090825-DowntownMeeting-minutes

PRESENT. Russ Gehm, Village President; Jen Falk, Deputy Clerk; Lisa Hughes, RDA; Nikki Bougie, The Glenn; Michelle Maroszek, Clerk/Treasurer; Harlow Arndt, Harlow’s Supper Club; Jeff Mueller, Tom Mueller, and Peter Mueller, Chief Automotive; Jesse Lawrenz, Fred Lawrenz, and Kate and Nick Ferrito, Lawrenz’s Sausage Shop; Jason Hutter, Little Village Pizza Crust; Nate Johnson, Manik Motorz; Megan Wiese, Molly’s Meadows; Keith Folkman, Ken Folkman, and Ken Folkman Jr., 122 N Cecil Street; Lee Pulaski, Shawano Leader; Mark Welch, Plan Commission; Kristen Fish-Peterson, Redevelopment Resources; Peter Thillman, SCEPI; James Cleveland, WEDC; Jesse Rankin, Director of Municipal Operations; Sean Falk, Village Board; Brad Luepke, RDA; NiCole Fisher, The Mill; Keith Fischer, Police Chief; Keith Block, 101 E Green Bay Street; Jessica Gehm, Club 117; Jeff Nolan, 505 W Green Bay Street; Paul Huntington, Regenerative Energy Center; Ben Rotter, Rotter’s Hot Rods; Caitlin Richter, RDA; Jesse Bartelt, Jesse’s Service; Lauren and Jarred Laubscher, Amico’s Midwest Pizzeria; Isaiah Griesbach, Griesbach Chiropractic; and Esteban Vargas, Vargas Martial Arts. INTRODUCTIONS. Jesse Rankin introduced the panel of guests and the members of the various Village boards and committees present. Rankin explained the Small Business Development Assistance match grant available to downtown businesses for façade improvements. PRESENTATION ON VILLAGE OF BONDUEL DOWNTOWN REDEVOLPMENT PLAN. Kristen Fish- Peterson of Redevelopment Resources presented the background on where the Village started and where they are working on going in this process with the downtown. The goal is to revitalize the downtown district and fill the empty commercial spaces with businesses. Fish-Peterson explained the Village applied and received a WEDC grant to pay for her services to come up with a plan. The Village has also set up a Tax Incremental District (TID) to start generating tax funds to put back into the downtown area. The Redevelopment Authority (RDA) was set up to help manage the direction and financials of these funds. The Village RDA applied for the SBDA grant through WEDC and received $100,000 to be used for façade grants for the downtown businesses. All these efforts are to improve the business and community in Bonduel. DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION MEETING LOCATION: GEHM’S CLUB 117 Monday, September 8, 2025 Downtown Revitalization Meeting Monday, September 8, 2025 Page 2 PANEL DISCUSSION. Several of the business owners had questions for Fish-Peterson about what she could help them with. In addition, questions about how the grant money could be used were addressed. Some owners gave their personal experiences with development in the Village or other locations. Some owners wanted to see more businesses in the empty store fronts, and others didn’t want to see any change. Kristen Fish-Peterson encouraged all business owners to reach out to her for assistance and let them know that she will be in contact with them in the next few weeks to discuss what she can do to help them with their business goals. James Cleveland, Wisconsin Economic Development Committee (WEDC), shared with the business owners that the State of Wisconsin sees great potential in the Village of Bonduel and that is why they have awarded various grants to the Village. They believe that the great sense of pride and community here will help drive great things. Cleveland thanked all for attending the meeting and sharing their concerns and thoughts. Rankin shared that the RDA and Village would like to hold more business meetings in the future and asked if other business owners would consider holding a meeting at their place of business. No more questions were asked. Meeting adjourned at 7:12 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Michelle Maroszek, Clerk