4-13-26 Village Board — Minutes

Village Board Meeting Minutes April 13, 2026 On April 13, 2026, President Mike Brusberg called the Village Board meeting of the Village of Brooklyn to order at 7:18 p.m. Trustees present were Dan Olson, David Berland, Mike Gehrmann, Christian Allen, Todd Klahn, and Jacob Bachim. Also present were Jim Brown, Trenton Diehl, Sheri Arndt, Frank Seitler, Leif Spilde, Anna Seidenstricker, and Clerk-Treasurer Linda Kuhlman. Pledge of Allegiance. Public Comments – Spilde would like to thank Dan Olson as public works chair and for being on the village board. It’s been great working with you. President report – Brusberg thanked all the poll works for their work at the election. He appreciates what they did in terms of getting things done timely. Thanked Dan Olson for his dedication on the board. He’s pleased with all the contributions he made to the community. His amount of knowledge of Brooklyn will be hard to replace. Don’t be a stranger. Brusberg said they won’t discuss committees tonight but take a look at the committee assignments and either reaffirm, or if you need to change, they can talk it through. Welcome to Frank Seitler and congratulations for being elected to the board. Allen made a motion to approve minutes of March 23. Olson seconded. Motion carried. Bachim abstained. Sno Hornets/Sno Blazers Labor Day Tractor Pull Application – Sheri Arndt and Trenton Diehl were present. They will have the same format as last year. Nothing is changing. Klahn made a motion to approve the application of special events permit for Sno Hornets and Oregon Sno Blazers snowmobile clubs for the Brooklyn Labor Day Truck and Tractor Pull. Berland seconded. Motion carried. Berland made a motion to approve the amplification application for the Labor Day Truck and Tractor Pull for the Brooklyn Sno Hornets. Bachim seconded. Motion carried. Trenton Diehl would like to donate to the village $500 from the Labor Day Truck and Tractor Pull Committee, and they ask the village put it towards upgrades at the park. They appreciate what the village does for them. The board thanked them. Jim Brown – The American Legion Post 160 proposes signage dedicated to the American Legion that they would like to place in the park. The park shelter has a gabled roof on it, and their latest recommendation and proposal from the sign company was placing an oval up in that space in the gable on either end that could be read from both sides, and they’re wondering if that would be acceptable to the village board. Brusberg asked what would be included on it. Brown said the signage they would like to put in place is something commemorative of the formation of the Legion Post originally going back to 1919. It was one of the first in the nation and chartered in 1920 and six acres of land was purchased early to mid-1930s. They would like to include a little bit of the past history of the post, not going into too much detail. The post was originally the Benjamin Johnson Post 160. Later more recently it was changed to the Brooklyn-Oregon American Legion Post. They’re working with a sign company to keep it as simple as they can and maybe a 3-4 foot oval. They’re working out the details. They mainly wanted to ask if it’s acceptable to use either end of the gables. Klahn asked that they send a picture to the clerk when they get the sign finished, and the board will review it and approve it. Klahn made a motion at 7:28 p.m. to go into closed session. Gehrmann seconded. Ayes -= Klahn, Bachim, Olson, Gehrmann, Brusberg, Berland, Allen. Noes – none. Klahn made a motion at 7:55 p.m. to return to open session. Bachim seconded. Ayes -= Klahn, Bachim, Olson, Gehrmann, Brusberg, Berland, Allen. Noes – none. Berland made a motion to recommend the preferred sheriff’s deputy to Dane County Sheriff’s Office that was discussed in closed session and agreed upon by the interview panel. Klahn seconded. Motion carried. Sidewalk in front of Anchor Club – Brusberg and Allen met with Marshall on Thursday. Allen said in the end they strongly recommended our decision will be adding a sidewalk cut to pretty much guarantee there are no further issues there, and they gave him an opportunity to look into expanding his drain to a wider one with no grate, if he feels the one that’s there isn’t sufficient for his roof, and then also the recommendation if that’s done, take that french drain, take a chunk of it to 90 degrees at the end of his alley and have that take the drip from his alley and roll it into his new wider French drain, if that’s what he wants to do. Marshall wants to get a second opinion from Roneck. If they agree with that, they told him they’d update the board on the recommendation and then come to a final decision after he tells them what came of that discussion. Brusberg said the intention once he gets back to us is to meet again, gather his thoughts and get an ultimate suggestion of action from the board. It was told whatever they do will be taken to bid. Bachim said it sounds good, and there’s a plan, and if he agrees on it, that sounds good. Olson said to get it in writing. Brusberg said whatever we do will be in writing signed by him. Allen said they went a little further and they talked about possibly four