Board Meeting May — Minutes

May 13, 2026 - Town of Eau Pleine Board Meeting Minutes - APPROVED Attendance Elected Officials Present: Chairperson Kurt Drexler, Supervisor Wayne Trelka, Supervisor Leif Erickson, Clerk Stacy Martin, Treasurer Sue Stroik Others Present: Felix Grutzik, Margie Wojcik, Mary Erickson, Pete Albert, Ken Blomberg, Kathy Metzler, Les Metzler, Roger Dobbs, Karen Dobbs, Dave Erickson, Bonnie Fredrickson, Mark Fredrickson, Bill Kiggins, Jeff Stashek, Cindy Skibinski, Brenda Kochanowski 1. The meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm by Chairperson Drexler. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 2. Minutes from the April 8, 2026, Town Board Meeting were read. Motion by Supervisor Trelka to approve the minutes. Seconded by Supervisor Erickson. 3 ayes (Supervisor Erickson, Supervisor Trelka, Chairperson Drexler) / 0 nays. Motion carried. Minutes from the April 30, 2026, Board of Review were read. Motion by Supervisor Erickson to approve the minutes. Seconded by Chairperson Drexler. 3 ayes (Supervisor Erickson, Supervisor Trelka, Chairperson Drexler) / 0 nays. Motion carried. 3. Chairperson Drexler moved to place the Treasurer’s report on file. 4. The following Plan Commission items were mentioned: The rezoning request for parcel # 016250626-10 (2977 County Road G) was withdrawn by the property owner; 3165 Victory Road subdivided 40 acres; 1961 Maple Road permit for new dwelling; 2875 River Road new storage building; 4510 Brockhaus Lane new garage with stormwater erosion control plan; 4798 Blackberry Lane regrading with stormwater erosion control plan. 5. Treasurer Stroik made a recommendation at the April 21, 2026, Annual Town Meeting as an elector to have the Portage County Treasurer collect the Town’s property tax payments starting in 2027 when the next elected Treasurer’s term begins. The Treasurer’s salary would need to be decreased to compensate for the added expense to the Town and the removal of this duty from the Treasurer’s position. Electors passed a motion at the Annual Town Meeting to change the Treasurer’s wage to match the Supervisors’ wages starting when the next elected Treasurer takes office in April 2027, contingent upon the Town Board approving the collection of property taxes by the Portage County Treasurer at a future Board meeting. Motion by Chairperson Drexler to have the Portage County Treasurer collect property taxes, effective at the start of the 2027 tax year. Seconded by Supervisor Erickson. 3 ayes (Supervisor Erickson, Supervisor Trelka, Chairperson Drexler) / 0 nays. Motion carried. 6. Clerk Martin read Wis. Stats. Chapter 985.02, which states that legal notices “must be posted in at least 3 public places likely to give notice to persons affected or must be posted in at least one public place likely to give notice to persons affected and placed electronically on an Internet site maintained by the municipality. ” Chairperson Drexler noted the added cost to the Town for his mileage reimbursement driving to the Dock of DuBay bulletin board to post notices when it is not legally necessary to post at this site since the Town posts to its website and two other public locations (which do not require mileage reimbursement). Motion by Chairperson Drexler to post the Town’s legal notices to two public places (the Town Hall and the Town Recycling Center) in addition to the Town website. Legal notices will no longer be posted to the Dock of DuBay bulletin board. Notice of this change will be posted to the Dock of DuBay bulletin board for the next 2-3 months. Seconded by Supervisor Erickson. 3 ayes (Supervisor Erickson, Supervisor Trelka, Chairperson Drexler) / 0 nays. Motion carried. 7. The Wisconsin Towns Association (WTA) asked towns to adopt a “resolution supporting a comprehensive and sustainable transportation funding solution” in order to help provide future funding for town roads. WTA provided our Town with the resolution document, which was read and adopted. Motion by Chairperson Drexler to pass resolution number 2026-01 and forward it to the Governor and State Representatives. Seconded by Supervisor Erickson. 3 ayes (Supervisor Erickson, Supervisor Trelka, Chairperson Drexler) / 0 nays. Motion carried. 8. The annual assessing contract for Assessor C.J. Becker of Becker Appraising for the January 1, 2027 assessment year was reviewed. Motion by Supervisor Trelka to accept Becker Appraising’s assessing contract for $10,000 for 2027. Seconded by Supervisor Erickson. 3 ayes (Supervisor Erickson, Supervisor Trelka, Chairperson Drexler) / 0 nays. Motion carried. 9. Discussion occurred over the current hall rental agreement and the policy to allow 501(c)(4) non-profit organizations to rent the hall for free. Consideration was given to the cleaning cost for every hall rental and the potential misuse of the undefined free rental option. Motion by Supervisor Erickson to require 501(c)(4) non-profits to supply their EIN in order to rent the town hall for free, and if no EIN is supplied or for special circumstances, the organization must submit the resident or nonresident rental fee with their rental agreement form. The rental fee may be returned to the organization after free rental is granted by the Board at a monthly meeting. Seconded by Supervisor Trelka. 3 ayes (Supervisor Erickson, Supervisor Trelka, Chairperson Drexler) / 0 nays. Motion carried. 