City Council Meeting — Minutes

CITY COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY MARCH 10, 2026 7:00 P.M. Mayor Jason TePaske called the Regular meeting of the Augusta City Council to order at 7:00 p.m. Present were council members Sue Troxel, Lisa Fugett, Brian Abley, and Brian Leslin. Also present were Kasandra Thompson and Cynthia Anderegg. Ward 4 is vacant. Absent: Gordon O’Brien, Scott Williamson, and Leslie LaRose. Pledge of Allegiance ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF PROPER POSTING A notice of the meeting and an agenda was posted at the three public places, and the local newspaper was notified. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion by Troxel seconded by Leslin to approve the agenda. Motion carried. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Fugett seconded by Troxel to approve the minutes for the following meeting: February 10, 2026 Regular City Council Meeting. Motion carried. PUBLIC COMMENT Mr. Ace Sommerfeld requested permission to cross posted city property along the Eau Claire River for fishing purposes. Council directed that this item be added to the April City Council meeting agenda. APPROVAL OF DEPARMENT REPORTS Motion by Abley seconded by Fugett to receive the Treasurer’s Report. Motion carried. Motion by Fugett seconded by Leslin to receive the Police Department Report. Motion carried. Motion by Troxel seconded by Leslin to receive the Senior Center Monthly Report. Motion carried. Motion by Troxel seconded by Fugett to receive the Library Report. Motion carried. Motion by Leslin seconded by Abley to receive the Public Works Department Report. Motion carried. The Augusta Bridge Creek Fire Department submitted the Minutes from the January 12, 2026, meeting. COMMITTEE REPORTS • Joint City Improvement Committee and Recreation Committee met on Wednesday, March 4 at 6:00 pm. They discussed Earth Day clean up, painting a mural on the city shop building on N. Stone St., plans for the main Street Gym Park, and repairing the city park signs that were installed last year (they are still under warranty). • City Buildings Steering Committee met on Tuesday, February 17th at 9:00 am at the Augusta Senior Center. The committee met with Wendall Company to review the results of the Immersion project. This is a tool to help assess the city buildings, determine the building needs in relation to size for the city departments and potential locations for building. CONSIDER APPOINTING WARD #4 ALDERPERSON TO FILL VACANCY Motion by Fugett seconded by Troxel to nominate Dawn Harper as Ward #4 Alderperson to fill the remaining term which will end April 2027. Roll call vote to appoint Dawn Harper: Ward 1, yes; Ward 2, yes; Ward 3, yes; Ward 4, Vacant; Ward 5, yes. Motion carried. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF 2026 PARADE PERMITS-CAROL PEUSE Motion by Fugett seconded by Troxel to Table until the 4/14/26 regular City Council meeting. Motion carried. The applications were not submitted in time for the council meeting. CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING STREET PRIVILEGE PERMIT APPLICATIONS-CAROL PEUSE a. Closure of the first block of S. Spring Street on July 5, 2026, for Bean and Bacon Days Parade and activities Motion by Abley seconded by Leslin to Table until the 4/14/26 regular City Council meeting. Motion carried. The applications were not submitted in time for the council meeting. b. Closure of one block of Buckman Street from N. Stone Street up to but not including the westmost entrance of the Buckman Street municipal parking lot before N. Spring Street on July 3, 2026, from 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm for the Burnout Competition Motion by Abley seconded by Leslin to Table until the 4/14/26 regular City Council meeting. Motion carried. The applications were not submitted in time for the council meeting. DISCUSS WATER TOWER REPAINTING MAINTENANCE PROJECT Motion by Troxel seconded by Fugett to Table