board_meeting_minutes_november_2026.pdf

Village of Siren is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer. Complaints of discrimination should be sent to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington DC 20250-9410 VILLAGE OF SIREN – BUDGET HEARING WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 19, 2025 The Public Hearing on the Proposed 2026 General Fund Budget for the Village of Siren held on November 19, 2025 was called to order by Village President Steve Young at 4:30 p.m. Members Present: Dave Doty Sr., Kelly Gunderson, Ed Johnson, Sara Reimann, Steve Young Members Absent: Nick Haessly, John Tinman Others Present: Ann Peterson, Clerk/Treasurer; Jim Jaskolka, Public Works Director; Trevor Thiex, Police Chief; Teresa Anderson, MSA; Becky Strabel, Burnett County Sentinel; Sarah Radomsky, Inter County Leader President Young called for Public Comments on the Proposed 2026 General Fund Budget for the Village of Siren. The Budget sets the Village levy at $538,622 for 2026. There were no public comments offered on the budget. A motion was made by Sara Reimann and seconded by Kelly Gunderson to adjourn the Public Hearing at 4:31 p.m. Motion carried without negative vote. VILLAGE OF SIREN - VILLAGE BOARD MEETING WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 19, 2025 MINUTES The Regular Village Board meeting held on November 19, 2025, was called to order at 4:31 p.m. by Village President Steve Young. Members Present: Dave Doty Sr., Kelly Gunderson, Ed Johnson, Sara Reimann, John Tinman, Steve Young Members Absent: Nick Haessly Others Present: Ann Peterson, Clerk/Treasurer; Jim Jaskolka; Public Works Director; Trevor Thiex, Police Chief; Teresa Anderson, MSA; Becky Strabel, Burnett County Sentinel; Sarah Radomsky, Inter County Leader President Young called for Public Comments. None were offered. A motion was made by Ed Johnson and seconded by Sara Reimann to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried without negative vote. A motion was made by Sara Reimann and seconded by Kelly Gunderson to approve the following minutes: • Regular Village Board meeting of October 22, 2025 • Personnel & Finance (Union Negotiations) meeting of October 28, 2025 • Public Safety Committee meeting of November 3, 2025 • Personnel & Finance Committee meeting of November 3, 2025 • Personnel & Finance Committee meeting of November 11, 2025 John Tinman wanted to clarify that in the minutes from the November 3rd Personnel & Finance Committee meeting the recommendation was to send the debt to collection versus contacting a lawyer. Motion carried without negative vote. Village of Siren is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer. Complaints of discrimination should be sent to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington DC 20250-9410 A motion was made by Kelly Gunderson and seconded by John Tinman to approve payment of the bills in the amount of $89,553.40 general vouchers and checks cut since the last regularly scheduled board meeting in the amount of $107,639.10 for a grand total of $197,192.50. Motion carried without negative vote. President Young gave the President’s Report. He wanted to remind everyone that all information for meetings must be provided a minimum of 24 hours prior to any meetings, which includes subcommittee meetings. The Village also needs to begin following Roberts Rules of Order during meetings. Clerk/Treasurer Peterson gave the Clerk’s Report. She will be attending an initial meeting for the funding of the Safe Drinking Water Loan for the upcoming water projects on December 4th at 1:00 p.m. being held virtually. Burnett County is undergoing Departmental changes on how the Tax Process is handled at that level which could result in delays in getting our tax bills processed after the information is submitted to the County. Chief Thiex presented the October Police Report. The St Croix Tribal patrol car has been returned, and the 2021 Dodge Durango has been put back in service. There have not been any mechanical issues since it has been put back in service. He is going to start a Coffee with the Cops that will start in December at the Fire Hall. Notices of this will be included in the water/sewer bills. Jerri Schmidt’s training has been going well, and she is starting to look at how to create the month end reports for the board meeting packets. Board member John Tinman had nothing to report on the Siren Fire Association, as the monthly meeting will be held after the Board meeting. STANDING COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS AND REPORTS Personnel & Finance Committee A motion was made by John Tinman and seconded by Ed Johnson to ratify the union contract for General Teamsters Union Local 346 Public Works for 2026. The contract provides for a $1.55 wage increase for Public Works Employees and a change of classifications to Senior WWTP Operator and WWTP Operator. The agreement to increase the on-call pay by $0.50/hour will be brought to the December Board meeting as part of updating the Employee