November 24

City of Bayfield Common Council • November 24, 2025, Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 5 City of Bayfield Common Council November 24, 2025, Meeting Minutes 4:30 p.m. • Bayfield City Hall, 125 South First Street, Bayfield, WI 54814 Called to order at 4:30 p.m. Attendance Common Council: Acting Mayor/Council President Lyn Cornelius; alders Bill Bland, Matt Carrier, and Diane Fizell City Staff: City Treasurer Anne Adams, Public Works Laborer Roy Bainbridge, Harbormaster Nick Hays, Police Chief Josh Novac, City Clerk Grace Stolen, and Bayfield Carnegie Library Director Teresa Weber Public: In Person—Carol Fahrenkrog, Michelle Shrider, and Grant Wilcox; Online—Mb and X Review/Approve Agenda Motion by Carrier, seconded by Fizell, to approve the agenda with the following amendment: inserting an item for “Temporary Alcohol License Applications: Bayfield Chamber & Visitor Bureau” as item number one with a Tree Lighting on November 29 and Shop Late Until 8 on December 5 as sub-items. All ayes. Public Hearing The City of Bayfield held a public hearing to receive input on proposed Resolution #636: A Resolution for 2026 Budget Adoption and Tax Levy. Copies of the proposed resolution and Exhibits A (Publication Notice), B (Initial Budget Proposal), and C (Proposed Budget Substitution), as well as a document providing an explanation of the proposed budget substitution, were included in the meeting packet and made available to the public prior to the hearing. Cornelius stated that the published budget summary was based on an operating budget without capital expenses. The consensus of Common Council was to pass separate operating and capital budgets; this would allow additional time to learn about the City Dock project and to see the 2024 audit results. After reaching that consensus, administration then had a roughly twenty-four hour window to quickly make the changes before submitting it to the paper. Council was under the impression that it was standard to pass separate budgets like this in Wisconsin, but administration later learned from an attorney, its auditor, and its outside finance team that it is not. When realizing potential implications of the change and that it could delay the budget adoption process, it was recommended that the City continue its practice of adopting one combined budget in 2026. Public hearing floor opened at 4:33 p.m. Michelle Shrider, 141 South Fifth Street in the City of Bayfield Shrider, chair of the Harbor Commission, spoke in support of the budget as presented, and of the City Dock finger piers project in particular. She shared that the 60 percent drawings for City Dock from the engineer will be ready by the end of the day on November 26, 2025, and invited everyone to attend the December 1 Harbor Commission to learn more about the project. It may qualify for a state Harbor Assistance Program grant. The City of Bayfield Common Council • November 24, 2025, Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 5 amount is not known yet, but the contact mentioned “considerable funds” that could come in for the project in 2027. Actual construction likely will not start until late in 2026. Public hearing concluded at 4:38 p.m. Full Common Council Meeting Meeting called to order at 4:38 p.m. Review/Approve Minutes of October 14, October 21, October 28, and October 30, 2025, Common Council Meetings 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 Meeting Agenda 1. Temporary Alcohol License Applications: Bayfield Chamber & Visitor Bureau Motion by Bland, seconded by Carrier, to approve applications for both events. All ayes. a. Tree Lighting November 29, 2025, event at the Lakeside Pavilion b. Shop Late Until 8 December 5, 2025, event at participating businesses 2. Non-Profit Event Sign Permit Application #04-2025: Bayfield Rec Center This application was approved by the Plan Commission on November 18, 2025. Motion by Bland, seconded by Carrier, to approve the application as submitted. All ayes. 3. Resolution #636: A Resolution for 2026 Budget Adoption and Tax Levy Motion by Carrier, seconded by Fizell, to amend the resolution by removing the budget proposal labeled as Exhibit “B” and replacing it with the proposal currently labeled as Exhibit “C.” All ayes. Motion by Bland, seconded by Fizell, to amend the resolution text by inserting the language “prior approval of the Common Council is required to reallocate more than 20 percent of budgeted expenses” in the third whereas clause where the language “furthermore clarifies their intent to approve each department’s total budget rather than line-by-line totals” is. Brief discussion ensued to clarify the meaning. The intent is that if something came up where a department would need to exceed a line-item amount, they could do so without doing a full budget amendment for a purchase. Motion carries with all ayes. City of Bayfield Common Council • November 24, 2025, Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 5 Motion by Bland, seconded by Carrier, to reduce the debt service portion of the tax levy by $11,907.93 to align