Common Council Meeting - July 14th, 2026 — Minutes

Common Council Minutes The Common Council met at the City of Nekoosa Office Location: Council Chambers, 951 Market St. Nekoosa, WI 54457 Time: Tuesday, July 14th, 2026, at 7:00 P .M. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm by Mayor Daniel J. Carlson. Roll call was conducted by Kallee Ferk, City Clerk. Roll Call Aldermen Present: Alan Marcoux, Larry Krubsack, Adam Buehring, Mike Kumm, Anthony Carlson, Daniel Downing, Garett Kuhn, and Brad Hamilton. Also in attendance was Rick Schmidt – Public Works Director, Mike Hartje – Fire Chief, Shawn Woods – Police Chief, and Darla Allen – Library Director. Attendance via Zoom: Nick Abts – City Attorney, Bobbi Hertzberg – Treasurer, and Michael Miller Citizen Comment – No citizen’s commented. Approval of Previous Common Council Minutes – June 9th, 2026 A motion was made to approve the minutes of the previous Common Council meeting as written. Motion by: Brad Hamilton Seconded by: Garett Kuhn Motion carried unanimously. Treasurer’s Report A motion was made to approve the treasurer’s report. Motion by: Brad Hamilton Seconded by: Garett Kuhn Motion carried unanimously. Committee Reports Personnel A motion was made to approve the minutes of the Personnel Committee report of July 7th, 2026, to be accepted as written. Motion by: Brad Hamilton Seconded by: Larry Krubsack Motion carried unanimously. Meeting Minutes: 1. Recommend switching to Teamsters Union/Teamcare Health Insurance Plan. 2. Discussion on posting the Public Works Director position. Rick will bring a posting to the Council Meeting for discussion and a vote under “New Business.” 3. Discussed an update by the Fire Chief on the new fire truck. Motion that Item 3 of the Personnel Committee Meeting be adopted for action. Motion by: Brad Hamilton Seconded by: Anthony Carlson Roll call vote: 8 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried unanimously. Public Works A motion was made to approve the minutes of the Public Works Committee report of July 7th, 2026, to be accepted as written. Motion by: Alan Marcoux Seconded by: Brad Hamilton Motion carried unanimously. Meeting Minutes: 1. Recommend amending the previously assessed wastewater charges to the owner of the Moccasin Mobile Home Park. The owner is still willing to pay and is liable for the water that was utilized during that 2-month time frame. The refund will be issued for the sum of $11,790.00. That number was derived based on taking a one-year wastewater usage average and subtracted that number from the in question 2-month total that occurred during their water leak. 2. Discussed Fairview Lane project updates and plans. 3. Discussed possible housing development with Ruesch Companies. 4. Recommend approving a stiff-armed style fishing pier on the Wisconsin River. Please note that this project is being funded by the gracious grants that have been awarded to the City by the Wisconsin DNR, Legacy Foundation, and Wood County CEED Committee. 5. Recommend sending Derek Freeman to the annual Wastewater Convention in Green Bay, WI from October 13th – 16th at a cost of $210.00 per handbook. 6. Recommend sending 4 Public Works employees to Plover, WI for the annual Wastewater Expo at a cost of $110.00 payable per employee per handbook. Motion that Item 1 of the Public Works Committee Meeting be held for a separate vote to be sent back to committee. Brad Hamilton stated that he did not support granting the requested credit to the Mobile Home Park. He noted that while credits had been approved in the past, the most recent request was denied by the Council. He further explained that, following that decision, oversight authorities in Madison advised the property owner that the City is authorized to administer its ordinances as adopted, including the discretion to deny utility credits if such credits are not provided for under the ordinances. He also expressed concern that approving the current request could establish a precedent, as the Council has recently denied several similar credit requests. Additional discussion focused on setting clear expectations with the property owner regarding the need to address infrastructure issues and to monitor the water meter on a weekly basis. Nick Abts, the City Attorney also mentioned that Public Works should take a more hands-on approach with the owner to discuss these issues, to help identify potential problems, all to reduce the likelihood of future incidents. Motion by: Brad Hamilton Seconded by: Larry Krubsack Roll call vote: 7 Ayes, 1 Nays. Anthony Carlson voted Nay. Motion that Items 4, 5, and 6 of the Public Works Committee Meeting be adopted for action. Motion by: Alan Marcoux Seconded by: Larry Krubsack Roll call vote: 8 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried unanimously. Property Recreation and Human Affairs A motion was made to approve the minutes of the Property Recreation and Human Affairs report of July 7th, 2026, to be accepted as written. Motion by: Mike Kumm Seconded by: Larry Krubsack Motion carried unanimously. Meeting Minutes: 1. Recommend Alliant Energy for replacing and upgrading the light pole at Freeman Boat Landing. 