Board Meeting — Minutes

1 VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING MINUTES 2 Tuesday, May 19, 2026 3 Approval as amended 4 5 1. Call to Order & Roll Call 6 Presiding Chair Louise Howson called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. 7 8 Present: Presiding Chair Louise Howson, Brigid White, Terry Kelly, Steve Bacsi, Skip Heidler, Patrice 9 Champeau. President Nate Bell excused. 10 11 Staff: Finance Specialist/Treasurer Vlad Gannik, Village Clerk Julie Thyssen. Zoom: Marina Manager 12 Dave Lienau, Utilities Director Megan Barnes, Parks & Streets Director Erik Linczmaier, Village 13 Administrator Benjamin Andrews 14 15 Others: Juliana Bheme, John Jarosh, Chuck Westman, Sarah Bertges, Jill Wiede 16 17 2. Approve Agenda 18 Motion to approve the agenda was made by Kelly and seconded by Howson. Motion carried — all 19 ayes. 20 21 3. Approve Meeting Minutes 22 3a. March 24, 2026 23 Heidler noted he was present at the meeting but had been omitted from the attendance record. The 24 minutes were amended to add Heidler to the list of attendees. 25 26 Motion to approve the March 24, 2026 minutes as amended was made and seconded. Motion 27 carried — all ayes. 28 29 b) April 21, 2026; Regular Meeting 30 A correction was identified on page 8, line 5, where a second was attributed to "Adler." The record 31 was amended to reflect that Howson had seconded the motion. 32 33 Motion to approve the April 21, 2026 minutes as amended was made and seconded. Motion carried 34 — all ayes. 35 36 c) April 27, 2026; Special Meeting 37 Bacsi noted he was present but omitted from the attendance list and further identified that his 38 name was not included among those recorded as voting aye during the executive session vote on 39 page 12. A typographical error on page 12, line 31 referencing "Sullivan Mill Road" was corrected to 40 read "Mill Road." An additional correction was noted on page 12, line 29, where the Village 41 Attorney's name was incorrectly recorded; the minutes were amended to reflect the correct name, 42 Randy Nesbitt. 43 44 Motion to approve the April 27, 2026 minutes as amended was made and seconded. Motion carried 45 — all ayes. 46 47 4. Presentations 48 a) Destination Door County and Door County Tourism Zone Partnership Presentation 49 Minutes of the May 19, 2026 Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees – Approved as amended 2 Juliana Behme, Door County Tourism Zone Administrator, provided an overview of room tax 1 administration and reminded the Board that Tourism Zone Commission appointments are due in 2 June. She reviewed room tax allocation requirements, noting 30% is unrestricted municipal revenue 3 and 70% must support tourism promotion and development. 4 5 Behme reported continued growth in lodging rates and seasonal lodging inventory, while rented unit 6 nights remain flat. She also highlighted improvements in room tax compliance and ongoing efforts to 7 identify waterfront versus inland rental properties. 8 9 John Jarosh, Destination Door County, presented updates on: 10 • Community Investment Fund grants, including support for the Sister Bay ice rink project. 11 • Municipal reimbursement and CBA funding programs. 12 • Door County's tourism-related economic impact. 13 • Workforce recruitment initiatives and hospitality recognition programs. 14 • The Destination Stewardship Plan and its focus on sustainability and workforce issues. 15 16 Jarosh reported short-term rental bookings are up more than 10% compared to last year and noted 17 Door County is expected to host a record number of J-1 visa workers in 2026. 18 19 5. Comments, Correspondence and Concerns from the Public 20 Chuck Westman of Lakes Gas Propane inquired about the Village's propane bidding process. The 21 matter was referred to the Finance Committee for review. 22 23 A written comment from Jill (10704 Wood Crescent Lane) requested Board support for Open Door 24 Pride Month. 25 26 6. Proclamations 27 a) June 2026 as 'Open Door Pride Month' 28 President Howson read the proclamation declaring June 2026 as Open Door Pride Month. Discussion 29 included proper flag display protocol at Village properties. 