3-24-25 Village Board Meeting — Minutes

Village Board Meeting Minutes March 24, 2025 On March 24, 2025, President Mark Bruner called the Village Board meeting of the Village of Brooklyn to order at 6:30 p.m. Trustees present were David Berland, Mike Gehrmann, Mike Brusberg, Dan Olson, Chris Groenier, and Christian Allen. Also present were Jon Solan from Strand, Frank Simpson, Ashley Leavy, Deputy Merrick Grumke, and Clerk-Treasurer Linda Kuhlman. Pledge of Allegiance. Bruner convened the public hearing at 6:30 p.m. No written comments. Jon Solan went through the Hotel Street and parking lot project. Hotel Street will be one-way from Rutland to Commercial. Putting in new asphalt paving on street and the parking lot. Contract signed. Finalizing preconstruction meeting for next week. Curb and gutter and sidewalk is subject to special assessment per village ordinance. A sidewalk will go through the space between Village Hall and building next door. Simpson asked if getting rid of bump-outs by 92. Solan said we still have it because it will match what state is doing on 92. We’re trying to get the project done before the state comes through on Highway 92, so we’re on a fast construction schedule. There will be limited access on the street, but there will be times it can’t be parked on. The project should start in late April, early May. They will start with underground utilities and will be done by mid-July. Simpson asked about driveway access on south side of the road. Solan said there’s one by the apartment buildings. Simpson asked if it will be curb along the south side now with no driveways. Gehrmann said if they change in the future and need access, the curb can be cut. Allen asked if there will be an apron there. Solan confirmed that yes, it will be thicker, and there are a few properties that have the 7” for the driveway added to their special assessments. Solan said utility relocations will impact residents on north side of the street. South side of street is fed behind the buildings. There will be a four-hour window for crossover to new service. They can communicate on timing. Simpson asked about power. Solan said it will remain overhead. Alliant is not using this as an opportunity to bury power. The pole in front of Anchor Club will be gone during construction, but will go back up after project done. Simpson asked about lighting for the parking lot. Solan said it will be along the fence line coming back to the west. Alliant will put in a few more poles. Simpson asked about concrete if he can get four feet past the gate with concrete pad for the dumpsters. Solan will look at that. It’s a big pad, with privacy fence around it. Brusberg asked about communication to residents about construction schedule. Solan said however the village wants to handle that. They will have someone on site that can update residents. The contractor has to build ramps for residents to get in and out as much as possible. They will over-communicate scheduling. Ashely Leavy asked when the project is scheduled. Solan said mid to late April and they have to be done by mid-July. Leavy asked if there’s been an environmental study done. Solan said yes, they have to include all that with the project applications to the state. Leavy asked about air quality. Solan said they are supposed to keep that to the minimum using water or other products. Allen made a motion at 6:50 p.m. to close public hearing. Groenier seconded. Motion carried. No public comments. President’s report – Bruner’s second to last meeting. He received a catalog from Spielbauer Fireworks. He doesn’t know what the board’s intention is. He would like to put on agenda for next meeting. He wished everyone good luck, and don’t forget to vote April 1. Brusberg made a motion to approve minutes from March 10. Olson seconded. Motion carried. Special Assessments on Hotel Street – How long does the board want residents to be able to pay back the special assessments, what interest rate do they want to use if not paid all at once, and if they want to charge an admin fee if it goes to the tax roll. Gehrmann asked what we typically charge. Kuhlman said 10% of what’s being paid each year, for time for clerks to send out letters and put on tax roll. Bruner said normally it’s 10 years for payback. Gehrmann said that’s what it was on S Kerch and then the interest at that time. Residents can pay back all at once, or split it over 10 years, and interest is paid on the annual amount. The admin fee is based on the yearly amount due and is only charged if it’s not paid annually and we have to put it on the taxes. A reminder letter is sent out by August-September and the residents have until November 15 to pay before it goes to the taxes. They have the option to pay either the whole amount or annually, and they can pay off the amount anytime before the 10 years. Brusberg made a motion that the special assessments for Hotel Street project will have a payback period of 10 years, an interest rate of 6 percent mirroring our interest rate anticipated for the project