September 16

City of Bayfield Common Council • September 16, 2025, Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 3 City of Bayfield Common Council September 16, 2025, Meeting Minutes 4:30 p.m. • Bayfield City Hall, 125 South First Street, Bayfield, WI 54814 Meeting called to order at 4:31 p.m. Present: Council Members: Acting Mayor/Council President Lyn Cornelius; Councilors Bill Bland, Matt Carrier, Diane Fizell City Staff: City Treasurer Anne Adams, Public Works Laborer Roy Bainbridge, Police Chief Josh Novac, City Clerk Grace Stolen, Public Works Director Joel Weber, Library Director Teresa Weber Public: In person—Carol Fahrenkrog; Online—Bayfieldresident, Jenna, John, Juneberry Review/Approve Agenda Motion by Carrier, seconded by Bland, to approve the agenda with items one, five, and twelve on the original draft struck from. All ayes. Review/Approve Minutes of August 19, 2025, Common Council Meeting Motion by Fizell, seconded by Carrier, to approve the minutes as drafted. All ayes. Public Comment and Suggestions from Persons Present on Agenda Items None Agenda 1. Alcohol License Application: Juneberry LLC Juneberry Corner Store at 250 ½ Rittenhouse Avenue; owners Daniel Simpson and Paige Crenshaw Motion by Bland, seconded by Carrier, to approve the application. All ayes. 2. Temporary Alcohol License Application: Bayfield Chamber & Visitor Bureau Apple Festival Cider Tent at the Windseeker Realty parking lot; applicant Carol Fahrenkrog Motion by Carrier, seconded by Fizell, to approve the application. All ayes. 3. Resolution #633: Bayfield Volunteer Fire Department Fundraising Events Motion by Bland, seconded by Carrier, to approve resolution #633. All ayes. 4. Emergency Regarding the State of City Hall and Physical Working Conditions This item is for discussion only. Cornelius informed Common Council of issues with the City Hall building. There are issues with sewage running down the walls, there is not enough room for additional staff, and the physical state of the building poses a health issue for staff. Discussion ensued regarding how to address these issues in the near term for the health risks and what to do in the long term. The public works garage in the current building will still be needed even if other staff temporarily relocate. Consensus was that Cornelius should City of Bayfield Common Council • September 16, 2025, Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 3 proceed with identifying a temporary site and that Common Council should form a task force at an upcoming meeting to look into long-term options. 5. Financials a. Preliminary Budget and Capital Improvement Plans (CIPs) for 2026 This is a preliminary draft for informational purposes and discussion only. No action is anticipated. Common Council briefly discussed the preliminary budget and CIP requests that have been submitted so far. Library Director Teresa Weber said the lift CIP is the library’s number one priority, as it failed its inspection. It had a 17-20 year life expectancy and is currently 27 years old. On the overall budget process, the City is looking at having the Ad-hoc Finance Committee set a number each year as a cap for total CIP expenditures, and it should not expect all departments’ CIP requests to be fully funded each year. The City has diversified away from some basic/essential services for residents and needs to get back to investing in infrastructure, especially streets and sidewalks. A request was made for Common Council hold a special meeting dedicated solely to discussing the budget. There was also a request to have a future discussion on borrowing. Carrier requested that a city administrator be penciled into the 2026 budget; discussion ensued. Other alders are open to learning more about this model but feel that there is not enough time to get this into the 2026 budget. Bayfield County should have the City’s budget by mid-to-late November. The city clerk will work backwards from that to determine when the budget hearing can be held based on notice and publication timelines. b. CLA Connect/Baker Tilly Update 6. Project Updates a. Harbor b. Parks and Recreation Kyle Vadnais is stepping down from the Playground Subcommittee, Grace Hogan is the new lead, and Carrier will be stepping back just a bit. Primary focus is grants and fundraising. c. Public Works Substantial completion for Manypenny reconstruction was September 15; there’s still a punch list to go through for final items. Process is moving forward with Bayfield County for land purchases Common Council approved. The County is also open to selling Korseberg Park. d. Planning Historic Preservation Commission came up and will remain a placeholder on the agenda. City of Bayfield Common Council • September 16, 2025, Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 3 7. Acting Mayor’s Report 8. File Reports from Committees, Commissions, Boards, and Departments Ambulance: No meeting ARB: July 28, 2025 Finance: August 7, 2025 Fire Department: August 4, 2025 Harbor: August 4, 2025 Library: July 16, 2025 Parks and Recreation: Parks and Rec Playground Subcommittee: Planning: July 15, 2025 Police Department: August 2025 Public Works: August 6, 2025 Tree Board: March 26, May 28, and July 23, 2025 Motion by Carrier, seconded by Bland, to file reports from committees, commissions, boards and departments. All ayes. 9. Correspondence a. September 2 Letter from City Attorney Max Lindsey re: Increase in Compensation b. September 8 Letter from Bayfield County Administrator Mark Abeles-Allison re: New Animal Control Facility Assistance Meeting adjourned at 5:46 p.m. Next Meetings: • October 14, 2025, at 7:00 a.m.—Budget • October 21, 2025, at 4:30 p.m.—Regular