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CITY OF GILLETT COMMON COUNCIL Council Chambers – Municipal Building 150 N McKenzie Ave – Gillett, WI 54124 THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2026 AT 6:00 PM MINUTES 1. Mayor Blaskowski called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM. 2. Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Roll Call Present: Mayor Jon Blaskowski, Clerk Treasurer Chelsea Anderson, Alderpersons Nanette Mohr, Keri Hicks , Jerry Luther (via phone) , Ashley VanStraten, David Bunker and Matt Young, City Attorney Robert Gagan, Utility Operator Matt Wickman, Public Works Department Head Tim Via, Police Chief Shane Breitenbach , Fire Chief Kurt Hicks , Librarian Shannon Stoner, and Public Chris Byars. 3. Clerk Treasurer informs the Council that the Open Meeting Law has been complied with. 4. Public Input: None 5. Discussion and possible action on August 6, 2026 Minutes MOTION: Luther/Mohr Motion to approve minutes from August 6, 2026. Voice Vote: All Voting Aye - MOTION CARRIED 6. Library Report: Alderperson Hicks- Library Director Report- Librarian Shannon Stoner stated community center is back open! August 2026 1. Programming 1. Wednesday, August 12 a. 3-4 pm: Little Hands, Big Plans Financial Planning program for kids in the Community Center b. 6-7 pm: Dinosaur Dimensions: Come meet some dinosaurs at GPL! 2. Wednesday, August 19, 10 am-2 pm: Vega/Catalog Launch Day: Librarian available to help with app/catalog setup 3. Thursday, August 20, 5-6 pm: Carol Mertens and the Copper Culture Museum 4. September we are going to play Book Battleship at GPL! Check out book (s) and choose a coordinate on our board. Will it be a hit or miss? One choice per family per day. Sink a ship and win a prize! 2. Polaris Migration 1. August 10-15: Our library system's software will be completely offline. The ONLY transactions we will be able to complete are checkouts of items in our building. To checkout materials, you will need to have a physical library card or a screenshot of your digital card from before the InfoSoup app went down. 2. August 19: We return to business as usual. 3. Thursday, August 13: GPL will open at 1 pm. Staff will be training for Polaris in Lakewood in the morning. 4. Libby App is available throughout this process and is not affected. Don’t know how to use the app or curious to learn more? Come to the library. We’ll be happy to help you find your next favorite book! 2 7. Tourism & Marketing Commission/Gillett Area Chamber of Commerce: a. Discussion and possible action on Installation of Lights MOTION: Luther/Hicks Motion to approve installation of lights and cost of electricity. Voice Vote: All Voting Aye - MOTION CARRIED The Chamber is working on beautification and community pride through various projects, one of which is the THRIVE grant. This project has already been discussed at THRIVE and has been implemented in communities like Lena and Oconto. We are asking for the City to approve support in installation and covering the cost of the electric. We are asking to be on the agenda because we would like them installed in early October, so they can be a part of our 'reset' and ribbon cutting for the highway and playground. Information from Lena - - Keep up year-round. (Do shut off when Christmas decorations are up but could leave them on.) Installation - strung wire first then attached the lights to the wire. They went from pole to pole; Oconto went building to building. Purchased non-commercial lights from Costco/Sams and have had up for 1 1/2 yrs with no problems. (Replaced 2 bulbs so far.) The Chamber of Commerce is currently planning a ceremony for the road opening and park opening. Asking to work together with Tourism and Marketing. Chamber said they have 9 applications for the Forever Fund Application, will vote for 2 businesses to receive five thousand dollar grants. Road and Playground opening ceremony will be October 16. 8. Financial Report: Clerk Treasurer -Updated Check Register presented for City/Utility Accounts a. Discussion and possible action on Updated Monthly Check Registers MOTION: Young/Hicks Motion to approve August Check Registers. Voice Vote: All Voting Aye - MOTION CARRIED 9. Police Department Report: Police Chief Breitenbach From the Chief's Desk Gillett Police Department: August 2026 / 250 incidents Officer Lannoye’s field training process is going very well. I am expecting Officer Lannoye to begin solo patrol duties in October. Next week Officer Lannoye will be attending ARIDE training. ARIDE stands for Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement. This free training is being hosted by experienced Drug Recognition Expert’s from Oconto and Brown County Sheriff’s Offices. (ARIDE) is a 16-hour course that addresses the gap in training between Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST) and the Drug Evaluation and Classification (DEC) training. This course will cover: SFST skills refresher, advanced sobriety tests, common drugs of abuse, driving while impaired by drugs, how drugs affect the human body, observable effects of drug combinations, medical conditions that mimic drug impairment. Also covered will be pre & post arrest procedures, and legal updates related to OWI and drugged driving cases. 3 Another year has come and gone for the Oconto County Youth Fair. Our officers responded to several minor incidents during the week-long event. Overall, the crowds were well behaved! I would like to acknowledge the professionalism displayed by our officers while Congressman Tony Wied visited during the fair opening ceremonies. The security detail provided throughout this event was two-weeks in the planning and involved working directly with the United States Capitol Police. I also would like to thank the City of Gillett Fire Department, Gillett Area Ambulance, and the Oconto County Sheriff’s Office for their additional support during this detail. Welcome back Gillett School District Staff and Students! Now that the 2026-2027 school year has begun, we will be closely monitoring traffic in the area. One area of concern is the addition of a new school crossing located directly in front of the school. So far, the student foot traffic is still utilizing the old school crossing at the intersection of S. Elm Ave and W. Main St. Tom Ammerman has returned as our school crossing guard. Please make sure to give him a friendly wave as you drive by! 10. Fire Department Report: Fire Chief Hicks- Mavis call, gas/oil spill in Gillett, fire call trapped in elevator, fire call Gillett high school alarm. For the Hazmat call on Main Street, we contacted DNR. We have in writing that it was done correctly. We have action plans in place for all types of emergencies. 