Town Board Meeting — Minutes

TOWN OF ROME BOARD MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2026 5:00 P.M. 1. Call to Order Chairman Carl Hasdal called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. 2. Roll Call Present: Chairman Carl Hasdal; Supervisors Cyndee Lewis, Vito Giardino, Mark Samelstad and Tim Reppen; also present Clerk Wendy Newsom and Finance Director/Treasurer Robbie Schaub-Ruemler 3. Certify Posting of Meeting Wendy Newsom certified that on, Tuesday, May 19, 2026, the Agenda for the Town of Rome Board meeting for Thursday, May 21, 2026 was posted at: Posted at the Rome Town Hall 8:00 a.m. Posted at Kwik Trip, LLC 9:04 a.m. Posted at Nekoosa Port Edwards State Bank 9:09 a.m. Emailed to the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune 9:40 a.m. 4. Approve the Agenda Motion by Giardino/Lewis to approve the agenda. Motion carried. 5. Pledge of Allegiance 6. Citizen Comments – During the Citizen Comment period of the agenda the Town Board welcomes comments from any town resident, not a member of the Town Board, on any item not on the agenda. Please know that pursuant to State law the Board cannot engage in conversation with you but may ask questions. The Board may refer the item to staff, a standing committee or a future board agenda for discussion and action. Each person wishing to speak will have up to 3 minutes to speak. Speakers are asked to submit a card to the Clerk providing their name, address and topic for discussion The board will also take comment from the public on agenda items as called by the Chair, but not during Citizen Comment. Please note that once the board begins discussion on an agenda item no further comment will be allowed from the public on that issue No citizen comments NO ACTION CONTEMPLATED EXCEPT POSSIBLE REFERRAL TO FUTURE AGENDA: 7. Information Updates, Meeting Recaps, Recent Correspondence, Current Events, Announcements Town of Rome Nekoosa, WI 54457 www.romewi.gov Lewis: Visit Rome is excited to showcase the Summer Concert Series and hopes everyone comes out for it. Giardino: There will be a grand opening of the Jeanne Osgood Trail on June 13, 2026 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The Friends of the Library coffee will resume in the fall. He is looking into handicap parking at the parks. He reminded everyone that the Veteran’s Walk will take place this Sunday, May 24th starting at Noon with lunch and patriotic music in the Rome Town Center. Hasdal: Funeral services for Don Fornasiere, who was a long-time member of several Town Committees, will be tomorrow. There are many committee openings and we have only received five applications. He thanked Sue and Vito Giardino for all their efforts on the Veteran’s Walk Banners. Nicole Dunbar will be here soon to do training with staff. Schaub-Ruemler: Informed the Board that Mark Kane has completed his schooling and graduated with honors. 8. Department and Committee Reports ☐ Administration ☐ Rome Police Department ☐ EMS District/Lifestar ☐ Rome Public Works Department ☐ Lester Public Library of Rome ☐ Rome Water Utility and Utility Committee ☐ Parks Committee ☐ Community Development Authority ☐ Police and Fire Commission ☐ Visit Rome, WI ☐ Rome Fire Department ☐ Zoning Department ☐ Town Clerk ☐ Finance Director/Treasurer Chairman Hasdal asked the Director of Public Works about the Transfer Site. Director of Public Works Knoblock stated that the brush is piling up at the Transfer Site and he will need to look at options for contractors as they are filling the site up. Chairman Hasdal asked about Dyracuse and Director of Public Works Knoblock stated that it is doing well and there are a lot of groups renting the park for the day. Chairman Hasdal asked about extending the hours at the Transfer Site going from April through September instead of Memorial Day to Labor Day. The Director of Public Works will look into it. Chairman Hasdal mentioned that there was a contractor here recently asking about putting a shuttle service in Town. Chairman Hasdal would like a section on the agenda for Short Term rentals with a report of issues and resolutions and getting reports from the Court Clerk regarding what was handled in Court that month. DISCUSS AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON THE FOLLOWING ITEMS: 9. Discussion and possible action – Approval of the May 7, 2026 and May 14, 2026 meeting minutes Motion by Lewis/Reppen to approve the May 7, 2026 and May 14, 2026 meeting minutes. Motion carried. 10. Discussion and possible action – Checks, Vouchers, Receipts and Journal Entries - approve checks #50518 – 50593 totaling $237,999.98; Auto-payments totaling $108,496.15; State / Social Security / Medicare / Withholdings totaling $66,701.34; Payroll Vouchers V25194 – V25378 totaling $179,265.48; Receipts #27287 – 27366 totaling $595,781.46 Motion by Giardino/Reppen to approve the financials as presented. Motion carried. 11. Discussion and possible action – Presentation from Greg Johnson on General Obligation Promissory Notes, Series 2026A funding Greg Johnson from Ehler’s presented the General Obligation Promissory Notes, Series 2026A funding, stating that the Town again received an Aa3 rating from Moody’s. 12. Discussion and possible action – Approval of Resolution No. 26 – 05; A Resolution Authorizing the Issuance and Sale of $3,575,000 General Obligation Promissory Notes, Series 2026A Motion by Samelstad/Lewis to approve Resolution No. 26 – 05; A Resolution Authorizing the Issuance and Sale of $3,525,000 General Obligation Promissory Notes, Series 2026A. Motion carried. 