Sept Meeting — Minutes

Minutes - Town of Weyauwega American Legion – 303 N Mill St, Weyauwega WI 54983 Sept 14, 2026 1. Call to Order a. Chairman/Dave Stelzner called to order the Monthly meeting of Town of Weyauwega at 6:00pm on Sept 14, 2026, at The American Legion. 2. Pledge of Allegiance a. All stood and recited the pledge of allegiance. 3. Roll call a. Clerk/Sonia Thede-Kramer conducted a roll call. The following persons were present: Chairman/Dave Stelzner, Supervisor/Terry Wilz, Supervisor/John Neuman, Treasurer/Jodi Wilz and Clerk/Sonia Thede- Kramer. a. Public – Joel Bartel. 4. Approval of Minutes a. Aug Minutes: Board reviewed the minutes for Aug meeting. Motion to approve the Aug minutes by Supervisor/John Neuman, seconded by Supervisor/Terry Wilz, all ayes, motion carried. . 5. Treasurers Report a. Treasurer/Jodi Wilz presented the treasurer’s report and board reviewed. Motion to approve the Treasurer’s report by Supervisor/John Neuman, seconded by Supervisor/Terry Wilz, all ayes, motion carried. 6. Review of Vouchers & Authorize Payments a. Board reviewed the Vouchers & Payments report. Clerk/Sonia Thede-Kramer advised there was a charge on the Hwy Dept invoice for work on Washington Rd. She asked Hwy Dept as we don’t have that road in our township. She is still waiting for an answer. The charge for the road is included in the payment and once I receive an answer, it can be updated in the next month. Motion to approve vouchers and authorized payments of $60,078.95 by Supervisor/Terry Wilz, seconded by Supervisor/John Neuman, all ayes, motion carried. b. Clerk/Sonia Thede-Kramer explained our township was approved by the Emergency Management for a reimbursement from the 3/14/26 ice storm and will receive the reimbursement soon. 7. Waupaca Cty Board Report a. Joel Bartel: Joel Bartel is a board member on the Waupaca County Board. He provided updates that have been happening at the county level. For law enforcement, the flock cameras have been shut off. They have been defunded for 2027, no funds for data. It has been asked why the county police officers have “fancy” vehicles, Tahoe. They previously have been purchasing the police vehicles and found if they lease them instead of purchasing, they are saving money. The vehicles that are available to lease are Tahoe’s. Construction on Cty Rd A will start in 2027. Some residents have appealed the zoning’s decisions to not be able to fix their property from the flood by zoning, 50% rule. In what Bartel has seen, if there is an appeal filed against the county, more times the county will lose. The courts usually go in favor of the residents. He feels each property should be independently decided, not having all or nothing. Supervisor/Terry Wilz commented other counties or townships are not enforcing the 50% rule so why is Waupaca Cty Zoning? Bartel does not understand this either. Chairman/Dave Stelzner heard there is a petition to have Ryan Brown removed from Zoning dept. Bartel confirmed there are over 600 signatures. Bartel confirmed that the Waupaca Cty board has the control over the head individual of each dept then that person hires the employees. Feels the dept don’t all follow the guidelines. He encourages the towns to pull out of Waupaca Cty zoning and handle in house. For data centers and co-digestors zoning is trying to change the ordinance to conditional use permits. If it changes to conditional use permit, the townships no longer have a say in if a data center or co-digester go within a town. The decision is all in the hands of Zoning dept. The board agrees, they want their voices heard and does not want the change to conditional use permit. Bartel said he will vote the way the townships want. He is working on some resolutions. One is to prevent foreign governments buying farmland. Another is an HR policy, who oversees what. Bartel expressed he is in favor of a resolution for bating deer. The budget is short $2.3mil. He heard the county is looking to borrow $2.3mil for roads, but they will not use the funds for roads. He thinks they then will levy taxes. He disagrees with this. Supervisor/Terry Wilz asked how short? Bartel thinks it is due to no control over each dept. Human Services is a big portion in the budget. 