and a 10% admin fee tacked on only if not paid by November 15 of each calendar year. Gehrmann seconded. Motion carried. Berland abstained. Main Street Music special event May 16 and 17 – Andy Meyer wasn’t present. Kuhlman said it is on his private property. They play music outside during the day and outdoor music will stop early evening. Gehrmann asked about neighbors. Olson stated it hasn’t been a problem in the last few years. Bruner said it’s been signed off by public works and fire department. Kuhlman also sent to Deputy Grumke. Berland made a motion to approve the Main Street Music special event and sound amplification permit. Groenier seconded. Motion carried. Autumn Harvest Festival at Legion Park – Ashley Leavy stated she has volunteered to organize an annual harvest festival. We have some amazing local farmers and producers in the community. Chamber has done a great job promoting Bountiful Brooklyn. She hopes to combine traditional harvest festival with family friendly activities and education. She talked with Oregon Public Library about setting up a seed library and other education materials. She has seven farms in the area who have agreed to set up and provide produce, meat, eggs, flowers, fruits, vegetables. She is trying to get the Bookmobile. The 4H club has agreed to help out with parking and setting up. She got tentative approval that the Brooklyn Dairy Queen will be there with trays of cheese. There will be three to four food trucks, all of the farm vendors, activities for children, and she’s proposing a community art project. Emma Dehlinger, who grew up in Brooklyn, owns an art studio in Oregon and she has volunteered to sponsor materials and run it where people can paint small 3” canvases. The Chamber has allowed them to use their insurance. Emma will then put the canvasses into a quilt and hopes to install it in the community building as an annual art feature. Brooklyn Barn agreed to come and make soaps and candles. She wants to stick with locally produced things. Someone will run a tomato taste test, they will have small contests. She would like board help in approving the application with an amendment of a new date of September 20 and no sound amplification. No alcohol. She needs to get some banners done and port-a-potties. She thinks it will get a big draw. She’s asking for whatever support the village can provide. Gehrmann said someone wanted to do a fun run last year, and that might work in the morning. Leavy said Green County Humane Society is interested in bringing animals for adoption. Gehrmann said they would probably have insurance that would cover that. Allen asked if this has been done somewhere before, because it’s very well down. Leavy said no, she’s been working on the idea for awhile. She has invited Alpine Ridge but hasn’t heard back. Kuhlman added that she will need to work with fire/EMS and public works. Leavy said they would need small barricades by parking and event space, for safety. Kuhlman will coordinate with Grumke on sheriff coverage. Leavy she would like to do free or low cost to farmers. She will speak with McCann’s about port-a-potties. Simpson said he will take care of getting the port-a-potties. Allen likes the event, and it seems like a good idea. Brusberg asked when they would start setting up. Leavy said probably 8 a.m. Allen asked if any problems with public works bringing out barriers. Bruner confirmed touch base with them a few weeks before. Brusberg asked her to get resources from fire/EMS. They will have someone out there. Simpson reminded to talk to the state on when they’ll be done with Highway 92 project. Gehrmann made a motion to approve the fall harvest permit application with the amendment of date change and no PA system. Olson seconded. Motion carried. Business Park village-owned parcels – Jon Solan from Strand showed an aerial of business park with contours as of now. The area is full of kettles, with high and low spots and depressions. It can be challenging with Dane County’s requirements for developing. Phase 2 took excess excavation material from the ditch and pond and spread it out to fill in depression in phase 3 areas to make the lots more attractive to developers and builders. The 2.3 acre lot is a little more challenging. There’s a ridge that goes through the park, and everything north of the ridge drains to 92 and south drains toward Rock County. That parcel is right on the edge. There are depressions and kettle in southern area, and there’s infiltration requirements with developments in Dane County. There’s not enough room for drainage to the regional basin to the north, so those parcels need stormwater controls onsite. LeBrun wanted buildings throughout the site. The northern portion of the property isn’t too bad, but southern part they would have to bring in a lot of fill for infiltration. For infiltration they go out with a boring machine and a geotechnical engineer finds apparent high ground water elevation. In this case it’s 969. In Dane County, you need another five feet of separation between