City Council — Minutes

CITY COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY MARCH 11, 2025 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, Patricia Wessel, Bob Chaffee, and Brian Leslin. Also present were Scott Williamson, Kasandra Thompson, Gordon O’Brien, and Cynthia Anderegg. Absent: and Leslie LaRose. Vacant: Ward 2. Pledge of Allegiance ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF PROPER POSTING A notice of the meeting and an agenda were posted at the three public places, and the local newspaper was notified. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion by Chaffee seconded by Wessel to approve the agenda. Motion carried. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Wessel seconded by Leslin to approve the minutes for the February 11, 2025 City Council Meeting, Personnel Committee and Finance Committee meetings. Motion carried. PUBLIC COMMENT Carol Peuse informed the council that the replacement memorial stone for the Veteran’s Memorial Park has arrived and is being engraved and should be in place for dedication on Memorial Day. The original store was damaged beyond repair due to the tornado in May 2024. APPROVAL OF DEPARMENT REPORTS Motion by Wessel seconded by Leslin to receive the Treasurer’s Report. Motion carried. Motion by Chaffee seconded by Leslin to receive the Police Department Report. Motion carried. Motion by Wessel seconded by Leslin to receive the Senior Center Report. Motion carried. Motion by Wessel seconded by Troxel to receive the Library Report. Motion carried. Motion by Leslin seconded by Troxel to receive the Public Works Department Report. Motion carried. The Minutes for the January 8, 2025 Augusta-Bridge Creek Fire Department meeting were available for review. COMMITTEE REPORTS Joint City Improvement & Recreation Committees –2/19/25 meeting Robert Chaffee undated the council on the park improvement projects and the plans for 2025. A temporary basketball hoop has been placed on the newly resurfaced basketball court at Millstone Park on N. Stone St. until the permanent hoops can be installed this spring. Capital Improvement Plan Committee – 3/5/25 meeting The committee met for the first time on March 5th. They will need input from the department heads on capital improvement projects that will have a minimum cost of $25,000 or more. Projects such as building repairs, streets, sidewalks, and other infrastructure. Strategic Plan Committee – 2/25/25 meeting The committee continued discussions on the Mission and Vision Statements and approved the statements as presented. They also identified the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT Analysis) of the Strategic Plan development process. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF 2025 PARADE PERMITS-CAROL PEUSE Motioned by Leslin seconded by Wessel to approve the 2025 parade permits-Memorial Day-May 26, 2025, Bean and Bacon Days July 6, 2025, Augusta Homecoming-date to be determined and Christmas-date to be determined. Motion carried. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF REQUEST FOR THE 1ST BLOCK OF S. SPRING STREET TO BE CLOSED DURING THE BEAN AND BACON DAYS PARADE AND FOR ACTIVITIES BEFORE AND FOLLOWING THE PARADE. Motion by Wessel seconded by Troxel to approve closing the 1st block of S. Spring Street during the Bean and Bacon Days Parade and for activities before and after the parade. Motion carried. APPROVE LICENSE FOR FIREWORKS DISPLAY – LION’S CLUB – BEAN AND BACON DAYS. Motion by Wessel second by Leslin to approve the fireworks display license application for the Augusta Lion’s Club for Bean and Bacon Days. Motion carried. The fireworks display is scheduled for July 5th. DISCUSS AND CONSIDER SEMI-TRUCK PARKING LOT ISSUES Motion by Chaffee seconded by Troxel to Table until the April 8th City Council meeting DISCUSS RENEWAL OPTIONS FOR MATURING CERTIFICATE OF DEPOSIT AT UNITY BANK AND AUTHORIZE SIGNERS FOR THE REINVESTMENT Motion by Chaffee seconded by Wessel 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 $11,000 and an additional $2,000 in donations will be added to the investment to increase to the investment to $13,000. The City Council further authorizes Mayor Jason TePaske and City Clerk-Treasurer Cynthia Anderegg to be signers for this investment. Motion carried. DISCUSS FUNDING FOR THE SPRING STREET LIFT STATION PROJECT The Clean Water Fund Program (CWFP) loan application with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) had originally not been accepted for the Spring Street Lift Station Project. However, according to the 2/14/25 email from Blythe Cassidy, Loan Project Manager with Wisconsin DNR, an amended funding list was published on 2/13/25 and Augusta was awarded funds from the CWFP for the Spring Street Lift Station Project (CWFP #4545-10). The amount of $607,135 of loan dollars has been awarded for this Project. CWFP funds will be used as the match funds for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), which the City will be applying for this spring. For the CDBG application, the City will need to hold a public hearing and allow for citizen participation. This hearing is scheduled for 4/8/25. The CDBG awards are announced in August and the construction timeline for this project is estimated to be 2026. APPROVE BARTENDER LICENSE APPLICATIONS None ANNOUNCE AND DISCUSS UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS a. Finance Committee Meeting – Wednesday, March 12, 2025 at 7:00 pm b. Augusta Bridge Creek Joint Fire Dept – Wednesday, March 12, 2025 at 5:00 pm c. Augusta Industrial Development Corp. – Thursday, March 13th at 6:00 pm d. Library Board meeting – Monday, March 17, 2025 at 5:30 pm e. Joint City Improvement & Recreation Committee – March 18, 2025 at 6:00 pm f. SPRING ELECTION – Tuesday, April 1, 2025 from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm g. Strategic Plan Committee – Thursday, April 3, 2025 at 6:00 pm h. Public Hearing for CDBG-PF, i. Monthly City Council meeting - Tuesday, April 8, 2025 at 7:00 pm j. City Council Re-Organizational meeting - Tuesday, April 15, 2025 at 7:00 pm k. Augusta Senior Center Advisory Board Quarterly meeting – April 29, 2025 at 10:30 am l. Capital Improvement Plan Committee – Wednesday, April 23, 2025 at 6:15 pm ADJOURNMENT Motion by Chaffee seconded by Troxel to adjourn the meeting. Cynthia Anderegg, City Clerk-Treasurer