 239 N.W.2d 313 (1976). In Conta, the supreme court recognized the danger that a walking quorum may produce a predetermined outcome and thus render the publicly held meeting a mere formality. Conta, 71 Wis. 2d at 685-88. The court commented that any attempt to avoid the appearance of a ''meeting" through use of a walking quorum is subject to prosecution under the open meetings law. Conta, 71 Wis. 2d at 687.

Plus the money transfer from one TID to another is legal but it's going to make Guy go insane. He was always sniffing around for TIF transfers when I was spending time at city hall. I was wondering why the I43 TID wasn't being closed out, now I know... Can we start closing it now and get that money in to the general fund to help pay for the 5 cop structural deficit? I'm not sure how much revenue this will generate, but it seems to me that Jim's goal of a zero percent property tax increase again this year is far more reasonable.

I expect all of these issues will be overcome. Over the long haul, it's worth it to get that land back in private hands and generating property taxes again.