More Village President Rechlicz Documents Surface, While Village's Are Mysteriously Missing

More Village President Rechlicz Documents Surface, While Village Hall's Are Mysteriously Missing

Since The Vanguard posted the revelation of Village President Rick Rechlicz's (2005-09) submission of a bill(s) to the Radisson Hotel Owners for $256,500 in exchange for procuring the hotel owner's taxpayer funded loan of $18,000,000 during 2009 and early 2010, many different sources have come forward on the condition of anonymity to provide yet more disturbing information and documents tied to Village President Rechlicz and his numerous public denials of any involvement with the Main Street Redevelopment.

Rechlicz stated in a July 20, 2005 Menomonee Falls News article with Reporter Steve Benter a couple months after being sworn into office that he would in part, "...abstain from all meetings and discussions relating to the Main Street Development because I own property on Main Street and want to avoid any appearance of a possible conflict of interest".

Rechlicz went on to say, "Accordingly, I do not want to taint any of the proceedings with my vote nor influence any discussion with what may be categorized as improper comments."

"Houston, We've Got a Problem(s)...Many Problems"

The Vanguard has been provided with various documents through Open Record Requests, court related materials and other sources close to the TIF District 6 Main Street Redevelopment Plan that included the $18,000,000 taxpayer funded loan in 2009 and 2010 for the Radisson Hotel.

In simple terms, the hotel was recently given to the Village Board by Waukesha County Judge Kieffer on July 24, 2013 to sell instead of the hotel going through foreclosure and auctioned off by Sheriff Trawicki on the steps of the Waukesha County Courthouse.

The taxpayers are still owed approximately $12,000,000 +/- of the original $18,000,000 by the now bankrupt and out of business 5 hotel owners.

Taxpayers paid off nearly $3,000,000 in existing loans on the empty hotel at closing before it was renovated so a clear title could be received, another $1,500,000 in interest payments for the hotel owners the first two years of the mortgage and the Village recovered about $1,200,000 from the hotel owner's line of credit that was required to finalize the loan in 2009-10 in case of a default on the loan.

At the same time the Village Board was approving the $18,000,000 taxpayer funded loan for the hotel owners in 2009-10, they were being sued in Dane County for allegedly stealing $1,200,000 from Businessman Greg Raupp that he believed was used for the line of credit in the Menomonee Falls Village Board deal with The Radisson.

Raupp may be one of the prospective buyers of The Radisson with the Village Board in hopes that he may acquire the hotel at a steep discounted rate, perhaps flip it and recoup some of his $1,200,000 that was allegedly stolen from him by the hotel owners in their deal with the Village Board, Village Manager and Village Attorney in 2009-10.

It has been well documented, in spite of Village Manager Mark Fitzgerald and Village Attorney Mike Morse's efforts to block any release of any documents related to The Radisson's Financials, that the hotel has lost over $1,200,000 a year in 2011 and 2012 its first two years of operating.

Taxpayers have also given well over an additional $400,000 on top of the original $18,000,000 to The Radisson for sales tax payments, property tax payments, $14,000 monthly management stipends to a bankrupt hotel owner, Radisson Corporate franchise fees, computer reservation fees and employee payroll since the hotel opened in mid-2011.

Contractors have been stiffed by the Village Manager, Village Attorney and Village Board to the tune of somewhere close to $1,000,000 since mid-2011 only to have their reserve account raided by the Village Board to pay the Village Attorney's former law firm's legal fees since 2011 to represent the Village in getting the hotel on July 24, 2013 in front of Judge Kieffer.

The hotel is currently assessed at about $8,000,000 +/- according to Waukesha County Tax Records.

Private bank loan officers and real estate professionals have suggested to The Vanguard that the Village will be very fortunate to get $3,000,000 - $4,000,000 for The Radisson in a private sale.

This of course would substantially lower tax revenues from the current level of $155,000 to approximately half that amount.

Village Manager Mark Fitzgerald has publicly stated recently that the taxpayers of Menomonee Falls will not be on the hook for any shortfall because of the hotel owners being in default on the $18,000,000 loan.

He believes that the shortfall will be made up by the TIF District.

That might be true through 2033 as he states, but the "redevelopment plan" called for the debt to be paid off a lot sooner than that.

