2-9-26 Village Board Meeting — Minutes

Village Board Meeting Minutes February 9, 2026 On February 9. 2026, President Mike Brusberg called the Village Board meeting of the Village of Brooklyn to order at 6:30 p.m. Trustees present were Mike Gehrmann, David Berland, Christian Allen, Jacob Bachim, Dan Olson and Todd Klahn. Also present were Noah Hurley, Sue McCallum for Council on Aging, and Clerk- Treasurer Linda Kuhlman. Pledge of Allegiance. Public Comments – Noah Hurley spoke to the proposed subdivision on Highway 92. In his opinion there is better suitable land that is closer and has easier access with municipal streets, sewer and water. If the village needs lots, the next route is to contact local people that have land that touches the existing streets. It doesn’t seem like smart growth to have a subdivision out there, along with whole possible issues with the land as it is. Gehrmann made a motion at 6:32 p.m. to open the public hearing on Ordinance Chapter 108 for Floodplain updates. Olson seconded. Motion carried. There were no written comments and no one present with comments. Berland made a motion at 6:33 p.m. to close the public hearing on Chapter 108 Floodplain ordinance. Gehrmann seconded. Motion carried. President’s report – no major updates. Bachim made a motion to approve minutes from January 26. Allen seconded. Motion carried. Olson and Klahn abstained. Council on Aging report – Sue McCallum reported they’ve had some personnel changes. Assistant director Trisha Nichols started in January. She benefitted from working with the previous employee. Rachel Brickner, the executive director, is retiring in June. Brickner felt it’s better to get someone new started early in the process of the new center. She will be missed. Senior Center plans were released for bids on February 2. The naming is still in process. All suggested offerings from Thysse, the Oregon village board didn’t like. There was also public input. The Oregon village board put out an RFP for a fundraising entity for fundraising for the senior center. Those decisions haven’t been made. Brusberg asked what percentage are they seeking to fundraise. McCallum didn’t know, probably not for the structure, but all extra items like furniture and landscaping, etc. She hopes they can get an endowment set up to continually fund the center. The gift shop made $5,374 last year. All the items are donated or made by volunteers. Dane County contacted the Village of Oregon, and they have monies that they want to give to the Village of Oregon to enhance the park space by the new income-based housing by Kwik Trip. Dane County has funds for income-based housing to put in these types of things. The pancake breakfast was good. Board thanked McCallum for coming. All Star Properties – Bachim stated there’s a lot of information they need to get first. That’s a wet field. He wouldn’t want to say yes or no until they come up with an idea and have a plan. Kuhlman stated the board needs to decide if they will consider it, if all the plans line up. Board discussed that they’re not against it if they can make things work. The village needs to be involved in plans, but they have stated the village will not use any taxpayer funds for any of it. We’re not sure if the state will allow access from the highway. Allen is not against it by any means, if they can make things work. The company has owned the property for quite some time, and they’ve been farming it and kicking the tires for a long period of time about turning it into development. The board has been candid it’s on their dime and not the village, and we can provide oversight and guidance to protect homeowners and with the water and sewer. Everything is conceptual. There’s a lot of diligence that needs to be done. Brusberg reached out to Town of Rutland, and their chair had nothing to offer. It was news to them that this was being considered. Because of proximity to the village, it behooves us to have that engagement. There’s concern if the village doesn’t do something, they will go back to Rutland for a rural subdivision, which would limit the village’s involvement. Board discussed lot sizes, price of lots at $90,000, also there’s a lot of wet land. Allen said the bottom line question is whether or not they should do the testing and reports and engineering, and we’re not going to just say no, if it makes sense. The board agreed the development will need curb and gutter, sewer and water, and sidewalks. If All Star goes forward, this is the board’s position, and All Star makes their decision. That makes consistency for other future developers. Hurley asked about it being annexed versus building through Town of Rutland. He said City of Evansville has extra territorial rights, and they’ve denied subdivisions like this in the past. Is the village in need really badly of lots for residents to come, is that why they’re entertaining this. Klahn said we are running out of lots. We have land in the village, but the owner is not interested in development, and for him it’s not an ideal location. It’s low ground and water table issues. Going north makes sense, but they haven’t offered land. Hurley said from a standpoint of building out a smart city or village, we have the industrial park, and that is working, and going due east for truck traffic, semi traffic, but if you throw some residential in there, in his opinion it’s opposite. Board has seen costs only going one way and it’s harder to tighten the belt. The board has tried to do that over the last few years, but we’re getting to the tipping point that we need growth. We’ve seen some positive residential growth and houses sell quickly. We haven’t had any developers. The village is not a developer. This developer approached us. It’s not the first time the question has surfaced. Brooklyn is in a sweet spot. Brusberg said he’s not into farmers being forced to leave their fields. Klahn said annexation needs landowner approval. There’s also a piece of legislation about extraterritorial rights that might affect subdivisions. The village would prefer the lots were somewhere else, but the company owns that land, and we’re trying to work with them. We need to give them stipulations of what we require, and we will work with you, but if we don’t come up with an agreement, it won’t work. They need to understand we need certain things to go forward and it’s up to them. Here’s what we’re looking at and we’re not funding it, and they have to make the decision if it’s financially feasible. Brusberg made a motion that we’re in support of pursuing the subdivision project with expectation of water, sewer, curb, gutter and sidewalks, and