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CITY OF GILLETT COMMON COUNCIL Council Chambers – Municipal Building 150 N McKenzie Ave – Gillett, WI 54124 THURSDAY, MAY 7, 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, Matt Young, Ashley VanStraten, David Bunker, City Attorney Robert Gagon, Utility Operator Matt Wickman, Public Works Department Head Tim Via, Police Chief Shane Breitenbach, Fire Chief Kurt Hicks , a nd Librarian Shannon Stoner. MSA City Engineer Dan Rammer. Public Ken Bukowski and Kevin Smith. 3. Clerk Treasurer informs the Council that the Open Meeting Law has been complied with. 4. Public Input: Ken Bukowski had complaints of the dust from the HWY 22 project. 5. Discussion and possible action on April 2, 2026 minutes MOTION: Hicks/Bunker Motion to approve minutes from April 2, 2026 with date correction. Voice Vote: All Voting Aye - MOTION CARRIED 6. Park and Cemetery Committee Report: Alderperson Luther- Spring Clean Up last weekend, had a great group with the Chamber of Commerce clean up the parks and the city. The Lions Club supplied all the volunteers with a spaghetti Dinner. Mowed the cemetery for the first time, it went well. a. Discussion and possible action on Zippel Park Bid- we only received one bidder, 8-Pine out of Shawano, bid came in 1.5million, we estimated at 1.4 million, slightly higher. Reached out to contractor and is willing to work with us. MOTION: Luther/Mohr Motion to approve 8-Pines. Roll Call Vote: All Voting Aye - MOTION CARRIED b. Discussion and possible action on Oconto County Youth Fair Event -Oconto County Youth Fair Event August 27-30, 2026. c. Discussion and possible action on Fireworks Permit for Roy Hubbard Memorial Truck Show and 4th of July MOTION: Young/Mohr Motion to approve Fireworks Permits for the 4th of July and Roy Hubbard Memorial Truck Show. Voice Vote: All Voting Aye - MOTION CARRIED 7. Library Report: Alderperson Hicks- Librarian Shannon Stoner Library Director Report April 2026 Programming (Due to unforeseen circumstances, programs will take place in the Teen Area of our library for now. Keep an eye on our Facebook Page for updated information. a. Programming 2 i. National Library Week (April 19-26) Theme: Find Your Joy 1. Tuesday, April 21 a. 11 am-12 pm: Books and Brew b. 4-5 pm: DIY Fabric Patch Program: cut simple canvas squares, set out fabric markers and paint, and let creativity take over. 2. Monday, April 20 4-5 pm: Rock Painting 3. Community Board Games and Gaming Guild on Wednesday 1:30-3 pm. I reached out to the Women’s Club, Friends of the Library in regards to the library’s Centennial Celebration next year. If anyone would like to help plan festivities and events, please let me know. I will be going to the WAPL Conference from April 27-29 Repairs to the Library b. Our back door (ADA automatic door) became hard to open again. I called Wisconsin automatic door and they came out to service it. During the ice storm, the motor died. The tech fixed it and now it works. We also had our microwave fry. I’m going to bring my spare from home. It should still work. Repairs to the Community Center c. Inside i. Plumbing: The mitigation company reported that it is dried out in there and the walls have been cut about two feet off the ground all around the building. I was under the impression that they fixed the problem (the culprit was the hot water line froze and burst) ....they did not. The city recommended that we call contractors to finish the work. I had to call Mike’s Plumbing to come in, fix the problem so that this doesn’t happen again. They are going to fix the problem and redirect the plumbing further into the entryway, so it does not freeze in the entryway. Mike’s is scheduled to come tomorrow (4/16 at 9:30 am). The insurance company approved the repairs. Ii, Once the plumbing is fixed, it’s time for the drywall. d. Brick walkway: Behind the community center, there is a patch of bricks that have been run over by a very large vehicle. The brick walkway by the crane statue has also been disturbed. The staff and I thought it was the mitigation company and their large generators to dry out the community center. I sent the pictures to Chelsea who informed me that public works did the damage. I said I would get it fixed and then send the bill to the city. (My guess what happened is that after we had that snow, the ground was thawing and the front-end loaders of public works ran over them because they were trying to clear the snow. Nobody saw the damage until the snow melted. I think it was just a mistake and not done intentionally, but the damage is plainly evident. I called Lang Landscaping to come and give me a quote to fix the brickwork. There are also stones/debris in the middle of the parking lot. I sent them pictures that I had, but I have not heard back. May 2026 Programming 1. Tuesday, May 19, 6-7 pm: Daughters of the American Revolution: A Legacy of Service 2. Newsletter Is on our website 3. Summer Reading Program 2026 Schedule released I reached out to the Women’s Club, Friends of the Library in regard to the library’s Centennial Celebration next year. If anyone would like to help plan festivities and events, please let me know. 3 Repairs to the Community Center Plumbing: Fixed Drywall: hired NEW Plastering to install insulation and drywall Painting: painting quote approved by insurance Dinah and I attended training for our new software we will be getting. Polaris will go live in August. Library Services (Home Safety Kit) & Youth Support Services Grants (2-year subscription for ABC Mouse) were approved by the Nicolet Board. I am waiting for the PBS Grant money to also come in. That is $1150 in Grant money. 