11. Health, Protection and License Committee Report: Alderperson VanStraten a. Discussion and possible action on Operator License for Aaron Hudson MOTION: Mohr/Young Motion to approve Aaron Hudsons Operator License Voice Vote: All Voting Aye - MOTION CARRIED b. Discussion and possible action on approving Town of Beaver into the Gillett Joint Municipal Court MOTION: Mohr/Bunker Motion to approve the Town of Beaver into the Gillett Joint Court. Voice Vote: All Voting Aye - MOTION CARRIED 12. Utility Committee Report: Alderperson Young- Utility Operator Matt Wickman reported working on new wastewater permit. Seneca factory is running in full swing; wells are working great. Looking into purchasing a vac truck, it sucks out dirt and water and eliminates the need to call diggers hotline because there is no chance of cutting other utility lines. Walked ponds, looked at sludge in the bottom, no need to change bugs to haul out, it’s a good level. We spend a lot of money on ferric. Looking into a getting a flow pump instead of a pump that is set at one point of injection, it would be as the city uses water -the more the auto flow pump would inject, as the city uses less, the pump adjusts. Kountry Pumpers is a new septage hauler and brings in septage in our hauler station, this customer brings in cheese factory water, will test if our treatment numbers are staying the same. 13. Board of Public Works Committee Report: Alderperson Hicks- Public Works Foreman Tim Via stated: Completed more pothole patching this month. We removed the old dump station by the park bathrooms, plugged the pipe, filled the area with gravel, and patched over the top. We plan to hot patch that spot when we do the other road repairs. We also worked on the new cold storage building and prepared the area for the concrete slab. The slab and approaches have now been completed. We did some grading on the fire house driveway, then spent most of our time 4 helping with park preparations for the fair. We hauled in gravel to improve access to the parking field. On Woodlawn, we cut around the manhole, so we had enough room to replace the existing manhole cover and assembly. We lowered it so it would sit flush with the road, then poured concrete around it to help keep it from moving again. So far, it looks good. Yesterday, we cut and dug down on Oak Street to insulate a water pipe that has frozen a few times over the winter. We are hoping to start replacing burned out street lights sometime in October. a. Discussion and possible action on Street Closing MOTION: Luther/VanStraten Motion to approve E Park Street Closing and no charge for the Highway and Playground Opening Ceremony. Voice Vote: All Voting Aye - MOTION CARRIED 14. Finance and Personnel Committee Report: Alderperson Mohr a. Discussion and possible action on proclamation form, publicly endorse the principle of fair housing and of adherence to the fair housing law in the form of a proclamation, resolution, or similar publicized statement of importance. MOTION: Mohr/Young Motion to approve the proclamation/ordinance of the Fair Housing Act. Voice Vote: All Voting Aye - MOTION CARRIED b. Discussion and possible action on Kerber Rose Accounting Contract- 5 percent increase MOTION: Young/Bunker Motion to approve the Kerber Rose Contract. Roll Call Vote: All Voting Aye - MOTION CARRIED c. Discussion and possible action on Raising court fee ten Dollars for municipalities MOTION: VanStraten/Bunker Motion to approve the Ten dollar increase for court. Voice Vote: All Voting Aye - MOTION CARRIED d. Discussion and possible action on Approving Resolution Authorizing the Issuance and Sale of $1,506,000 Sewerage System Mortgage Revenue Bonds of the City of Gillett, Oconto County, Wisconsin, and Providing for the Payment of the Bonds and Other Details with Respect to the Bonds MOTION: Luther/Hicks Motion to approve Resolution Authorizing the Issuance and Sale of $1,506,000 Sewerage System Mortgage Revenue Bonds of the City of Gillett, Oconto County, Wisconsin, and Providing for the Payment of the Bonds and Other Details with Respect to the Bonds Roll Call Vote: All Voting Aye - MOTION CARRIED e. Discussion and possible action on Approving Resolution Authorizing the Issuance and Sale of $908,200 Water System Mortgage Revenue Bonds of the City of Gillett, Oconto County, Wisconsin, and Providing for the Payment of the Bonds and Other Details with Respect to the Bonds 5 MOTION: Luther/Mohr Motion to approve Resolution Authorizing the Issuance and Sale of $908,200 Water System Mortgage Revenue Bonds of the City of Gillett, Oconto County, Wisconsin, and Providing for the Payment of the Bonds and Other Details with Respect to the Bonds Roll Call Vote: All Voting Aye - MOTION CARRIED 15. Park and Cemetery Committee Report: Alderperson Luther reported playground construction will start next week Oct 5th. 16. Planning Committee Report: Alderperson Bunker – needs to plan a meeting to speak on housing. 17. Clerk Treasurers Report: City Clerk Treasurer Chelsea Anderson stated the Public Service Commission is nearing the end of their review to help the Utility Department raise the water rates. 18. Attorneys Report: Conway, Olejniczak, and Jerry S.C. Attorneys at Law- Attorney Robert Gagon said there were various small projects throughout the month, such as Legal opinions for revenue bonds. 19. Public Input: None 20. Mayor's Report: Mayor Blaskowski thanked the departments for the 2027 budgets, great job with the playground, road, getting through being short staffed, the cold storage build, and prepping for the Fair. 21. Adjourn at 7:35 PM MOTION: Mohr/Luther Motion to adjourn. Voice Vote: All Voting Aye - MOTION CARRIED Respectfully submitted by Clerk Treasurer Chelsea Anderson