Common Council

CITY OF DARLINGTON COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS DECEMBER 16, 2025 The meeting was called to order by Mayor McDermott at 7:00 PM. Present at roll call were: Dave Roelli, John Sonsalla, Steve Pickett, Kerry Black, Joe Boll, and Cindy Corley. Absent: None. Also present were: Attorney Aaron Stuffacher, Dave Lindecker and his spouse, Jesse Westerman, Jeff McCarthy, and Amy Johnson. Motion by Pickett, seconded by Sonsalla, the meeting notice and agenda were properly posted. Motion carried. Motion by Roelli, seconded by Pickett, to approve the minutes of previous meetings. Motion carried. Under unfinished business, discussion was held concerning music licenses for the City of Darlington. Darlington Chamber Main Street Program Director Jesse Westerman presented the information. Westerman stated that for any events held within the City-owned parks that play music, the event organizers must be licensed to play copyrighted music. Two companies hold two separate catalogs of songs, and combined, they cover all of the copyrighted music. BMI and ASCAP are the two companies. The cost of the license with BMI is $437.00, and the cost of the license with ASCAP is $445.00. Jesse suggested that the City charge $60.00 per event to cover the event organizers and to recoup the cost. With the number of annual events currently occurring within the City parks, the City would profit $78.00 per year. After discussion and consideration, motion by Roelli, seconded by Black, to approve the City purchasing a music license from both BMI and ASCAP for the annual fee of $882.00. All ayes. Motion carried. Under new business, discussion was held concerning quotes received from Lange Sign Group for repairing or replacing the outdoor signs for the Municipal Building. The quotes and sketches were included in the agenda packet. The options were as follows: SIGN ON MAIN STREET • Option #1 – removing a panel with an old tenant listed from the three sides of the sign and replacing it with a new panel with the current tenants, painting it red to match the current sign, and installing the new panels. $1,688.00. • Option #2 – remove the existing double sign, replace the two routed aluminum faces with new faces in sections, respray the sign blue, and reinstall the sign to its original location. $6,478.00. SIGN ON EAST CATHERINE STREET • Option #3 – Remove existing vinyl lettering for an old tenant and the old logos from the three sides, furnish and install new vinyl lettering and new logos. $536.00 • Option #4 – remove the existing sign, replace the three aluminum faces, respray the sign blue, apply new vinyl lettering and digitally printed logos on the faces, and reinstall the sign in its original location. $4,386.00.  After discussion and consideration, motion by Pickett, seconded by Black, to approve Lange Sign Group to proceed with Option #2 for the price of $6,478.00 and Option #4 for the price of $4,386.00, a total cost of $10,864.00 to be paid out of the Municipal Building Outlay account. All ayes. Motion carried. Discussion was held concerning the following recommendation from the Finance and Personnel Committee: • Approve the hiring of an applicant for the Director of Public Works position. Mayor McDermott reported that the committee is recommending the hiring of Dave Lindecker for this position, with a starting salary of $85,000.00 per year, two weeks of vacation, plus benefits. The City truck provided for this position will not be used for commuting to and from work from the Director’s residence. After discussion and consideration, motion by Pickett, seconded by Black, to accept the Committee’s recommendation of hiring Dave Lindecker as presented. All ayes. Motion carried. Discussion was held concerning the following recommendation from the Park and Recreation Committee. A copy of the special rates was included in the agenda packet. • Wellness Center Winter Sign-up Special. The committee is recommending approval to run a special for 1 month starting in December. New members who sign up for a yearly membership – the $50 sign-up fee will be waived, and any additional key fobs will cost $10. Returning members who sign up for an annual membership would receive two extra months free - a 14-month membership for the price of a 12-month membership. Also, if someone purchases (10) or (20) sessions of fitness classes, they will get a 25% discount. After discussion and consideration, motion by Corley, seconded by Pickett, to accept the