Town Board minutes 12.08.2025.DRAFT

DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT Tow n of Winchester 7228 CTH W Winchester, WI 54557 winchesterwi.com DRAFT Meeting Minutes Regular Town Board Meeting Monday, December 8, 2025 C hairman Discianno called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm on MondayDecember 8th, 2025 at Winchester Town Hall and on Zoom. Chairman Discianno, Supervisor Newton, Supervisor Silvis, Clerk Newton and Treasurer Grimmer attended at Town Hall. There werenine other in-person attendees including Winchester Library Director and Deputy Town Clerk Adeline Huybrecht, District Supervisor Richard Logan, NEMSD Chief Jason Joling, and Discovery Center Woods and Water Director Abby Vogt, and three attendees on Zoom including NEMSD Winchester Representative Steve Herzberg. The pledge of allegiance was recited. Su pervisor Newton made a motion to approve the agenda. Supervisor Silvisseconded the motion, and the motion passed 3-0 in a voice vote. Su pervisor Silvis pointed out that the minutes of the 11/17 special meeting were missing the Supervisor who seconded the motion’s last name. Chairman Discianno made a motion to approve the November 10 regular board meeting minutes and the November 17 special board m eeting minutes after the last name was added to the last paragraph. Supervisor Silvis seconded the motion and the motion passed 3-0 in a voice vote. T reasurer’s Report: Treasurer Grimmer circulated the treasurer’s report and reported the balance in Town checking accounts as $134,782. Mr. Grimmer reported that a deposit from BCPL loan was pending. Sulo Wainio asked a question about allocation for excess funds in the budget. Treasurer Grimmer answered that the budgeting/allocation of excess funds in 2025 is still in progress. Chairman Discianno made a motion to approve the Treasurer’s report as given. Supervisor Newton seconded the motion and the motion passed 3-0 in a voice vote. C lerk’s Report: Clerk Newton reported that she filed levy limit worksheet and all documents required for exceeding the levy limit with DOR. Clerk Newton reported working on filing the Statement of Taxes with the DOR next. DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT Town of Winchester Chairman and Supervisors’ reports: Chairman Discianno reported that the Town Crew had prepped plows by replacing items and they also replaced road markers for plowing as needed. Chairman Discianno stated that the Crew did an outstanding job on the storm and he indicated that this would be discussed further as an agenda item. Chairman Discianno reported that he attended a landfill meeting in Eagle River at the beginning of the month where discussions about profitability and potential sale continued. Chairman Discianno reported that EAU employees installed holiday lights and the Town Crew installed the snowflake lights on the light poles. Chairman Discianno reported that prior to snow fall the Crew had mixed sand/salt and continued shouldering work until the snow began. Chairman Discianno spoke about the light display on Sunday Lake in Wakefield, MI set up by the Gustafson’s and that they refurbished and used old holiday décor they obtained from the Town of Winchester in the display. Chairman Discianno mentioned the public hearing for the ATV/UTV ordinance scheduled for Saturday December 13 th at 10 am. Chairman Discianno reported that GSS was out to Town Hall to look at a generator that failed to turn off after power restoration and that they were able to correct the issue. Chairman Discianno explained that he would like to see a new FYI section added to the website that would be updated on a regular basis and give more information about things going on in Winchester. Chairman Discianno briefly spoke about the success of the Winchester Tree Lighting and NEMSD fundraiser events that took place on December 6. Supervisor Newton reported that he attended the LRIP meeting on Friday Dec 5 th and explained that participants were asked to rank projects and that the Birch Lake Rd project submitted by Winchester was ranked 3rd by the group. He also spoke about an issue with most of the LRIP project applications exceeded the page limit from having photos submitted one per page. Supervisor Newton also reported a phone call from a resident on Papoose Lake discussing internet service options in Winchester. Supervisor Silvis mentioned the ATV/UTV ordinance hearing on Saturday Dec 13. Supervisor Silvis reported that WinMan trails are mostly open for winter activities and spoke about the Early Bird Ski Race event taking place at WinMan trails on December 20 th. Supervisor Silvis reported that the new road sign for Bucks Road was snapped off by a plow truck and needs to be replaced. Vilas County District Supervisor’s report: District Supervisor Logan reported that the County Health Department going through a transition where services that used to be provided by UW- Oshkosh would now be handled in-house at the County. He explained that there may be increased fees for the services such as water sampling and that the fees would most likely be built into inspection fees. Correspondence: Chairman Discianno asked for correspondence other than regarding the DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT Town of Winchester November snow storm as that would be covered within the agenda. Clerk Newton reported