that. You still want more on top to make ponds hold and store it. That’s what drove him to not like southern part because he wasn’t having a good way to put the buildings in and getting infiltration requirements without bringing everything up significantly, like 6-7 feet. In the future when there’s a regional pond in phase 4, we can take that regional treatment out and provide what we’re providing in the north, so they can do their actual storage offsite. It’s still a challenging lot. You’re still going to need a lot of fill in the southern part of the lot. If someone wanted to come in and wanted an acre and a half, acre and a quarter, the northern part is probably a good spot. Southern part is challenging. Gehrmann asked about the lot of Northern Metal. Solan said they looked at both lots there. The new Northern Metal lot is served by the northern stormwater pond so they don’t have to have the same storage. Solan talked about the elevations. He's not overly concerned about that lot. A standard type of development will be okay. The north part of the 2.3 acre lot will be okay. Wade Wyse even said they could put four buildings in there, but they wanted 8-10 buildings. Someone smaller looking for a 2,500 square feet, some storage, some parking, might be a better fit. Brusberg asked about the 8 acres to the east. Solan said they looked at the elevations 971, 972, it’s at the point where some drains to the north and some south. You’re getting the 973 range, and if you spread it out and put building pad in, you’re probably high enough to get infiltration okay. Discussion of contours on whole property. He would be surprised if they would get the same issue as the 2.3 acre lot. The 8 acre lot will have to have some kind of pond. They don’t see it being a huge issue. Brusberg asked about the southern 40 acres and to maximize buildable acreage, how do we design infrastructure to maximize that. Solan said that also has a depression. It will probably flag for a wetland area, and there will be an environmental corridor that they can’t touch. They’ll put stormwater controls by that because they’re tighter setbacks than development. They laid out alternatives for that, and they think stormwater will be challenging down there. Brusberg asked if it’s possible to determine what will be developable before doing future deals. Solan said it’s a good idea to explore in more detail before negotiating costs. Gehrmann asked to look at big picture for the whole thing. We should get a handle on everything so we know what we’re looking at. Solan said right now, developers have to do their own infiltration. Allen asked where in phase 4 a stormwater detention would be best. Solan said in the southeast area. The tough part of stormwater is everything will have some issues. Allen asked about putting in infiltration now and only buy what we need and have an easement. Solan said it would be tough. Kuhlman mentioned if we split the 2.3 acre parcel, if we split to a 1-1.5 acre parcel the northern portion would be okay, and the southern part wait until we got the regional pond to help that. Allen said he showed even in the northern part he had to bring in soil. Solan said he hasn’t seen their documents. For infiltration for Dane County and a different builder, it may be more buildable for because they may put something to the north and get infiltration where the land is the highest, and then by the time they put a laydown yard or parking area it doesn’t have the same infiltration requirements. Gehrmann said with all the buildings and all the parking, made that worse. Solan agreed. He said for LeBrun’s application, it is a challenging site with infiltration. The message is he can’t guarantee where the ground elevation is, but he thinks there’s enough relief there. Brusberg asked for the 2.3 acres should we do a cutoff and take off the southern portion, or do we wait on the whole 2.3 acres until phase 4. Kuhlman said if there’s a way to sell something, we’re better off. It’s in the TID and we need to have development to help pay off the TID. Solan said we can look at that and discuss it. There’s a chance that can break north. If someone comes in and says they want a little over an acre, he wouldn’t turn them away. Olson asked how much is needed for a water tower. Solan didn’t know. Olson asked if it’s possible to put a water tower on the southern section, if we were to divide that out and it’s not buildable. Solan said you don’t need a ton of space. Bruner asked if we need as big as what we have now. Solan said they would have to look at it. Bruner said if we can use that for a water tower, it would solve problems for phase 4. Brusberg asked about another lift station. Solan said the one put in will serve for phase 4, and potential tie-ins to the west. Kuhlman said if you’re talking about putting in a water tower in that spot, it has to be built before 2028 or it can’t go in until after the TID closes, because there is a cutoff for building from the village five years before a TID closes. Solan also knows an