Town Board and Plan Commission — Minutes

TOWN OF RIVER FALLS – REGULAR BOARD MEETING Monday, September 15, 2025, River Falls Town Hall Elected officials and staff present: Terry Kusilek, Chair; Mary Foster, Siri Smith, Joe Mahoney, Brad Mogen, Supervisors; Rita Kozak, Treasurer; Sarah Meyer, Clerk; Don Rodewald, Zoning Administrator; Guests present: Mary Merta, Maureen Ash, Jerome Rodewald, Wendy DiPeso, Brian Bergseng, Peter Stern, Mary Merta, Kendra Jaeger, Alex Theobald The meeting was called to order by Chair Terry Kusilek at 7:03pm. Brad made a motion that the agenda be approved. Joe seconded. M.C. Joe moved to approve the minutes of the September 2, 2025, Regular Board meeting. Brad seconded. M.C. Guest Speaker Bob Loberg: Town attorney Robert Loberg was present. He introduced himself to new Board members and shared his services available to the town. Financial Report/Fire Call Report: Treasurer Rita provided the Treasurer’s Report. The current Money Market account balance is $875, 203.58. Joe moved and Mary seconded to start using the newly formatted fire letter. Siri moved, and Brad seconded to approve the financial and fire call reports. M.C. Public Comments & Requests: Kendra Jaeger, N7086 820th Street addressed the CAFO Committee and Plan Commission as well. Kendra requests that the Town enacts a moratorium on Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) to disallow expansion or creation of CAFOs while Town Board is deciding what it will do regarding an ordinance. Peter Stern, W8338 760th Avenue, cautions the Board about creating a new ordinance prohibiting farming activities. Brian Bergseng, N8821 790th Street, spoke in support of CAFO Committee and Peter Stern’s comments. Alex Theobald, N7157 820th Street, spoke in support of a moratorium. He feels that it is a reasonable idea and that ACTP-5 is valid but feels that Peter is excluding concern about public health and safety. Wendy DiPeso, W7791 710th Avenue, feels that pork operations are different than dairy operations and there is currently nothing excluding them from coming in. She has concern about air quality near pork operations and is also supportive of a moratorium. Wendy feels that the CAFO committee has more to learn and has only scratched the surface. Zoning Administrator Report: Zoning Administrator Don Rodewald provided the zoning report (attached). Brad made a motion to accept the Zoning Administrator’s report. Joe seconded. M.C. Plan Commission Report: Siri reported that the Plan Commission approved a dwelling site application for Avant Builders, N7372 County Road O. The Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation Sub-Committee will bring their findings forward to a joint meeting with the Plan Commission and Town Board on October 6, 2025. Discuss Impact Fees: Jerome shared that the Impact Fee Sub Committee met and reviewed information from Stantec regarding the previous process setting impact fees. Stantec is also interested in assisting with the upcoming impact fee process. The committee are evaluating possible projects for future fees. Approve Recycling Grant Application: Rita prepared the application for the 2026 Recycling Grant. Brad moved to approve Recycling Grant application. Siri seconded. M.C. Board and Staff Communications: Siri shared that the new owners on 862nd Street have been doing major work on the property. Don has been in communication with new owners about potential permits needed. Mary shared that there are more dates upcoming for work days at Birch Cliff Park. Sarah gave a reminder that the Wisconsin Towns Association Fall Workshops are coming up next week. She is working on updating the budget documents with additional information that has come in since the workshops. The town received a concerning comment on a recent facebook post about work occurring at Birch Cliff Park. Since the comment was threatening in nature, Terry will report it to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office. Terry said that the mower needs work and possible replacement in the near future. Future Agenda items: • Approve Agenda • Minutes from September 15, 2025, Regular Board Meeting • Financial/Fire Call Report • Public Comments and Requests • Zoning Administrator Report • Plan Commission Report • Update Rules and Regulations for Glass Valley Cemetery • Budget Updates • Resolution to Approve 2026 Budget Proposal • Schedule Public Hearing for 2026 Budget • Board and Staff Communications • Future Agenda Items • Audit and Pay Bills • Adjourn Siri moved to audit and pay bills, Joe seconded. M.C. Joe made a motion to move into Closed Session under State Statute 19.85(1)(c) consider employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation, data of any employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility. Siri seconded. Roll call vote: Mary – aye, Siri – aye, Joe – aye, Brad – aye, Terry – aye. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting moved into Closed Session at 8:27pm. Joe moved and Mary seconded to move back into Open Session. Roll call vote: Mary – aye, Siri – aye, Joe – aye, Brad – aye, Terry – aye. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting moved into Open Session at 8:52. Joe moved to increase employee pay rates as listed in employee pay rate document. Mary seconded. M.C. Joe moved to adjourn. Siri seconded. M.C. Meeting adjourned at 8:52pm.