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Plan Commission unanimously backs acquiring 118 High Avenue for public parking despite dry-cleaner contamination
Summary
The Oshkosh City Plan Commission voted 6-0 on June 23 to recommend acquisition of 118 High Avenue for a public parking lot tied to the Grand Opera House project, noting contamination from a former dry-cleaning operation and that cleanup and monitoring will follow DNR requirements.
The Oshkosh City Plan Commission on June 23 voted unanimously to recommend that the city acquire property at 118 High Avenue to convert into public parking in support of the Grand Opera House project.
A staff member told the commission the parcel is already included in the city's capital improvements plan for next year and said the site "is the place that we're talking about is 118 High Avenue" and that it "was an old dry cleaning site," noting the presence of environmental contaminants. The staff member said the city is "working with the Gunderson's environmental, uh, attorneys to make sure that the liability would stay with them when we would acquire the site."
Commissioners opened public comment on the item but no members of the public spoke. After questions from commissioners about owner responsibilities for cleanup, staff said the Department of Natural Resources would require additional monitoring and other cleanup measures toward what staff called "case closure," and that the DNR is aware of and comfortable with completing remediation in conjunction with converting the parcel to a parking lot.
A motion to "recommend approval of the agenda item and adopt findings and recommendation as stated in the staff report" was made and seconded; a roll-call vote recorded ayes and the measure carried 6-0. The roll-call sequence in the record shows affirmative votes by Mr. Bowen, Ms. Promp, an unnamed male voice recorded as "Mr.", Mr. Rucker (appearing elsewhere in the record as Mr. Rocker), Ms. Davey and Vice Chair Keefer. The commission previously approved the consent agenda, including minutes from its June 2 meeting, by the same 6-0 margin earlier in the session.
The staff summary and the motion make clear this action is a recommendation to proceed with acquisition and that further environmental work is expected before final conversion to parking. The commission adjourned immediately after the vote; no workshops were scheduled for the evening.
Next steps: The commission's recommendation will be forwarded as appropriate (per standard procedure) for any further approvals or administrative steps required to complete acquisition and remediation.