Fitzgerald also continues to refuse to meet with the only viable remaining hotel owner who wants to restructure the entire remaining balance of $12,000,000 and pay the contractors who have been stiffed some $1,200,000 by Fitzgerald, Morse and the Village Board since 2011.

Rechlicz Signs Tax Incremental District 6 Development Agreements for Main Street

In spite of Rechlicz's apparent deliberate attempts to con the public, with what appears to be a willing local press and media, in to believing that he had nothing to do with any meetings, discussions or involvement for the redevelopment of Main Street since he became Village President in 2005, Village Hall documents obtained by The Vanguard through sometimes lengthy Open Record Request challenges by Village Manager Fitzgerald and Village Attorney Mike Morse show a totally different story.

Rechlicz signed Resolution 559-R-05 along with then Village Manager Dick Farrenkopf approving the Main Street Redevelopment Plan adopted by the Village Board on September 19, 2005 that has in part been copied and pasted here:

RESOLUTION 559-R-05

VILLAGE BOARD

Village of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin

A RESOLUTION FINDING THE AREA WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF THE PROPOSED MAIN

STREET REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT TO BE BLIGHTED AND APPROVING THE PROPOSED

REDEVELOPMENT PLAN OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF THE VILLAGE OF

MENOMONEE FALLS, WISCONSIN

WHEREAS, pursuant to Sections 66.1333 and 66.1337 of the Wisconsin Statutes

Adopted by the Village Board of the Village of Menomonee Falls on this 19th day of September 2005.

_______________________ _________________________

Richard A. Farrenkopf Richard A. Rechlicz

Village Manager - Clerk/Treasurer Village President

A review of the Sept. 19, 2005 Village Board Minutes on file at Village Hall do indeed show that Village President Rick Rechlicz was recorded by Village Clerk Karalewitz as being present during the discussion and approval of Resolution 559-R-05 by the Village Board while abstaining from voting.

Village Hall documents will also show that Village President Rick Rechlicz also signed, with a Notary Public in attendance, the Tax Incremental District Development Agreement on March 31, 2008 that has in part been copied and pasted here:

TAX INCREMENTAL DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT

THIS TAX INCREMENTAL DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT("Agreement") is entered into as of the 31st day of March, 2008 by and between the Village of Menomonee Falls ("Village"), Community Development Authority of the Village of Menomonee Falls ("CDA") and Lodging Investors of Menomonee Falls, LLC ("Hotel Developer") and Harvest Hills, LLC ("Condominium Developer"). Hotel Developer and Condominium Developer are sometimes referred to individually or collectively as "Developer."

ARTICLE I

1.1 Contingencies and Conditions:

(a) The Hotel Developer shall obtain and deliver to the Village an appraisal of the fair market value of the Hotel Land, hotel, restaurant and all related improvements as proposed to be redeveloped in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement (collectively, the "Hotel") by an appraiser approved by the Village. The appraisal shall indicate a fair market value upon completion of the proposed redevelopment in the range of $13,000,000.00 to $15,000,000.00.

(b.) The Condominium Developer shall obtain and deliver to the Village an appraisal of the fair market value of the Condominium Land and proposed condominium development as provided under this Agreement by an appraiser approved by the Village ("Condominium Appraisal"). The discounted fair market value of the Condominium Development, as defined in Section 4.l(i), taking into consideration the absorption time for the sale of all of the individual units within the condominium shall not be less than $16,400,000.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Agreement as of the date stated in the first paragraph of this Agreement.

VILLAGE OF MENOMONEE FALLS

By:_____________________________

Name: Richard A. Rechlicz, Village President

STATE OF WISCONSIN )

WAUKESHA COUNTY)

Personally came before me this 31st day of March, 2008, the above named

Richard A. Rechlicz and Kathy Karalewitz, the Village President and the Acting Clerk of the

Village of Menomonee Falls, to me known to be the persons who executed the foregoing

instrument and acknowledged the same.

Linda Osterlie

Notary Public, Wisconsin

My commission expires 11-9-08

The appraisal requirement for the hotel loan was mysteriously removed by someone(s) at Village Hall for the amended Developer's Agreement approved by the Village Board in March of 2010 just prior to closing in April of 2010 putting the taxpayers at a huge risk.

Normal loaning standards absolutely require an appraisal of the property for repayment and risk purposes.