that she has had multiple people reach out with questions about property tax bill timing as well as an internet service question that she passed along to Supervisor Newton. Treasurer Grimmer indicated that he expected all tax bills to be mailed out by Tuesday December 9 th. Public Comment: Ryan Nickels asked if he should comment now about the agenda item to lease the transfer station and indicated he had several questions. Mr Nickels began asking questions and was told his questions were ahead of where the issue of leasing the transfer station is and further questions were held. Another attendee asked about commenting on the agenda item for public safety officer and his questions were held until the agenda item was covered. Old Business: 1. Road/lane name changes: Clerk Newton reported that there were no submissions for to be reviewed/approved. 2. Winchester Information Technology: Supervisor Newton reported that he received a Starlink Mini unit and is planning on putting it into service soon, potentially at the Transfer Station. Supervisor Newton suggested removing Winchester Information Technology as an agenda item until action is needed. 3. NEMSD update: Chief Jason Joling reviewed the November 2025 NEMSD report and explained that a couple of calls with a response time over 30 minutes were due to the winter storm. Chief Joling stated that the work the Fire Departments and Town Crews did to get NEMSD access to houses was impressive. Chief Joling described a response where a patient refused transport but that NEMSD responders were able to provide treatment on site that stabilized the patient. Chief Joling reported that mutual aid was requested from Arbor Vitae and that the County has been informed that only volunteers will respond to mutual aid requests and that NEMSD staff will remain in the district. Chief Joling reported that NEMSD will hold their first First Responder course in January, that the course was being offered free to district residents, that ten people were signed up already, and that both himself and Deputy Chief Mabie are licensed instructors. 0¡ Transfer.Station.electronics.recycling¿.Supervisor Silvis reported that all of the changes he requested to the electronics recycling draft agreement were made. Supervisor Silvis has printed out the revised agreement for Chairman Discianno to sign and explained that he would also have to notify the DNR of the agreement. Supervisor Silvis explained that two receptacles approximately 5’x5’ would need to remain clean and dry. Chairman Discianno reported that the electronics dumpster had recently been emptied and Chairman Discianno and Supervisor Silvis agreed that beginning the new agreement January 1st and that Chairman Discianno would be the point of contact. Chairman Discianno explained that this agreement will DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT Town of Winchester allow the electronics to be disposed of at no cost to the Town and that previously the Town has been paying for electronics disposal. New Business: 5. Aquatic invasive species update from Abby Vogt, North Lakeland Discovery Center: Ms. Vogt introduced herself as the new Woods & Water Director at NLDC and explained that her previous position of AIS Coordinator was filled by Lydia Doberstein. Ms. Vogt reported that throughout a majority of lakes they installed land owner monitored lake level monitoring gauges and indicated that her team was still working to process the data they obtained. Ms. Vogt reported on assisting two land owners in Winchester with restoration projects. Ms. Vogt explained that in Winchester previous AIS surveys had detected Yellow Iris on the Turtle Chain and Curly Leaf Pondweed in Harris Lake and reported that in 2025 they had removed over 75 pounds of YI from the Turtle Chain. Ms. Vogt reported that a Purple Loosestrife survey found PL on Adelaide Lake and Pardee Lake and indicated that her team may utilize gladrucella beetles to minimize the PL populations. She also indicated that a full AIS survey was planned for Pardee Lake in June 2026. Ms. Vogt spoke about the grant funded work that has been done on CLP in Harris Lake and indicated that 2026 is that last year of that funding. Ms. Vogt reported that NLDC has applied for 14 grants to fund AIS projects in Manitowish Waters and Winchester, that the grants awards are expected for March and that awarded funding would allow more work in Winchester over the summer of 2026. Ms. Vogt spoke about the third annual North Lakeland Woods and Water Conference scheduled for April 24th and explained that pre-registration would open on February 1st. Ms. Vogt reported that her team is expecting to bring on six seasonal staff this summer to help complete the work and spoke about the DASH boat that was completed in October 2025, that it was built by many volunteers and that its use will allow for quicker removal and the ability to tackle larger populations. Ms Vogt also reported that NLDC is the process of purchasing a decontamination unit that will use hot water to sanitize boats and tanks. Ms Vogt thanked the community of Winchester for their support. 