Village Board — Minutes

VILLAGE OF HORTONVILLE VILLAGE BOARD SEPTEMBER 3, 2026, MEETING MINUTES APPROVED SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 President Jeanne Bellile called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Community Center at 531 N. Nash St., Hortonville, Wisconsin. Trustees present: Therese Abitz, Dalton Davis, Carrie Lathrop, Jim Moeller, Jane Olk, and Julie Arendt Vanden Heuvel. Officials/Staff present: Administrator Nathan Treadwell, Deputy Clerk-Treasurer Lauren Prochnow, Chief of Police Brian Bahr, Library Director Alexandrea Krause and Attorney Ashley Lehocky Officials Excused: Director of Public Works Aaron Steber, Clerk-Treasurer Jane Booth Consent Agenda Motion [Arendt Vanden Heuvel, Olk] to approve as outlined with changes. Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. A. August 20, 2026, Regular Board meeting minutes – Trustee Arendt Vanden Heuvel requested one update to add to meeting minutes. Under Keary Mattson in the citizens to be heard, it’s a summary and I would like specific information in here with the comments regarding the current businesses downtown. B. Presentation of accounts and other claims against the Village Agenda Changes None. Preregistered Citizens to be heard Tom Hipp – 720 Giese St – My back yard backs up to the new subdivision. I talked to Nathan and Tom McHugh. Parker was up here with bulldozers, I saw him Tuesday morning and was starting to dig the first hole, and McHugh said the subcontractors are all really good. Cement truck is up and down Giese St. These guys don’t know where they’re going. I’d really like for Hortonville to have documentation when something comes up to call someone and complain/express concerns. During working hours, we can handle the noise and dust but when his stuff comes through, they need to know who to call. Our street can’t take this traffic. Block off Gale so they can’t use that road. They can use the gravel road so they can’t come down that road. Oh, I support Shauna and Alex. Shauna Keel – 235 S. Mill St. I want to piggyback on Tom’s comment – the dump trucks are coming down and are heavy, which is not good for the road. The bridge is not rated for that traffic as a NON truck route and because it is currently a detour walking path for pedestrians which means there is a lot more foot traffic on that route currently and large construction vehicles carrying heavy loads can be a safety issue on these roads especially during the school day/release times when foot traffic is at its peak. Shauna continued…. “I want to use this opportunity to share with the residents of Hortonville and this board a few things that I have learned over the last few weeks that I didn’t previously know or expect from the place I have called home for 45 years. I have learned that there is now an abundance of people asking me if I have operated a strip club out of my property due to the defamatory and insulting comments and references that were made on the June 18, 2026, board meeting at 1 hour and 20 min mark. Given that those comments are now public record, I feel that a public apology is fully justified as it has forced me to address distressing questions from members of the community in front of my 10-year-old children. I have also learned that despite the perceived historical goal of the board to support and encourage residents’ input, it appears that public participation is now met with intimidation and potential stalking. At least three residents who recently spoke—as permitted under WI Statutes 19.83 (2) and 19.84 (2)—have faced what I would consider harassment. Furthermore, numerous notifications from residents and business owners supporting a single campaign have been entirely ignored. Based on the open records documents, there seems to be inconsistent enforcement of our zoning codes and ordinances. First there are enforcement “gray areas”. If a zoning code or ordinance is being reviewed for potential changes, it is not going to be enforced allowing violations to potentially be grandfathered in once finalized. Second, there is selective application. Ordinances seemingly apply only to new buildings or businesses, leaving existing non-compliance, regardless of when the non-compliance occurred, unaddressed or deemed subjective. Third, there is the Lack of Proof Requirements. Property owners are apparently not required to provide proof of compliant zoning or conditional use. If neither the owner nor the village has documentation, the default benefits the property owner, meaning silence equals compliance. I have also learned that going forward, I will need to notify both the village and the police department when I choose to enjoy my property for personal pleasure. We now expect police visits within minutes of turning on our garage lights due to false, anonymous complaints regarding family gatherings, movie nights or simply spending time on our property. I am not blaming the police as they are simply responding to a call. I am not sure if this is a new requirement for all residents, but it certainly seems to be the situation for me. This police presence and constant feeling of being watched is severely impacting my 10-year-old children's sense of security. Please be assured that our property is monitored by security cameras and we are safe. My family visits often. Regarding our business relocation efforts, the Village held off the decision on the only feasible and available property for conditional use, primarily due to traffic concerns, yet subsequently attempted to purchase that same lot from the owner to build a parking lot, a project