13. Discussion and possible action – Approval of road bids as recommended by Public Works Director Cody Knoblock for the following roads: ➢ Oxford Court ➢ East Queens Way ➢ Sumac Trail ➢ Robindale Court ➢ Campfire Road ➢ Sandy Arbor Road ➢ Valley Trail ➢ Jack Pine Arbor Road ➢ Kingswood Trail ➢ Sequoia Trail ➢ Spruce Trail ➢ Timber Trail ➢ Earl Court Director of Public Works Cody Knoblock explained that the roads listed are what were bid on and the costs for the total road projects. He told the Board that there is an excess of approximately $274,000 and explained that there are a couple of options, one being to add a couple of small roads or to carry forward the funds to next year. Supervisor Reppen asked if any of the cul-de-sacs that were beat up by the winter could be fixed. Director of Public Works Knoblock stated that yes that would be an option but you could ruin the rest of the road by doing so. Motion by Lewis/Samelstad to allocate and spend the extra money this year on roads that need it. Motion carried. Motion by Samelstad/Reppen to approve the road bids as recommended by Public Works Director Knoblock for the roads listed. Motion carried. 14. Discussion and possible action – Approval of Ordinance No. 26 – 07; Amendment to Code Chapter 266 Nuisances; Section 1 – 4 Private Property, Permit, Violations and Penalties, Definitions It was explained that Attorney Abts made changes to this ordinance based on a recommendation from Judge Thibodeau as the ordinance as it was written did not provide for a penalty if not followed. Sergeant Brian Upton gave an overview of what a nuisance is in the ordinance. Motion by Reppen/Lewis to approve Ordinance No. 26 – 07; Amendment to Code Chapter 266 Nuisances; Section 1 – 4 Private Property, Permit, Violations and Penalties, Definitions. Motion carried. 15. Discussion and possible action – Review the Wellhead Protection ordinance Chairman Hasdal explained the reason for this ordinance which is meant to protect our drinking water. Director of Public Works Knoblock reiterated that this will help protect our drinking water. 16. Discussion and possible action – Approval of sending a proposed amendment to Town of Rome Code Chapter 137 – Boating and Waterways; Sections 1 – 4, a transmittal letter and the lake condition report to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for their review Chairman Hasdal explained that this ordinance is now ready to be reviewed by the DNR. Motion by Reppen/Giardino to approve having the Town Clerk send the proposed amendment to Town of Rome Code Chapter 137 – Boating and Waterways; Sections 1 – 4, a transmittal letter and the lake condition report to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for their review. Motion carried. 17. Discussion and possible action – Brush and Timber ordinance discussion He stated that there is a rumor that the Town won’t pick up from anything over 2 acres and that is not true. If the brush is put out the Town will pick it up. Supervisor Giardino stated that he will be looking at this with the Fire Chief. Sergeant Brian Upton stated that the Police Department has been proactive and do drive around and look for violations of this ordinance and the camping ordinance in the Town. He stated that they have been doing this for the last couple of years. Supervisor Samelstad stated that he spoke with the Fire Chief about this and he is against having the Fire Department do this. 18. Discussion and possible action – Request from the Public Works Director to hire ARC Central, LLC to design the kitchen in the community room for an amount not to exceed $6,000.00 Director of Public Works Cody Knoblock explained that this company would come in and do a drawing of what could be done in the kitchen. Motion by Lewis/Samelstad to approve the request from the Public Works Director to hire ARC Central, LLC to design the kitchen in the community room for an amount not to exceed $6,000.00. Motion carried. 19. Discussion and possible action – Request from 14 Mile Watershed for approval of a donation of $850.00 for the State of Our Lakes Luncheon on June 6, 2026 Dave Trudeau, 1060 S. Archers Way, gave an explanation of the reason for the cost increase. Motion by Lewis/Reppen to approve the request from the 14 Mile Watershed for a donation of $850.00 for the State of Our Lakes Luncheon on June 6, 2026. Motion carried. 20. Discussion and possible action – Ordinance enforcement to include Short Term Rentals Sergeant Brian Upton explained the process and provided information on the short term rental in question. 21. The Town Board may go into closed session pursuant to Wis. Stat. 19.85(1)(c) considering employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility; and (f) considering financial, medical, social or personal histories or disciplinary data of specific persons, preliminary consideration of specific personnel problems or the investigation of charges specific persons except where par; for purposes of discussing employment matters involving the Town Clerk Motion at 6:03 p.m. by Lewis/Giardino to go into closed session pursuant to Wis. Stat. 19.85(1)(c) considering employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility; and (f) considering financial, medical, social or personal histories or disciplinary data of specific persons, preliminary consideration of specific personnel problems or the investigation of charges specific persons except where par; for purposes of discussing employment matters involving the Town Clerk. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. The Town Board exited closed session at 7:19 p.m. 22. The Town Board reserves the right to enter into open session authorized by Wis. Stat. 19.83(2) to possibly take action from the closed Session and continue with the agenda Motion at 7:20 Samelstad/Lewis to enter into open session authorized by Wis. Stat. 19.83(2) to possibly take action from the closed Session and continue with the agenda. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. No action taken from closed session. DATES AND ITEMS FOR FUTURE AGENDA/MEETINGS 23. Next agenda items ➢ Brush and Timber Ordinance ➢ Liquor Licensing Approvals ➢ Zoning items ➢ Parks and Recreation items 24. Next meeting date and time Next meeting – June 4, 2026 – 5:00 p.m. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Lewis/Giardino to adjourn at 7:23 p.m. Motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Wendy Newsom Wendy Newsom Town of Rome Clerk