or six slabs. They’re already pitching in front of the alley, but they can take a little bit in front of Goble’s garage, Allen won’t disagree with that. It’s arguably even flatter there than in front of his alley. The concrete that got poured back in the alley was high compared to the existing slab, and it does catch water there, so they could take a six-inch grinder to grind off that high edge. Klahn asked if we can fill in the rest of the sidewalk down the block. Brusberg said they will look at that. Klahn would like to see it done. Brusberg asked Spilde if he’s okay If that gets filled in all the way down. Spilde said that’s fine. The original plan was those property owners wanted it like that. Brusberg doesn’t want to overpromise, but Marshall said he would donate towards that. Brusberg said it’s on the list. Ultimately they got to an agreement. Brusberg thanked Allen for his assistance. Chip sealing bids – Bachim asked if there are any concerns with low bid from Fahrner at $38,657.63. Green County was $47,851 and Scotts was $41,000. Gehrmann asked how often we do chip sealing on each street. Spilde said every 7 years. It’s the most cost effective way to maintain streets. Discussion on differences in price. Spilde said there is plenty of money in the budget to also do crack filling. Bachim asked if the bids include anything like diesel costs. Klahn said we’re early enough in the program that they prebought all their oil. Gehrmann asked about street sweeping. Spilde said street sweeping is on us. Klahn made a motion to accept Fahrner’s bids for the seal coating for all of the streets listed not to exceed $39,000. Bachim seconded. Motion carried. Committee assignments – Brusberg asked that between now and next meeting, the board should look at the committees. We need to get Scott Maier replaced on Planning & Zoning, if anyone knows of someone in the community that would like to be on the committee. Brusberg would like to recommend Allen for public works replacing Olson. Olson didn’t see anything on the bills. Olson asked if the Village View Partnership land split that the zoning administrator looked at gets charged out. Kuhlman explained that no, that’s part of questions that the zoning administrator gets from time to time. Olson made a motion to approve the bills as presented. Klahn seconded. Motion carried. Clerk’s report – Financials for end of March, there were $93,316.81 in deposits and $202,153.35 in withdrawals, for an ending balance in all accounts of $2,943,637.84. Other financials were given to the board. Election results for the village are posted, and congratulations to Frank Seitler as new trustee, and Mike Gehrmann and Christian Allen also won reelection. We have had some issues with the Oregon Observer posting our legal notices. They are using a new company to upload the information, and they missed putting our ballots in the paper before the election, along with the Town and Village of Oregon and City of Verona. They ultimately put them in the online version. Kuhlman is talking with the other clerks about what to do and possibly talk to Senator Marklein and Representative Jacobson. It’s not the first time this has happened. The new manager of the Observer called and said he’s only been there 2-3 months but will make sure this doesn’t happen and will try to get training for us on the new upload software. Brusberg asked about using the State Journal. Green County is starting work on the new jail and costs. They are expecting to not exceed a little over $86 million. They aren’t sure how this will affect people’s taxes, because it depends on how much they borrow and the equalized value, plus they’re trying to get grants. They are estimating by the end in 2028, it could be $1 per $1000 increase in the county portion of mill rate. Gave board the League of Municipalities Insurance Company report of 2025. There is a housing summit in May that Green County is presenting, if anyone is interested. Our property insurance company sent an email about their increases and how they figure out what the increase will be. PSC has come out with a new dashboard that the public can look at to explore water rates are in different communities. It’s a current snapshot in time, and they’re not sure how often they will update it. The cradle point died in the squad during the last two days of Deputy Grumke’s time. US Cellular said the sim card went bad. The county has now upgraded the equipment to their equipment using Verizon. By the time a new deputy starts, the Verizon tower upgrades will be done. Verizon has the ground power done and the antennas up, but they need the antenna crew to come back and connect the two. Kuhlman will cancel the US Cellular cradle point and will set up auto payments for US Cellular. There is a League of Wisconsin Municipalities training on April 22 in Oregon, if anyone is interested. Seitler is interested. Kuhlman received call from someone interested in pricing and availability in business park, but they were talking about retail and residential. They were told residential isn’t allowed, but depending on the retail, it might work. Klahn made a motion at 8:21 p.m. to adjourn. Gehrmann seconded. Motion carried. Linda Kuhlman, WCMC, CMTW Clerk-Treasurer