072325-COW-minutes

VILLAGE OF BONDUEL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2025 President Russ Gehm called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Gehm read the statement regarding the posting of the meeting. PRESENT: Sean Falk, Russ Gehm, Matt Pleshek, Brenda Staszak, Michelle Streetman and Kay Zuleger. Excused: Andrew Court. AGENDA: Motion by Zuleger, second by Streetman, to approve the agenda as presented and to deviate from the order as necessary. Motion carried unanimously. MINUTES: Motion by Zuleger, second by Pleshek, to approve the minutes from May 28, 2025, Committee of the Whole Meeting as presented. Motion carried unanimously. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF CITIZENS AND OPEN FORUM. Jesse Rankin, Director of Municipal Operations; Keith Fischer, Police Chief; Jake Rhode, SRO; Tyler Pluff, Village Attorney; and Tim Novitski, Village Resident. The Redevelopment Authority and the Village Board approved a recent ordinance for Vacant Building registration. This ordinance requires owners of vacant buildings to register the building and to allow six-month inspections by the Village staff. The RDA and Village have a few reasons for passing this ordinance. The RDA would like to see thriving businesses in the downtown area. The RDA has money for façade grants that could be used to encourage these building owners to open a business and improve the look of their buildings. In addition, the Village would like to see new businesses but also wants to protect the infrastructure in these empty buildings. This past year the Village had a vacant property that the water line broke before the meter and flooded the basement. This water was not metered and the discrepancy in lost water needs to be explained to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission in the annual report. Letters were sent out to the vacant building owners this last week. Some of the owners are upset with the new ordinance. Tyler Pluff, Village Attorney, was present to discuss the legality of the ordinance. There are many municipalities who already have similar ordinances on file for similar reasons. The Village ordinance was based on regulations from other municipalities to stop buildings from becoming rundown. This is perfectly legal for a municipality to enforce. Rankin believes that at the next Board meeting in August some of the vacant building owners will be present to address the ordinance with the Board. Tyler Pluff will be present at the August meeting to discuss it. Village of Bonduel – Committee of the Whole Wednesday, July 23, 2025 Page 2 REPORTS: Municipal Operations Department Report. The mill and overlay on North Jefferson Street began on Tuesday. The groundbreaking for Bear Trail Crossing went well and Rankin thanked the Board members who attended. NEW BUSINESS H1. Discussion and possible recommendation on Washington Street Sanitary Sewer Liner. Video inspection of the sewer lines on Washington Street, discovered the line between State St. and Cedar St., need to be relined. Rankin contacted multiple companies to obtain estimates. VisuSewer was the sole firm willing to undertake the project because of the length of the line. Besides relining the pipe, extra pressure grouting will be required to connect the pipes. Funding for this repair will come from the sewer fund. Motion by Zuleger, second by Staszak, to recommend to the Board to approve the sanitary sewer lateral relining and grouting on N. Washington Street. Motion carried unanimously. H2. Discussion and possible recommendation on adopting Shawano-Menominee Counties hazard mitigation plan. Shawano County Sheriff’s Office recently updated the Hazard Mitigation Plan for Shawano and Menominee Counties through a federal hazard mitigation planning grant. The Sheriff’s Office is asking for each municipality to adopt the resolution which is required as a condition of the grant funding. If the Village choose not to adopt the resolution, the municipality would not be eligible to apply for and receive mitigation funding in the future. Motion by Staszak, second by Pleshek, to recommend to the Board to adopt the Shawano- Menominee Counties mitigation plan for future projects. Motion carried unanimously. H3. Discussion and possible recommendation on obtaining an additional Reserve “Class B” Liquor License. The Glenn Lounge has purchased the one Reserve Class B liquor license the Village had. The State set a quota for each municipality in 1997, to limit the number of Class B liquor licenses issued. The Village has 6 regular and one reserve Class B licenses. Class A and Class B beer licenses do not have a quote but do follow other rules. Bonduel Mini Mart has inquired about getting a Class B liquor license for their property where Subway was located. There are regulations the Mini Mart would need to meet to hold both a Class A and Class B license on the same premise. The Village could ask another municipality in the County to sell one of their Reserve Class B Liquor licenses to us, that cost would be a minimum of $10,000 which would be paid by the new licensee. Maroszek asked if this was something the committee would like to pursue. The committee discussed the current number and agreed that there are enough combination liquor licenses already in the Village. Motion by Zuleger, second by Streetman, to not move forward on getting any other Reserve Class B Liquor Licenses for the Village at this time. Motion carried unanimously. Village of Bonduel – Committee of the Whole Wednesday, July 23, 2025 Page 3 UNFINISHED BUSINESS I1. Discussion and possible recommendation on amendments to the Village Personnel Policy. During the last meeting, the Committee suggested several amendments to the Village Personnel Policy. The holiday schedule will be updated to include a full day off on Good Friday and Christmas Eve, along with an extra day off for the Day after Thanksgiving. The current vacation increase schedule will remain unchanged. Maroszek inquired whether the Committee wished to state that the vacation schedule could be modified or negotiated by the Village Board as necessary for new hires or employee incentives. The Committee agreed that this would protect the Board in case changes occurred outside the usual timeframe. Motion by Zuleger, second by Falk, to recommend the Personnel Policy updates to the Board as outlined and to include a provision in the vacation policy permitting the Board to adjust the increase schedule at their discretion. Motion carried unanimously. ANNOUNCEMENTS: Upcoming meetings were discussed. Motion by Zuleger, second by Staszak to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 6:34 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Michelle Maroszek, Clerk/Treasurer