updated water study has been talked about. Brusberg asked if we go all the way east, with a potential development, will we need a water tower at that point to help with flows. Solan said the water tower needs are for fighting commercial fires. It’s not an on-demand capacity, it’s for fire capacity. There are certain requirements for certain buildings. He doesn’t know about pressure. From a capacity standpoint okay, but if we had a tower closer, pressure might be better, but he hasn’t run that yet. Truancy ordinance – Kuhlman said it was a request from Deputy Grumke and the school. Brusberg asked if it’s similar to others. Kuhlman said it’s pretty standard and follows state statutes. Grumke said the big difference is like Oregon, for example, has municipal courts where the court can order certain outcomes for being truant. Ours can only be monetary. It’s another way to get someone back in school. This will serve the elementary school and is written so parents can be ticketed for not bringing kids to school. Brusberg and Berland said this is only for the elementary school. Grumke spoke with the Brooklyn principal. She has looked at the ordinance. Olson asked if it was run through legal department through Dane County. Grumke said it’s based off the other ones, and states statutes are attached and define truancy and what makes it habitual. Berland asked if there’s a conflict between Dane County statutes and Green County statutes. Grunke said it’s the state one. It’s just like any of our other ordinances that would be handled by Green County. Gehrmann made a motion to approve ordinance 20-17 for truancy. Brusberg seconded. Motion carried. Discussion on temporary structure ordinance – Kuhlman said Grumke weighed in and asked for definition of recreational, so she changed it to leisure activities. We took out the time period for tents in public spaces because it has to be authorized by village board anyway. It won’t be approved until next month’s public hearing. Allen asked about the citations and removal paragraph, is there a verbiage in reoccurring offenses that no warnings or citations after immediate removal following that. He has concern that we remove it, it comes back and we have to give three warnings again. Bruner asked if that’s how it would be interpreted. Grumke said they should define it. He views as once he’s been working with them, it’s to be removed. But if he’s not the one we get, they could interpret it differently. If there’s a tent, and then sleeping in a car, that’s two different circumstances. Should put something in that there’s only one notice in a year or whatever, to make it clear. Bruner suggested adding any further violations of this ordinance will result in the removal of the violation immediately with no additional warnings. Grumke suggested spelling out public assembly and define leisure activities. Grumke will talk to county attorney about how to deal with situation if person is in vehicle when it needs to be towed but owner not leaving the vehicle. Bruner said we need to work on wording and have ready for public hearing. Deputy Grumke left. Groenier left. Traffic study at Business Park – Jon Solan said they sent in preliminary counts associated with driveway onto 92. They submitted the application and heard back from DOT. DOT wants an abbreviated TIA, which is good, but when they listed requirements, it’s almost a full TIA. They have reached back out to DOT, but haven’t heard back yet. They have a call planned for Thursday. They will question some of their requirements. DOT wanted some additional intersections counted, like 14 and Rutland. Strand will challenge them on that. We’re in a standstill right now. What they want will entail modeling the intersections, which will go above and beyond what they scoped before. If we get the answers and it’s in line with scope in task order, they could proceed. Allen asked if any change if it happens to be 25 through that whole area. Solan said it might. They’ll talk to DOT and then stop until they get additional approval to move forward. If they start working on it, it will be about two months back and forth with DOT. The TIA is specific for the development proposed. If that changes, we would have to submit a new one, but they would swap in the new proposed counts and resubmit. That’s the risk of going forward, but we might want to get it approved. Approval is good for about a year for groundbreaking, and the counts are good for about a year. Solan said at the end of the day connecting with Kings Lake Road or maybe looking at a bypass or can’t connect. Olson would like some more information before deciding. Brusberg asked if a development down 92 closer to 14 would have to do a study of 14 at the roundabout. Solan said if they’re closer, they probably will have to do a count. That’s one thing they will argue, that this was destined to be a business park when they first started. Brusberg made a motion to postpone. Olson seconded. Solan left. Olson asked if the costs for removing the outside work was added into