Town Board — Minutes

Town of Phelps Minutes – Special Town Board Meeting Budget Workshop Wednesday, August 13, 2025 Phelps Town Hall Page 1 of 3 Present: Town Board Chairman Steve Doyen, Town Board Supervisors – Maureen Robinson, Jeremy Ryan and Steve Waier. Excused Absence: Dave Selby. Others Present: Clerk/Treasurer – Sheryl J Ward, Deputy Cler/Treasurer – Kathleen R Ray, Cemetery Sexton – Ron Buell, and Chad Scheissl-Moore. 1. Call 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 : Deputy Clerk/Treasurer Ray verified the agenda has been posted at the Phelps Town Hall/Community Center, Phelps Post Office, Phelps Convenience Center, Town Website, and emailed to the Vilas County News Review August 11, 2025. 4. Correspondence and Communications: Maureen asked, on behalf of the Snowmobile Club, if the Town Board would sponsor them using a portion of the 30% room tax revenue since that is part of what the money should go towards. Doyen stated the snowmobile club should be asking the Chamber. That is part of what their 70% revenue should go towards. Discussion/Action on the Following Agenda Items: 5. 2026 Budget Preparation – Tentative Time Schedule:  3:00 pm – Cemetery – Ron Buell presented his budget with one (1) change from last year. Ron proposed reducing Equipment Revenue (Acct 5491060) from $5,000 to $1,000 for 2026. Ron stated he will be purchasing a zero-turn mower this fall at a cost of approximately $3,500. That will leave $1,500 to carry over and with the requested additional $1,000 it should be sufficient. Ron does not anticipate any large purchases next year. The Board approved the preliminary budget of $11,535.50, with projected revenue from fees of $3,500 for a Cemetery Levy of $8,035.50.  3:10 pm – Chamber – Laura Richart was not present however, she submitted a letter stating in part; “…thank you to the Town of Phelps and the Town Board for the many years of financial support provided to the Phelps Chamber of Commerce. Moving forward, in addition to our existing revenue streams…which includes membership dues, event revenue and sponsorships, merchandise sales, raffles, and occasional grants…we are comfortable with our organization being funded from 70% of room tax revenue instead of out of the annual town budget.” Doyen stated, for accountability, the Town should still require the Chamber Director to complete and submit the 2026 budget sheet provided and an expense report. Maureen will reach out to Laura to get those documents.  3:20 pm – Parks – Dave Selby stated he, Chad and Josh worked on this budget together. There are 2 big projects reflected in this budget. The first is to do the shooting range renovation at a cost estimated to be $50,000.00. The second is to sod and build a small, covered pavilion at Lake Pines Park at a cost of $52,000.00. Doyen asked Chad to get a price from Damian Seals on the sod and pavilion to get a more precise cost. Selby explained the net levy for 2026, after revenues and use of reserves, is projected to be just under the 2025 levy budget. Chad Scheissl-Moore was present to discuss the Parks budget. Proposed changes include: From To o Admin Fee $750.00 $0.00 o Garbage $100.00 $0.00 o Equipment Repair $2,500.00 $2,000.00 o Maintenance/Material $11,000.00 $10,000.00 o Water and Sewer $2,400.00 $2,000.00 Town of Phelps Minutes – Special Town Board Meeting Budget Workshop Wednesday, August 13, 2025 Phelps Town Hall Page 2 of 3 From To o Gas & Oil $4,000.00 $3,500.00 o Rifle Range $1,000.00 $600.00 o Boat Landing Maintenance $5,000.00 $3,000.00 o Capital Outlay-Park Imprvmt Reserve $0.00 $10,000.00 o Building Maintenance $7,000.00 $5,000.00 o Capital Outlay-Park Equip Reserve $5,000.00 $10,000.00 o Bike Trail Maintenance Reserve $5,000.00 $0.00 o New- Rifle Range Improvements $50,000.00 o Sod/Grass and renovation for LPP Park $35,000.00 $52,000.00 The Revenue is proposed as follows: o Park Use $800.00 o Donations-Shoot Range/Boat Landings $600.00 o Capital Outlay Park Improvements $63,000.00 o Mak Holcomb Shooting Range Donation $10,000.00 o DNR Shooting Range Grant $18,950.00 The Board approved the preliminary budget of $166,103.48, with projected revenue and use of reserves of $93,350.00 for a Parks Levy of $72,753.48.  