Special Town Board Meeting - Budget Workshop — Minutes

Town of Phelps Special Town Board Meeting – Budget Workshop Minutes Monday, October 20, 2025 Phelps Town Hall Page 1 of 2 Pr esent: Town Board Chairman Steve Doyen, Town Board Supervisors – Maureen Robinson, Jeremy Ryan, Dave Selby and Steve Waier. Others Present: Clerk/Treasurer – Sheryl J Ward, Deputy Cler/Treasurer – Kathleen R Ray, and Shop Foreman – Josh Hedberg. 1. Cal l Meeting to Order: Chairman Doyen called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. 2. Roll Call/Quorum Call: A quorum of board members was present. 3. Verification of Public Notice by Town Board: Clerk/Treasurer Ward verified the amended agenda was posted at the Phelps Town Hall/Community Center, Phelps Post Office, Phelps Convenience Center, Town Website, and emailed to the Vilas County News Review on October 17, 2025 4. Correspondence and Communications: None Di scussion/Action on the Following Agenda Items: 5. Consider/Approve sending letter to Landfill Venture Group (LVG) providing notice of intent to withdraw from participation in the LVG: Selby stated that we do not know what the financial impact is but either way we should move forward to withdraw. Ryan stated There is no real closure account or long- term maintenance account to satisfy the DNR. Worst case scenario is that the town might need $65,000 to cover our liability to get out and prevent future financial liability. Mot ion by Waier to approve sending a letter to Landfill Venture Group providing notice of intent to withdraw from participation in the Landfill Venture Group. Second by Doyen. All voting aye. Motion carried. 6. 2026 Budget Preparation – Review/Discuss probable changes to Law Enforcement ( Constable) Budget and General Building (Custodial) budget and any other budget issues the Board deems necessary: Doyen stated he and Sheryl met with constable Brett Petrick to discuss abolishing the Constable position and create an Animal Control Officer. In researching the animal control officer position, we found out that it requires 40 hours of training to get certified. This is a one-time training, and certification lasts as long as he is in the position. This will be an increase in the budget of $2,000. We al so met with custodian Diane Moline to discuss budget changes with the increased hours for the new building. Diane estimates it will take 16 hours per week and an increase of $2,000 in supplies. The Board agreed to changes those budgets accordingly. 7. Move into closed session Pursuant to Wis. State Statutes 19.85(1)(c) for purposes of considering employment, promotion, compensation, or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility – Budget preparation regarding Employee Health Insurance and Wages for 2026 Mot ion by Waier at 3:23 pm to move into closed session Pursuant to Wis. State Statutes 19.85(1)(c) for purposes of considering employment, promotion, compensation, or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility – Budget preparation regarding Employee Health Insurance and Wages for 2026. Second by Ryan. All voting aye. Motion carried. Town of Phelps Special Town Board Meeting – Budget Workshop Minutes Monday, October 20, 2025 Phelps Town Hall Page 2 of 2 8. Adj ourn closed session pursuant to Wis. State Statutes 19.85(1)(c) and Return to Open Session Mot ion by Robinson at 4:05 pm to adjourn closed session pursuant to Wis. State Statutes 19.85(1)(c) and Return to Open Session. Second by Waier. All voting aye. Motion carried. 9. Boar d May Consider Any Action Taken in Closed Session: No action taken. Furt her discussion of agenda item 6., Waier stated there are also changes needed to the Public Works Road Projects budget. Waier stated the West Shore Road – STP Local Grant project will not happen until 2030 so the $900,000 budgeted can be removed from the 2026 budget. In turn, Sheryl stated we will remove the $270,000 projected revenue for this project. Waier stated because the only known amount of the State LRIP – Volkmann Road project is $27,727.51, that is the figure we should use instead of the $125,000 we put in the budget. To keep this budget balanced, the Board agreed to put $80,000 in LGIP Road Maintenance Reserve. The Boar d scheduled a Special Town Board meeting to finalize the 2026 budget on Thursday, October 23, 2025 at 1:30 pm 10. Adj ourned at 4:50 p.m. ____________________________________ K athleen R Ray, Deputy Clerk/Treasurer Minutes are subject to approval at the next Regular Town Board meeting.