30 31 Motion to accept the proclamation was made by Howson and seconded. The motion carried 5-1 — 32 ayes from Howson, Allison, White, Kelly, Champeau and Bacsi; opposed by Heidler. 33 34 7. Ordinances & Resolutions 35 a) Resolution No. 2026-002; Authorizing Municipal Credit Card Services 36 The Board approved establishing municipal credit card services with Nicolet Bank, including 37 participation in a 1% cash-back program and discontinuing Elan Financial Services. 38 The Village's total credit limit will increase from $20,000 to $30,000. The Board directed that cash-39 back proceeds be used exclusively for Village purchases. 40 41 Motion to approve Resolution No. 2026-002 with the additional requirement that the 1% cash back 42 benefit be used exclusively for village purchases was made by Heidler and seconded by Kelly. Motion 43 carried — all ayes. 44 45 8. Discussion/Action Items 46 a) Northern Door Sports and Recreation; Proposal; Facility Reservations Management 47 The Board approved a one-year agreement with Northern Door Sports & Recreation to manage 48 online reservations for Village recreation facilities at a cost of $1,450 annually plus processing fees. 49 50 Minutes of the May 19, 2026 Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees – Approved as amended 3 Motion to approve the Northern Door Sports and Recreation facility reservations management 1 proposal as presented was made by White and seconded by Kelly. Motion carried — all ayes. 2 3 Action Items: 4 • Review facility rental fees. 5 • Obtain quarterly usage reports. 6 • Establish a refund policy consistent with Village practices. 7 8 b) Strategic Planning / Elected Official Training 9 Staff reported that strategic planning proposals from Innovative Public Providers and Administration 10 Associates will be presented at the June meeting. The goal is to complete a strategic plan for 11 implementation beginning in 2027. 12 13 Action Item: Both strategic planning firm proposals to be included in the June Board meeting packet 14 for review and selection. 15 16 c) Amend 2026 Open Book and Board of Review dates (May 21, 9–11 a.m.; June 1, 3–5 p.m.) 17 The Board approved revised dates to comply with statutory notice requirements: 18 • Open Book: May 21, 2026, 9:00–11:00 a.m. 19 • Board of Review: June 1, 2026, 3:00–5:00 p.m. 20 21 Motion to approve the amended 2026 Open Book and Board of Review dates was made Howson and 22 seconded by Heidler. Motion carried — all ayes. 23 24 d) Technology Device and Cloud Services Policy 25 The Board reviewed revisions to the policy, including reimbursement limits, eligible expenses, and 26 cloud storage requirements. Smartphones were removed from eligible reimbursable expenses. 27 28 Action Items: 29 • Remove smartphones from the eligible reimbursable expenses list. 30 • Forward the revised policy to legal counsel for review prior to final adoption at the next 31 Board meeting. 32 33 e) Monthly Financial Report & Appropriations 34 The Board approved bills totaling $476,970.82. 35 36 Discussion included marina garbage charges, Christmas light removal expenses, fuel costs, county 37 snow and ice billing, and a budgeted snowplow/broom purchase. 38 39 Staff was directed to review garbage billing, verify light-removal costs, and monitor fuel 40 expenditures. 41 42 9. Staff Reports 43 Staff provided the following updates: 44 • Frontier Broadband Update: Local representative Robbie Leclerc was unable to speak 45 publicly on behalf of Frontier without corporate approval. A written statement will be 46 provided and included at the Parks Committee meeting on June 1, and will be made 47 available to the full Board. 48 • Zoning Map: The updated zoning map approved at the April 21 meeting is now available on 49 the Village website under Municipal Code. The next step is updating the GIS layer, which 50 may be completed in-house or through the Bay Lakes Regional Planning contract. 51 Minutes of the May 19, 2026 Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees – Approved as amended 4 • TID Overview — Baird: Baird has been contracted to provide a comprehensive TID overview 1 and performance analysis, to be presented at either the June or July Finance Committee 2 meeting. TID 101 training will also be offered to Finance Committee members and any 3 interested Board members. 