By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
With an extensive 2016 budget-building process not far off on the horizon, Whitewater devoted a sleepy summer evening to brainstorm, prioritize and figuratively map out the city’s future.
For the third consecutive year, the Common Council on July 21 embarked on a planning retreat with city staffers and the Community Development Authority, whose members frequently take up issues pertaining to economic development.
Fittingly, the retreat meeting was held at the Innovation Center within the Whitewater University Technology Park. The venue has frequently been touted in recent years as one of the city’s forward-thinking assets and an example of how the municipality can partner with the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
“Strategic planning” were the buzzwords throughout the course of the workshop. With input from City Manager Cameron Clapper, council members hashed over a series of goal documents that include long-range capital improvement plans and other efforts aimed at prioritizing spending in the face of ongoing budgetary constraints.
A year ago, the council adopted a string of specific goals aimed at helping the city evolve. Clapper and the council agreed all but one of those goals has improved in year-over-year comparisons.
Increasing single-family housing — a challenge for any municipality in or near a major university — is one effort officials agree has not gained much traction within the past year.
Councilperson Ken Kidd said he is pleased density near the UW-Whitewater campus has increased to accommodate the large student population. He referred to single-family housing as “the next piece of the puzzle” in the city’s ongoing efforts to evolve residential properties.
Fellow councilperson Chris Grady offered a similar perspective: “We have seen a push from landlords to improve student housing. But we need to improve the single-family housing.”
The other goals identified by the council a year ago include parking issues throughout sections of the city, improving the quality of the lakes abutting the city, attracting and maintaining a quality workforce, addressing the city’s aging infrastructure and quality-of-life issues.
In an effort to present a thorough, transparent and vetted budget process, Clapper presented the council with a recommendation that was met with skepticism by council members.
The city manager suggested forming a Finance Committee that would include membership from a handful of council members and residents. But the council expressed reservations, pointing out it would be an additional meeting within a community that already has a number taking place within the course of a month.
As a starting point to kick-start budget deliberations, Clapper gave some of his own projections, based on information coming out of the state.
With Gov. Scott Walker’s 2015-17 biennium budget minted, Clapper said he did not foresee any new revenue sources emerging out of the document. Grant dollars the city previously received to offset some of its costs are expected to decrease, Clapper said, but not necessarily evaporate.
Several state legislation issues — including aid dollars for transportation improvements and prevailing wage laws — are likely to impact the budget, Clapper said, though he cautioned the impact, positively or negatively, remains largely unknown at this point.