intended solely to create traffic. This action is deceitful and unethical. Furthermore, that lot has been left unmaintained for months, resembling an unsafe site with graffiti and trash. If I were someone from out of town, I would suspect that is a homeless camp even before the construction started, not an available lot for business use. Finally, while the downtown is being redesigned for pedestrians and cyclists, basic infrastructure maintenance is being neglected on major detour walkways like Mill Street and Bath Street. Overgrowth and low-hanging trees violate the 14-foot clearance ordinance, forcing adults and children to walk in the street. Some of these weeds are taller than my 10-yr old and growth of that nature is from well before construction started. Failing to maintain these high-traffic areas is negligent and violates code by the village. It is clear, given that the Village is seeking space for parking, we can expect parking to continue down side-streets and pedestrians to walk to the downtown. This is not a construction issue; this is a maintenance one. Out of curiosity, given what I have learned, I am curious as to why the village is focused on buying all of the available or coming available properties that could be used for businesses. The village has shown interest in buying the county garage (5 parcels), the empty lot previously discussed in the downtown district and now another 5-parcel property owned by a single owner. We have an abundance of residential coming available yet providing nowhere for these people to establish business for both high schoolers and residents to work. Our family and business have donated thousands of dollars and countless hours to community organizations, including the Hortonville Hortonia Fire Department, the Hortonville Police Department, Adopt a Family, and local emergency snow services. We wish to continue supporting this community, but we must do better and work together to find a solution that adheres to what is shared in marketing for the village and our comprehensive plan. Hortonville claims to support new and local business. It claims to work with residents and business owners for success and growth. It’s time for those claims to be realized and fulfilled- not just empty words. It would be great to be able to serve the community again. Great things are only achieved by working together and listening to our residents- not the opinions of a few but the desires of the village they represent. I truly hope that we can do better at learning and working TOGETHER for the goals of those dozens of residents AND existing BUSINESS OWNERS who have spoken both publicly and via email. I appreciate your time and really hope that everyone learned as much from what I have said as I have learned from it in the last few weeks. Thank you.” Committee Reports None. Unfinished Business from previous meetings None. New Business Discussion and possible action on Economic development Request to increase the Façade Loan Program maximum amount from $15,000 to $20,000 The Economic Development Committee met a few weeks ago and the suggestion from the committee and staff was to increase the amount. This helps with the current applicants and the updates they are doing in the downtown with the grant and façade loan. We still have funds available; costs have increased since we last updated it. Estimation is given to the village and we check the work and reimburse them at that point. Motion [Moeller, Davis] to increase the maximum amount of the Façade Loan Program from $15,000 to $20,000 Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Discussion and possible action on Special Assessment for Main Street Laterals for 327 W Main Street. This was one that wasn’t in the special assessment for laterals last meeting. The contractor couldn’t get in touch with the homeowner until they moved in. It’s the same details as the others; there’s no difference between them. Motion [Arendt Vanden Heuvel, Olk] to approve the special assessment for the Main Street Laterals for 327 W Main Street. Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Discussion and possible action on Resolution R-14-26 for the Temporary Suspension of Ordinance 28.4 – Public Consumption of Alcohol Beverages Correction to the agenda as R-13-26 was already in use. Advancing to the next number of R-14-26. This is for the October 30 festival on Main Street and was a suggestion from the State on how to allow temporary alcoholic usage in the street. It would be allowed by the State. Motion [Arendt Vanden Heuvel, Olk] to approve Resolution R-14-26 Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Discussion and possible action on the removal of the Temporary No Parking Zone on Olk Street from Main Street to Nash Street Chief Bahr addressed the board: We talked about this a couple of weeks ago at board. They made a pretty big adjustment yesterday. I need to sit on this and wait – we’re detouring a bunch of traffic and. St. Peter & Paul has asked if they can open up a couple spots on Olk Street for parking. I think we need to watch these things and change them on the fly. No action needed. Discussion and possible action on Speed Limit Change on Grandview Road in the area of Parkview Drive Bahr – a resident asked me to take a look at the speed limit. It’s the yellow triangles where the switch is, some residential. Additional stops and there are some issues where 35 feels a lot faster there. The proposal would be to switch 35 to 25 to those red triangles. We would make sure to flag it for awhile to make it noticeable. There’s a lot more going on in that area than before. Motion [Arendt Vanden Heuvel, Davis] to change the speed limit as noted from 35 to 25 on Grandview Road in the area of Parkview Drive. Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Discussion and possible action on Hortonville Urban Forestry Plan Final This is part of the grant we got from the state to help pay for the plan. Approving this approves what the plan says, it doesn’t mean that we are promising to implement the plan. The plan is a good first step in how we want to manage the trees in the Village. Motion [Arendt Vanden Heuvel, Olk] to accept the Hortonville Urban Forestry Plan and Tree Inventory Analysis dated June 2026. Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Discussion and possible action on Main Street Change Order Treadwell – there’s a summary in here about the shutoff valves in here with the issue we’re having. The problem is we have a number of them that don’t work anymore and we have to go further out in the streets, which means more people without water when we need to shut down a certain section. If we don’t have a good way to shut the water off, the more water we have to bring in somehow from neighboring streets. Ron Wolf from McMahon spoke more on this; discussion ensued. It costs $48,944 to fix the 3 shutoffs. The amount will come out of the water fund, there is money in there. Motion [Moeller, Davis] to approve the change order for Main Street to include the replacing of the shut off valves in the amount of $48,944.00 Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Discussion and possible action on Special Needs Child Warning Sign Policy Treadwell – we’ve had a few complaints on speed in certain areas, and someone had mentioned they had a disabled child. We’ve created a form that would have a checklist to monitor if people did move within or out of the Village at final billing. The idea is to create a policy and if someone wanted to have one up, there was a set of criteria on what they would have to do. Motion [Arendt Vanden Heuvel, Olk] to accept the special needs child warning sign policy and application with the changes noted by Nathan. Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Report of Village Officials Clerk-Treasurer: The report is in the packet. Director of Public Works: The report is in the packet. Chief of Police: I want to show appreciation of staff noted by a property manager on West Main Street. We’ve had thefts and one property. There’s stuff on social media; we’ve resolved almost all of these. E-bikes – Nathan and I attended this just hearing other struggles, and what trends are. Our focus points need to be on safety as everyone is dealing with this right now. When we talk about helmets and general safety, and potentially what we’re learning, there’s a lot. Safety needs to be our #1 issue. There are statutes and laws not everyone is aware of. High school parade – our intention is to speak with the school district. We want to make this as much of a school and community event as possible. Discussion ensued. President Bellile – Regarding construction – could the police do some directing down around Main Street? Chief Bahr: What’s interesting about that is it’s changing so quickly, but we want traffic to stop for pedestrian crossing. We will continue to monitor traffic. Library Director: We are actively hiring for our PT position, please keep sharing our Facebook post; the more eyes on it, the better. Attorney: Tyler Pluff gave notice. He is going to work in the planning office in Door County. Hopefully we’ll find someone to replace him. If you have anything outstanding with Tyler, let us know. Administrator: The report is in the packet. Trying to stay above water right now, dealing with the Main Street Project daily, keeping business owners up to date. Temporary routes, detours. We got our first submittal from the state for the rate case so we’re working on that. It’s been a very busy few weeks here. President Bellile – when do you want us to start on your review? Administrator Treadwell – the first meeting in November, if you want to hand them out in October. Any other miscellaneous topics for future discussion None. Communications and Miscellaneous Business Black Otter Lake District news: BOLD had their annual meeting last Thursday. Motion was passed to look into the new harvester. Jared Dorn was re-elected and BOLD needs one more member. Building permit report: None Hortonville-Hortonia Fire District news: None. Gold Cross Ambulance run reports and news: None Hortonville Civic Association: None. Senior Activities Committee: None. Comments and suggestions from citizens present Tom Hipp – look at Tom McHugh’s banner, he tells his sub-contractors to use the construction road. We don’t want those big trucks to come down those streets. Motion to go into Closed Session Motion [Olk, Arendt Vanden Heuvel] to go into Closed Session under State Statute State 19.85(1)(e) “Deliberating or negotiating the purchasing of public properties, the investing of public funds, or conducting other specified public business, whenever competitive or bargaining reasons require a closed session.” Specifically potential purchase of property Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Board to return to Open Session Motion [Arendt Vanden Heuvel, Davis] to return to open session at 7:45 p.m. Unanimous voice vote, motion carried. Any action on matters discussed in Closed Session None. Adjournment Motion [Davis, Olk] to adjourn. Unanimous voice vote, motion carried. The Board adjourned at 7:45 p.m. Minutes submitted by, Lauren Prochnow, WCMC Deputy Clerk/Treasurer