2. Recommend adding a baby changing station to the bathrooms at the Cahak Pavillion for approximately $500.00. Motion that Items 1 and 2 the Property Recreation and Human Affairs Committee Meeting be adopted for action. Motion by: Mike Kumm Seconded by: Brad Hamilton Roll call vote: 8 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried unanimously. Ways & Means A motion was made to approve the minutes of the Ways & Means Committee report of July 14th, 2026, to be accepted as written. Motion by: Adam Buehring Seconded by: Anthony Carlson Motion carried unanimously. Meeting Minutes: 1. Audited the bill list. 2. Recommend the various license applications: • Operator Licenses: o The Edge: Katherine Ann Martin o The Party Connection: Wade Alan Pfeiffer and Tonya Lynn Hildebrandt o GPM Southeast (Bread and Butter Shop): Candace R. Oldakowski and Danielle Marie Smith o K&B’s Bar and Grill: Kenneth A. Barton o The Basement Bar (318 Market Street): Aaron John Schrauth, Todd Alan Davis, and Jennifer E. McDonald • Alcohol Licenses: o Class B Liquor & Beer: The Basement Bar (TD King Enterprise LLC.) – 318 Market Street • Tobacco License: o The Basement Bar (TD King Enterprise LLC.) – 318 Market Street 3. Recommend denial of operator license for Jenny Wicke. 4. Discussed modifying ordinance 12.02 “Intoxicating Liquor and Fermented Malt Beverages” to include additional conditions for Beverage Operator License applicants. 5. Recommend sending Police Chief to the Summer Police Chief’s Conference in Green Bay August 8th – 12th per handbook. Motion that Items 1, 2, 3, and 5 of the Ways and Means Committee Meeting be adopted for action. Motion by: Adam Buehring Seconded by: Brad Hamilton Roll call vote: 8 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried unanimously. Old Business – There was no old business. New Business Discussion and possible action on the Public Works Director job posting/hiring. The council looked over the document brought forward by current Public Works Director Rick Schmidt to be posted for the job opening for his retirement at the end of the year. (See agenda packet for the document). The council discussed whether they thought engineering experience should be considered for the posting but ultimately decided it was not necessary for now. The council agreed the document write up looked ready to be published and to get it posted to all the platforms that Rick deemed appropriate to get the hiring process started. A motion was made to approve the job posting write-up for the Public Works Director position. Motion by: Larry Krubsack Seconded by: Anthony Carlson Roll call vote: 8 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried unanimously. Approval of all Department Reports A motion was made to approve the various monthly reports from the Police Chief, Public Works Director, Fire Chief, Community Center, Airport Commission, Charles & JoAnn Lester Library, and Building Inspector. Motion by: Anthony Carlson Seconded by: Garett Kuhn Motion carried unanimously. Audit Bill List / Approval of Bills Pooled Cash: Check #65134-65214 and other voucher payments from 06/10/2026-07/14/2026 Total Expenditure from all Funds = $1,230,679.11 Payroll: Check #56380-56393 Voucher #V14509-V14631 payments from 06/10/2026– 07/14/2026 Total: $247,121.81 A motion was made to approve the bills for the month. Motion by: Brad Hamilton Seconded by: Anthony Carlson Roll call vote: 8 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried unanimously. Discussion began on the topic of data centers and that if Nekoosa would be approached that the city should start to have some discussion at the committee level. The mayor agreed and said that the conversation needed to be moved to a committee as this item was not on the agenda. Adjournment A motion was made to change the time of the next meeting to Tuesday, August 11th, 2026, at 6:00pm and to change the Ways and Means meeting to 5:30pm due to it being election day. Motion by: Brad Hamilton Seconded by: Anthony Carlson Motion carried unanimously. A motion was made to adjourn the meeting. Motion by: Brad Hamilton Seconded by: Larry Krubsack Motion carried unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 7:38pm