10. Earlier this month, the town hall was mistakenly double booked because of a lack of awareness of the long-standing tradition of the Runkel Cemetery non-profit organization using the hall on the first Saturday of May each year. There was no rental agreement on file, so the Board discussed what should be done in the future to prevent this situation from happening again. Brenda Kochanowski, representing the Runkel Cemetery non-profit organization, requested that the Board allow Runkel Cemetery to rent the Town Hall for free the first Saturday of May annually in perpetuity. Supervisor Erickson requested that hall rentals not be reserved more than one year in advance of the desired reservation date. Supervisor Trelka added that if there is a history of the hall rental date for a renter being the same each year, that renter should have priority over a new renter asking for the same date. Hall rentals will now be shown as reserved dates for residents to view on the Town website calendar. The Board agreed that Runkel Cemetery should notify the Clerk each year of the date they desire to rent the hall and submit the required hall rental agreement and security deposit for that date. No motion was made. 11. The policy on employee bereavement leave will be discussed during the December 2026 Town Board meeting. 12. Chairperson Drexler and Clerk Martin shared an update on the training that the Town will provide to its employees as required in the Town Health and Safety Plan. More information will be provided at future Board meetings. 13. The Town is in the process of upgrading internet service at the Town Hall to fiber. With the added internet speed comes the capability to stream a live video feed to the website of security footage outside the Recycling Center. More information will be provided at a future Board meeting. 14. The topic of video surveillance of the town hall building was tabled to a future Board meeting. 15. To resolve the issue raised at the Annual Town Meeting regarding traffic safety concerns on Mayflower Road, Chairperson Drexler will notify the road supervisor to install 45 MPH signs on Mayflower Road, one near River Road and one near Highway E. 16. An application was received from a resident for waiver of specific code sections of the uniform dwelling code for one and two family dwellings based on religious beliefs. The resident is requesting an exemption from the requirement that the plumbing be installed by a certified plumber. Supervisor Trelka advised that this is a state issue, not a town issue, as the state’s scope is much larger, and further recommended that it be passed along to the state. Chairperson Drexler was concerned that the state will pass the request back to the Town. Supervisor Erickson recommended that this exemption, if allowed, should be tied to the deed of the property in case it is sold. Motion by Supervisor Trelka to deny the request for the exemption and forward it to the state to make the decision because the Town has an ordinance that all dwellings be inspected by Uniform Building Code. Seconded by Supervisor Erickson. 2 ayes (Supervisor Erickson, Supervisor Trelka) / 1 nay (Chairperson Drexler). Motion carried. 17. Dust suppression options for town roads were examined. Kafka Dustbusters Plus LLC submitted a quote for magnesium chloride and calcium chloride, but the email address supplied with the quote was not valid and because of communication issues that option could not be further explored beyond what was provided in the quote. Peter Albert Services LLC proposed using End Dust III magnesium chloride flakes and provided very detailed information regarding the product, as well as a 1-mile test run of the product to show results. Motion by Supervisor Erickson to pursue Peter Albert’s proposal of $7200 on the eastern half of Town, driveways only. Seconded by Supervisor Trelka. 3 ayes (Supervisor Erickson, Supervisor Trelka, Chairperson Drexler) / 0 nays. Motion carried. 18. The Town tractor loan will be paid off June 1 ,2026. Treasurer Stroik explained the benefit to the Town of having a loan on a large asset like the tractor is that it can be put on the levy worksheet because that loan amount gets added into what we can charge for property taxes. The topic of purchasing a new asset will be discussed at a future Board meeting. 19. Alcohol beverage licenses for The Jolly Roger, Mystic Ponds Estate LLC, and Dock of DuBay Bar and Grill were public-noticed in the Stevens Point Journal on April 28, 29, and 30, 2026. No comments or objections were received. Motion by Chairperson Drexler to approve the renewal of liquor licenses for The Jolly Roger, Mystic Ponds Estate LLC, and Dock of DuBay Bar and Grill. Seconded by Supervisor Erickson. 3 ayes (Supervisor Erickson, Supervisor Trelka, Chairperson Drexler) / 0 nays. Motion carried. 20. Announcements and Dates to Remember: a. Next Town Board Meeting is June 10, 2026, at 6:00 PM b. May 18 Wisconsin Towns Association meeting: there will be a quorum with Chairperson Drexler and Supervisor Erickson c. May 20 transportation roundtable at the Wausau Hilton that Supervisor Trelka will attend 21. After hearing questions and concerns from the public – Motion by Supervisor Erickson to pay bills and adjourn. Seconded by Supervisor Trelka. 3 ayes / 0 nays. Motion carried. Respectfully submitted by: Stacy Martin, Town of Eau Pleine Clerk