8. Tourism & Marketing Commission/Gillett Area Chamber of Commerce: Chamber President Keri Hicks stated next chamber meeting is Thursday sponsored by Lion’s Club. The Chamber presented 500 dollars to the City of Gillett Community Center from the Forever Fund Disaster Relief. They also will be a $2500 donation to the playground! Thank you! MOTION: Luther/Bunker Motion to move items under finance to Tourism and Marketing. Voice Vote: All Voting Aye - MOTION CARRIED a. Discussion and possible action on 4th of July Donation MOTION: Mohr/Hicks Motion to approve a donation of $1,000 to the Civic Club. Roll Call Vote: All Voting Aye - MOTION CARRIED b. Discussion and possible action on Roy Hubbard Memorial Truck Show Donation MOTION: Mohr/Young Motion to approve a donation of $250 to RHMTS. Roll Call Vote: All Voting Aye - MOTION CARRIED 9. Financial Report: Clerk Treasurer – a. Updated Monthly Check Register MOTION: Luther/Bunker Motion to approve April Check Registers. Voice Vote: All Voting Aye - MOTION CARRIED 10. Police Department Report: Police Chief Breitenbach a. Discussion on Training, Public Relations, and Incident Summary Report -Chief Breitenbach From the Chief’s Desk: Gillett Police Department / 208 incidents / April 2026 The Gillett Police Department hosted the bi-annual National Drug Takeback Day on April 25 from 10am- 2pm. Nearly 40 lbs of medication were collected. These medications were delivered to the northern region drop off site located at the WI State Patrol, Wausau post. The collected medications are turned over to the United States Drug Enforcement Agency for proper disposal. This event is in addition to our daily drug takeback drop box which is located in the police department lobby. 4 SRO Hull has completed her EMT refresher certification training. This training fulfills her EMT refresher requirements for the State of Wisconsin and the National Registry of EMT's. In addition to being an officer and an EMT, SRO Hull is also a certified firefighter. Officer Braun has been appointed as the department’s new Ordinance Enforcement Officer. Officer Braun has been working with multiple property owners. We are seeing moderate but steady improvements at most of the trouble properties. I attended a CORE (Coordinated Response Exercise) pipeline emergency response training hosted by Paradigm Liaison Services. This training helps develop or maintain relationships with local pipeline and gas distribution operators. Attendees were able to network with fellow first responders and operators in our area to pre-plan a coordinated response, as well as receive updated operator and emergency contact information. Additional topics included knowledge of what products are being transported through our communities, specific hazards of these products, leak recognition and response, and proper emergency preparedness communications. We wish to extend a heartfelt thank you to Gillett Girl Scout Troop #4424 for the case of Girl Scout cookies! Thanks for thinking of us! I would also like to thank Shane and Julie Rank for their donation of new wood posts for our temporary No Parking signs. The No Parking signs are utilized during various events throughout the summer. The signs definitely needed the repairs! 11. Fire Department Report: Fire Chief Hicks- 8 calls, lift assist, lift assist, brush fire in Gillett, MABAS call structure fire, death investigation, auto aid Underhill fire, lift assist, lift assist. Training on drafting using a dry hydrant, fill up tenders and tankers, set up scenario where fire was, engine fed engine for water. Captain was incident command, used new firefighters to learn and others observed. Always working on fundamentals. Will patriciate on Rescue Task Force at Oconto Courthouse, they have toured the courthouse inside and out, reviewed active shooter drills, will have active shooter drill at the courthouse. All these entities always put a great deal of time into these drills. A lot of coordination and many hours involved in these exercises. Participated in National Night of Prayer, great turnout. We had received cookies from the Girl Scouts, thank you, we appreciate it! 12. Health, Protection and License Committee Report: Alderperson VanStraten a. Discussion and possible action on Roy Hubbard Memorial Truck Show Picnic License MOTION: Mohr/Luther Motion to approve the RHMTS picnic license. Voice Vote: All Voting Aye - MOTION CARRIED b. Discussion and possible action on 4th of July Parade Route MOTION: Young/Bunker Motion to approve the Parade Route as presented. Voice Vote: All Voting Aye - MOTION CARRIED 13. Utility Committee Report: Utility Operator Matt Wickman reported we had record snow melt, record rain fall, and the ponds at the Wastewater Treatment Plant were very high. The new pump in lift system ran well. B and M Technology fixed alarms that were not responding correctly in the SCADA system. Bought parts for UV system, got the lawn mower ready for cutting, and fixed lawns from plowing. 