Thank you.
really busy and a good week of morning show guests and get togethers here.
So welcome to Monday.
We're going to put the focus on the city of Richland center today and in the studio with us.
Mayor Karen Tepley will join us in just a little bit.
We also have brand new zoning administrator Aaron Numbihon in the studio as well to kick off today.
Well, Aaron, good to see you.
It's been a while.
Morning Phil.
Glad to be here.
This is a
new role for you, zoning administrator.
It is a very new role for me.
Yes, indeed.
I've been doing it now for one on a month.
Okay.
What attracted you to the job first of all?
Well, I've been involved in the school board for the last four years, getting involved in the community.
And this is a role that's very instrumental in the future of Richland Center as far as zoning administrator.
just part of the comprehensive plan moving forward with all of the construction and new businesses and all the talks of new things coming into the community and how important this role is really really piqued my interest and applied for the role.
You've been a native of this area for a long while.
You grew up here too, didn't you?
Yes, yes, I have.
I grew up on a farm, actually down by Tomney's place on 58 and 14, then moved to town in the early 90s and went off to serve in the military in the United States Navy, came back, been in the dairy industry, and now here I am today working for the City of Richland Center.
Keeps you busy.
You mentioned the school board, where you're the school board president, correct?
Correct.
Yes.
I've been in the school board now for going on my past my fourth year into my fifth been the school board president for the last four years.
That's been a very exciting rule.
It's a big, big, big commitment.
There's been a lot of challenging times.
We passed a referendum.
That's been really exciting seeing our everybody says it's the new school, the old, the high school, um, all of the new projects going on.
They're doing a lot of nice things up there, updating all the buildings, getting air conditioning.
Yeah.
It's been a really exciting four years.
You and I were talking before when on the air, your class was the first graduating class from the new school, weren't you?
Correct.
Yup.
I was a class in 1997.
Yeah.
And it seems like only yesterday.
Yes, it does.
We have our 30th class again coming up next year.
Only
yesterday.
Where
does time go?
Right.
But we're seeing a lot of progress this summer.
You know, the referendum, the result of the referendum, lots of construction and the paving.
And how has that been going up there?
It's been going really well.
We have really good communications director.
Kerry Stolz has been doing a great job keeping people informed on traffic routes and such.
So all of the meal programs and all of the
things going on that, you know, during the summertime, because not everything stops when school's out.
It's been really, really seamless.
I
think with this role as school board president and then zoning administrator, I think it's useful that you've got a knowledge in both areas, isn't
it?
It really is.
Just getting myself familiar with how meetings are ran, state statutes, you know, policies, board governance, all these different things.
plus my involvement in the community through the school district.
It really is a really big advantage and a really big help for me in this role.
You've been learning on the job.
I guess maybe what was the toughest
hurdle to
get over
when
you initially
took the
job here?
There's no playbook for this.
We've got ordinances and we've got, you know, state statutes, things that we must follow.
But how you, you know, do your day to day, there's no playbook.
Um, it's, it can be overwhelming.
I can definitely see how, you know, being more intimately involved in this role, how, uh, overwhelming.
It can be not just for the people going through a permitting process or trying to understand the ordinances.
It's equally as overwhelming for me sometimes just to wrap my head around the complexity of these things.
Is there a source you can go to someone you can, I mean, did you talk to anybody before you, you took the job?
Yeah, I had a little bit of exposure to it.
I talked to Matt Williams.
He was the Prior Zoning Administrator about some things.
The City Administrator, Ashley Oliphant, is a great resource.
She did this in a prior life before she came to the City Regional Center as a city administrator.
So I've got some good resources there for me.
But still, it's a big learning curve.
Let's educate the public and myself including what is exactly the role of a zoning administrator?
What are some of the things that you do here?
Well, it's you know to promote public health safety and welfare of everybody Fairness as far as you know, we don't want people building a garage on somebody else's property or Building fences too tall that are
you know, unsafe for motorists or allowing trees to be hanging into sidewalks where it's unsafe for folks walking down sidewalks.
There's lots and lots of ordinances in place, um, as well as state statutes.
So basically the public safety, health and welfare is, it's, it's a, it's a big part of this.
Can they
turn
into a complaint department at your office if somebody's, you know, concerned that maybe somebody's a little bit too close to their property and things like that?
Absolutely.
There is on the city website, there's a public concerns link that a person can go to and you can put pictures, you know, you can roommate, roommate anonymous if you want to.
Um, you could give the addresses and locations and such.
Um, there's absolutely an avenue for folks to, you know, address their, their concerns or complaints.
So
in terms of when someone should get a permit to, what are some examples?
Because I don't know if everybody knows.
I am a big advocate of ask questions first, spend money later.
There can be things, there can be roadblocks and hurdles that can make developing a property very difficult, especially if it's floodplain.
And as we all know around here, if there's not hills, it's a lot of floodplain.
So these things can be challenging.
And just based on where you're located at within, you know, around the city,
Cause there is the ETZ zone, the extra territorial zone.
So it's like a mile and a half perimeter outside of city limits.
That's not just city zoning, but it's also county zoning as well.
So there's two entities involved in those processes.
A permit for a garden shed.
Yep.
There is, you can absolutely do that.
There is ordinances on that where there's size limitations.
I believe it's,
less than 120 square feet you can put one on your property if it's greater than that I believe it requires a conditional use permit which would go to the planning commission and the city council and just to also go into that a little bit further you're allowed one accessory building other than a garage and your property so there's even ordinances on that as well where you have a primary residence a garage and an accessory building so like those are your at a high level some of your your restrictions just based on ordinances
What about a deck here?
Decks require permitting too.
Think of it like this.
Anything that changes the footprint of your property, whether it's a deck or a walkway entrance into your property where it's elevated with stairs, all of these things, buildings, decks, they all require some level of permitting through zoning.