Handbook. Motion carried without negative vote. OLD BUSINESS A motion was made by Dave Doty Sr. and seconded by Ed Johnson to recommend non- union wage increases of $1.55 for Clerk/Treasurer Peterson and Public Works Director Jaskolka; $1.26 for Police Chief Thiex and $0.50 for Part-Time Administrative Assistant Teschler. Trustee Doty asked for a roll call vote on this motion: Doty aye Reimann aye Gunderson aye Tinman aye Johnson aye Young aye Motion carried. The Board discussed how to handle the multiple motions on the same subject through Roberts Rules of Order. The Board discussed that the motions were all the same level of motion, so the proper procedure is to take all the motions in the order they were made. The Board discussed whether a motion must be rescinded by the original person who made the motion. During the second Personnel & Finance Committee meeting there was confusion about how to rescind a motion from the prior meeting. Trustee Tinman Village of Siren is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer. Complaints of discrimination should be sent to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington DC 20250-9410 requested that all motions dealing with non-union wages be roll call vote. This was agreed upon by the Board members present. A motion was made by Steve Young and seconded by John Tinman to recommend an additional $0.67 per hour for 2026 for the Public Works Director with the figure to come out of the budget allocated for part-time public works wages. President Young called for the roll call vote: Doty nay Reimann aye Gunderson aye Tinman aye Johnson nay Young aye Motion carried 4-2. The Board discussed that the next motion that was being recommended from the Personnel & Finance Committee’s November 11th meeting would supersede any prior motions made within this same meeting, per Roberts Rules of Order. A motion was made by Dave Doty Sr. and seconded by Ed Johnson to have wage increases of $1.85 for Clerk/Treasurer Peterson and Public Works Director Jaskolka; $1.26 for Police Chief Thiex with the Part-Time Public Works Pay Rate to be $15.00 per hour. President Young called for the roll call vote: Doty aye Reimann nay Gunderson nay Tinman nay Johnson aye Young nay Motion failed 2-4. A motion was made by John Tinman and seconded by Sara Reimann to approve the 2026 General Fund Budget. The levy is set at $538,622 which is 3.12% increase from 2025. The overall budget has a decrease of 25.13% mainly due to the lack of a road project being budgeted in 2026. President Young called for a roll call vote: Doty Sr. nay Reimann aye Gunderson aye Tinman aye Johnson nay Young aye Motion carried 4-2. Discussion/Action on Updating Village Ordinances – President Young reported that he has been talking with REM Inspections, which handle our UDC building permits, about the possibility of them taking over more of the permitting of non-UDC building permits. If this is done, there would be no cost to the Village as any permit fees would be paid by Village property owners directly to REM. He will have this item on the December Board agenda for further discussion and action. A motion was made by John Tinman and seconded by Ed Johnson to send the debt owed by Brady Mangen to collections. All in favor, motion carried. NEW BUSINESS A motion was made by Ed Johnson and seconded by John Tinman to approve Pay Request #4 for B&B Electric for Wellhouse Improvements in the amount of $8,550.00. MSA is recommending approval of the pay request. All in favor, motion carried. The Board and Teresa Anderson of MSA discussed the timeline for bidding the Water Main Loop and Water Tower Rehab projects. She would like to put the projects out for bid as of December 31st with bids due back by January 20th so they can be awarded at the January 29th Village Board meeting. Public Works Director Jaskolka indicated he thinks it would be a good idea to have the plans brought to the Streets & Utilities Village of Siren is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer. Complaints of discrimination should be sent to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington DC 20250-9410 Committee for review. The schedule for the bidding was informally approved by the Board with an official motion to be brought to the December Board meeting after the plan review during the Streets & Utilities Committee meeting. The meeting schedule was set as follows: a. Buildings, Grounds & Parks Committee: To be set if needed. b. Personnel & Finance Committee: To be set if needed. c. Public Safety Committee: December 11th at 10:00 a.m. d. Streets & Utilities Committee: December 9th at 3:00 p.m. e. Planning Commission: December 3rd at 9:00 a.m. f. Board of Appeals: To be set if needed. g. Tourism Commission: March 11th at 9:00 a.m. h. Ball Park Committee: February 9th at 6:00 p.m. A motion was made by Steve Young and seconded by Sara Reimann to adjourn the Village Board Meeting at 5:18 p.m. Motion carried without negative vote. Submitted by Ann L Peterson, WCMC/CMTW Village Clerk/Treasurer