the loan amount. Kuhlman stated it was not, because that had been paid by general fund balance previously. Berland made a motion to approve Resolution 2025-05 Hotel Street and parking lot project borrowing from Board of Commissioners of Public Lands of Wisconsin, and read the entire resolution into the record. Brusberg seconded. Ayes – Berland, Olson, Bruner, Gehrmann, Brusberg, Allen. No noes. Motion carried with six aye votes. Kuhlman stated with the remodeling we won’t need some of the filing cabinets and tables and asked if we can sell them, along with some public works items, at auction. We would send in photos, and purchasers would have to pick up from here by end of April. Allen made a motion to approve sale of extra furniture, and items from public works. Brusberg seconded. Motion carried. Village Hall interior painting – Kuhlman stated we received three quotes – Fine Finishes ($7,800), Hallinan ($6,550), and Summers ($6,750). Berland asked what we know about the lower bidder. Bruner said he’s local and painted the community building. Berland made a motion to accept Hallinan as painting project bidder. Brusberg seconded. Motion carried. Village Hall Flooring – Kuhlman stated we received three quotes – Coyle ($17,725 or $20,725 depending on style), Crown ($24,517.01) and Sergenians ($20,375). We asked Gerlach to bid, but they weren’t able to make the timeline work. Kuhlman stated Sergenians pulled up carpet in different areas in the building and stated they think the area on the south has asbestos in the glue of the carpet. All bidders were told about the asbestos under the tile. Neither of the other companies looked. Public Works took a couple samples of the carpet to the state for testing. It takes a couple weeks to get results. We felt it was better to know for sure. The carpet companies do not do that work. She is asking for permission to get quotes and line someone up if it comes back positive. None of the carpet companies will do the abatement. We would have to call an abatement company. They can pick the flooring company, though. Sergenians called and got an average quote of $6,600. Bruner said let’s wait to see what the state says. Kuhlman would like to have the board pick the flooring company so we can let them know. Allen suggested going with Sergenians. They’re lower and they had the mindset to look for the asbestos. He’s worked with them before and they do a good job. Coyle does a good job also. Kuhlman said the prices are the same. Brusberg asked about the difference between the Subtle style and Balcony style. Kuhlman gave the same specs to everyone, but she doesn’t know the difference. We need to confirm with Sergenians the style they quoted to make sure it’s apples to apples. Allen made a motion to approve Sergenians if they went with Subtle style in their bid and Coyle if Sergenians used Balcony in their bid. Brusberg seconded. Motion carried. Kuhlman asked if we have permission to pursue the asbestos, if it is there. Allen asked if we know who we’re going with. Kuhlman doesn’t know yet but doesn’t want to waste time. Olson says Dirty Ducts does. Allen agreed and Safe Abatement are who he’s worked with. Brusberg asked for a list of by contractor, project name and dollar amount we’ve approved to date relative to the budget. Kuhlman stated we have a balance of $77,183 set aside for this project. Not including the outside, because that was paid with fund balance last year, wee have spent $13,785 on the LED light changeover, $42,000 for Joe Daniels, $6,550 for Hallinan painting, about $21,000 for flooring, possible abatement, and $6,412 for Swinehart Plumbing. Allen asked if Joe Daniels is doing the electrical. Kuhlman said yes, the electrical to move what they have to move. Brusberg said without abatement we’re at $89,747. Kuhlman said we have $173,000 in general fund balance, which is undesignated funds not part of the budget. Brusberg asked what else we’re not figuring in. Kuhlman said some desks and a table for the board. Olson asked about locks. Kuhlman said locks were paid for last year. Brusberg said we’re at $95,747 if we include abatement. Allen made a motion to approve a budget of $7,000 on abatement costs if needed, preferably three bids and select the lowest bidder out of the three that come forward with a price. Gehrmann seconded. Motion carried. Kuhlman asked if the board wants to go with the logo in the middle of the tile where the counter is being removed. The board said just a tile for contrast. Spectrum proposal for village hall – Kuhlman spoke with Spectrum about putting in telephone and internet lines to the other side of the building for the new offices. They came back with a proposal to change services and it was $750 per month. Kuhlman has spoken with the contractor from Joe Daniels, and he said their electrician can pull the lines. Then our computer company will hook up to our system. Bills -- Brusberg reviewed the bills and instead of $554.45 for Computer Know How, it should be $544.45. It was just a typo. There was also a $5.05 