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City manager reports hires and building-permit growth; mayor warns Airbnb operators on pillow tax and chief outlines street-concert safety
Summary
At the Jan. 6 Princeton council meeting the city manager reported recent hires and permit activity, planning staff outlined $4 million in commercial investment, Mayor Mabry warned Airbnb operators to remit a 5% pillow tax, and the police chief described public-safety measures for summer street concerts.
The city manager reported updates to the employee benefits manual and personal handbook, budget-amendment work underway and four recent hires across departments during the Jan. 6 council meeting.
The manager said the benefits manual had not been updated since 2018 and that department heads were reviewing proposed changes. She also said budget amendments are in process and that staff are preparing justifications for the next budget cycle. The manager listed four new employees who started recently: Lucas (Streets), Josh Martin (Cemetery), Brandon Rajewski (Electric Generation) and Taylor Wetzel (Police Department academy), noting that two of those hires had previously worked for the city as summer employees.
Planning and zoning coordinator Michael Ziering summarized building-permit activity for 2024: he said commercial investment totaled about $4,000,000 for the year, including a solar-field project listed at $2,300,000, and that residential permit activity produced roughly five new housing units (a teardown/rebuild, a duplex and a tri-flex). Ziering said residential investment was about $1.5 million and that single-family home construction remains limited; he noted workforce and trade shortages among local contractors as a constraint.
Mayor Mabry raised public-safety planning for the city’s summer street concerts following national incidents involving vehicles at public events. Police Chief Kemmer said the department uses water barricades and vehicle staging to block north-south vehicle access on Main Street, maintains a clear path for ambulance access, deploys officers on foot and in squad cars, and has added electric bikes for patrol. "We have to keep a space open for an ambulance to get in and out," Chief Kemmer said.
On city revenue from overnight stays, Mayor Mabry reminded owners of short-term rental units that the city collects a 5% lodging ("pillow") tax on stays: "we will be coming down on you because many of you have been warned," he said, referencing about 28 individual units operating as extended-stay or short-term rental units in town. He asked staff to increase enforcement to ensure those operators collect and remit the tax.
No formal council action was recorded on the manager’s reports; the items were informational and directed staff follow-up on budget and document updates.
Public comment
A resident, Brenda Lutz, asked whether Princeton police work 8-, 10- or 12-hour shifts. Chief Kemmer answered that officers work eight-hour shifts (with an additional 35 minutes reported in the exchange). The chief offered to speak with the resident after the meeting.
Meeting outcomes and next steps
Staff will continue preparing budget amendments and finalize edits to the benefits manual for council consideration. Planning staff will prepare materials for the second reading of the 2021 code adoption, and finance staff were directed to follow up on pillow-tax compliance among short-term rental operators.