4 • Administration Building RFP: The RFP for architectural and engineering services closes June 5 12, 2026. Strong interest has been received; submissions are typically received in the final 6 days prior to the deadline. 7 • Highway 57 Utility Extension Project: Staff is working with village engineers to identify the 8 project's service area and determine beneficiaries, a prerequisite to working with Baird on 9 financing options. No project has been approved; the village remains in the information-10 gathering phase. Upon completion of the service area analysis, the matter will return to the 11 Finance Committee for review and recommendation. 12 • Highway 57 Trail Project: Staff met with REL representatives regarding the trail project. The 13 DOT has raised concerns regarding the trail crossing location. Alternatives are being 14 evaluated and will be discussed at an upcoming Parks Committee meeting. The project start 15 date is not expected to be earlier than 2027. 16 • Cold Storage Building — Parks: Solicitation for bids was completed. Erik received one bid, 17 which will be presented at an upcoming Parks Committee meeting. 18 19 10. Committee Reports 20 The following committee reports were included in the packet and reviewed: 21 • Marina Committee 22 • Finance Committee — April 13 23 • Sister Bay Liberty Grove Fire Board — May 21 agenda included (meeting not yet held) 24 • Special Plan Commission Meeting — April 20. Staff confirmed that current copies of the 25 zoning code have been provided to commission members in digital format per a prior 26 request. 27 • Ad Hoc Green Tier Legacy Community Committee — April 22. Howson reported the tree 28 giveaway was successful. 29 • Parks, Property & Streets Committee — May 4. The scheduled walking tour was moved to 30 the fall. 31 • Sister Bay at Liberty Grove Library Commission — April 13. 32 • Personnel Committee — April 29. A typographical error was noted on page 21, line 9, where 33 "house" appeared in place of another word in reference to contacting the local newspaper. 34 35 11. Matters to be Placed on a Future Agenda or Referred to a Committee, Official or Employee 36 The following items were identified for future agendas or referral: 37 • Door County Tourism Zone Commission Appointments — to be placed on a future agenda 38 ahead of the June appointment deadline. 39 • Strategic Planning — Firm Proposals — to be included on the June Board meeting agenda. 40 • Technology Device and Cloud Services Policy — to return following legal counsel review. 41 • Propane Services Bid Process — referred to the Finance Committee to research the 42 appropriate bid process and solicit bids from available providers. 43 • Village Board Bylaws Review — to be added to a future agenda. 44 • Geothermal and Solar Feasibility — referred to the Parks, Property & Streets Committee for 45 evaluation in connection with the new administration building construction, including a 46 review of geothermal viability given the rocky terrain and solar panel roof orientation 47 requirements. 48 49 12. Next Meeting 50 The next Village Board meeting has been confirmed for Tuesday, June 16, 2026, at 6:00 PM. 51 Minutes of the May 19, 2026 Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees – Approved as amended 5 1 13. Executive Session 2 a) Wisc. Stats. 19.85(1)(g) — Fiber Optic Discussion 3 Motion to convene into executive session pursuant to Wisc. Stats. 19.85(1)(g) to confer with legal 4 counsel rendering advice concerning litigation strategy with respect to the Fiber Optic Discussion was 5 made and seconded. Motion carried — all ayes. 6 7 b) Motion to Reconvene into Open Session 8 Motion by Kelly seconded by Heidler to reconvene into open session. Roll call taken. 9 10 c) Motion for Action, if Appropriate 11 No action was taken. 12 13 14. Adjourn 14 Motion to adjourn made by Bacsi and seconded by White. Motion carried — all ayes. 15 The meeting adjourned at 8:12 p.m. 16 17 Minutes respectfully submitted by Julie Thyssen, Village Clerk 18 19