And also not just new construction.
It's even if you if you replace it because as we all know if you put a duck on there 30 years ago Ordinances over 30 years could absolutely change and to be in compliance and have a conforming structure You still have to go through the permitting process even if it pre-existed
What about a ramp going into the house is that something that's
Yes, a ramp absolutely would because there's your setbacks from that too.
You can't have a ramp just built and end on a sidewalk or something like that.
So think of it like anything that changes the footprint.
So if you take up real estate on your land outside of what's already existing, there is more, more, most likely some level of permitting involved.
Indoor things though remodeling.
not necessarily required right
um remodeling yes there are instances where remodeling absolutely would fall into the permitting process um there are just there's districts so part of zoning is districts you have like r1 r2 commercial general commercial downtown um so with those districts there are restrictions on what you can and really can't do so if you have a
a single family dwelling and you want to change the inside where now you've got additional bedrooms and bathrooms and now you're encroaching on possibly changing the house from an R1 to an R2 type of district.
Remodeling absolutely would require some level of permitting so that the structure itself is still conforming with what it's zoned as.
What about a fence around your property?
That's probably a kind of a sticky point sometimes, isn't it?
Fences do, yes.
They are definitely permitted.
They're considered a structure, right?
So in order to maintain visibility, especially if you're on a corner lot, for example, you can only have a fence that's 30 inches tall past the front of your house and you can build it up to the lot line.
But the reason for that is as it goes from
six feet tall to 30 inches tall is for public safety to maintain visibility triangles so vehicles can see them driving around corner see over them driving around corners and such like that.
So everything even though it may seem straightforward and simple there's probably something there that requires a little bit of attention to detail and a conversation with the zoning department.
What about sidewalks?
Where do they fall in?
Sidewalks, I believe, is more of a public works thing.
It is required that homeowners maintain sidewalks.
There is a process for that as far as permitting and all that.
That goes to the public works department.
I'm impressed.
You've been on the job a month and there's a lot of stuff you've learned, obviously.
Well, thank you.
but a lot of studying.
There's actually a library, it's a city hall, and I have spent many hours checking out books.
going into the past records to figure some of these things out.
I feel like I'm in school again.
Well, that could be scary if you're back in school again.
I remember when you were in
school.
One thing the library is missing is a card catalog.
We're going to have to put one of those in.
There you go.
Or make it all digital.
So who do you work with as far as in the city hand in hand with some of the people on staff?
I work a lot with Jason Glassbrenner.
Jason and I are in conversations every single day A lot of what we do is kind of intertwine sort of like your sidewalk example He leans on me I lean on him We both kind of are helping one another as we navigate this because this is something that It's very important for the community, but it's never been a big Priority to do so now that the zoning has been made a priority.
I mean really
all of us working together and networking is really, really important.
So I've been working with even with Scott Gald on some things as well with some expansion projects, just firetruck access.
Are there concerns?
Do we need to change plans or have the developer change plans?
So it's really, it's very cross functional, it's very collaborative, which
to me is very exciting.
I really like and enjoy working with others.
There's been a lot going on in the city as far as some construction and some upgrades and things like that.
Really a lot going on.
Do you look at it as seasonal or are you going to be busy the whole year?
I've been told that it slows down a little bit as the frost hits the ground because construction slows.
Um, but that's not, that doesn't mean to say that there's not work to be done.
Um, like I said, there's no playbook to this.
And one thing that I really want to focus on as I'm in between things is how do we educate the public on, on this stuff?
Because this is overwhelming.
It's overwhelming even for myself doing this role and I think educating folks and trying to make the process easier.
is in my mind very very very important and also even making our city website more intuitive and user friendly and giving people more and more information to hopefully help explain some of the processes so that when they are prepared to have the conversation with me they're more informed.
And what's the best way if somebody's listing they have a question phone call or the website or what's the best?
You can make a phone call 6086473466 extension 207 go on the city website all my contact information including email links are on there as well Whatever questions folks have just reach on out
You're, as mentioned, entwined with the school district as the school board president and in the city.
What makes Richland Center a special place to be and live in, Erin?
I'd say the sense of community, um, as you probably are well aware of, using the school district as an example, we went down this strategic planning, um, pathway and adopting a coherent governance model.
When we held the two night event,
allowing the community to have a voice and actually set the direction for the future that to me speaks volumes to the engagement of the community that they really really really care they want to have a voice they want to be heard they want to be part of something and to me that that that sense of engagement and involvement in communities
really, really fascinating.
I don't think any of us like change, but I think that some of the things, you know, for the future are pretty exciting, aren't they?
I'm really excited.
I'm really excited.
Yeah, as I've gotten involved with more of the city things and the sidelines, just kind of like watching the movies or the meetings and hearing the banter on the streets, like I'm excited, like with the hotel talks and
all of these exciting things going on.
It really is a great community.
Thanks for coming in here and we appreciate that.
Thanks for having me Phil.
I appreciate it.
Good luck
with the new job here now.
You've been at it a month and come back and see us a little bit later.
I will, I will.
I'm hoping to make some appearances on here on a more frequent basis once I get my feet wet here and really start
understanding things at a much higher level.
Like I said, I really want to, you know, educate folks and really help make a process that is overwhelming, feel a little bit less overwhelming.
Very good.
Good to
have you.
We'll see you soon.
Thank you.
News Zoning Administrator, Aaron Humbie on this part of the morning show.
Coming up, we'll talk with Mayor Karen Tepley on a Monday morning.
Our morning show continues and WRCOs who put the focus on the city of Richland center.
Thanks to Aaron up behind for being our guest.
Mayor Karen Teplie is here for the next part of the show.
Good morning, Karen.
Good morning, Phil.
And I would also like to thank Aaron for agreeing to come in just to give us the overview of his job.
And I would also like to just mention that.
