October 28

City of Bayfield Common Council • October 28, 2025, Special Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 2 SPECIAL MEETING City of Bayfield Common Council October 28, 2025, Meeting Minutes 7:0 0 a.m. • Bayfield City Hall, 125 South First Street, Bayfield, WI 54814 Meeting called to order at 7:00 a.m. Present: Council Members: Acting Mayor/Council President Lyn Cornelius; Alders Bill Bland, Matt Carrier, and Diane Fizell City Staff: City Treasurer Anne Adams, Deputy Clerk/Treasurer Ashley Dickey, Bayfield Marina Administrative Assistant Micaela Hall, Harbormaster Nick Hays, City Clerk Grace Stolen, and Public Works Director Joel Weber Public: In Person—George Adams IV, Carl Fahrenkrog, Gordy Ringberg, and Michelle Shrider; Online—X Review/Approve Agenda Motion by Carrier, seconded by Fizell, to approve the agenda as drafted. All ayes. Public Comment Michelle Shrider Shrider, chair of the Bayfield Harbor Commission, spoke in support of the City Dock finger piers project. She provided a history of the City Dock, which was originally built in 1938 by the Works Progress Administration. The harbor has never had a reserve fund to help cover a project like this and reduce the need for borrowing. The project would replace the current fingers and add six new ones, which would increase transient dockage. The cost to simply remove them would be $980,000-$1mil. If the project does not happen, the City would lose a $587,000 grant and possibly a $300,000 grant. The Commission is actively seeking more external funding. Gordy Ringberg Ringberg, a member of the Bayfield Harbor Commission, spoke in support of the City Dock finger piers project. He stated that if the City loses the fingers or City Dock, it would harm local businesses. He also mentioned Tom Tiffany’s reintroduction of a bill in Congress to redesignate the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore as a national park, sharing that there would be more people trying to get out to the islands if that occurred. There is a currently a waiting list to use the dock. Carol Fahrenkrog Fahrenkrog, executive director of the Bayfield Chamber & Visitor Bureau, spoke in support of the City Dock finger piers project. She stated that people using the City Dock frequent downtown businesses and that people know the schedules for when boats like Apostle Islands Cruises depart and come down to the City Dock and downtown. Agenda 1. Non-Profit Event Sign Permit Application #03-2025: Bayfield Chamber & Visitor Bureau City of Bayfield Common Council • October 28, 2025, Special Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 2 Motion by Bland, seconded by Fizell, to approve the application as submitted. All ayes. 2. Resolution #635: 2025 Wages Amendment to Resolution #629 Motion by Fizell, seconded by Bland, to approve resolution #635. All ayes. 3. 2026 Budget and Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Requests—Discussion Cornelius shared that a 10% increase for health insurance was put in until the City gets new rates later in the week. Public works/summer laborers’ wages will increase from around $16 to $20; the City has lost people because of the current wage. Bland asked if the City could get separate operating and capital budgets and stated that most other municipalities do this. Carrier expressed that it could help make things easier to understand for the public but that the City understands where capital items appear currently. Cornelius said that a spreadsheet identifying operating expenses could be provided to Council, but the City does need to move forward with overall expenditures and then revenues. Bland had questions about the tourism fund, how the room tax is factored into the budget, and if the City’s share of the revenue is being double-counted in the budget; an explanation was provided for the process of receiving and allocating those dollars. Considerable discussion ensued regarding the City Dock CIP and the harbor fund overall. Cornelius spoke in favor, saying a loan for a similar amount would need to be taken out to remove the fingers without replacing them, and Fizell also read a statement of support. Bland expressed concern over the amount of information provided on the project and stated that the project cost has kept increasing; Shrider acknowledged that it has increased since it was first added as a CIP but said that infrastructure costs have been increasing each year and the project has not been executed yet. Bland expressed numerous concerns about the Harbor Commission, saying he does not believe it can have its own fund, operates like an autonomous entity, needs to be more collaborative, and is prioritized over other areas. Carrier stated that he is not necessarily opposed to the project and recommended that a meeting be scheduled to discuss ways to collaborate with the Commission in the future and learn more about harbor finances. Carrier stated that Common Council adopted a master plan for East Dock Park. The project cost is around $1.5mil, and parks and recreation is actively seeking grant funding to hopefully cover $1.25mil of the total cost. Bland and Cornelius asked if the committee has looked at phasing out the project; Carrier thought the total cost should be in the CIP table and then rolled over to future years. Separately, there was a conversation with public works about how to allocate Dalrymple Campground CIP funding. Council briefly discussed funding for a reservation system. 4. Correspondence: None Meeting adjourned at 8:36 a.m. Next Meetings: • October 30, 2025, at 7 a.m. • November 24, 2025, at 4:30 p.m.