Minutes

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING MINUTES July 7, 2026 7:00PM 1. Call to order at 7:00PM. Roll Call: Alderpersons Przybyl, Hill, Cauley, Stobbe, Klawitter and Sorenson were present. Staff in attendance: City Administrator Jessi Balcom, Deputy Clerk Treasurer Debra Thiel, Interim Police Chief Noah Knetzger and Street Superintendent Scott Zabel 2. Seat Virtual Attendees (if necessary) None 3. Pledge of Allegiance 4. General Public Comments. Registration card required ( located at podium in Council Chambers). Comments will be limited to 3 minutes per registrant. None 5. Approval of Minutes. RECOMMENDATION: Approve the minutes of the 6.2.2026 Committee of the Whole meeting. Alderperson Hill made a motion to approve the minutes of the June 2, 2026, Committee of the Whole meeting. Alderperson Przybyl seconded the motion. Motion carried by voice vote. 6. League of Wisconsin Municipalities Mutual Insurance Renewal . RECOMMENDATION: Listen to presentation by Baer Insurance Services (representing LWMMI) regarding renewal and proposed increased coverages for the City of Berlin (liability, property, crime, auto, workers compensation, cyber liability coverages) and recommend renewal of insurance coverages to the Common Council. Ryan Burns of Baer Insurance was at the meeting to present the City’s renewal and increased coverages. Property value increased by $3M , which caused a renewal increase. We have received $25,000 coverage without underwriting in the past for our Cyber Security. The LWMMI has recommended we go with a $1 M coverage for about $400 more per year. Public Entities are main sources for Cyber threats to happen. The city has added more security which qualifies us for more coverage. The council was given an option to purchase a $1M policy with a $2500 deductible. Worker’s Compensation increased a bit. There is still one open case. We have implemented Ready Rebound which will help us with the Worker compensation cases. Our experience MOD rate is our lost time and indemnity rate. We are in a good position by being under 1 at .89. Replacement cost buy back for the four EMS vehicles is an option for an additional $2107 per year. Ryan also discussed adding a No-Fault sewer endorsement. It is about an additional $10,000 per year. If something happened to a resident with their sewer/water the money would go to help pay their costs to fix the problem. The city has no obligation to offer this to our residents. It was suggested to ask Brian Malnory, Superintendent of Water & Sewer, how many calls he has received from residents having issues. This would be purely for the constituents working with a third party. It was decided not to move forward with this at this time. Alderperson Hill made a motion to recommend to purchase the EMS vehicle to “Agreed Value” policy and the increase to $1 million dollars in Cyber Security with a $2500 deductible. Alderperson Cauley seconded the motion. Roll Call: Alderperson’s Przybyl, Hill, Cauley, Klawitter and Sorenson, Aye’s. Alderperson Stobbe abstained. 7. Bicycles, Electric Bicycles and Electric Scooters - proposed amendment to Chapter 70 Article III of Code of Ordinances. RECOMMENDATION: Review proposed ordinance amendment and act as appropriate. Our ordinance is out of date on this and needs to be updated. City Administrator Balcom and Interim PD Chief Knetzger looked at other community ordinances. The main concerns discussed are speed and lack of education. Downtown businesses are concerned with doors opening and an e-bike flying by on the sidewalk. There are three different classes of e - bikes that are each regulated by state statutes. If we do pass something like this, we need to create an awareness campaign through the newspaper, social media, and work with the school system. Gas powered scooters typically do not have pedals , which are different from an e-bike. Licensing of bikes is very limited. It is in the ordinance that all bicycles need to be licensed, if this would apply to e-bikes it would be easier to see if they are licensed. There was also discussion on the wearing of helmets. There is no state statute that says helmets are mandatory for riding an e-bike, it is a recommendation. It was decided to reconvene next month with council members bringing some ideas with them about the ordinance. 8. Proposal for Real Estate Services for WIS 91, WIS 49 South to Berlin (Project I.D. 6540 -01-03) RECOMMENDATION: Review and recommend approval of the proposal and authorize the contract with Corre Inc. for Real Estate Service for the WIS 91 Connecting Communities Road project. The city received ten proposals and staff is recommending Corre. Motion made by Alderperson Przybyl to recommend approval of the agreement to be drafted with Corre Inc., contingent on the approval of the contractor and agreement by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Alderperson Sorenson seconded the motion. Motion carried by voice vote. 9. Capital Equipment Bids for Capital Borrowing Projects. RECOMMENDATION: Review and recommend approval of the bids for the projects set forth in the Capital Borrowing plan including Library elevator, Public Works Dump Truck, Loader mounted 2 stage snowblower and mower for Oakwood Cemetery. Street Superintendent Scott Zabel spoke regarding the purchases to be made with our Capital Borrowing plan. The library elevator will be completed by the end of 2026. It should be noted that the library board will be paying $12 ,000 towards the new elevator