Public Works — Minutes

VILLAGE OF FRIENDSHIP PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MEETING – Wednesday April 8, 2026– Page 1 The Public Works Committee meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m. in the Municipal Building. In attendance were President Jerry Sonnenberg, Chairman Bob Berry, committee member Melvin Waller; also in attendance was Public Works Director Beth Schultz, Trustee’s Ernie Klicko, Nadine Ashworth, Brad Oberbeck and Village Clerk Rebecca Reuter. The agenda for the meeting was: 1} Roll Call 2} Approve meeting minutes from February 18, 2026 3} Citizen input 4} Discussion & Possible action on: Code Enforcement 5} Discussion on letter from American Legion Post 250 6} Public Works Directors Report 7} The Public Works Committee may go into closed session pursuant to Wis. Stat. Section 19.85(1)(c) Considering employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exer cises responsibility, for the purpose of performance evaluation/review of Public Works Employees 8} The Public Works Committee reserves the right to enter into open session authorized by Wis. Stat. Section 19.85(2) to possibly take action from the closed session and continue with the agenda. 9} Adjournment A majority of the Village Board may be present but no Board action is contemplated. Approval of February 18, 2026, Minutes Motion by Ashworth, second by Waller to approve February 18, 2026, Public Works Minutes, motion carried. Citizen Input Sonnenberg brought up that the ATV and UTV Ordinance will be discussed at the Board meeting on Monday with Mr. Bruce Bain. So if everyone could look it over. Discussion & Possible action on: Code Enforcement Discussion tabled until next meeting Discussion on letter from American Legion Post 250 Al Arndt from the American Legion Red Cloud Post 250 presented the Public Works with a letter stating: “We are starting our planning for an additional building on our property for the future. In our discussions we have asked questions about how big our building can be, type of building ect. So, we are asking the village if they would abando n the alleyway that runs behind our present building at 207 Main Street or not? This way we can continue our talks on size of building. Next is the type of building, it has been discussed that we build a shelter on our volleyball area and enclose it at a later time, or we could build a basement and put a roof on it to use for storage. Later we could tear off that roof and build up at ground level? If we can build a basement first, we could install heat, plumbing, ect. And use it as a hall until we can afford the upper level. So, we would like to find out if we could do this. As I stated we are in very early stages of planning and are addressing questions, so we are not wasting our funds, please advise any concerns or issues so we can continue our planning process and forward on any input to the Friendship Village Board as well.” Arndt stated that at this point they are just looking for information to see if they could go up to the alley, or past it. Klicko stated that he would not want them to vacate the alleyway, but they could get a variance to build up closer to the alley. Arndt stated that if it’s feasible, they could build a bigger building, if it’s not feasible then they would have to stop before the alley. That’s something he wanted to bring up to the committee so that they could have a discussion and then they can see if it’s worth perusing. They are trying to look and see what their options are at this point. They just want a direction so they know what way to go so they can plan more. Berry stated that he will have that put on the next Public Works agenda to discuss. He doesn’t see an issue with putting a basement in with a roof over top until they have the money to finish the building. Arndt stated that they would like to put a ramp into the downstairs, put in a hall with a bar . The ramp would make it nice to move the chairs and tables. Oberbeck stated that all that matters is codes. As long as it is up to code he doesn’t see any of that being PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MEETING – Wednesday April 8, 2026– Page 2 a problem. There has been a fo cus on building up Adams and Friendship, he feels this would coincide perfectly. The code would be the biggest thing. Drainage, curb and gutter as long as those particulars are in order he feels it would be fine. Berry stated that our building inspector Jeremy was over there and if he didn’t see a problem with it, and that everything is ok with him it should be fine. Arndt stated that if we are ok with them going in that direction then they would still need to draw up the plans and get Jeremy involved. This is just step 1 in a long line of step. Public Works Directors Report Schultz stated that she passed her water test. She has spoken to the DNR, and she will be able to take over our water testing. She is in the process of working with Adams-Marquet to try to get a $24,000 grant for Christmas lights. As far as the electricity between the lights poles, they have confirmed that those will have to be redone. There’s no way to get anymore wiring in there . She has not found a place that does soler lights, and that would be the other option. Oberbeck had a suggestion of looking outside of Wisconsin, possibly out west towards California. Schultz thought that was a good idea. She stated that if we get the grant that she put in for to go towards the Friendship Pa rk, we should find out about it by the end of May for the playground equipment. She went to the conference in Green Bay. I t was wonderful. It was a little overwhelming , but very beneficial. She learned a lot. She also ended up winning some Kalahari gift certificates worth $750.00. She thought she would like to sell those and put the money back into our fund that paid for her conference. She asked what everyone’s thoughts are about taking the red bark out from around the building and putting in lava rock? Rock would be a one and done. It’s a little more expensive , but we don’t have a lot of square footage around the building . The woodchips right now make such a mess and blow around whenever it’s windy. Oberbeck stated that the lava rock fades but not as quickly as the woodchips. Schultz stated that every year we have to put in new woodchips, so it looks nice around our building. Oberbeck asked what about instead of going with the lava rock we went with the red stone or river rock. He agrees that the stone would be eas ier to clean up and look nice. The only thing you ’re dealing with when it comes to stone is when you’re plowing snow , snow blowers and such, because the chips will go right through that. It might be a good idea to also put down some new weed barrier. The Public Works Committee may go into closed session pursuant to Wis. Stat. Section 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, for the purpose of performance evaluation/review of Public Works Employees Motion by Oberbeck, second by Waller to go into closed session, roll call vote was passed at 5:25 p.m. The Public Works Committee reserves the right to enter into open session authorized by Wis. Stat. Section 19.85(2) to possibly take action from the closed session and continue with the agenda. Came back into open session at 6:27 p.m. Motion by Oberbeck, second by Berry in the event of any employment opportunities / resignation we allow proper posting for hiring in the future for two weeks, motion carried. Adjournment Motion by Berry, second Waller to adjourn the meeting, motion carried. Meeting ended at 6:29 p.m. ___________________________________ Rebecca Reuter Village Clerk