Either Village President Rick Rechlicz has a very short memory about his pledge and commitment to the taxpayers of Menomonee Falls that he would have absolutely nothing to do with any of the aspects of the Main Street Redevelopment Plan shortly after he was elected in 2005 because his law firm office was on Main Street or he apparently knew exactly what he was doing in hopes of maybe cashing in at a later date because he had a willing local press and media that appear to have been looking the other way refusing to call Village President Rechlicz out on his apparent hypocrisy of saying one thing and apparently trying to do another.

Wisconsin State Statutes Allowing the Creation of TIF Districts Explained

Wisconsin State Statutes Section 66.1105 make it very clear what is absolutely required in order for a TIF District to be created by any qualified governmental body.

TIF Districts are a vehicle for local governments to sell bonds and borrow money to improve an area in their community that normally wouldn't be improved without taxpayer funds to recruit businesses to locate in that area without those businesses having to pay for any of the upfront costs of improving the area.

New tax revenue generated by the TIF District is then used to pay back the debt service on the borrowed funds over a 20-30 year period.

Once the debt service is paid off, the new revenue is then given to the other taxing entities (i.e. school, county, WCTC, etc.) going forward.

While there are many ancillary requirements for the creation of a TIF District, The Wisconsin Department of Revenue has an exhaustive checklist and a vast number of publications(http://www.revenue.wi.gov/forms/govtif/tidbase.html) for communities wanting to create a TIF District.

Of utmost importance for creating a TIF District is the absolute necessity of the local legislative body adopting a resolution creating the TIF District (66.1105(4)(gm) http://www.revenue.wi.gov/pubs/slf/tif/tiflaw.pdf).

The local legislative body is required to keep a copy of the approved, signed, witnessed and notarized resolution on file for the public's inspection and review along with providing the resolution to any business people wanting to locate in the TIF District for legal, financial and authentication purposes.

Without a signed copy of the adoption of a resolution approving the creation of the TIF District by the local legislative body, there is no TIF District and therefore no infrastructure work, borrowing, building or financing can be done.

Adoption Resolution for TIF District 6 Appears to be Missing From Village Hall Files

The signed, witnessed, approved and adopted resolution that allegedly gave the Village Board of Menomonee Falls, after meeting all of the necessary requirements to do so, the authority to create TIF District 6 is missing from Village Hall.

These resolutions require the signatures of the Village President and Village Manager/Clerk to be legal and authentic.

In the ongoing efforts of members of The Vanguard to fully disclose the potential remuneration of Village President Rick Rechlicz's attempt to cash in on $256,5000 for his law firm for procuring the $18,000,000 taxpayer funded loan to the 5 hotel owners in 2009-10, it has been discovered that the resolution that is required by State Law in order to create a TIF District is missing from Village Hall and is apparently nowhere to be found.

Resolution 597-R-06 is supposed to be on file at Village Hall as a requirement to create TIF District 6 and for the approval of the $18,000,000 taxpayer funded loan for the Radisson Hotel Mortgage.

Resolution 597-R-06 is reported to have been approved by the Village Board with Village President Rick Rechlicz in attendance on April 17, 2006 while abstaining from voting.

When The Vanguard stopped by Village Hall this week to inspect and review Resolution 597-R-06, it was discovered that Resolution 597-R-06 on file at Village Hall has nothing to do with the creation of TIF District 6, but is strangely and oddly related to the issuance of Industrial Revenue Bonds for Waste Management.

Waste Management operates the dump in Menomonee Falls.

Realizing that there might just be a filing error or mis-numbering of resolutions, The Vanguard simply asked the Clerk's Office to let them know when they found the resolution for the creation of TIF District 6 to make sure that the TIF District had been set up legally for the $18,000,000 taxpayer funded loan to The Radisson and to see if Village President Rick Rechlicz signed that document when he promised the taxpayers that he wouldn't have anything to do with this agreement as well.

The Clerk's Office responded the next day after the visit to Village Hall as follows regarding the now missing Resolution 597-R-06:

"Village staff did review all of the locations where resolutions are kept as well as our digital records. We are unable to locate the original resolution. If the resolution would be located in the future it will be made available to you. At this time we are unable to fulfill your request. The minutes from the meeting were provided as a means for verifying that the resolution was adopted by the village board. The minutes include the motion, second, and vote as well as any other action taken regarding the approval of the resolution."

