New Richmond council OKs PUD for affordable housing, tightens school-bus warning-light rules, approves lead-service program and multiple utility and equipment b

The New Richmond City Council approved a package of ordinances, contracts and financing actions at its meeting, including a planned unit development (PUD) ordinance intended to encourage affordable housing, a revision to the school-bus warning-light ordinance following a public safety request, a loan-assistance program for private-side lead service-line replacement, awards for multiple utility and equipment contracts and a supplier for an industrial development study. Council members also authorized moving forward with a $1.08 million replacement rescue-pumper for the fire department and approved a state trust fund loan application to help close a remaining financing gap on the new library project.

The measure to update the city’s PUD rules — labeled in the agenda as Ordinance 6-29 — passed after staff described the text as a tool to give developers flexibility on lot size, lot coverage and density where the city determines such adjustments could yield lower-cost housing. City staff recommended approval of the draft ordinance and said an approval process would include a pre-application conference, a concept-plan review by the plan commission and city council, required public hearings and a development agreement if the council approves a PUD.

The council also amended the municipal school-bus warning-light ordinance (Ordinance 6-30) after a public comment from Donovan Sullivan, who identified himself as the safety manager for the local school bus company Cobus and Buses. Sullivan described several on-route incidents — including a child chasing a pet under a bus and a special-education student leaving a caregiver’s side — and asked whether traffic should be stopped when students could potentially be in the roadway. City staff told the council the revised ordinance clarifies that bus operators should activate warning lights and require traffic to stop in both directions when students are being dropped off or picked up and when students might cross the roadway, regardless of curb or sidewalk…