6. Thanksgiving Day winter storm: Chairman Discianno spoke about the difficulty with communication during the winter storm due to cell and power outages and mentioned receiving some complaints about delays in plowing certain roads. Chairman Discianno explained that the Town Crew worked dozens of hours of overtime clearing the roads of snow and downed tree limbs. Chairman Discianno also reported that Winchester has submitted for relief funding due to the storm. Clerk Newton read an email from a resident on Lake Yolanda road which stated “Adelaide Rd, Rock Lake Rd, W Bay Rd, and Agony Point Rd, were all plowed 2 days DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT Town of Winchester before Lake Yolanda Road. Even Old County O Rd between Lake Yolanda Road and New County O was plowed early Saturday 11/22 before Lake Yolanda Rd. We attempted to drive out, but ended up in the ditch and paid nearly $500 for a tow off of Lake Yolanda Rd. We are regularly at our property and this year for Thanksgiving, had 10 adults and one infant visiting. We are very grateful we did not need emergency services as no one would have been able to get to us. We would like the township to maintain Lake Yolanda Rd like all of the other roads off on Old County O Rd.” Clerk Newton reported that when she spoke to the Town Crew about Lake Yolanda road being plowed they informed her that they were unable to plow the road due to the vehicle stuck on the side of the road not allowing the plow to access the road and she added that the Crew has emphasized how major and abnormal this winter storm was with the amount of downed limbs and trees as well as unfrozen ground and heavy snow. 7. NEMSD Representative appointment: Chairman Discianno explained that Steve Herzberg has served as Winchester’s NEMSD Representative for the last two years and it is now time to reappoint or appoint someone for the next two years. Supervisor Silvis asked if Steve Herzberg has expressed an interest in continuing to represent Winchester. Mr. Herzberg stated that it has been an honor to represent Winchester in the NEMSD and that he is proud of the work accomplished so far. Mr. Herzberg expressed that he would like to continue to represent Winchester, that he believes now is the time to stabilize that plan going forward and that he wants to continue working on it. Supervisor Newton stated that has only heard good feedback on Steve’s work so far and expressed that he is impressed by Steve’s skill and experience and believes Winchester should keep Steve as their representative. Supervisor Silvis stated that he agreed with Supervisor Newton’s sentiment and Chairman Discianno stated that he also agrees. Chairman Discianno made a motion to reappoint Steve Herzberg as Winchester’s NEMSD representative. Supervisor Newton seconded the motion, and the motion passed 3-0 in a voice vote. 8. Deputy Clerk appointment: Chairman Discianno stated that we wanted to make sure Adeline was still interested in the Deputy Clerk position. Clerk Newton reported that Adeline Huybrecht has agreed to serve as Deputy Clerk and that Ms. Huybrecht signed her oath of office this evening. Clerk Newton clarifies that Adeline is still the Director of the Winchester Public Library, that she will be working more hours at the library and additional hours at town hall. 9. Vilas.County.Beaver.Program¿ Chairman Discianno reported that problems with beavers are on the rise and explained that Vilas County will run a beaver trapping program in 2026 and that towns will be able to join. Chairman Discianno explained that his main concern is beavers negatively impacting roadways and indicated that DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT Town of Winchester the County would send out notices about the program soon and that the program will begin in February. 10. Town.of.Winchester.Credit.Card.Policy¿.Treasurer Grimmer, who also serves on the Planning Commission, explained that the policy was based off of the credit card policy used by another town and said that he thinks the policy should continue to be refined. Treasurer Grimmer stated that an approval process for credit cards would be wise and is not addressed in the policy. Supervisor Newton stated that there are many duties assigned to the Town Clerk in the policy but that he was told the clerk does not have access to the whole account. Clerk Newton stated that she only had access to her card activity online and that she only received mailed statements for activity on other cards. Clerk Newton expressed that if she was given access as the primary contact for the credit card account she could perform the duties as laid out in the policy but that she would expect card holders to notify her of every purchase promptly. Chairman Discianno reviewed who would need a card in addition to himself, Treasurer Grimmer and Clerk Newton and identified the library, town crew and fire department potentially needing cards. Supervisor Silvis spoke about an issue the FD had when needing fuel when Dietz’s gas station was closed. Supervisor Newton made a motion to accept and approve the credit card policy as received from the Planning Commission. Supervisor Silvis seconded the motion with the caveat that changes can be made to the policy in the future. The motion passed 3-0 in a voice vote. 77¡ Public.Safety.Officer.for.Winchester¿ Chairman Discianno spoke about an ongoing collaboration between the four towns (MW, BJ, PI and Win) and a consultant team to identify potential shared services avenues and reported that a recent topic was law enforcement in the area. Chairman Discianno stated that PI