3:40 pm – Planning & Development – Maureen presented this budget. There are 2 changes being requested. The first is to add $5,000.00 to Fire Tower Reserve (Acct 5579405). The other change is to increase the Supplies from $100 to $500. Maureen stated they are working on setting up a donation account to raise money for future expenses. The Board approved the preliminary budget of $27,500.00 for Planning & Development.  3:50 pm – General Finance – Sheryl is proposing the following changes: Other Budgets 2026 o Street Lighting from $15,500 to $15,000 o Sanitation-Garbage Collection from $5,000 to $6,025.00 . Sheryl stated, this is based on the 2026 fee increases by Republic Services. o Sanitation-Recycling Contract (Republic Services contract expires 2025) - Unknown $ o New – Sanitation-Employee (possibly to manage the Phelps Recycling Center) - Unknown $ o Vilas County Economic Development from $1,000 to $10,000. General Financial – Legal Services o Decreased from $125,000 to $40,000 General Financial – Clerk/Treasurer o Clerk/Treasurer Wages. Increase by 4% to 62,700. FICA will increase accordingly. o New – Administrative Assistant. $15,000. Sheryl explained she would like to start training the next future Clerk as she prepares for the transition to part-time. o Deputy Clerk/Treasurer Wages. Increase by 4% to 31,200. FICA will increase accordingly. o Clerk/Treasurer Health Insurance. Increased by 10%. Sheryl explained this is just an estimate at this time. o Clerk/Treasurer Inservice’s/Per Diem. Increase from $650 to $750. o Clerk/Treasurer Maintenance. Increase from $8,500 to 10,500. The Board requested to keep it at $8500. Town of Phelps Minutes – Special Town Board Meeting Budget Workshop Wednesday, August 13, 2025 Phelps Town Hall Page 3 of 3 o Bonding. $0.00 this year. (paid every other year). General Financial - Elections o Election Wages. Increase from $2,000 to $4,300. Currently $12.00 per hour, last raised in 2023. Most likely 4 elections in 2026. o Supplies, Printing & Postage. Increase from $1,400 to $2,500. This is mainly for Absentee Ballot Mailing. o Town Newsletter. Increase from $4,200 to $4,400. o Town Website and .gov Emails. Increase from $700 to $2,432. o Dues-WTA. Increase from $1,300 to $1,800 for new Town Advocacy Council (TAC) dues. o Audit & Accounting Services. Increase from $10,600 to $11,250. o Assessor. Increase from $25,000 to $125,000. Revaluation year. Approximately $75,000 in reserve account to help off-set cost. o Reassessment Revaluation Reserve. Reval is in 2026. Do not need to add to reserve. General Building Community Center o Community Center Cleaning Wages. Increase from $3,641.40 to $5,000. Increase for partial year of cleaning the new building. FICA will increase accordingly. o Custodial Supplies & Services. Increase from $650 to $1,000 – new building. o Community Center Repairs. Decrease from $1,100 to $500 – new building. o Hall Heat/Electric. Increase from $2,206.53 to $3,500 – new building. o Hall Water and Sewer. Increase from $400 to $600 – new building. Other Government o Insurance-Highway Workers Comp. Decrease from $20,000 to $11,000. o Insurance-General Liability. Increase from $34,000 to $45,000. o New- Bank Fees. $550.00 to cover cost of ACH and Direct Deposit. 6. 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 . Did not move into closed session. 7. Adjourn closed session pursuant to Wis. State Statutes 19.85(1)(c) and Return to Open Session. Not applicable. 8. Board May Consider Any Action Taken in Closed Session – Not applicable. 9. Adjournment at 5:40 p.m. ____________________________________ Kathleen R Ray, Deputy Clerk/Treasurer Minutes are subject to approval at the next Regular Town Board Meeting