A lot of decisions were made with minimal discussion at the Reedsburg Common Council meeting last Monday. Among the biggest items discussed dealt with a sign ordinance, a bid for 17 acres of land and taxi cab fare changes.

In an attempt to solve some safety issues involving signs in Reedsburg, an amendment was heard to ordinance 17.38 to help further define and regulate electric signs. No action was taken on the adoption of this amendment after a discussion following the words of Dave Gawronski.

"You've opened yourself for a little bit of controversy," Gawronski said.

He said he was concerned about several of the changes in the amendment, including the regulations controlling the spacing of electric signs to each other and intersections. Changes will be made to the amendment in order to ensure no current electric signs will be against code. The revised amendment will be heard Nov. 24.

There were also a lot of questions from the council in regards to the bid made by Ernstmeyer Land Co. for the purchase of 17 acres of city land. Ernstmeyer put in a bid of $12,251 per acre to be developed within five years. The council questioned the five year time restraint after it had originally suggested two years.

"I don't think we should compromise any more than that (two years) and I think we should stick to that," Alderperson Bob Utley said. "He has imposed conditions I find unacceptable."

Bob Ernstmeyer said the economy has made it difficult to find buyers in a struggling real estate market and that five years was more reasonable than two.

Following a lengthy question and answer session with Ernstmeyer, the council eventually accepted the bid with the contingency that the properties closed by the end of the year, good title is demonstrated and significant improvements and developments were made to the land purchased in the first two years.

The council is looking for some kind of infrastructure to be built on the site, including an accessible road to either Doris Road or county highway 'V.' Ernstmeyer agreed this would work.

Before the land bid, the council had a much easier time passing an amendment to raise taxi cab fare rates by 50 cents across the board for charges within city boundaries.

The following are a list of old rates and new rates: for adults $3.50 to $4; handicapped $2.50 to $3; persons of 62 years and over $2.50 to $3; and persons

between five and 18 years or enrolled in high school $2.50 to $3. Children under the age of five have been and will continue to be free of charge. This ordinance will go into effect Jan. 1, 2009.

The council also heard that City Administrator John Dougherty is pursuing a grant from the Wisconsin Office of Energy Independence (WI OEI). Upon the motion carrying, Dougherty will begin applying for the Community 25 x 25 Plan to help establish Reedsburg as a sustainable community.

The goal of the plan is to achieve at least 25 percent renewable, domestically produced energy by the year 2025. Money will be granted to Reedsburg up front by the WI OEI in order to help reach its goals.