Village Board — Minutes

VILLAGE OF FOOTVILLE REGULAR BOARD MEETING THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2025 MINUTES 1. The December 4, 2025, Regular Board Meeting of the Village of Footville was called to order by President John Thomson at 6:00 pm. Board members present: J. Thomson, N. Beal, N. Conaway, D. Harnack, J. Harnack, R. Nath, and D. Wells. Also present: Sandy Baertschi, Jeff Garde, Melody Harer, Tami Johnson, Mike McGuire, Diane Pounder, John Pounder, Marilyn Runaas, William Schweder, and Robert Selck. 2. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA: Motion by N. Conaway, 2nd by D. Harnack to approve the agenda. Motion carried unanimously. 3. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES: Motion by N. Beal, 2nd by N. Conaway to approve the meeting minutes from November 6th for both meetings, November 11th, and November 25th. Motion carried unanimously. 4. CITIZENS WISHING TO BE HEARD: Sandy Baertschi thanked Wayne Bliss, Chuck Duncan and Cameron Duncan for taking care of the trees that were blocking the Welcome to Footville sign on Hwy 11. D. Harnack read a comment she received from a citizen stating they believe the Village Board is nit-picking against the Fire Department about the water issues. 5. VOUCHERS: N. Beal noted we still need to buy a gantry crane so we can pull the pumps ourselves. The cost of hiring a company to pull the pumps was over $9000. Motion by N. Conaway, 2nd by D. Harnack to approve the vouchers. Motion carried unanimously. 6. REPORTS: Treasurer’s/Water: Motion by N. Conaway, 2nd by N. Beal to approve the treasurer's and water reports. Motion carried unanimously. 7. REPORT: Economic Development Committee - Bob Selck noted they need to start the grant process because they are due March 1st. He gave the board copies of proposed layouts for new bathrooms and concession stand. They are hoping to start getting bids by January. They are working on coming up with fundraiser ideas. They have received a proposal to repair the ball diamond next year. The committee has ideas for the proposed subdivision which will be talked about later in the meeting. He asked who is heading the discussion and decisions for the proposed subdivision? Will the board take over the discussions with the builders? There is a lot more to the negotiations that will need to be done. J. Thomson said that will be talked about later in the agenda. The next meeting of the Economic Development Committee will be January 6, 2026. 8. REPORT: Planning Commission – Corey Mielke has finished his building in the business park. Grading of the lot will be finished in the spring. The DPW employees will need to talk to Ryan Perkins regarding if he is interested in hooking up to the Village sewer. 9. REPORT: Parks Committee – The Parks and Recreation Committee is working with the Economic Development Committee and Planning Commission on the design of the bathrooms and the big picture of park renovations. 10. REPORT: Footville Department of Public Works – Mike McGuire reported after the pumps were pulled, dosing pump 2 has been taking longer to pump. Mike will call Sabel Mechanical to come back out to look at it. They are working on getting the snow pushed back. N. Beal thanked J. Harnack, M. McGuire, R. Nath, and Chuck Duncan for building the shed for chemical storage. R. Nath asked if they needed training on any of the snow plowing equipment. R. Nath also noted Depot Street needs to be cleaned up earlier than it was last weekend. N. Beal stated the board approved spending $1,750 for a gantry crane; however, we will need a heavier crane and hoist to pull the pumps which will cost more than the approved $1,750. We will need a 2,000 lb. crane to lift the pumps. We do have a $600 safety grant we can take advantage of to put towards the higher price of a heavier crane. It was also noted we should have an extra pump on hand in the event one were to go out. 11. Planning Commission recommendation to approve a minor land division in Plymouth Township: The Planning Commission recommended the board approve the extra-territorial land division in Plymouth Township. Jeff Garde of Combs and Associates was present to answer any questions. Motion by N. Beal, 2nd by J. Harnack to approve the land division. Motion carried unanimously. 12. Dodge Ram 550 deletion and needed repairs to truck: R. Nath got a quote from Dearth in Monroe to fix the deleted emissions on the Ram truck. The quote was $29,810. The truck is worth approximately $15,000. The Federal Government is resetting emission standards and removing some of the EPA rules. D. Wells stated the people that had the emissions system deleted from this truck should be held accountable. They did this to two trucks and cost the taxpayers money to have the emissions deleted and to have it reinstalled in the plow truck. He will look for information on who had this done and it will be put on next month's agenda. 13. Tree trimming update: There are 34 properties that will have trees trimmed. Weather depending, the work will start around December 13 -15. 14. Village operations: R. Nath asked who is the boss here? There needs to be a chain of command. J. Thomson is the President, and he needs to get out and learn what is going on. An organizational chart will need to be created. There needs to be guidelines for plowing and training, and there needs to be directives for employees. 