We are going to be rolling out some PSAs, public service announcements for the zoning administrator and zoning position in general.
We are a city we want to be proud of.
So with positive, forward-looking, honest, responsible growth, that's really what we want to be.
And like Erin said, there is no playbook.
So what we want to do is give people a chance to kind of get used to the fact that we do have a full-time zoning administrator now, and we haven't had that for
a good many years.
Um, I've been on council for eight and he is the first full time, um, zoning administrator.
So, uh, we want to just make people aware that if we're going to have a city to be proud of, then we all are going to have to kind of mind the rules.
Sure.
So this is, is it make life easier having the zoning administrator there?
Oh,
absolutely.
You know, like I said, as the mayor, I do get, you know, phone calls every now and then for, you know, certain things that are going on in the city.
And, you know, before it would have to, well, we'll see what we can do about that.
And now I can go, Aaron, we have a call that, you know, you might be able to help these folks with or people coming into the, into the building.
Once again, it was, you know, go here, go there, but now they can just go right into Aaron's office and he can assist them.
So
that's really great.
He's a new hire and you have a new clerk as well.
We do.
Amanda Keller is probably a familiar name in that role.
Amanda had moved out of the area for a job outside of for her husband, actually.
And so they decided to move back and the role was open.
In fact, I think I mentioned to you that when we did our budget back in October of last year, we actually had to make
the budget without a zoning administrator and without a clerk just so that we could make our budget.
So now that we, and that was the plan was for the first six months.
So it is July.
And so now we were able to put the job positions out there for both positions.
And Amanda just happened to move back at that time.
So it's been great.
So she knows the role.
And so we're really fortunate to have her back.
Didn't require so much training then, did it?
Correct.
And she will be joining us.
She had other commitments this morning, but she'll be joining me on one of the shows too.
So have a chance to chat with her.
Since the last time you were here, I know you've had a few meetings and things like that.
Anything you wanted to touch on?
Oh, exactly.
So the budget committee,
One of the items that was on their agenda is a new purchasing and procurement policy.
That's a 19 page document, which is very important because it also, you know, manages how we're going to grow.
So how we spend the taxpayer's dollar is very important.
And our policy that we had previously was about a three page.
You know, there's been so many more new rules and rags from, you know, both.
Mostly from the state as well as the city and we really need to upgrade that that policy so there's certainly going over that and then the park board once again, we are Going to be looking at amending ordinances so that the ordinances and the state statutes Match because right now they don't so that's still an ongoing process, but we're hoping by the the next council meeting
which will not be tomorrow.
Make note of that.
So that'll be on August 18th.
Hopefully we'll have that all buttoned up.
And then one of my important jobs is appointing people to committees.
And so I had the privilege of reappointing Dr. Sherry Johnson to the library board.
And also a new appointment, Joseph Hitti.
He has a background in journalism.
He's a writer.
He's just made a great fit for that committee.
And then for the park board, I once again was able to reappoint Alicia Woodhouse.
And then we put Brad Wagner on that park board.
So that's been a few of those meetings.
And then back July 10th,
Myself and the council we were all invited to go to WPPI For an orientation, which was really interesting to see how Public power really works.
So that was very Very well attended and then we also had on the 15th then The president and CEO Mike Peters from WPPI.
He did a joint committee meeting with the city utility
Commission and City Council because we have to extend the contract.
So it's a, you know, they have to talk about planning ahead and planning and zoning and all of that.
They have to plan like 30 years ahead to get some of these contracts and to know where they're going.
So we extended the contract out to 2073.
My goodness.
Who knows what we're looking at down the road that far.
But they have to.
So during the orientation, we went up to one of the rooms where they have, it almost looked like a
you know, like a Nasdaq stock exchange, they had all these graphs and everything like, you know, if solar is down, you know, wind might be up and, you know, and just how to manage how that all that power has to come into, you know, transmission lines, they can only hold so much.
So it's not like a free for all.
It was just amazing.
I'll tell you, that was really
good.
Lots of talk lately about the 765 kilovolt lines.
What have you heard in terms of the city, anything that's that's come across?
Well, there have been some meetings, and I've attended the one that they had at the Phoenix Center.
And as far as everything that we can tell, that there isn't anything into the city that we're aware of.
But I know Tony Kurtz attended that meeting as well, and he's staying on top of it.
And conversations between Scott Gald, our utility manager, Tony Kurtz, just to keep an eye on.
mostly because some of the companies that are in charge of this, they haven't filed any of their information with the Public Service Commission.
So that's where the gray area is because that hasn't been done yet.
So once that occurs, then we'll have a better idea.
They will also have to have public meetings after that, so it won't be, you know, they file their information and then whatever they say goes.
Public Service Commission has the say in most of this so it's a fear of
the
unknown
It is it
is
so hopefully we'll learn more as the months go on on that What about construction in the city?
How's everything going this summer?
Yes, so as you as you well know as you can see out your window The highway 14 project is moving right along.
It's been really nice
riding and driving on the completed part.
And so what's going to be nice about this part of Highway 14, and I don't know if everybody realizes it, but that median that used to be there in the little rather narrow turning lanes that you had, that will be gone.
So you'll have a central turning lane, but there won't be the, you know, like the median in the middle.
So that'll be a really nice visual for everyone.
projects going on in the city.
I took a ride out to Panorama State yesterday and took a few pictures so they're moving along really nicely and same with Storyfield.
So Storyfield is no longer a field.
There's a lot of like
cement pads have been laid, and they're really, you can see kind of the makings of the road, and so they're really coming along nicely and very on schedule.
They do have some, we've been receiving calls, people wanting to get on the waiting list for when the duplexes are built, so they've put signs up.
So if anyone is interested in getting their name on the waiting list, you can drive by there and take down that number.
That's exciting when you talk about growth, you know, more tax dollars and things like that.