until presenter is present. Motion carried. Motion by Leslin seconded by Fugett to remove from Table for discussion. Motion carried. a. Information & update on project Kelly Mulhern from Badger State Inspection, LLC informed the council of the results of the inspection his company performed on the city’s water tower in 2025, and the structural repairs that are needed. He described the process of developing plans and specifications, the biding process, and onsite inspections for the elevated storage tank painting and improvements project. b. Discuss and consider action, if any No action was taken. DISCUSS AND CONSIDER ENGINEERING AGREEMENT AMENDMENT #2 FOR THE SPRING STREET SEWAGE LIFT STATION PROJECT Motion by Leslin seconded by Troxel to approve Davy Engineering, Co.’s Engineering Agreement Amendment #2 for the Spring Street Sewage Lift Station project. Roll call vote: Ward 1, yes; Ward 2, yes; Ward 3, yes; Ward 4, Vacant; Ward 5, yes. Motion carried. The amendment adjusts the engineering budgets for additional time incurred for the bid and award budget and adds topo phase for topographic site surveys. Also increase budget for Construction Phase and RPR and Funding. Increase $25,990.00 Total adjusted engineering costs for the project $198,070.00 (Original Owner- Engineer Agreement 11/1/2022 $144,500.00, Amendment #1 $27,580.00) DISCUSS AND CONSIDER DAVY ENGINEERING’S PROPOSAL FOR WATER TOWER PROJECT SERVICES Motion by Fugett seconded by Troxel to Table until the 4/14/26 regular City Council meeting. Motion carried. DISCUSS RENEWAL OPTIONS FOR MATURING CERTIFICATE OF DEPOSIT AT UNITY BANK AND OAKWOOD BANK AND AUTHORIZE SIGNERS FOR THE REINVESTMENT • Motion by Troxel seconded by Fugett to approve the following: The City of Augusta has a Certificate of Deposit (CD) maturing at Unity Bank and the Augusta City Council authorizes the CD be reinvested at the best rate Unity Bank has to offer. The maturing CD is $13,000 and an additional $1,000 in donations will be added to the investment to increase to the investment to $14,000. The City Council further authorizes Mayor Jason TePaske and City Clerk-Treasurer Cynthia Anderegg to be signers for this investment. Motion carried. • The City of Augusta Water Fund has a Certificate of Deposit (CD) maturing at Oakwood Bank and the Augusta City Council authorizes the CD be reinvested at the best rate Oakwood Bank has to offer. The City Council further authorizes Mayor Jason TePaske and City Clerk-Treasurer Cynthia Anderegg to be signers for this investment. Motion carried. DISCUSS AND CONSIDER SEMI-TRUCK PARKING LOT ISSUES Motion by Abley seconded by Fugett to refer the matter to the Plan Commission. Motion carried. DISCUSS AND CONSIDER AMENDMENT TO CHAPTER 5: FIRE DEPARTMENT, CITY OF AUGUSTA MUNICIPAL CODE Motion by Fugett seconded by Abley to waive the first reading. Motion carried. CONSIDER ADOPTING UPDATES AND AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 11 LICENSES AND PERMITS – FIRST READING Motion by Fugett seconded by Troxel to refer the amendments to Chapter 11 Licenses and Permits to the Finance Committee for review and recommendations. Motion carried. APPROVE BARTENDER LICENSE APPLICATIONS Motion by Troxel seconded by Abley to approve the bartenders’ application for Kerry Wild (Mulligan’s). Motion carried. ANNOUNCE AND DISCUSS UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS a. Augusta Industrial Development Corp - TBD b. Preconstruction meeting for Spring Street Lift Station project – March 23rd 10:00 am c. Joint City Improvement & Recreation Committees – March 25th at 6:00 pm d. SPRING ELECTION – Tuesday, April 7, 2026, from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm e. City Council Meeting – April 14th at 7:00 pm f. City Council Re-Organizational Meeting – April 21st at 7:00 pm g. Senior Center Advisory Board meeting – April 28th at 10:30 am ADJOURNMENT Motion by Leslin seconded by Abley to adjourn the meeting. Cynthia Anderegg, City Clerk-Treasurer