credit for GFC leasing. Kuhlman stated that was a payment to GFC. We had several credits from GFC, but in order to claim credits, you need to go online and match a credit with an invoice. She’s been doing that over the last several months, and used the final credit with the last invoice. Olson also reviewed bills and found nothing additional. Brusberg made a motion to approve bills, with the correction to Computer Know How decreasing it to $544.45 in total. Olson seconded. Motion carried. Fire/EMS District Commission – Brusberg reported they had a discussion about the old ambulance. They are checking into options for selling. When they have meetings with Oregon, with the intent to have district meetings with Brooklyn and Oregon, and weave it into conversation. New ambulance is in service, and they have used it. Still working out putting in defibrillator with mounts. Rate increase went into effect February 26. They talked about employee assistance program. Received an FAP grant in 2025 in excess of nearly $23,000. The same grant last year was slightly less than $7,000. There were changes at the state level. Gehrmann asked what it’s used for. Brusberg said on the EMS side for supplies and equipment. Oregon meetings will be starting in April. 2% dues got submitted. DHS has a certified public expenditure program, and Sarah, the district secretary, was going to opt into a medicare EMS program to get additional monies. They are looking ahead to 2026 budget. Clerk’s Report - Election is next Tuesday. Absentee voting is this week, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. We have about 96 absentee ballots so far. We talked about village hall remodeling. Kuhlman was appointed by the Wisconsin Municipal Clerk’s Association as treasurer. Board congratulated her. Public Works received a quote from the company that repaved the community building and public works parking lots to repave the basketball court and bike path at Smithfield Park. Quote was for $2,000, so they will proceed with that project. In talking with One Community Bank about getting a loan, they asked if we would ever consider putting accounts with them. Kuhlman is exploring the option to move a few of our accounts that we don’t use that often, we could split it up. She will get back to the board. Our attorney missed the court time last week regarding Railroad Street, but property owner was present. Our default judgment was not approved, but the case was set to a scheduling conference on April 7. If the owner appears, a hearing date will be set. Kathy Pennington, Town of Brooklyn Chairperson and Green County Board Supervisor, sent an email that Green County, the Sheriff’s Department and the state are looking at the safety of Highway 104, and are talking about a project in 2028 that would include widening the paved shoulders to three feet along the roadway, installing centerline and edge line rumble strips, upgrading pavement markings to 6-inch markings and installing safety edge. Board discussed meetings in April. The last meeting for current board is April 14. Kuhlman won’t be available for the 28 th meeting. Brusberg asked if Olson is available. Kuhlman stated it is her normal day off. Gehrmann stated if Olson is available on 28th, that’s fine. Allen asked if we can meet on Tuesday, the 29th. The board will think about it and talk about it at the April 14th meeting. Brusberg’s only request is to try and get an update from Mark or Jeff ahead of 14th. Also get an update on village hall with abatement and include spreadsheet of village hall expenses with board packets. Gehrmann made a motion to approve clerk trip, paying mileage, to League of Wisconsin Municipalities Insurance conference on April 28 and 29 to Wisconsin Dells. Brusberg seconded. Motion carried. Gehrmann made a motion to approve clerk to attend Treasurers Association conference in Elkhart lake, paying for hotel and mileage and conference. Brusberg seconded. Motion carried. Spectrum at public works – Kuhlman stated Spectrum confirmed a 60-month term for the internet and month-to-month for three telephone lines for $280 per month. Current Frontier amount is $380-400. Brusberg made a motion to approve getting Spectrum service at public works. Olson seconded. Motion carried. Alley behind Hotel Street– Kuhlman stated she’s spoken with Combs, who was going to contact our attorney. Combs is suggesting the best way to resurvey is to do an assessor’s plot, which involves getting all the property owners to be there when they survey, and Combs will then survey the whole block and send it to the county. That way there is no quit claim deeds, etc., and everyone agrees. Kuhlman also stated the engineer that reviewed Douglas property in 2023, reviewed it again last week. We’re waiting on the report. Olson asked if the arborist needs to look at once a year. We should check the records. Brusberg also would like to get Alliant in to look again. Brusberg made a motion at 9:02 p.m. to adjourn. Olson seconded. Motion carried. Linda Kuhlman, WCPC, CMTW Clerk-Treasurer