Exactly.
You know, much of our budget is centered around net new construction.
I know former mayor Todd Kaepernold said it often here on the radio because that's the number the state uses to do their formulas.
So if they can see you're growing, you know, they're going to help you grow, you know, and that works the negative too, because if you're not growing, you're just going in reverse and
our area has been going in reverse.
So this is really, really critical.
I know Erin mentioned, you know, hotel project once again, that plays into net new construction.
And also on that site, there's room for two other, you know, businesses.
So hotel would be kind of the cornerstone, but, you know, there's room from where they are too.
We're, um, we're excited about that.
Is there anything new in terms of the hotel?
Nothing new just yet.
Um, just, you know, everything like say forming the investment group, um, new leads, um, just last week sent out another new lead.
So just waiting to hear back from some of them.
So just got to keep it, keep it rolling.
If you look at the projections for this area down the road, and I think not only Richland Center and Richland County, but you know, projections show like the, the growth rate down and the population declining and things like that, things like this, maybe you can buck the trend a little bit.
Maybe that's what we're hoping.
Um, and I have heard from surrounding communities that, um, and it just anecdotal kind of information.
Um, and I heard a school, um, principal say that, you know, in conversations,
he's hearing that more of the young people are staying.
So we like to hear that.
And that's not too far away from where we are.
So we're hoping that those trends can be changed.
And if we start now, they can be.
If we just sit on our hands and say, well, we'll just do it the way we always did it, that's not going to benefit anybody.
And I think I maybe have mentioned this before.
I was on a panel.
discussion when I was at the campus.
And the State of Wisconsin had some reps there.
And they said that State of Wisconsin is number four at bringing the 30-somethings back to their hometowns.
So I think I've seen it.
I've seen a few of those 30-somethings come back because once they start having kids, they want it.
be close to grandma and grandpa and just have that family.
Wisconsin's a real family-oriented state and we certainly are as a community.
Month of August is here, some things going on.
National night out, scheduled for tomorrow.
Yes, and that's why we changed our meeting.
So our meeting is typically tomorrow.
So yes, I hope everyone gets out there and enjoys everything that the, all of the fire department,
Richland County Sheriff's Department, Police Department, EMTs, all the work that they've put together for this event.
And it's a great chance for everybody to get to see all these people in action when it's not the worst day of...
of their life at that moment.
So, you know, ask questions and watch a few demonstrations.
Should be a good time.
Hopefully the weather will
hold up.
Well, that's what I was going to say, Karen, just to hopefully stay tuned, you know, because the forecast isn't that great, but I'm guessing there are some contingency plans we can talk about as well.
Yes, good, good.
Anything else for the month of August you're looking forward to?
You'd like to know today?
Well,
we're certainly looking forward to the grace auction that'll be happening here on the radio, I guess starts today.
Shortly, yes.
So looking for that, I'll just save.
People haven't taken, given you a call to get their bid numbers.
Please do that.
Grace is, once again, something very unique to our community.
And you could probably help me how many years that has been going on.
This is the 23rd.
23rd year.
Yeah, that's that's just fantastic.
And, you know, the funds stay here in in our community.
So we just really appreciate the work that that you all do to, you know, make that happen for all of the individuals.
Indeed.
And not only for the city of Richland Center, but the entire area, you know, I think every one of us can pick out somebody that's been helped by grace and certainly we can pick out a lot of people who've been touched by cancer.
Right.
Exactly.
So once again, appreciate all that work.
And I'll just mention that
We're still reaching out to some of our larger employers.
It's being kind of led by the utilities so that we have an idea once again on growth.
So if the largest community, I'm sorry, largest corporations are either possibly deciding to go ahead and do some expansion or maybe,
Some things are happening and they're pulling back.
That's really important for leadership to know.
So we've had the initial meetings with Allied machinery and also Shriver Foods and then we're going to continue to have those meetings like on a quarterly basis.
So it's been really great to have a tour of Shriver Foods.
I never realized all of the computerized
a lot of things, you know, robotics and all of that that's involved there.
So it was very, very interesting to see that.
And then also the city and the county are continuing to meet.
So leadership from the county, board chair, Carrie Severson, as well as vice chair, Larry Engel, myself and Ryan Carons, we are meeting once a month.
And we're just discussing like the higher levels of things so that we can
plan ahead, that's really important, but it's so important to have the city and the county talking so that we're working together, which would lead me right into the campus projects.
So those are still ongoing.
They have meetings scheduled, but housing is still the topic for redevelopment there.
And notice some more buildings being worked on and taken down.
It looks like there
are, you know, I worked in both the library and Melville Hall.
So it was nice to see Melville Hall is going to stay.
But yeah, it's, it's a it is change and it is hard.
But I think once again, if we are going to move forward, you know, unfortunately in those buildings for, you know, 50 years old and
Unfortunately with the current regulations, ADA and all that, they just were not, it was just not feasible to keep them.
So once again, there'll be room for, we're just hoping another thing that would impact the community as much as the campus did would take that place.
Most definitely so we can, you know, that land doesn't stay dormant, you know, put to good use.
Correct.
Right.
So, and in terms of other things, if people want to get a hold of you, what about office hours?
Oh, sure.
Yes, I would love to have you come and visit.
I have
office hours for constituents walk in on Mondays from 1130 till one and then also on Thursday from 430 till six and then in the office Monday and Tuesday most of the day um a bit on like say on Thursday and also on Friday so if you want to set up an appointment so um I'm you know free those those hours too
wonderful well thanks for coming to see us this month
yes thank you for inviting us we
certainly love to share what's going on in the great city of virtual center.
Absolutely, and bring back more of the employees too.
Yes, I
love doing this and I'm so glad that they're willing
to come along.