8. Zoning a. Approve Request, Resolution to Disapprove Waupaca Cty Zoning Ordinance Chapter 34: Supervisor/John Neuman advised that the Chapter 34 in short is changing the wording on the ordinance to take away control from townships about what is allowed to be completed, example approving a digestor without going through the townships first. Per Bartel Cty Planning & Zoning is proposing to implement Conditional use permits instead. Chairman/Kathy Nickel of Town of Lind asked the townships in Waupaca Cty to sign a resolution disapproving the Ordinance Chapter 34. Board discussed and agrees to change the ordinance to conditional use permits is not in the township’s best interest, want to have a say. Motion to sign and date the Resolution to Disapprove Waupaca Cty Zoning Ordinance Chapter 34 then provide to Chairman/Kathy Nickel for her to file with Waupaca Cty by Supervisor/John Neuman, seconded by Supervisor/Terry Wilz, all ayes, motion carried. Public Joel Bartel left at 6:40pm. 9. Roads a. Gravel on River Rd & Slough Rd/ANR Pipeline: Chairman/Dave Stelzner has not heard from Hwy/Greg Flohr for an estimate to gravel River & Slough Rd. He asked Clerk/Sonia Thede-Kramer to email ANR/Tristan Brock stating we are still waiting for an estimate. b. Chairman/Dave Stelzner asked if anyone sees a pothole that we ask Hwy Dept to fix. He is going to start trimming around the bridges at the end of the month. 10. Fire District Report a. No Report. 11. Gold Cross Ambulance a. Meeting Report: Chairman/Dave Stelzner reported on the meeting he attended. Gold Cross’ response times are quicker which means services improved. They are working with Fire depts form EMR training. b. Approve Renewal Contract: The renewal contract is up for 2027, and our quarterly payment has decreased from $1,907 to $1,896.75. Motion to renew with Gold Cross Ambulance for 2027 by Supervisor/Terry Wilz, seconded by Supervisor/John Neuman, all ayes, motion carried. 12. Wisconsin Towns Association (WTA) a. Meeting Report: Supervisor/John Neuman reported on the meeting he attended. Several offices from Cty and State gave updates of what is happening. Jay Schiefelbein from DNA/Transportation Liaison talked about permits and wetland regulations. Jeff Meessmann from Last Wilderness spoke about wake surfing. Amy Ebert from Waupaca Cty Educator went over some education workshops that are coming up. Sherif Tim Wilz reported on FEMA, leasing police vehicles to save money and court room security. Many individuals are running for positions in the General Election, including Kevin Krentz who is running for representative. Next meeting is 11/12/26 at Hwy Dept. Representative/Kevin Petersen is retiring, and this was his last meeting at WTA. 13. Miscellaneous Business before Board a. Supervisor/John Neuman attended a Lunch N Learn meeting regarding Large-Scale Wind & Solar in WI. Jesse Bradish talked about the large-scale wind & solar. They have a program called RESET which stands for Reliable Energy Siting through Technical Engagement. He explained how WI’s grid works. Where our energy comes from. Solar & wind are least expensive way for electricity. WI is #18 in the country for wind & solar. He explained what a large-scale project is. Projects are at least 1 megawatt which powers more than 160 WI homes. For solar, 1 megawatt uses about 5-8 acres of land. A landowner can lease their property and could earn $500 to $1,500 per acre. Where large-scale solar is, they use sheep to mow the land. There are 16 projects in WI with 1 in Waupaca Cty. Land that is used for energy production is not taxed so utility aid is paid to local government to make up for loss of property tax. There are more funds in utility aid than property taxes. Local governments can put regulations for these projects, which can include need vegetative screening around the project. b. Supervisor/John Neuman will take the signed resolution to disapprove Waupaca Cty Zoning Ordinance Chapter 34 to the next meeting. 14. Public Input a. NA, public left earlier in meeting. 15. Next meetings a. Supervisor/John Neuman plans to attend Waupaca Cty Planning & Zoning meeting 9/17/26. b. Chairman/Dave Stelzner plans to attend Waupaca County Solid Waste & Recycling meeting on 9/17/26. c. Town board meeting is set for 10/5/26 at 6pm. 16. Adjournment a. Motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:11pm by Supervisor/Terry Wilz, seconded by Supervisor/John Neuman, all ayes, motion carried.