Regular Town Board Meeting — Minutes

Town of Phelps Regular Town Board Meeting Minutes Wednesday, October 8, 2025 Phelps Town Hall Page 1 of 5 Present: Chairman – Steve Doyen, Town Board Supervisors – Jeremy Ryan, Steve Waier and David Selby. Also Present: Clerk/Treasurer – Sheryl J Ward, Deputy Clerk/Treasurer – Kathleen R Ray, and 17 citizens. Supervisor Maureen Robinson joined the meeting remotely. 1. Call Meeting to Order: Chairman Doyen called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. 2. Roll Call/Quorum Call: A quorum of board members was present. 3. Pledge of Allegiance: Recited. 4. Verification of Public Notice by Town Board: Deputy Clerk/Treasurer Ray verified the 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 October 6, 2025. 5. Correspondence, Communications and Reports: Dave Selby announced he is not running for another term. He will stay involved helping with special projects, etc. Waier stated he attended the LRIP meeting held at the Vilas County Highway Department. Also, we have a new business in Phelps. New Orchard is located on Volkmann Road, and he has apples for baking and the deer and also corn and other items. Waier encouraged people to stop by and welcome the new business. Doyen stated improvements to Volkmann Road are in the 2026 budget, we just don’t know how much we can spend until we know how much grant money we receive. It is in the budget in some way or another. Doyen also stated he will be attending a meeting at the Town of Conover to receive a check from the Ride with Leine fund raiser. Discussion/Action on the Following Agenda Items (Public Comment will be Allowed on Each Agenda Item): 6. Approval of the following Meeting Minutes:  September 10, 2025, Regular Town Board Meeting  September 10, 2025, Special Town Board Meeting and Budget Workshop  September 24, 2025, Special Town Board Meeting and Budget Workshop Motion by Waier to approve the Minutes of September 10, and September 24, 2025, meetings as present. Second by Selby. All voting aye. Motion carried. 7. Approval of September 2025 Financial Report: Motion by Waier to approve the September 2025 Financial Report as presented. Second by Ryan. All voting aye Motion carried. 8. Approval of Checks and ACH/EFT Transactions: from September 1 through September 30, 2025, including Check #’s 20188 – 20238 Motion by Waier to approve Checks and ACH/EFT Transactions: from September 1 through September 30, 2025, including Check #’s 20188 – 20238. Second by Selby. All voting aye. Motion carried. Town of Phelps Regular Town Board Meeting Minutes Wednesday, October 8, 2025 Phelps Town Hall Page 2 of 5 9. Kentuck Lake wake boat concerns: Mark Masiola addressed the Board and asked for their help to form a committee to investigate the wake boat issues across the state and come back in April 2026 with a recommendation on how to protect the lakes in Phelps. Selby was in favor of authorizing a committee to investigate and research the issue and gather information to come back with a proposed comprehensive plan for an ordinance. Rollie Alger suggested it should be the Lakes District Committee that coordinate this. Doyen expressed concern with setting a precedence. We do this and then we will be asked to write an Ordinance for no motorized boats on small lakes, etc. Ryan stated his concerns are with enforcement. Research shows lakes with a “good neighbor clause” have a 99% compliance rate. Have you done that? Motion by Doyen to ask the Towns Lake District Committee to work with this group to come back in Spring 2026 with a recommendation. Second by Waier. All voting aye. Motion carried. 10. Electric Vehicle (EV) charging station at new community center: Doug Henke approached the Board with the idea of installing an electric vehicle (EV) changing station at the new community center while construction is still underway. It is the perfect time to consider installing it for future use. Doug stated people with EV’s google the areas that have charging stations and plan their trips accordingly. A great way to bring EV owners to our community. Selby stated he will talk to Hoeft and Gayle at REL to get the logistics of installing something like this at this stage of construction. Doug stated he would be willing to work with Selby on putting together a cost analysis. 