Indeed, thanks to Erin Ambiano who was here earlier as zoning administrator and Mayor Karen Tepley for a monthly visit here on the morning show from WRC.
you
busy and a good week of morning show guests and get-togethers here.
So welcome to Monday.
We're going to put the focus on the city of Richland Center today and in the studio with us, Mayor Karen Tepley will join us in just a little bit.
We also have brand new zoning administrator Aaron Numbihon in the studio as well to kick off today.
Well, Aaron, good to see you.
It's been a while.
Morning Phil.
Glad to be here.
This is a new role
for you, zoning administrator.
It is a very new role for me.
Yes, indeed.
I've been doing it now for one on a month.
Okay.
What attracted you to the job, first of all?
Well, I've been involved in the school board for the last four years, getting involved in the community.
And this is a role that's very instrumental in the future of Richland Center, as far as zoning administrator.
just part of the comprehensive plan moving forward with all of the construction and new businesses and all the talks of new things coming into the community and how important this role is really really piqued my interest and applied for the role.
You've been a native of this area for a long while.
You grew up here too, didn't you?
Yes, yes, I have.
I grew up on a farm, actually down by Tomney's place on 58 and 14, then moved to town in the early 90s and went off to serve in the military in the United States Navy, came back, been in the dairy industry, and now here I am today working for the City Grisham Center.
Keeps you busy.
You mentioned the school board where you're the school board president, correct?
Correct.
Yes.
I've been in the school board now for going on my past my fourth year into my fifth been the school board president for the last four years.
That's been a very exciting rule.
It's a big, big, big commitment.
There's been
a lot
of challenging times.
We passed a referendum
That's been really exciting seeing our, everybody says it's the new school, the old, the high school, um, all of the new projects going on.
They're doing a lot of nice things up there, updating all the buildings, getting air conditioning.
Yeah, it's been a really exciting four years.
You and I were talking before when on the air, your class was the first graduating class from the new school, weren't you?
Correct.
Yup.
I was a class in 1997.
Yeah.
And it seems like only yesterday.
Yes, it does.
We have our 30th class again coming up next year.
Only yesterday.
Where does time go?
Right.
But we're seeing a lot of progress this summer.
You know, the referendum, the result of the referendum, lots of construction and the paving.
And how has that been going up there?
It's been going really well.
We have really good communications director.
Kerry Stolz has been doing a great job keeping people informed on traffic routes and such.
So all of the meal programs and all of the
things going on that, you know, during the summertime, because not everything stops when school's out.
It's been really,
really seamless.
I think with this role as school board president and then zoning administrator, I think it's useful that you've got a knowledge in both areas, isn't it?
It
really is.
Just getting myself familiar with how meetings are ran, state statutes, you know, policies.
board governance, all these different things, plus my involvement in the community through the school district.
It really is a really big advantage and a really big help for me in this role.
You've been learning on the job, I guess maybe what was the toughest hurdle to get over when you initially took the job Aaron?
There's no playbook for this.
We've got ordinances and we've got state statutes, things that we must follow, but how you
you know, do your day to day.
There's no playbook.
It's, it can be overwhelming.
I can definitely see how, you know, being more intimately involved in this role, how overwhelming it can be, not just for the people going through a permitting process or trying to understand the ordinances.
It's equally as overwhelming for me sometimes just to wrap my head around the complexity of these things.
Is there a source you can go to?
Someone you can, I mean, did you talk to anybody before you took the job?
Yeah, I had a
little bit of exposure to it.
I talked to Matt Williams.
He was the priors only administrator about some things.
The city administrator, Ashley Oliphant, is a great resource.
She did this in a prior life before she came to the city original center as a city administrator.
So I've got some good resources there for me.
But still, it's a, it's a big learning curve.
Let's educate the public and myself, including what is exactly the role of a zoning administrator?
What are some of the things that you do here?
Well, it's, you know, to
promote public health, safety and welfare of everybody, fairness, as far as, you know, we don't want people building a garage on somebody else's property or building fences too tall that are
you know, unsafe for motorists or allowing trees to be hanging into sidewalks where it's unsafe for folks walking down sidewalks.
There's lots and lots of ordinances in place, um, as well as state statutes.
So basically the public safety, health and welfare is, it's, it's a, it's a big part of this.
Can they turn into a complaint department at your office if somebody's, you know, concerned that maybe somebody's a little bit too close to their property and things like that?
Absolutely.
There is on the city website, there's a public concerns link that a person can go to and you can put pictures, you know, you can roommate, roommate anonymous if you want to.
Um, you could give the addresses and locations and such.
Um, there's absolutely an avenue for folks to, you know, address their, their concerns or
complaints.
So in terms of when someone should get a permit to, what are some examples?
Because I don't know if everybody knows.
I am a big advocate of ask questions first, spend money later.
There can be things, there can be roadblocks and hurdles that can make developing a property very difficult, especially if it's floodplain.
And as we all know around here, if there's not hills, it's a lot of floodplain.
So these things can be challenging.
Then just based on where you're located at within you know or on the city because there is the ETZ zone the extra territorial zone So it's like a mile and a half perimeter outside of city limits.
That's not just City zoning, but it's also County zoning as well So there's two entities involved in those processes a permit for a garden
shed
Yep, there is you can absolutely do that.
There is ordinance as ordinances on that where there's size there's size limitations I believe it's less than 120 square feet you can put one on your property if it's greater than that I believe it requires a conditional use permit Which would go to the planning commission and the city council then just
to also go into that a little bit further you're allowed one accessory building other than a garage and your property so there's even ordinances on that as well where you have a primary residence a garage and an accessory building so like those are your at a high level some of your your restrictions is based on ordinances what about a deck here decks require permitting to um think of it like this
anything that changes the footprint of your property, whether it's a deck or a walkway entrance into your property, where it's elevated with stairs, all of these things, buildings, decks, they all require some level of permitting through zoning.