Cc: "Fitzgerald, Mark" <MFitzgerald@menomonee-falls.org>; "Morse, Mike" <MMorse@menomonee-falls.org>

Village Manager Fitzgerald and Village Attorney Morse were both copied on the Clerk's Office response to the missing resolution for the creation of TIF District 6 and presumably now know that there are serious questions about the viability and validity of TIF District 6 and any of the work and or loaned funds that have gone on in that area.

It is also possible that the Village is purposely holding the resolution to protect Village President Rick Rechlicz or to set up The Vanguard.

Rechlicz Led the Way to Get Public and Private Funds for The Radisson Since 2006?

The Vanguard has learned from inside sources intimately familiar with the operations of Village President Rick Rechlicz and the taxpayer funded loan of $18,000,000 to The Radisson Hotel Owners in 2009 and early 2010, that Rechlicz was very involved in all aspects of the Main Street Redevelopment Plan, creation of TIF District 6 and financing options both privately and publicly for the hotel as far back as 2006 when Rechlicz initially met with Hotel Partner Dean Grosskopf and his Attorney Derek Kritzer, Village Manager Farrenkopf and Village Attorney Morse.

Rechlicz continued to meet with TIF Attorney Bill Taibl, Hotel Owner Dean Grosskopf and Attorney Kritzer on a regular basis at his law firm office on Main Street while working behind the scenes, out of the public's eye at Planning Commission and Village Board Meetings trying to remain under the radar screen to maintain his promise to avoid a conflict of interest.

Rechlicz ordered the original owners of the old hotel to bring in new faces and names if they wanted their project approved because the original owners were too closely related to Jefferson E. Davis and Chris Slinker.

This request was of course consistent with Rechlicz's good buddies and fellow North Hills Country Club Members Municipal Judge Mike Hurt and Trustee Mike McDonald who were trying to shake down the original hotel owners for cash if they wanted their project approved by the Village Board at about the same time Rechlicz became Village President in 2005.

Payments were made to Hurt at his home and or in person by the original hotel owner.

Municipal Judge Hurt had to later resign from office and was later disbarred by the Office of Lawyer Regulation of the Wisconsin Supreme Court in part due to taking client payments at his home in Menomonee Falls instead of legally running those payments through the law firm he was affiliated with at the time.

Rechlicz touted that he had connections in the mortgage markets because he was a real estate attorney who did a lot of closings while overseeing many financial transactions at closing.

It is believed that Rechlicz even suggested to the hotel owners during some of their meetings with him that they could do a combination loan of public funds and or private funds when he thought that maybe M&I Bank in Menomonee Falls (now BMO Harris because of troubled loans), Maritime Savings Bank West Allis (closed by the Feds in 2010 http://www.jsonline.com/business/103174664.html) and Park Bank in Madison (who got stiffed by some of the hotel owners in bankruptcy in 2010) could help based on who he knew and had worked with in the past.

Rechlicz is very close friends with former M&I Bank President of Menomonee Falls, Dick Becker.

Of course it is now known that the hotel owners couldn't get private financing and took the taxpayers of Menomonee Falls for about $16,000,000 +/- after the $1,200,000 line of credit from the hotel owners was recouped in 2011 when the loan went into default.

Private banks are required to keep loan application paperwork on file in case federal banking regulators show up to conduct an inspection or audit.

If attempts were made by the hotel owners to get private financing at the time Village President Rechlicz suggested they do so, then those papers would still be on file at the respective mentioned banks and possibly others.

What's the Endgame?

The next Village Board Meeting is Monday, October 7, 2013 at 6:15 P.M.

Taxpayers are only allowed 180 seconds to speak at the Town Hall Portion of the Village Board Meeting and the Village Board Chairman angrily and immediately cuts anyone off who tries to go over by a few seconds or tries to ask questions.

Many have suggested that the sale of the hotel should be put on hold until an investigation by an independent body is done of the latest developments of missing resolutions and the attempts of Village President Rechlicz to collect $256,500 from the hotel owners for procuring their $18,000,000 taxpayer funded loan after publicly stating he would have nothing to do with the redevelopment of Main Street.

Edmund Burke has been quoted as saying something to the effect, "The only way for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."

The only way for Village Manager Mark Fitzgerald, Village Attorney Mike Morse, Village President Rick Rechlicz and the Village Board to get away with this is for the good citizens of Menomonee Falls to do nothing.

Please try to attend the Village Board Meeting on October 7th.