has a public safety officer and that he wonders if that person could also cover Winchester. Chairman Discianno explained that he sees a benefit it having someone regularly patrolling the area and that he would like to look into the possibility of having a public safety officer in Winchester in the next year. Chairman Discianno indicated he would find out from the county about crimes reported in Winchester and spoke about past issues with vandalism and theft of street signs. Supervisor Newton stated he agreed with Chairman Discianno and recalled that a major concern of the Planning Commission is always who will enforce Winchester ordinances. Supervisor Newton asked the attendee who indicated he had questions during public comments if he had further questions and the attendee stated that he thinks finding out about what kind of calls are made to the area is a good first step. 12. Leasing of the Winchester transfer site to Lakeland Disposal: Chairman Discianno explained that at the November landfill meeting he discussed the cost of running the Winchester transfer station with Chad Metzger and Mr. Metzger indicated that Lakeland Disposal could potentially lease and run the Winchester transfer station. DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT Town of Winchester Chairman Discianno spoke about the cost to Winchester and about other area towns charging disposal fees for trash that Winchester does not charge. Chairman Discianno explained that Winchester owns two dumpsters and one compactor and the rest is leased from Republic Services. Chairman Discianno asked Supervisor Silvis to look over the contract with Republic Services and Sulo Wainio stated that the contract was signed in January 2023 and that it continues for 5 years. Supervisor Newton asked a few questions about how Lakeland Disposal would run the transfer station and Chairman Discianno explained that he just wanted to introduce the topic at this point and plans to revisit it, and thinks it is too early to get into specifics on operation. Supervisor Newton asked Ryan Nickels if he had further questions regarding the topic and Mr. Nickels stated that because the transfer station was budgeted for without charging for trash disposal would now collecting a fee be paying twice as it was paid for via property taxes already. Chairman Discianno clarified that the topic is at discussion stage only and that it is too soon for questions. Mr. Nickels and Chairman Discianno went back and forth about charges offsetting expenses until Chairman Discianno indicated he wanted to move on to the next topic and revisit this topic in the future. 13. Set date for Employee Performance Reviews: Board members discussed potential times for employee reviews and settled on the morning of December 16 and Chairman Discianno indicated that he would let the employees know. 14. Approval of the Fire Department Officials: Supervisor Silvis reported the results of the Fire Department’s election; John Melzer for Chief, Bill Sell for Assistant Chief, Renee Melzer for EMS Director, Maymee Siegner for Assistant EMS Director, Cory Siegner for Treasurer, and Dave Inserra for Secretary. Chairman Discianno made a motion to approve the fire department officials as elected by the fire department. Supervisor Newton seconded the motion and the motion passed 3-0 in a voice vote. 15. Appointment of the Library Board Directors: Chairman Discianno reported that Dick Smith is stepping down from the library board and Ruth Ann is up for reappointment. Chairman Discianno made a motion to appoint Ruth Ann Sadler and Bill Shine to the Winchester Library Board of Trustees. Supervisor Newton asked Library Director Huybrecht how many people had applied for the library board vacancies and Ms. Huybrecht replied that Ruth Ann reapplied and three new people applied. Supervisor Newton seconded the motion and the motion passed 3-0 in a voice vote. 16. Appointment of the Election Officials for the 2026-2027 election cycle: Clerk Newton asked to table this item and indicated that she had six people on the list and would like time to contact additional people. Chairman Discianno agreed to table the item and bring it back at next weeks special meeting. DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT Town of Winchester Future agenda items: Chairman Discianno indicated items for a future agenda could be emailed to him. Approval of Vouchers: Disbursements were reviewed and Chairman Discianno made a motion to approve November disbursements beginning with EFT for Starlink internet through liability check EFT9n37t Royal Credit Union. Supervisor Newton seconded the motion, and the motion passed 3-0 in a voice vote. 17. Motion to go into closed session under ss19.85 (1) (c) to discuss workman’s comp claim of a public employee: Chairman Discianno made a motion to enter closed session under ss19.85 (1)(c). Supervisor Silvis seconded the motion and the motion passed 3-0 in a voice vote. Board entered closed session at 7:39 pm. At 7:50 pm Supervisor Newton made a motion to return to open session. Supervisor Silvis seconded the motion and the motion passed 3-0 in a voice vote. Chairman Discianno reported that an employee’s workman’s comp case was discussed with no action taken. The meeting was adjourned at 7:50 pm on December 8, 2025. Erin Newton, Town Clerk for Winchester DRAFT minutes submitted 01/10/2026