with the original budget notice publication. All ayes. Motion by Bland, seconded by Carrier, to amend revenue line R 210-49120 by reducing it to $600,000 from $1,000,000. Bland shared that his intent is to allow for additional time to get the engineering drawings and learn more about the City Dock project while allowing the project to move forward and providing the funding required to maximize the matching grants. Carrier expressed support for taking this approach and passing a budget amendment to fully fund it later on. Motion carries with all ayes. Bland raised the issue of the size of the projected general fund deficit, expressing his concern over the amount. The City still needs to move forward with the 2026 budget, but a harder look needs to be taken when preparing the next calendar year budget to avoid similar deficits and budget in a more sustainable manner. Cornelius stated that her intent is to begin the 2027 budget process in March of 2026. Motion by Carrier, seconded by Fizell, to adopt resolution #636 and approve the City budget as stated in Exhibit “C” with the amendments that have been agreed to for 2026. Roll call vote—Bland: Yes; Carrier: Yes; Cornelius: Yes; Fizell: Yes. Motion carries. 4. Historic Preservation Ordinance (HPO) Public Involvement Cornelius provided a brief overview of the sessions for the public and where things were at with the HPO, and Carrier encouraged all to attend one of the sessions, sharing that it would be a big shift from the current process. The Architectural Review Board made some minor changes; the language was sent off to City Attorney Max Lindsey for his review. 5. Broad Street Lease This lease is for temporary office space for administrative staff due to health and safety issues with City Hall. Motion by Fizell, seconded by Bland, to approve the lease. Brief discussion ensued regarding how to handle parking at the new location and where public meetings will be. Cornelius stated that meeting locations will be dependent on anticipated attendance; there is a small conference room in the new space, but larger meetings could be at the current building. The plan is to open in the new space in early January. Public works will move over to where admin staff currently are so their part of the building can be closed off. Motion carries with all ayes. 6. Contract with Strand Engineering for Technical Services Motion by Carrier, seconded by Bland, to approve the contracts with Strand Engineering. All ayes. City of Bayfield Common Council • November 24, 2025, Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 5 7. Project Updates a. Harbor Updates were shared as part of Shrider’s comments during the public hearing. b. Parks and Recreation Work is ongoing with the Playground Subcommittee; they are currently focusing on fundraising. c. Public Works Bainbridge shared that the backup generator at well #4 is back up, and work on the SCADA upgrade for the sewer is ongoing. Xcel Energy reached out about planning work they are doing for an expansion of their substation behind City Hall in 2027-28 to give the City a heads up. The department’s preparations for winter have been underway. Work on the Madeline Island submarine cable is being delayed until next year due to damage to the cable during shipping. d. Planning Bland shared that the Plan Commission has been working on an ordinance to address issues with mooring. There still needs to be further discussion on how to sort out issues with beaches. 8. Acting Mayor’s Report 9. File Reports from Committees, Commissions, Boards, and Departments Ambulance: August 27, 2025 ARB: September 22, 2025 Fire Department: October 6 and October 27, 2025 Fire Protection: July 30, 2024 Harbor: October 13, 2025 Library: September 17, 2025 Parks and Recreation: April 24 and August 28, 2025 Parks and Rec Playground Subcommittee: September 24, 2025 Planning: September 16 and October 21, 2025 Police Department: October 2025 Public Works: September 10, 2025 Tourism: February 2, 2023 Tree Board: September 24, 2025 Motion by Carrier, seconded by Bland, to put all reports on file. All ayes. 10. Correspondence: None 11. Future Agenda Items No items were discussed. 12. Resignations and Appointments a. City Hall Task Force City of Bayfield Common Council • November 24, 2025, Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 5 Cornelius stated that she intends to serve on the task force and plans to appoint Tina Nelson and Sharon Johnson, who both agreed to serve, to the task force at a future meeting. People are encouraged to put suggested names forward. Carrier said that Dan Noyes is interested. b. Ad-hoc Finance Committee Motion by Fizell, to go 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. The only action anticipated by Common Council after reconvening in open session is a motion to adjourn. Roll call vote—Carrier: Yes; Cornelius: Yes; Fizell: Yes; Bland: Yes. Motion carries. Common Council enters closed session at 5:17 p.m. Meeting reconvened in open session at 5:51 p.m. Meeting adjourned at 5:51 p.m. Next Meeting: December 16, 2025, at 4:30 p.m.