And also, not just new construction, it's even if you
if you replace it, because as we all know, if you put a docket on there 30 years ago, ordinances over 30 years could absolutely change.
And to be in compliance and have a conforming structure, you still have to go through the permitting process, even if it pre-existed.
What about a ramp going into the house?
Is that something that's?
Yes, a ramp absolutely would, because there's setbacks from that too.
You can't have a ramp just built and end on a sidewalk.
or something like that.
So think of it like anything that changes the footprint.
So if you take up real estate on your land outside of what's already existing, there is more, most likely some level of permitting involved.
Indoor things though, remodeling, not necessarily required, right?
Remodeling, yes.
There are instances where remodeling absolutely would fall into the permitting process.
There are just there's districts.
So part of zoning is districts.
You have like R1 R2 commercial general commercial downtown So with those districts there are restrictions on what you can and really can't do so if you have a single family dwelling and you want to Change the inside where now you've got additional
bedrooms and bathrooms and now you're encroaching on possibly changing the house from an R1 to an R2 type of district.
Remodeling absolutely would require some level of permitting so that the structure itself is still conforming with what it's
zoned as.
What about a fence around your property?
That's probably a kind of a sticky point sometimes, isn't it?
Fences
do.
Yes, they are definitely permitted.
They're considered a structure.
right so in order to maintain visibility especially if you're on a corner lot for example you can only have a fence that's 30 inches tall past the front of your house and you can build it up to the lot line but the reason for that is as it goes from six feet tall to 30 inches tall is for public safety.
to maintain visibility triangles so vehicles can see over them driving around corners and such like that.
So everything, even though it may seem straightforward and simple, there's probably something there that requires a little bit of attention to detail and a conversation with the zoning department.
What about sidewalks?
Where do they fall in?
Sidewalks, I believe, is more of a public works
thing.
It is.
It is required that homeowners maintain sidewalks.
There is a process for that as far as permitting and all of that that that goes to the public works department.
I'm impressed you've been on the
job of a month and.
There's a lot of stuff you've learned, obviously.
Well, thank you.
It's been a lot of studying.
There's actually a library.
It's a city hall that I have spent many hours checking out books, going into the past records to figure some of these things out.
I feel like I'm in school again.
Well, that could be scary if you're back in school again.
I remember when you were in
school.
One thing the library is missing is a card catalog.
We're going to have to put one of those in.
There you go.
Or make it all digital.
So who do you work with as far as in the city hand in hand with some of the people that, you know, on staff?
I work a lot with Jason Glassbrenner.
Jason and I are in conversations every single day.
A lot of what we do is kind of intertwine sort of like your sidewalk example.
He leans on me.
I lean on him.
We both kind of are helping one another as we navigate this because this is something that it's very important for the community, but it's never been a big priority to do.
So now that zoning has been made a priority, I mean really,
all of us working together and networking is really, really important.
So I've been working with even with Scott Gald on some things as well with some expansion projects, just firetruck access.
Are there concerns?
Do we need to change plans or have the developer change plans?
So it's really, it's very cross functional, it's very collaborative, which
to me is very excited.
I really like and enjoy working with others.
There's been a lot going on in the city as far as some construction and some upgrades and things like that.
Really a lot going on.
Do you look at it as seasonal or are you going to be busy the whole year?
I've been told that it slows down a little bit as the frost hits the ground because construction slows.
Um, but that's not, that doesn't mean to say that there's not work to be done.
Um, like I said, there's no playbook to this.
And one thing that I really want to focus on as I'm in between things is how do we educate the public on, on this stuff?
Because this is overwhelming.
It's overwhelming even for myself doing this role and I think educating folks and trying to make the process easier.
is in my mind very very very important and also even making our city website more intuitive and user friendly and giving people more and more information to hopefully help explain some of the processes so that when they are prepared to have the conversation with me they're more informed.
and what's the best way if somebody's listing they have a question phone call or or the website or what's what's the best
go to the you can make a phone call 608 647 3466 extension 207 go on the city website all my contact information including email links are on there as well whatever questions folks
have just reach on out
You're, as mentioned, entwined with the school district as the school board president and in the city.
What makes Richland Center a special place to be and live in, Erin?
I'd say the sense of
community, as you probably are well aware of, you Susan the school district as an example, we went down this strategic planning pathway in adopting a coherent governance model.
When we held the two night event,
allowing the community to have a voice and actually set the direction for the future.
That to me speaks volumes to the engagement of the community that they really, really, really care.
They want to have a voice.
They want to be heard.
They want to be part of something.
And to me, that sense of engagement and involvement in communities
really, really fascinating.
I don't think any of us like change, but I think that some of the things, you know, for the future are pretty exciting, aren't they?
I'm really excited.
I'm really excited.
Yeah, as I've gotten involved with more of the city things and the sidelines, just kind of like watching the movies or the meetings and hearing the banter on the streets, like I'm excited, like with the hotel talks and
All of these exciting things going on, it's, it really, this really is a great community.
Thanks for coming in here and we appreciate that.
Thanks for having me Phil, I appreciate it.
Good luck with the new job here now that you've been added a month and come back and see us a little bit later.
I
will, I will.
I'm hoping to make some appearances on here on a more frequent basis once I get my feet wet here and really start
understanding things at a much higher level.
Like I said, I really want to, you know, educate folks and really help make a process that is overwhelming, feel a little bit less overwhelming.
Very good.
Good to have you.
We'll see you soon.
Thank you.
New zoning administrator, Aaron, I'm behind this part of the morning show.
Coming up, we'll talk with Mayor Karen Tepley on a Monday morning.
Our morning show continues and WRCOs who put the focus on the city of Richland center.
Thanks to Aaron up behind for being our guest.
Mayor Karen Teplie is here for the next part of the show.
Good morning, Karen.