11. Consider/Approve Internal EMS Budget Amendment for budget shortfalls as follows:  Revenue: Acct 5230002 – EMS Run Wages $4,200.00 Expense: Acct 5230012 – Ambulance Billing Services [$2,000.00] Expense: Acct 5320041 – Ambulance Medical Supplies [$2,000.00] Expense: Acct 5230021 – Ambulance Maintenance [$200.00] 0.00 Motion by Ryan to approve Internal EMS Budget Amendment to pay budget shortfalls in Ambulance Billing Services, Ambulance Medical Supplies and Ambulance Maintenance totaling $4,200 from the EMS Run Wages. Second by Waier. All voting aye. Motion carried. 12. Consider/Approve Internal Highway Budget Amendment for a budget shortfall as follows:  Revenue: Acct 5330043 – Snow Fence $117.00 Expense: Acct 5330042 – Gravel [$117.00] $0.00 Motion by Waier to approve Internal Highway Budget Amendment for a budget shortfall in Gravel from the Snow Fence Acct. Second by Selby. All voting aye. Motion carried. Town of Phelps Regular Town Board Meeting Minutes Wednesday, October 8, 2025 Phelps Town Hall Page 3 of 5 13. Consider/Approve Internal General Finance Budget Amendments as follows:  Revenue: Acct 5142002 – Administrative Assistant $1,223.00 Expense: Acct 5142055 – Clerk/Treasurer Equipment (laptop) [$1,223.00] 0.00 Motion by Ryan to approve Internal General Finance Budget Amendment to pay $1,233 for a new laptop from the Administrative Assistant Acct. Second by Waier. All voting aye. Motion carried.  Revenue: Acct 5142002 – Administrative Assistant $400.00  Revenue: Acct 5142036 – Clerk/Treasurer Maintenance $564.00  Revenue: Acct 43615 – WEC Grant $600.00 Expense: Acct 51450 – Town Website (website/email .gov domain) [$1,564.00] $0.00 Motion by Ryan to approve Internal General Finance Budget Amendment to pay $1,564 for website/email .gov domain using $400 from the Administrative Assistant Acct, $564 from the Clerk/Treasurer Maintenance Acct and $600 from the WEC Grant Acct. Second by Waier. All voting aye. Motion carried. 14. Consider/Approve External Town Lakes Budget Amendment for clerk error on budgeted payout as follows:  Revenue: LGIP Reserve Town Lakes $246.00 Expense: Acct 5570015 Lake Management [$246.00] $0.00 Motion by Ryan to approve External Town Lakes Budget Amendment to pay for a $246 budget shortfall in Lake Management Acct for clerk error on payout from the LGIP Reserve Town Lakes Acct. Second by Waier. All voting aye. Motion carried. 15. Consider/Approve Internal & External Planning & Dev. Commission Budget Amendments as follows:  Revenue: Acct 5579408 Broadband Development $20,000.00 Reserve (Internal)  Revenue: General LGIP Reserve (External) $7,633.00 Expense: Acct 5193881 – General Liability Insurance [$27,633.00] $0.00 Motion by Ryan to approve Internal and External Planning & Dev. Commission Budget Amendments to pay the remaining 2025 General Liability Insurance of $27,633 using $20,000 from Broadband Development Reserve (Internal) Acct and $7,633 from General LGIP Reserve (External) Ac ct. Second by Waier. All voting aye. Motion carried. Town of Phelps Regular Town Board Meeting Minutes Wednesday, October 8, 2025 Phelps Town Hall Page 4 of 5 16. Consider/Approve Budget Amendment to pay Pat Crum Plumbing & Heating Invoice of $2,109 for the repair of the Town Hall/Library sewer line issue. Revenue: Acct 5160021 – Community Center Repairs has $660.00. Need $1,449.00. Motion by Waier to approve a Budget Amendment to pay Pat Crum Plumbing & Heating Invoice of $2,109 for the repair of the Town Hall/Library sewer line issue using $660 from Community Center Repairs Acct and $1,499 from LGIP Library Reserve. Second by Ryan. All voting aye. Motion carried. 