Planning & Development — Minutes

Town of Phelps Planning and Development Commission 4495 Town Hall Rd., PO Box 157 Phelps WI 54554 Phone/Fax 715-545-2270 Commission Members Quita Sheehan, Chair Gene Hojan, Vice Chair Maureen Robinson, Secretary, Town Board Rep. Eugene McCaslin, Citizen Member Mark Neitzel, Citizen Member Jon Ward, Citizen Member Chad Scheissl-Moore, Citizen Member MEETING Minutes PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION PHELPS TOWN HALL Tuesday Aug 5, 2025 TIME: 5:30 P.M. 1. CALL MEETING TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order by Vice Chair, Gene Hojan, at 5:32 PM. 2. QUORUM OF MEMBERS’ PRESENT: Quita Sheehan, excused absence, all other members present. 3. VERIFICATION OF PUBLIC NOTICE: Confirmed; see bottom of the minutes for locations. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES of July 1, 2025: Motion was made by Eugene McCaslin; second was by Mark Neitzel; motion carried. 5. COMMUNICATIONS AND CORRESPONDENCE: Gene provided a reminder on reviewing the Thrive Handout on plans for the redevelopment of the hospital; it was decided to invite Jeremy Ryan to the next meeting. Maureen volunteered to send Jeremy the invitation. DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS AS FOLLOWS 6. PARKS DEPARTMENT a. Parks Financial Report: Chad presented. There were no big expenditures since the last meeting. b. Park Supervisor Report: Chad Schiessl-Moore i. Parks Report - Wavering Park & LPP; native plantings are doing good and the sign describing the purpose of the native plantings is up. All events have gone smoothly. Trash clean up after events has been delegated to the Phelps Chamber and Phelps Snowmobile Club, following their respective events. Leinies ride was very successful; there were over 500 participants. ii. Boat Landings - Smoky Lake has some washout at the boat landing causing boats to have to back in further; lake level on Smoky is down. There is a dip in gravel after the concrete slab. iii. Trail Maintenance - Bike Trail maintenance was needed by K and E; there was washout dumping sand right onto the bike trail. iv. Shooting Range – backstop replacements; trash has been less with better cleanup by the users. c. Shooting Range renovation: Dave Selby continues to keep this project moving forward. The renovation will be completed during the Town’s 2026 budget, primarily with state and private grants. d. 5 year Parks Plan review: see budget discussion below. e. Military Creek Trailhead signage: Josh has made multiple calls to the County to see what options would be for signage along CTY E that would make the public more aware of the Trailhead parking area. The Planning and Development Commission feel that it is being under utilized. 7. PARKS BUDGET: Chad, Dave Selby, and Josh Hedberg worked on the 2026 Parks budget to be presented to the Town Board on August 13, 2025. The budget requests will allow for continued operation of parks, along with improvements to the shooting range and Lake Pines Park. 8. PLANNING and DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION BUDGET: Maureen Robinson will be presenting the 2026 budget to the Town Board on August 13, 2025. The budget requests will allow for the continued functioning of the PDC and funding of current and future projects, such as the fire tower restoration, support of the THRIVE project, support of the CDA with housing and downtown revitalization ideas, and the next Comprehensive Plan update (last version was 2019). The Commission is beginning a chapter by chapter review, in their monthly meetings. Per state statute an updated plan is required every 10 years. 9. LAKEFRONT PINES PARK USE: a. Garbage management discussion: as mentioned above it was decided that Phelps Chamber and Phelps Snowmobile Club would dispose of trash after their events to minimize spread by animals and the need for Parks employees to work overtime on a Saturday morning, following Friday events. b. Rental use fee discussion: No dumpster will be added to the park. 10. THRIVE a. Development plan review. Share comments for compilation. This was tabled until the next meeting. The review will take place when Supervisor Ryan is at our next meeting. b. Former Hospital Demo Timeline: The contractor is ready for rock crushing, hauling away gravel, and then landscaping. All of this should be completed by September. 11. SUBCOMMITTEE UPDATES - a. Housing Development Planning and CDA: Supervisor Robinson, will be working with the Town Board to reactivate the CDA. More roof tops are going to be necessary to support new businesses establishing in Phelps. Housing, per state statute, is one of the primary functions of the CDA. b. Military Hill Fire Lookout Restoration Project: Eugene McCaslin reported that the structural analysis was to be completed the week of August 10th. c. Town Shop update: Gene Hojan reported that they are currently working on foundation/walls; steel is being delivered August 18th; erecting begins the 15th of September. d. Veterans Memorial: Gene Hojan reported that the newly formed committee of Veterans met on July 29th to discuss options for sites; there were very diverse opinions on the best location; some members were going to familiarize themselves with all of the sites presented prior to their next meeting on August 13th. e. Broadband Status: Gene Hojan reported that Spectrum is waiting on a permit from the National Forest for work on HWY E towards LVD; work will continue on HWY 17 and County A. f. Community Center Workgroup: Gene Hojan reported that work is beginning on utilities and excavating, and that things are moving along. 12. SET DATE FOR NEXT MEETING – Tuesday September 2, 5:30 PM. 13. ADJOURN: Jon Ward made a motion to adjourn the meeting; Mark Neitzel seconded the motion; the motion carried.Vice Chair Hojan adjourned the meeting. /s/ Quita Sheehan, Chair _________________________________________________________________________________________________ This meeting notice was posted at the Phelps Convenience Center, Phelps Post Office, Phelps Community Center/Town Hall Office, and the Town website. (Notice is hereby given that a majority of the Town Board might be attending this meeting. This constitutes a meeting of the Town Board pursuant to the State ex rel. Badke vs. Greendale Village Bd., 173 Wis. 2d 553, 494 N. W. 2d 409 (1993), and must be noticed as such, although the Town Board will not take any formal action at this meeting.)