Good morning, Phil.
And I would also like to thank Aaron for agreeing to come in just to give us the overview of his job.
And I would also like to just mention that
We are going to be rolling out some PSAs, public service announcements for the zoning administrator and zoning position in general.
We are a city we want to be proud of.
So with positive, forward-looking, honest, responsible growth, that's really what we want to be.
And like Erin said, there is no playbook.
So what we want to do is give people a chance to kind of get used to the fact that we do have a full-time zoning administrator now, and we haven't had that for
a good many years.
Um, I've been on council for eight and he is the first full time, um, zoning administrator.
So, uh, we want to just make people aware that if we're going to have a city to be proud of, then we all are going to have to kind of mind the rules.
Sure.
So this is, is it make life easier having the zoning administrator there?
Oh,
absolutely.
Like I said, as the mayor, I do get phone calls every now and then for certain things that are going on in the city.
And before it would have to, well, we'll see what we can do about that.
And now I can go, Aaron, we have a call that you might be able to help these folks with or people coming into the building.
Once again, it was, you know,
go here, go there, but now they can just go right into Aaron's office and he can assist them.
So
that's really great.
He's a new hire and you have a new clerk as well.
We do.
Amanda Keller is probably a familiar name in that role.
Amanda had moved out of the area for a job outside of, for her husband actually.
And so they decided to move back and the role was open.
In fact, I think I mentioned
to you that when we did our budget back in October of last year, we actually had to make the budget without a zoning administrator and without a clerk, just so that we could make our budget.
So now that we, and that was the plan was for the first six months.
So it is July.
And so now we were able to put the job positions out there for both.
for both positions and Amanda just happened to move back at that time.
So it's been great.
So she knows the role.
And so we're really fortunate to have her back.
Didn't require so much training and did
it?
Correct.
And she will be joining us.
She had other commitments this morning, but she'll be joining me on one of the shows too.
So have a chance to chat with her.
Since the last time you were here, I know you've had a few meetings and things like that.
Anything you wanted to touch on?
Oh, exactly.
So the budget committee,
One of the items that was on their agenda is a new purchasing and procurement policy.
That's a 19-page document, which is very important because it also manages how we're going to grow.
So how we spend the taxpayer's dollar is very important.
And our policy that we had previously was about a three-page.
There's been so many more new rules and rags from both
mostly from the state as well as the city.
And we really need to upgrade that policy.
So there's certainly going over that.
And then the park board, once again, we are going to be looking at amending ordinances so that the ordinances and the state statutes match, because right now they don't.
So that's still an ongoing process, but we're hoping by the next council meeting.
which will not be tomorrow.
Make note of that.
So that'll be on August 18th.
Hopefully we'll have that all buttoned up.
And then one of my important jobs is appointing people to committees.
And so I had the privilege of reappointing Dr. Sherry Johnson to the library board.
And also a new appointment, Joseph Heatey.
He has a background in journalism.
He's a writer.
He's just made a great fit for that committee.
And then for the park board, I once again was able to reappoint Alicia Woodhouse.
And then we put Brad Wagner on that park board.
So that's been a few of those meetings.
And then back July 10th, myself and the council, we were all invited to go to WPPI for an orientation, which was really interesting to see how
public power really works.
So that was very, very well attended.
And then we also had on the 15th then, the president and CEO, Mike Peters from WPPI.
He did a joint committee meeting with the city utility commission and city council because we have to extend the contract.
It's a, you know, they, they have to talk about planning ahead and planning and zoning and all of that.
Um, they have to plan like 30 years ahead to get some of these contracts and, and to know where they're going.
So we extended the contract out to 2073.
My goodness.
Who knows what we're looking at down the road that far.
But they have to.
During the orientation, we went up to one of the rooms where they have, it almost looked like a...
you know like a Nasdaq stock exchange they had all these graphs and everything like you know if solar is down you know wind might be up and you know and just how to manage how that all that power has to come into you know transmission lines they can only hold so much so it's not like a free-for-all it was just amazing I'll tell you that was really good.
Lots of talk lately about the 765 kilovolt lines what have you heard in terms of the city anything that's that's come across?
Well, there have been some meetings, and I've attended the one that they had at the Phoenix Center.
And as far as everything that we can tell, that there isn't anything into the city that we're aware of.
But I know Tony Kurtz attended that meeting as well, and he's staying on top of it.
And conversations between Scott Gald, our utility manager, Tony Kurtz, just to keep an eye on.
mostly because some of the companies that are in charge of this, they haven't filed any of their information with the Public Service Commission.
So that's where the gray area is because that hasn't been done yet.
So once that occurs, then we'll have a better idea.
They will also have to have public meetings after that, so it won't be, you know, they file their information and then whatever they say goes.
Public Service Commission has the say in most of this.
So it's a fear of the unknown.
It is.
It is.
So hopefully we'll learn more as the months go on on that.
What about construction in the city?
How's everything going this summer?
Yes.
So as you as you well know, as you can see out your window, the Highway 14 project is moving right along.
It's been really nice riding and driving on the completed part.
And so
What's going to be nice about this part of Highway 14, and I don't know if everybody realizes it, but that median that used to be there in the little rather narrow turning lanes that you had, that will be gone.
So you'll have a central turning lane, but there won't be the median in the middle.
So that'll be a really nice visual for everyone.
Projects going on in the city.
I took a ride out to Panorama State yesterday and took a few pictures so they're moving along really nicely and same with Storyfield.
So Storyfield is no longer a field.
There's a lot of like...
cement pads have been laid and they're really you can see kind of the the makings of the road and so they're really coming along nicely and right on schedule they do have some we've been receiving calls people wanting to get on the waiting list for when the duplexes are are built so they've put signs up so if anyone is interested in getting their name on the waiting list you can drive by there and take down that number
That's exciting when you talk about growth,
you
know, more tax dollars and things like that.