cab. The snowblower has been ordered and should be in the city by August. The cemetery mower has been ordered; the cemetery board will pay 50% and the capital borrowing will pay the remaining 50%. The estimated replacement cost for the capital borrowing was $650,000; however, the actual replacement cost was $615,395 , and a savings of $34,605. Alderperson Hill made a motion to recommend to approve the purchase of capital equipment as presented. Alderperson Przybyl seconded the motion. Motion carried by voice vote. 10. No Mow May discussion. RECOMMENDATION: Discussion and action as appropriate. Several complaints have come in the last couple of years. After some research it has been found that one month does not really make a difference for pollination. It was asked how many violation letters were sent out after May 31st to cut their grass. This year it appeared that 90% of lawns were cut by June 1st. Properties that need to be cut by the city take at least two cuts to get the lawn back to where it needs to be. Pollination can happen in more attractive ways than letting lawns grow with No Mow May. A motion was made by Alderperson St obbe to recommend to council to discontinue no mow may. Alderperson Hill seconded the motion. Motion carried by voice vote. 11. Recycling Fee Implementation process. RECOMMENDATION: Discussion and action as appropriate. Balcom, Zabel and Deputy Clerk Majeskie have been working with Waste Management to make sure the list of residents is accurate as to who should be getting the waste management recycling pick-up and who should not be. A special charge of approximately $70.80 per unit will be added to the tax bill as a “Recycling Fee”. A letter will be sent to apartment units that have five or more units in them as well as commercial properties that will no longer be receiving the recycling service as of January 1, 2027, and will have to secure their own contract. Mayor Burgess would like a number as to how many this will affect. All this information will be put out on our website and Facebook. 12. WisDOT STH 49 Project Coordination and Update. RECOMMENDATION: Discussions and action as appropriate. Zabel discussed the work being done starting with the change timing. The first phase will be done in 2029, Spring Street, lights towards Oshkosh. Phase 2 will begin in 2030 and be completed in 2031. Phase 2 is the 49 project. B ump outs may take parking spaces in town. Bump outs will be placed in high pedestrian areas for safety such as Mound Street and Brooklyn. There will also be mandatory handicap parking spaces in areas which will impact the number of parking spaces because they are wider. Council asked if angle parking would give more space. Zabel said the state really doesn’t like the angle parking. Any parking we want to maintain must be paid for by the municipality. Broadway street west by the bridge will be narrower and the city is recommending grass instead of concrete in the terrace areas. The council would like to see flashing lights by Mound Street as that is a very busy intersection. Zabel encouraged the council to look at other lighting options in other communities and get back to him with what they would like to see. Decorative lighting should be replaced from Mound Street to Spring Street. 13. Residency Requirements of Committee, Board, and Commission Members. RECOMMENDATION: Review and action as appropriate. The Sewer and Water Commission and the Police Commission recommend maintaining the residency requirement for their commissions. With some other boards such as Park & Rec, Travel & Tourism, Oakwood Cemetery, Committee on Aging and the Community Development Authority it would be beneficial to open to non-residents. A limit of two non-residents on each board would be acceptable. Balcom will revamp the Ordinance to include non-residents to be available to be on the boards mentioned above and bring back to the Council. 14. Strategic Plan adoption. RECOMMENDATION: Review and recommend adoption of the City of Berlin Strategic Plan. The Council has set the framework for the goals, now the city needs to start tackling the specifics. Staff are working on these goals and outcomes but will need guidance from council on how to move forward, what do they want to see. Alderperson Hill made a motion to recommend to the Common Council adoption of the Strategic Plan Summary Report. Alderperson Sorenson seconded the motion. Motion carried by voice vote. 15. Employee Handbook. RECOMMENDATION: Review and recommend approval of the amended Employee Handbook section. Balcom went over the couple of changes to the Compensation & Work Schedule of the Employee Handbook, recommending updating the Pay Schedule section to reflect current practices. Alderperson Sorenson made a motion to bring the amended Handbook to Council for approval. Alderperson seconded the motion. Roll call was taken : Alderperson’s Sorenson, Klawitter, Cauley, Hill & Przybyl were ayes with Alderperson Stobbe Abstaining. 16. State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF – ARPA funds grant) closeout. RECOMMENDATION: Receive notice that City has submitted for closeout of the SLFRF grant . Balcom wanted the council to be aware that the close out of the ARPA has b een submitted to the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. 17. Adjourn. Alderperson Sorenson made a motion to adjourn at 8:53pm with a second by Alderperson Stobbe. Motion to adjourn carried by voice vote. Submitted by Debra Thiel, Deputy Clerk Treasurer