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Village of Fall Creek Special Village Board Meeting Minutes
7/27/2020 Page 1 of 2
1. Call to Order: 6:32 p.m., virtual meeting at Zoom.us & physical meeting at Village Hall
Meeting Room, 122 E. Lincoln Ave., Fall Creek
2. Roll Call: Members Present: Village President Tim Raap, Trustees Kelli Corbin, Bob
Jenkins, Sheena Kaatz, Matt Mattoon, Karen Strasburg. Members Absent: Trustee Joyce
Aldrich. Staff Present: Administrator/Public Works Director Jared McKee, Clerk-Treasurer
Renee Roemhild. Also Present: Ehlers Financial Advisor Sean Lentz. Those noted in
attendance include those attending via the virtual meeting.
3. Certify Open Meeting Law Requirements Have Been Met: A notice of the meeting and an
agenda (including instructions if wishing to attend the virtual meeting) was posted at the
three public places and local newspapers were notified.
4. Adopt Agenda:
MOTION (Mattoon/Raap) to approve the agenda as printed. PASSED, without negative
vote.
5. Consider Application for Financing for Raether Property Acquisition: President Tim
Raap stated the offer for the purchase of the Raether property has been accepted with some
contingencies in place. One of the contingencies was to secure financing that the Board was
comfortable with.
MOTION (Mattoon/Raap) to begin the application process to acquire a loan through the
State Trust Fund loan program in an amount of up to a $650,000 for a term of 20 years.
PASSED, roll call vote: Corbin-yes, Jenkins-yes, Kaatz-yes, Mattoon-yes, Raap-yes,
Strasburg-yes.
6. Move to Convene in Closed Session Per Wis. Stat. 19.85(1)(e) Deliberating or
Negotiating the Purchasing of Public Properties, the Investing of Public Funds, or
Conduction Other Specified Public Business, Whenever Competitive or Bargaining
Reasons Require a Closed Session, Namely, Negotiations re: Property Acquisition. Roll
Call Vote on Motion to Convene into Closed Session. Tabled.
7. Move to Return to Open Session and Action, if Any, on Matters Discussed in Closed
Session: Tabled.
8. Consider 1st Reading of Amendment to Ordinance §206 Public Improvements: President
Tim Raap and Administrator/Public Works Director Jared McKee reported on the legalities
and process of special assessments per State Statutes.
MOTION (Mattoon/Kaatz) to hold first reading of above ordinance. Amendment
basically changes wording from “abutting” properties to “benefitting” properties.
PASSED, with Bob Jenkins voting no.
9. Consider Preliminary Resolution Declaring Intent to Levy Special Assessments Under
Municipal Police Power Pursuant to §66.0703 Stats for the Kopplin Road Project:
MOTION (Strasburg/Mattoon) adopting RESOLUTION #2020-0727A Preliminary
Resolution declaring intent to levy special assessments for the Kopplin Road Project.
PASSED, Jenkins-no, Kaatz-yes, Mattoon-yes, Raap-yes, Strasburg-yes, Corbin-yes.
10. Consider Debt Issues, Possible Refinancing: Administrator/PWD McKee outlined a
proposal to payoff and refinance several loans in the Water Fund and Sewer Fund. Working
with Ehlers financial advisors, we have found the interest rates very favorable right now and
anticipate an overall interest savings of possibly $180,000 or more. Terms would remain the
same, resulting in lower annual principal and interest payments which would be considerable
help in managing the budgets for the struggling enterprise funds, possibly reducing the need
Village of Fall Creek
Minutes of Special Village Board Meeting
July 27, 2020
Village of Fall Creek Special Village Board Meeting Minutes
7/27/2020 Page 2 of 2
for a rate increase. McKee also mentioned that the loans being considered for this proposal
are currently General Obligation (G.O.) debt, and would remain as such, so the refinancing
would not negatively affect our G.O. debt ratio.
Sean Lentz of Ehlers detailed the loans being considered for the refinancing stating they are
currently through the State Trust Fund Loan Program (STFLP) at an interest rate of 3.5%.
The rates they are seeing on the bond market right now are averaging 2% or lower. Lentz
reviewed the steps and timeline required by the STFLP for paying off loans. He
recommended working directly with a specific bond purchaser that has been very active in
the bond market, Bankers’ Bank, as the timeframe is short. It was mentioned that when
securing loans on the bond market, the terms usually require a non-callable period of 7 or so
years. McKee spoke that this would not be a concern for the Village as we have other loans
that would remain callable during that time if the Village acquired funds to make any
additional debt payments.
MOTION (Raap/Mattoon) to move forward with consolidating the Water Fund loans for
State Street and Liberty Street and the Sewer Fund loan for part of the wastewater
treatment plant into an approximate $1.7 million dollar loan, seeking bid from the bond
purchaser described above with the assistance of Ehlers Public Finance Advisors and
directing notice be sent to the STFLP that we are paying off the above listed loans.
PASSED, roll call vote: Kaatz-yes, Mattoon-yes, Raap-yes, Strasburg-yes, Corbin-yes,
Jenkins-yes.
MOTION (Raap/Strasburg) to payoff the approximate $80,000 Water Fund loan for
Liberty Street, directing notice be sent to the STFLP. PASSED, roll call vote: Mattoon-
yes, Raap-yes, Strasburg-yes, Corbin-yes, Jenkins-yes, Kaatz-yes.
11. Adjourn:
MOTION (Mattoon/Raap) @ 7:40 p.m. PASSED, without negative vote.
Renee Roemhild, Clerk-Treasurer
Source: Village of Fall Creek website. First collected Oct 20, 2026.