10-06-25 Board Minutes

1 THE VILLAGE OF GAYS MILLS Minutes of the regular meeting of the Village Board of Gays Mills held Monday, October 6, 2025, which began at 6:00 p.m. in the Community Commerce Board Room. Village President Harry Heisz called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Roll call was taken with the following present: Harry Heisz, Larry McCarn, Kevin Murray, Kim Pettit, and Art Winsor. Ethan Eitsert and Emily Kinserdahl were absent. The board received verification that the agenda was posted in accordance with the open meeting law. Under citizens and delegations Charley Preusser told the board that he has used the voting machine that the village is considering exchanging to and explained that the paper ballots can either be fed into the optical reader or ballot box. Craig Andeson asked the board to consider for the 2026 budget new chairs for the Community Room because there are only thirty soft chairs that are usable. No Wastewater Treatment Project update was given. Under the Public Works report the board learned that the swimming pool valves and sand filters were quoted at $2,589.38. McCarn made a motion to approve purchase of the swimming pool parts from Midwest Pool Supply for $2,589.38. Seconded by Winsor. Motion carried. The shut off valve is scheduled for repair tomorrow at the well house. Heisz reported that he is happy on how public works kept Main Street clean during Apple Festival. Pettit made a motion to approve the board meeting minutes of September 8, 2025. Seconded by Murray. Motion carried. McCarn made a motion to approve payments of the bills as listed in the monthly expense report. Seconded by Murray. Motion carried. Craig Anderson, a Gays Mills Chief Election Inspector, responded to the questions the board had asked last month regarding the exchange of the voting machine from the DRE machine to the ICE optical scan machine. Anderson explained that everyone will have the same paper ballot but it is the voters choice to either feed the ballot through the optical scan voting machine or place ballot into ballot box to be counted by election inspectors. Also the deadline from Command Central is this fall. Winsor made a motion to exchange the DRE voting machine to the ICE optical scan voting machine. Seconded by McCarn. Motion carried. 2 Nothing new to report on the blighted buildings. Nothing new to report on Ten Hills Right-Of-Way/Driveway. Nothing new to report on the sewer main replacement. The board learned that Lot 27 of the First Addition to North Mills was sold to a new owner as agreed upon. The board stated that if the lot sold within two months they would provide a one-year construction extension to the new owner. Murray made a motion to provide a one-year construction extension to Enos Miller on Lot 27 until October 2, 2026. Seconded by McCarn. Motion carried. Heisz has contacted two concrete contractors for the sidewalk repairs but he is still waiting for estimates. The board discussed removing sidewalks where they are not needed. No additional action taken on agenda item Junk Vehicles. Reported that a few vehicles have been removed. Discussed issuing citations. Mark Lee of Driftless Development updated the board on their focus to invest in the county’s futures for promotion of business growth, job creation, housing and more. Local projects they have assisted on are the Agri-Tourism Grant which funded Gays Mills’ website rebuild and the Thrivent Grant. Pete Fletch, a board member of DDI was also present and wanted to reassure Gays Mills that they will continue to focus on small communities within Crawford County. Mark Lee did ask the board to consider DDI when preparing the village budget for 2026. Carol Roth and Martha Querin-Schultz members of Connect Communities of Gays Mills updated the board on the Alice in Dairyland event that took place in Crawford County. After the event the group had a surplus of funds which was donated to county organizations such as school lunch programs, FFA, Farmers Markets, PAAC, Gays Mills Library and Friends of Gays Mills. Also the economic impact was calculated for Gays Mills with a spending of $200,000 with 3,163 visitors. The Department of Natural Resources is requiring recycling ordinances to be revised due to changes in the recycling laws. Murray asked for more information on the current enforcement penalty and if the new enforcement penalty is set by the Department of Natural Resources. Agenda item was tabled. 3 Murray made a motion to adopt 2025-04 Ordinance Amendment to Article A of Title 9, Chapter 1, Water Utility Regulations of Cross Connection Control Program, Methods and Devices; this changes the State Plumbing Code to Chapter SPS 382. Seconded by Winsor. Motion carried. The board discussed the issue of unlicensed dogs in Gays Mills. There are at least seventy-eight unlicensed dogs in the village. The board would like a notice to go out to all dog owners when the licenses are available and that citations will be issued in 2026 if the dog owners do not obtain a license in 2026. Couleecap sent in a written request for exemption of the room rental fees. Pettit made a motion to have Couleecap pay the $100 non-profit rental fee for the year. Seconded by Murray. Motion carried. No action taken on Quartz Health Insurance Renewal. Under correspondence the board received an invitation to the Driftless Development Annual Dinner. The next regular board meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 3, 2025. At 6:51 p.m. Murray made a motion to convene into closed session pursuant to Wisc. State Stat. 19.85 (1)(c) for the purpose of considering employment, promotion, compensation, or performance evaluation data of any public employee and 19.85(1)(e) to deliberate or negotiate the purchase of public properties, the investing of public funds, or conducting other specified public business, whenever competitive or bargaining reasons require a closed session. Seconded by McCarn. A roll call vote was taken: Pettit, Winsor, Heisz, McCarn, and Murray voted Yes. Motion carried. At 7:04 p.m. Murray made a motion to reconvene into open session. Seconded by McCarn. Motion carried. Murray made a motion to increase Richard Robinson’s hourly wage by $1.00 per hour. Seconded by Winsor. Motion carried. At 7:07 p.m. Winsor made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Murray. Motion carried. Respectfully Submitted Dawn R. McCann, Clerk APPROVED 11-03-2025