17. Discuss Safety Guidelines for Use of Facility Permit for events with the potential to impact Fire and EMS resource s: Jeremy stated this issue came up because this year Scarecrow Fest extended the area and expanded past Hill Road which blocked the access for EMS/Fire to provide services if there was an emergency. I am not picking on Scarecrow Fest, I am thankful it has grown to this extent, but we also must be mindful of providing emergency services if needed. These safety guidelines are something I thought about for any event that requests a road closure, has a significant attendance, alcohol is being served, a fireworks display or other activities with the potential to impact Fire and EMS resources. I am open to your suggestions. This is just a draft. Waier stated he likes what is being proposed. Motion by Waier to approve adding the Safety Guidelines to the Use of Facility Permit Application for events with the potential to impact Fire and EMS resources. Second by Selby. All voting aye. Motion carried. 18. Consider/Approve procedure for approving new private road name – the County Uniform Addressing System Chapter 28 does not require full town board approval – assign a designated member for a more expeditious process: Doyen stated this was brought to our attention that it doesn’t have to be the full Town Board that is needed to approve the new private roads. Doyen stated he would like to keep it the way it is. Waier agreed. Jeremy would like to see an internal process of notifying the Fire Department and EMS Director as a first step of review. 19. Consider/Approve Lakefront Pines Park sod and pavilion project plan for 2026: Removed from agenda at this time. 20. Consider/Approve Spectrum quote for dedicated fiber and phone system for the new community center: Selby presented the quote from Spectrum to service the new community center with dedicated fiber and phone system. Selby’s suggestion is to go with the 3-year plan with 100 mbps at a cost of $425.00 per month. Motion by Doyen to approve the Spectrum Quote for 36-month/100 mbps at $425.00 per month for dedicated fiber and phone system for the new community center. Second by Waier. All voting aye. Motion carried. Town of Phelps Regular Town Board Meeting Minutes Wednesday, October 8, 2025 Phelps Town Hall Page 5 of 5 21. Update on former Lillian Kerr Health Care Center property:  Demolition project: Waier stated the crushing portion of the project is done and the Town will be asking for the remaining pile to be moved off the property. The material is not cost effective for the Town to use.  Future Development Strategies: Ryan stated the property is split-zoned, so it puts a snag in the proposed use. Vilas County Zoning has said because they don’t allow split- zoning of parcels anymore, we will be required to use the most restrictive district when designing the development. Jeremy stated Thrive will be meeting to discuss all the options. There is just a pause right now in the ideas to present. 22. Update on Republic Services Recycling Contract : Waier is working on reviewing the contract more closely and sending a new counterproposal to Republic. 23. Update on new Community Center project : Selby stated a lot of progress is happening at the site. Several decisions have been made. We are $189,000 under budget not to mention the additional $133,000 in donations received. It is going well. 24. Update on new Town Shop project: Waier reports things are moving along at the new shop. Steel is being erected, and a projected move-in date is January 2026. 25. Update on Hwy G Landfill issue: Selby stated a full Commission meeting is scheduled next Friday in Arbor Vitae which he will be attending. The Town Board agreed to collaborate with the Town of Conover to withdraw from the LVG because of growing concerns with the financial liability our Town may have. Ryan stated he sent a letter to the Town Chairman of Conover , Karl Jennrich, requesting a collaborative effort by both towns. Karl stated it will be on the Town of Conover Agenda to approve on Thursday, this week. Jeremy stated the next step will be to write a formal letter to the LVG requesting the towns withdraw. Jeremy will draft a letter. 26. Adjourn at 7:21 p.m. __________________________________ Kathleen R Ray, Deputy Clerk/Treasurer Minutes are subject to approval at the next Regular Town Board meeting