5 14. Board of Public Works Committee Report: Alderperson Hicks Public Works & Parks Monthly Report: Public Works Department Head Tim Via Reporting Period: April 2026 Land Development & Planning We have been looking into the possibility of getting Orchard Circle surveyed so we can get it turned into buildable lots. Based on what I can see using Google and the GIS maps, it looks like we can comfortably get 5 lots out of that space if we stick to 100’ of curb per lot. If the council wants to see more houses in there, we could definitely make the lots smaller to fit more in, but we’ll need a professional survey to be sure of the layout. I really think this is a great place to save money by not having to maintain and also future making money for the city. Roads, Signs, and Street Maintenance • Pothole Repair: It’s been a busy month for road work. We’ve put down about 8,200 pounds of cold patch so far to get the potholes under control. • Intersection Issue: I noticed a small washout starting to form around a storm manhole at the intersection of 2nd and Woodlawn. We’ve filled it in with gravel for the time being to keep it safe, but we’ll keep an eye on it. • Signage Upgrades: We are currently removing old road signs for the DOT. Once their project is wrapped up, I’d like to see us invest in some new directional signs and posts. I’m looking at moving away from the metal posts and going with wood instead. I want these new signs to look a bit different, so they stand out and help people find their way around better. I’m currently looking into our options there. • Street Sweeping: We did the first full sweep of the entire city this past week. I’d like to run the sweeper through one more time at the end of the month once all the brush and leaf pickup is officially finished. Parks and Cemetery • Mowing & Equipment: The new mower is working great and has been a big help. We used it to do the first cut of the year over at the cemetery and it did a real good job. • Park Maintenance: We were able to get a few more dead trees taken out of the park yesterday. Both of the public bathrooms are now open for the season, and all the trash cans have been put back in their places. • Basketball Court: If we can find the time and have enough people on hand, I’m planning to paint new lines on the old basketball court. Since that’s the only court we have right now, it’d be good to get it looking right. • Honey Park Sign: The sign at Honey Park is in bad shape and falling apart. I talked to Mr. Zimmerman about having the school kids design a new one for us. If the council approves the design, they would build and install it, and the city would only have to cover 10% of the material costs. 6 Cleanup and Volunteer Work • Brush & Leaves: We’ve been doing a lot of chipping and leaf pickup lately. We ran into a bit of a snag because people are putting out "mixed piles" (leaves and sticks together), which means we couldn't use the leaf vacuum. We had to go around with the skid steer and the dump truck to pick everything up instead, which takes a bit more work. • Volunteer Recognition: I want to give a big thank you to the Chamber and all the volunteers who came out to pick up sticks in the parks. It made a huge difference, and walking into work Monday morning to see the parks looking that clean really put a smile on my face, and helped us to accomplish other projects on the list. a. Discussion and possible action on Snow Removal charge- the sidewalk was open and needed to be cleaned, ordinance gives 24 hours after a snow fall and it was not cleaned. 15. Finance and Personnel Committee Report: Alderperson Mohr a. Discussion and possible action on 4th of July Donation- Discussed under Tourism and Marketing b. Discussion and possible action on Roy Hubbard Memorial Truck Show Donation- Discussed under Tourism and Marketing 16. Planning Committee Report: Alderperson Bunker- No Report. 17. Clerk Treasurers Report: City Clerk Treasurer Chelsea Anderson stated the dumpster wasn’t dropped off at spring clean up so GFL is reimbursing us the cost of delivery. The Civic Club reported they had a water leak in the building. We are getting new phones and a new phone system called Spectrum VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol). Our current provider is Spectrum Charter, which is a different company than Spectrum VOIP, no association. The new provider is significantly cheaper and comes with many new technology upgrades. 18. Attorneys Report: Conway, Olejniczak, and Jerry S.C. Attorneys at Law- can help with covenants and deed restrictions on Orchard Circle idea of selling for homes. 19. Public Input: None 20. Mayor's Report: Mayor Blaskowski thanked community members that came out to support the spring cleanup event including the Utility and Public Works Department and all city employees. 21. Adjourn at 8:10 PM MOTION: Mohr/Bunker Motion to adjourn. Voice Vote: All Voting Aye - MOTION CARRIED Respectfully submitted by Clerk Treasurer Chelsea Anderson