20251210 Village Board Minutes

PROCEEDINGS - VILLAGE OF ARGYLE - MONTHLY MEETING Wednesday, December 10th, 2025 The regular monthly meeting of the Argyle Village Board was called to order by President Thomas Moore on Wednesday, December 10th at 7:00 pm at the Community Building located at 401 E Milwaukee Street . Roll call was taken with Helfvogt absent. Webster motioned to approve previous meeting minutes and the Budget Public Hearing meeting minutes, King seconded, motion carried. Rossing motion ed to approve the agenda, Hinojosa seconded, motion carried. CITIZEN COMMENT None. OLD BUSINESS The December pay request from Maddrell was received ; c urrently this request is waiting for funds from the DNR to be received and will then be paid. Rossing motioned to approve, Webster seconded, motion carried. A public hearing was held at 6:45PM prior to the Village Board Meeting regarding the Ordinance No 6 -2025 to Repeal and Recreate Chapter 715 Zoning of the Village Code of the Village of Argyle. Matt Miller of Vierbicher stated that the code has been out of date, and a lot of repetition and out-of-date language was being utilized in the code. Some things were in located in multiple different sections of the code as well. Zoning and permitted and conditional uses were compiled into a table to simplify and consolidate information. King motioned to approve Ordinance No 6 -2025, Rossing seconded, motion carried. A building inspection was completed by Village inspector Scott Jelle on the First National Bank building, and no issues turned up. Resolution No 7 -2025 Authorizing Acquisition of 321 E Milwaukee Street and Approval of Interim Financing was presented. A rate of 5.625% on a loan of up to $270,000 .00 was offered by First National Bank/Bank First for the acquisition with interest only for the first 2 years with a purchase price of $262,500 .00. Schutte presented the purchase agreement and noted that the bank requests to have the right to keep the ATM in the lobby for up to 10 years, and they will not allow the property to be sold t o another financial institution or mortgage broker. Rossing stated that the Friends of the A rgyle Public Library are willing to help with fundraising for any things that need to be completed in the building or any updates that need to be done. Schutte stated that it will be impo rtant to be open with the public and complete the minimal work needed to operate. The earliest the Village could acquire the building wil l be January 15, 2026. Rossing motioned to amend the purchase price stated in the resolution to $262,500.00, Webster seconded, motion carried. A roll- call vote was taken to approve the amended 7 -2025 resolution with none opposed, motion carried. Koch presented the finalized Argyle Dam & Spillway plans from Kleinschmidt for the board to review. The plans will be sent to FERC once approved, and the project can then go out for bids. The plans must be reviewed and approved by March 1st, 2026 at the latest, and Koch is hoping the board will rev iew and approve at January’s meeting. Flashboards to raise the dam’s level can be installed upon 11 adjacent property owners’ approval, and this can be done at the same time as the improvements and restoration. If adjacent land owner approval is still pending, the flashboards can be installed at a future date. Mike Lewis, wastewater treatment plant operator, suggested some changes at the wastewater treatment plant to promote smoother operation . Phosphorus has been a historically difficult thing to remove for the village, and Lewis suggested that the limits be controlled before the DNR changes their regulations, which would cause the village to require updates to the plant . Lewis estimated the waste concentration from haulers is around 10x higher than from the entire community, and well-over the detectable limits of testing. Currently h aulers are dumping into the overflow pond and slowly trickling into the plant to help the biology of the plant. Typically, the Village hauls once a year and land -applies, however Lewis suggests Bytec come to take solids to storage to help the plant. Chemical additions can help lower phosphorus but will cause more biological solids which would cause other problems. If the phosphorus is taken care of biologically, an Advanced Operator will be required for the plant rather than a Basic Operator. Lewis suggests that the village stops taking septage at least until the plant is better under control, as the revenue gained from it is not worth the negative effects on the plant. King also mentioned that the charge should increase if septage is taken in the future as it’s likely lower than most others. NEW BUSINESS None. COMMITTEE BUSINESS Hinojosa updated that an incident occurred with a water box that was hit during a sidewalk installation. The committee held a meeting and decided the homeowner and contractor will split the cost of the repair and the homeowner will also not be reimbursed half of the cost as a permit was not obtained for the sidewalk. The water tower will be due for a five-year inspection, during which the tower could be cleaned and maintenance completed to help it last longer. Johnson motioned to approve a quote for $9,000 to inspect and clean the water tower, Hinojosa seconded, motion carried. King updated that the snowplow experienced a hydraulic pump malfunction during use, and the cost to repair this at Monroe Truck would be $3,000.00. Johnson inquired about the full recycle center oil container, and President Moore stated that Hank Kolb would take the recycled oil. Johnson suggested charging for oil being dumped in the future as the Village gene rally pays to have it removed. Clerk Flannery suggested having a form to complete when recycling oil to prevent additives being added as we ll, as it’s a higher charge to have the oil removed with additives. Johnson also stated she received a quote from Colton Ploessl to install windows in the Recycle Center to help air out in the summer and use the sun’s heat in the winter for a cost of $1125.00. Johnson motioned to approve the quote from Ploessl and proceed with installation, Hinojosa seconded, motion carried. Webster reported that the library is looking into posting the Library Director position. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Schutte stated the Welcome Holidays event went well, although attendance was lower this year due to the weather and other eve nts around the area. The Holiday Lighting competition will be held on Saturday, December 13 th from 6-8PM. The top prize has been updated to $100 this year. Schutte also updated he’s working on the 2026 Calendar of Events, which get mailed out with December utility bills. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) reached out for Argyle to host a round table for community development dire ctors and economic planners. It will be held at the former LA Rossing Building, now the Legacy of Argyle, on February 5 th at 9:00AM with doors opening at 8:30AM. The community is welcome to join in with discussion about placemaking and wayfinding. You can sign up onli ne with a link available on the village Facebook, facebook.com/VillageOfArgyle, and village website, argylewi.gov. PRESIDENT BUSINESS The payroll report for November 2025 overtime paid to full-time: Johnson – 6.42 hours, Koch – 8.79 hours, McGuire – 0.42 hours, Saalsaa – 4.92 hours. Todd Ritschard has been paid out 80 severance hours as well as his remaining 127 hours of paid time off. Rossing motioned to approve, Webster seconded, motion carried. The village attorney stated that barricades can be put up around the power poles on River Street following a vehicle accident that occurred. Currently the villag e has four applications for the Street Department Operator position. The deadline to apply is December 15th at 12:00PM. CLERK BUSINESS Flannery presented the WISVOTE Memorandum of Understanding at a cost of $800.00 for 2026 elections. King motioned to approve the MOU, Rossing seconded, motion carried. The 2026 Caucus will be scheduled for January 6 th at 9:00AM in the Clerk’s Office. Currently the seats of President Moore and Trustees Johnson, Webster, and Hinojosa will be on the ballot. McGuire put togethe r a newsletter to go with tax bills again this year showing residents the breakdown of where the taxes go, how to pay, and dog li censing information. These are sent out with all Village of Argyle tax bills. The 2025 audit has been scheduled with Johnson Block for February 23 rd to February 26 th. Johnson made a motion to approve total November 2025 accounts payable checks $ 413,231.22, December2025 invoices paid to date $ 67,947.07, Hinojosa seconded motion carried. The next monthly meeting will be Wednesday, January 7 th at 7:00PM. King made a motion to adjourn at 8:29PM, Hinojosa seconded, motion carried. Mallory McGuire Deputy Clerk