August 18

City of Bayfield Common Council • August 18, 2026, Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 3 City of Bayfield Common Council August 18, 2026, Meeting Minutes 4:30 p.m. • Old City Hall, 125 South First Street , Bayfield, WI 54814 Meeting called to order at 4:30 p.m. Attendance Common Council: Mayor Lyn Cornelius; alders Bill Bland, Matt Carrier, Diane Fizell, and B.J. Havlik City Staff: City Treasurer Anne Adams, Harbormaster Nick Hays, Police Chief Josh Novak, City Clerk Grace Stolen, and Public Works Director/Zoning Administrator Joel Weber Public: In Person—None; Online—Dougherty, Laura Lima, Mary D, Mb, Michael Miller Review/Approve Agenda Cornelius informed alders that item #2 on the original draft agenda, the room tax presentation, will actually take place at the September meeting, and the trail development policies will be for discussion and updates only. Motion by Carrier, seconded by Havlik, to approve the agenda with the removal of the room tax item. All ayes. Review/Approve Minutes of July 21, 2026, Common Council Meeting Motion by Fizell, seconded by Bland, to approve the minutes as drafted. All ayes. Public Comment: None Agenda 1. Street Privilege Permit Application: Stuart Allison and Holly Whittet-Allison Two-car parking area off Old Military Road and the alley behind 237 South 5th Street in block 123 Brief discussion ensued regarding people having parking areas that are perpendicular to the street in front of their properties, whether all of those cases received permits, and the parking lost for the public when frontage is used for private parking. This case is different. The City did not receive a survey; an alder would like the City to receive one. Motion by Fizell, seconded by Carrier, to approve the street privilege permit application contingent upon receipt of a certified survey and an updated site plan if the survey warrants changes. All ayes. 2. Resolution #651: Trail Development Framework Policies The Parks and Recreation Committee reviewed and made changes to the policies in its last meeting; the revised Recreational Use of Undeveloped Public Rights-of-Way Policy was reviewed and recommended for approval by the Public Works Committee. Some questions raised during the public comment period warranted further guidance from legal counsel, so the policies need to be considered on another date. 3. Approve Expense for Sweeny Avenue Right-of-way Survey Weber said that the Public Works Department is considering building a road extension through the right- of-way (ROW) for Sweeny Avenue starting at 10th Street to have safer access to the well. This is just preliminary to better establish boundaries for the ROW; the road itself would be considered later. City of Bayfield Common Council • August 18, 2026, Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 3 Motion by Bland, seconded by Havlik, to approve the expenditure of funds for the Sweeny Avenue ROW survey. All ayes. 4. East Rim Dual-use Trail a. Review Draft Plan The East Rim Dual-use Working Group held its first meeting and is planning a walk-through to plot things out and assess signage needs. The goal is for the plan to be ready for approval by the Town of Bayfield Board of Supervisors November 9 and Bayfield Common Council at its November meeting. There has been some public confusion regarding the geographic scope—the focus is only on the East Rim Trail itself. Discussion ensued regarding noise and enforcement. The current plan is to put the trail plan out for a two-week public comment period. b. Extending Deadline The January 20, 2026, Common Council motion reopening the East Rim Trail to snowmobiles created a working group and called for it to submit a plan to Common Council by September 1. For a fuller report, this should be extended to the November Council meeting. Motion by Carrier, seconded by Fizell, to extend the deadline for the plan to the November Common Council meeting. All ayes. 5. Resolution #652: Bayfield City Dock Rehabilitation Project Authorizing Resolution This resolution is required to authorize submitting an application for additional Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) funds from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and is on a form the DNR provided. The City has already received BIG funds; this application would be to increase the award in light of increased project costs and should not jeopardize funds already awarded. The Harbor Commission continues to seek additional funds from the state and other sources. Motion by Fizell, seconded by Carrier, to adopt the resolution. All ayes. 6. Financials—Review and Accept Reports Motion by Bland, seconded by Carrier, to accept the reports. Roll call vote—Carrier: Yes; Fizell: Yes; Havlik: Yes; Bland: Yes. Motion carries. 7. Project Updates a. Harbor: Havlik felt there was a good conversation with the consultant at the last Harbor Commission meeting regarding potential City Dock finger piers project phasing and trying to schedule around peak season to avoid disrupting operations all season. Harbormaster Hays said this will be part of a new bid package that has to go out. The finger piers are now closed, and the Commission is close to awarding a contract for their removal with remaining Army Corps funds. b. Parks and Recreation: The Playground Subcommittee continues to fundraise; they just had a great movie night in the park and are planning another one. The small group meeting about design documents has not met with the engineer for a while. c. Public Works: Meter installations are moving forward, and additional staffing support will start within a week. While the installation process and transition to the new billing system are in progress, the next utility bills will be for the same amount as June with a true-up in October to adjust for actual usage. The portion of the Red Cliff gas line project within the City is nearly done. The Madeline Island submarine cable project will likely start by late September. City of Bayfield Common Council • August 18, 2026, Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 3 d. City Hall Task Force/City Properties Study: An interim, draft report was included in the Council packet. Considerable discussion ensued, particularly around the L.E. Building and whether it should be considered an asset, be demolished, or be repurposed as an event venue to better utilize the space and generate more revenue. The process for how assets will be sold still needs to be determined. Whether space could become available in the Old Courthouse is subject to future National Park Service lease negotiations, as their lease is for the entire building. e. Planning: A Conditional Use Permit application denial was recently appealed and will be going through the Zoning Board of Appeals process. 8. Mayor’s Report: Cornelius stated that many requests have been coming in and asked for patience with City staff. 9. File Reports from Committees, Commissions, Boards, and Departments Ambulance: No meeting City Hall Task Force: June 30, 2026 Fire Department: July 6 and July 27, 2026 Greater Bayfield Wastewater Treatment Plant Commission: June 23, 2026 Harbor: July 6, 2026 Historic Preservation: No meeting Library: June 17, 2026 Parks and Recreation: June 29, 2026 Parks and Rec Playground Subcommittee: July 13, 2026 Planning: May 19, 2026 Police Department: July 2026 Public Works: July 8, 2026 Tree Board: July 8, 2026 Motion by Carrier, seconded by Havlik, to put all reports on file. All ayes. 10. Correspondence: None 11. Future Agenda Items: No items were raised. 12. Proceeding to Seek Court Order to Abate Public Nuisance at 421 Manypenny Avenue Motion by Bland, seconded by Fizell, to enter into closed session pursuant to Wis. Stat. 19.85(1)(f). This statute allows for closed sessions for considering financial, medical, social or personal histories or disciplinary data of specific persons, preliminary consideration of specific personnel problems or the investigation of charges against specific persons except where par. (b) applies which, if discussed in public, would be likely to have a substantial adverse effect upon the reputation of any person referred to in such histories or data, or involved in such problems or investigations. Roll call vote—Fizell: Yes; Havlik: Yes; Bland: Yes; Carrier: Yes. Motion carries. Common Council enters into closed session at 5:32 p.m. Motion by Carrier, seconded by Bland, to come out of closed session. Roll call vote—Havlik: Yes; Bland: Yes; Carrier: Yes; Fizell: Yes. Motion carries. Meeting reconvenes in open session at 5:49 p.m. Motion by Carrier, seconded by Havlik, to proceed to seek an abatement action regarding the public nuisance at 421 Manypenny Avenue. All ayes. Next Meetings: • September 3, 2026, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.—Board of Review • September 15, 2026, at 4:30 p.m.—Regular Council Meeting Meeting adjourned at 5:50 p.m.