Exactly.
You know, much of our budget is centered around net new construction.
I know former mayor Todd Kaepernold said it often here on the radio because that's the number the state uses to do their formulas.
So if they can see you're growing, you know, they're going to help you grow, you know, and that works the negative too, because if you're not growing, you're just going in reverse and
our area has been going in reverse.
So this is really, really critical.
I know Erin mentioned, you know, hotel project once again, that place into net new construction.
And also on that site, there's room for two other, you know, businesses.
So hotel would be kind of the cornerstone, but, you know, there's room for more there too.
So we're excited about that.
Is there anything new in terms of the hotel?
Nothing new just yet.
Um, just, you know, everything, like say forming the investment group, um, new leads, um, just last week sent out another new lead.
So just waiting to hear back from some of them.
So just got to keep it, keep it rolling.
If you look at the projections for this area down the road, and I think not only richland center and richland county, but you know, projections show like the, the growth rate down and the population declining and things like that, things like this, maybe you can buck the trend a little bit.
Maybe.
That's what we're hoping.
And I have heard from surrounding communities that in just anecdotal kind of information, I heard a school principal say that in conversations he's hearing that more of the young people are staying.
So we like to hear that.
And that's not too far away from where we are.
So we're hoping that those trends can be changed.
And if we start now,
they can be if we just sit on our hands and say, well, we'll just do it the way we always did it.
That's not going to benefit anybody.
And I think I maybe have mentioned this before.
I was at a panel discussion when I was at the campus.
And the state of Wisconsin had some reps there.
And they said that the state of Wisconsin is number four.
at bringing the 30-somethings back to their hometowns.
So I think I've seen it.
I've seen a few of those 30-somethings come back.
Because once they start having kids, they want to be close to grandma and grandpa and just have that family.
Wisconsin's a real family-oriented state, and we certainly are as a community.
month of august is here some things going on national night out scheduled for tomorrow
yes and that's why we changed our our meeting um so our meeting is typically tomorrow um so yes um i hope everyone gets out there enjoys um everything that the all of the um fire department uh
Richland County Sheriff's Department, Police Department, EMTs, all the work that they've put together for this event.
And it's a great chance for everybody to get to see all these people in action when it's not the worst day of their life at that moment.
So get out and ask questions.
watch a few demonstrations, should be a good time.
Hopefully the weather will
hold up.
Well, that's what I was going to say, Karen, just to hopefully stay tuned, you know, because the forecast isn't that great, but I'm guessing there are some contingency plans we can talk about as well.
Anything else for the month of August?
You're looking forward to it.
You'd like
to know today.
Well, we're certainly looking forward to the grace auction that'll be happening here on the radio, I guess starts today.
Shortly,
yes.
So looking forward to that, I'll just
save.
People haven't taken, given you a call to get their bid numbers.
Please do that.
Grace is once again something very unique to our community.
And you could probably help me how many years that has been going on.
This is the 23rd.
23rd year.
Yeah, that's that's just fantastic.
And, you know, the funds stay here in in our community.
So we just really appreciate the work that that you all do to, you know, make that happen for all of the individuals.
Indeed.
And not only for the city of Richland Center, but the entire area, you know, I think every one of us can pick out somebody that's been helped by grace and certainly we can pick out a lot of people who've been touched by cancer.
Right.
Exactly.
So once again, appreciate all that work.
And I'll just mention that
We're still reaching out to some of our larger employers.
It's being kind of led by the utilities so that we have an idea once again on growth.
So if the largest community, I'm sorry, largest corporations are either possibly deciding to go ahead and do some expansion or maybe,
Some things are happening and they're pulling back.
That's really important for leadership to know.
So we've had the initial meetings with Allied machinery and also Shriver Foods and then we're going to continue to have those meetings like on a quarterly basis.
So it's been really great to have a tour of Shriver Foods.
I never realized all of the computerized
a lot of things, you know, robotics and all of that that's involved there.
So it was very, very interesting to see that.
And then also the city and the county are continuing to meet.
So leadership from the county, board chair, Carrie Severson, as well as vice chair, Larry Ingle, myself and Ryan Carons, we are meeting once a month.
And we're just discussing like the higher levels of things so that we can
plan ahead, that's really important, but it's so important to have the city and the county talking so that we're working together, which would lead me right into the campus projects.
So those are still ongoing.
They have meetings scheduled, but housing is still the topic for redevelopment there.
And notice some more buildings being worked on and taken down.
It looks like
there are, you know, I worked in both the library and Melville Hall.
So it was nice to see Melville Hall is going to stay.
But yeah, it's, it's a it is change and it is hard.
But I think once again, if we are going to move forward, you know, unfortunately in those buildings for, you know, 50 years old and
Unfortunately with the current regulations, ADA and all that, they just were not, it was just not feasible to keep them.
So once again, there will be room for, we're just hoping another thing that would impact the community as much as the campus did.
would take that place
most definitely so we can you know that land doesn't stay dormant you know put the good use correct right so um and in terms of other things that people want to get a hold of you uh what about office hours
oh sure um yes i would love to have you come and visit um i have office hours for constituents walk in on mondays from 11 30 till one
and then also on Thursday from 4.30 till 6.
And then I'm in the office Monday and Tuesday, most of the day, a bit on, like say on Thursday and also on Friday.
So if you want to set up an appointment, so I'm, you know, free those hours too.
Wonderful.
Well, thanks for coming to see us this month.
Yes, thank you for inviting us.
I certainly love to share what's going on in the great city of virtual center.
Absolutely and bring back more of the employees too.
Yes, I love doing this and I'm so glad that they're willing
to come along.
Indeed, thanks to Erin Ambiano who was here earlier as zoning administrator and Mayor Karen Teppley for a monthly visit here on the morning show from WRC.