15. Set parameters and rules for the proposed new subdivision: The list of proposed rules from the Economic Development Committee for the potential new subdivision was presented. These ideas/rules include: houses must have a basement; walking trail; waterfall; old-fashioned streetlights; curb and gutter but no sidewalks; homes need to have ¼ of the front be brick or stone; minimum of 1,400 square feet; do not take down the tree line; must have an attached garage; any shed built must match the house; 2 retention ponds; upper ball diamond leveled out and home run fence installed along with a retaining wall; paved driveways; 22 houses maximum; .3 acre lots minimum. These rules need to be set to give to potential contractors. 16. Taxed Incremental District update and Request For Proposal for contractors: A Request For Proposals needs to be put out soon. Motion by N. Conaway, 2 nd by D. Harnack to approve the RFP. Motion carried unanimously. 17. Review the plan and quote from Kujawa Enterprises, Inc to renovate the ball diamond: The quote for the baseball diamond renovation was presented. The quote ranged from $13,857 to $63,150 depending on the options that are selected. It was asked if TID money can be used for this? The Parks Committee is asking the board to help pay for this project. J. Harnack stated the sewer plant needs upgrading and money should be going to that project, not the ball diamond renovation. There are multiple organizations that use the ball fields. It was asked if they could help with fundraising. There is money in the 2026 budget for park improvements that can be used towards the renovations. The Village has already pledged $50,000 for new bathrooms at the park. 18. Order Special Election for Municipal Judge for 2-year term (April 2026-April 2028): A special election for municipal judge must be held due to an error regarding the term length in the special election that was held in 2019. Motion by N. Beal, 2nd by D. Harnack to hold a special election for municipal judge on April 7, 2026. Motion carried unanimously. 19. Election worker appointments: Motion by R. Nath, 2nd by D. Harnack to approve the poll worker appointments. Motion carried 4-0-3. 20. Police Department update: N. Conaway sent the conditional offers of employment to the board to review. One officer will be paid an additional $.50/hour to maintain certifications and training data. She would like for him to start next week so things can get moving along as soon as possible. Motion by D. Harnack, 2nd by J. Harnack for O’Malley Lomax to do administrative duties with an additional $.50/hour increase in pay. Motion carried unanimously. N. Beal asked about a service weapon. The Village owns one and one of the new officers has his own so we will not need to purchase another one. 21. Brightspeed planned underground construction: Brightspeed has submitted an underground construction application for a minor project on North Gilbert St. Motion by N. Conaway, 2nd by N. Beal to approve the Brightspeed underground construction permit. Motion carried unanimously. Brightspeed also wants to do another extensive project. They were informed of the new underground construction ordinance but have not yet submitted an application for that project. 22. Rescheduling Regular Board Meeting to January 8, 2026, due to the New Year’s Day holiday: Motion by D. Harnack, 2nd by D. Wells to reschedule the January Regular Board meeting to January 8, 2026. Motion carried unanimously. 23. MOVE INTO CLOSED SESSION: The Footville Board of Trustees will move into closed session pursuant to Wisconsin State Statute §19.85(1)(c) to consider the employment, promotion, compensation, or performance evaluation data of any employee over which the board has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility. Motion by J. Harnack, 2 nd by R. Nath to move into closed session. Roll call vote: D. Harnack – Yes, D. Wells – Yes, N. Beal – Yes, J. Harnack – Yes, R. Nath – Yes, N. Conaway – Yes, J. Thomson – Yes. Meeting moved into closed session at 7:41 pm. 24. RECONVENE INTO OPEN SESSION: Motion by J. Harnack, 2nd by D. Harnack to reconvene into open session. Motion carried unanimously. Meeting reconvened into open session at 8:45 pm. 25. Take action on any matters discussed in closed session: Motion by N. Conaway, 2nd by R. Nath to move forward with asking Steve Sagen to work with the DPW employees on snowplow training. Motion carried unanimously. J. Thomson will also meet with the DPW employees to develop a task list. 26. PRELIMINARY DISCUSSION ON OTHER MATTERS NOT PROPOSED FOR BOARD ACTION: D. Harnack reminded the board that Christmas in Footville would be taking place at the legion on Saturday, December 6th from 1-4 pm. D. Wells – none. N. Beal stated he talked with Sherry at the Village Inn. She has requested that a flag be placed on the pole in front of her business next spring. J. Harnack – none. R. Nath – none. N. Conaway – none. J. Thomson – none. 27. ADJOURNMENT: Motion by J. Harnack, 2nd by N. Conaway to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 8:52 pm. SUBMITTED BY: STACY NEAL VILLAGE CLERK-TREASUER