Committee’s recommendation and approve the sign-up special for the Wellness Center as presented. All ayes. Motion carried. Discussion also took place regarding a request to sell DPW equipment through Wisconsin Surplus. Jeff McCarthy stated he would like to sell the dump truck that was just replaced, the snow blower for the loader, and the old Dodge Ram pickup truck. Motion by Corley, second by Sonsalla, to approve selling the equipment that Jeff listed through Wisconsin Surplus. All ayes. Motion carried. Discussion was then held concerning the proposed renewal contract from Duxstad McDaniel Law Group, S.C. A copy of the proposed renewal contract was included in the agenda packet. Attorney Stauffacher presented the updated contract. The contract has not been updated with the City for several years. After review and consideration, motion by Roelli, seconded by Sonsalla, to approve the proposed renewal contract as presented. All ayes. Motion carried. Discussion was also held concerning the request received from Darlington Daycare for additional space in the Municipal Building. A copy of the letter received from the Darlington Daycare Board was included in the agenda packet. Aaron Stauffacher presented the request and answered questions from those present. Darlington Daycare is requesting one 378-square-foot room upstairs, right above the current daycare location. The Board is requesting that the lease begin in January 2026, have rent waived from January through June, pay half of the rent from July through December, and then, starting in January 2027, pay the full $2.00/square foot. Aaron stated the reason for the request is so that the daycare can set the room up as needed for the State to inspect and approve the area, and then build up their roster to fill the additional spots created by adding the extra square footage. After discussion and consideration, motion by Boll, seconded by Sonsalla, to counteroffer that the lease begin in January 2026 with rent waived from January through June, and charge the full $2.00/square foot from July through December. All ayes. Motion carried.  Discussion was then held concerning proposed Resolution 2025-08, A Resolution Transferring Funds. A copy of the proposed resolution was included in the agenda packet. Mayor McDermott explained this is the annual resolution used to transfer funds from budget accounts with excess funds to budget accounts over budget. This resolution also transfers funds to outlay accounts for use in 2026. After review and consideration, motion by Pickett, seconded by Roelli, to approve and adopt Resolution 2025-08, A Resolution Transferring Funds as presented. Motion carried. Discussion was then held concerning the appointment of Election Inspectors for the 2026-2027 term. A copy of the list of Election Officials for the City of Darlington was included in the agenda packet. The following people have volunteered to work as Election Officials for 2026-2027: Kristie Lueck – Chief Inspector; Kristine Brunkow, Virginia Douglas, Nancy Fink, Shirley Stauffacher, Debbie Loken, Sheila Siegler, Pam Hardt, Cindy Corley, Janette Steger, Barb Eicher, Nancy McCarten, and Becky Taylor – Election Officials. After review and consideration, motion by Pickett, seconded by Roelli, to approve the appointment of the Election Inspectors for the 2026-2027 term as presented. Ayes: Pickett, Black, Sonsalla, Roelli, and Boll. Abstained: Corley. Motion carried. Motion by Pickett, seconded by Boll, to approve the November 30, 2025, financial statements for the City, Water Department, and Sewer Department as presented. Motion carried. Motion by Roelli, seconded by Sonsalla to approve payment of the following November 2025 vouchers: City ACH Vouchers #357 through #370 in the amount of $113,956.03; City vouchers #47112 through #47186 in the amount of $123,134.66; Direct Deposit Payroll vouchers #15786 through #15847 in the amount of $87,866.46; Library ACH Vouchers #19 in the amount of $2,541.41; Library vouchers #6533 through #6537 in the amount of $995.14; Sewer Dept. ACH voucher #34 in the amount of $1,268.51; Sewer Dept. vouchers #8336 through #8350 in the amount of $24,363.20; Water Dept. ACH voucher #50 in the amount of $1,268.49; Water Dept. vouchers #7724 through #7744 in the amount of $21,502.39. Motion carried. There being no further business for this meeting, motion by Roelli, seconded by Black, to adjourn the meeting at 7:50 PM. Motion carried. CITY OF DARLINGTON Amy L. Johnson, Clerk-Treasurer