any costs of our engineers will be borne by the developer, and it’s contingent based on the current makeup of the board. Klahn seconded. Motion carried. No opposed. Gehrmann thinks it will be an uphill battle with DNR, the state, etc. Hurley added from a preservation of farmland view, he’d like to see buffering trees planted so it’s not devaluing neighbors. Brusberg asked him to definitely stay engaged. LED sign – Kuhlman stated Wisconsin Sign mentioned that the whole sign on the north side of village should be replaced. They are to get us a quote. Brusberg made a motion to postpone. Olson seconded. Motion carried. Utility inventory program – Kuhlman explained this is a program through our accounting company Workhorse that will replace the program that has become outdated. It’s software that keeps track of fire hydrants, meters, valves, etc., for replacement and testing that is required by the DNR. They are looking at converting the data. Klahn made a motion to purchase the utility inventory software from Workhorse at a cost of up to $4,200 the first year and $600 each year thereafter. Bachim seconded. Motion carried. Floodplain ordinance Chapter 108 – Kuhlman explained the board approved the ordinance in September of 2025, but FEMA noticed the citation references weren’t updated. They have been fixed. Allen made a motion to approve the changes to the Chapter 108 Floodplain Ordinance. Klahn seconded. Ayes – Bachim, Olson, Gehrmann, Brusberg, Allen, Klahn. Noes – none. Motion carried. Bills – Question on costs incurred with Frontier to expand. Kuhlman stated they were billed back to Frontier. Brusberg asked if we have billed All Star properties for engineering time. Olson and Brusberg okayed the bills. Klahn made a motion to approve bills as presented. Olson seconded. Motion carried. Clerk’s report – Financials for January – We had total deposits of $1,684,551.57, that included $1,541,346.64 in taxes, and we had disbursements of $1,156,438.34, which included the January tax settlements to the counties and school districts of $872,491.54. The rest of the financials were given to the board. First half of taxes have been collected, and we received the tax settlements today, so February county and school taxes will be sent out tomorrow. We have collected 74% of the Green County taxes so far this year, compared to 75% last year, and we have collected 76% of Dane County taxes, compared to 74% last year. The second half of taxes are due July 31. Green County Development Corporation annual dinner is March 19, if anyone is interested. Kuhlman spoke with the American Legion contact, and they haven’t received enough interest in having the craft fair on July, and there is no interest from either the Legion or VFW to do fireworks, so the July 4 event is now cancelled. At the Planning & Zoning Commission will need to discuss a new member, because Scott Meier is selling is his last piece of property in the village, and therefore, won’t be eligible anymore to be on the commission. It’s a big loss, because he’s been the commission for a long time and has a lot of knowledge. Gehrmann suggested doing something as a thank you. Public Works Committee meeting next Monday, the 16th. There will be an ordinance meeting before the next board meeting. Verizon antenna signed contracts came in finally, along with the $2,000 signing bonus. They mentioned they will be starting work on February 14, with the ground materials and antennas. After they commence, the monthly rental fee should start the next month. Gehrmann suggested putting something in the newsletter about the project so people know what is going on. Kuhlman participated in webinars for records management and also parliamentarian procedures. Discussion on Robert’s Rules of Order, and there’s a version for small boards. Kuhlman mentioned the board wanted to have a resolution to let supervisors approve trainings, unless the clerk’s office needs to be closed, but Kuhlman stated it’s written in the employee manual that they need to be approved by the board. It was mentioned to have a personnel meeting to discuss changing the employee manual. Berland made a motion to approve the trainings presented. Bachim seconded. Motion carried. Emergency Management Committee – Kuhlman stated the committee met this morning and approved updates to the Emergency Management Manual, including the emergency response plans for sewer and water. They also recommended approval on the updates to the cooling and warming policy to include the village hall, in addition to the community building, during weekday hours as a place people can go. Klahn made a motion to approve the cooling and warming center operations to include village hall during day hours only. Olson seconded. Motion carried. Recreation Committee – Gehrmann stated the main thing to let everyone know is that we have no summer rec director so there will be no summer rec this year. If someone really is interested, maybe they will step forward and volunteer. It can’t happen without a teacher and direction, and every year there’s been fewer and fewer kids taking advantage. This will be the last session for ballet, as the ballet instructor is going to grad school and not available. No one has another instructor in mind right now. They’ve had a good turnout. Yoga Wednesday at 6 has had a steady showing of people, so the building gets used. And pickleball is steady at about 20 people. They have someone who volunteered to help with fall craft sale at the school. The school doesn’t have open registration yet for when we would like to do it. They have requested that the clerk contact the school and get a firm yes, because we can’t tell vendors until we have the school space reserved. The next meeting will be April 20. Gehrmann is acting chair. Brusberg asked if there’s any additional discussion on ways to bring money in for some of the needed work at the community building. Gehrmann said they will be sending out a questionnaire to residents on parks, etc. They can add what would residents like to see and what services are you using. Brusberg would like to have a small booth or table at the food truck nights with a couple board members present and collect donations to be directed towards the community building. It’s also an opportunity for them to engage with the board. The board doesn’t need to decide tonight. Additional questions to ask would be what are you using community building for, what amenities would be needed to use it more, would more use it with a modern kitchen, etc. Klahn made a motion at 7:33p.m. to adjourn. Olson seconded. Motion carried. Linda Kuhlman, WCPC, CMTW Clerk-Treasurer