Common Council Regular Meeting

MINUTES Common Council Regular Meeting Tuesday, February 17, 2026 at 5:30PM City Hall, 410 E Leffler Street, Dodgeville, WI I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order at 5:30pm by Mayor Barry Hottmann. Members present: Shaun Sersch, Roxanne Reynolds-Lair, Tom DeVoss, Jeff “Potsie” Weber, Mike Olson, Julie Johnson-Solberg, Larry Tremelling. Members absent: Jerry Johnson. Others present: Dylan Wadzinski (DPW), Brian Cushman (EMS Chief), Evan Chambers (Town & Country Engineering), Carrie Portz (Library Director), Brandon Wilhelm (Police Chief), Chester Small (Dodgeville resident), Dan Paulson (Dodgeville resident/member of Cruisin’ the Courthouse), John DeMuth (Dodgeville resident/member of Cruisin’ the Courthouse) II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE III. CONSENT AGENDA 1. Approval of Minutes from February 3, 2026. 2. Approval of Claims from February 17, 2026. Motion by DeVoss, second by Weber to approve Consent Agenda. Voice vote 7-0. Motion carried. IV. PUBLIC COMMENT Citizen or delegation presentations, requests or comments and discussion of same, pursuant to Wis. Stat. Sec. 19.83 (2) and Sec. 19.84 (2). Ten minute limit except by consent of council. No action will be taken on any item that is not specifically listed on the agenda. During public comment, Dodgeville resident Chester Small inquired about the grant that Upland Hills Health recently received, and wondered when the annexation for water and sewer would be complete. Dylan Wadzinski (Director of Public Works) confirmed that annexation of water and sewer had been completed, and that members of Upland Hills Health will be attending the next Design Review meeting scheduled for Tuesday, February 24th. Also during public comment, Dan Paulson and John DeMuth, both Dodgeville residents, presented their plans to the council of their upcoming Cruizin’ the Courthouse events (formerly Cars for Coffee) for the 2026 year. During this presentation, Paulson and DeMuth stated that due to attendance numbers diminishing for the morning events in 2025, the group decided to move this event to the 2nd Thursday of the month for the events in 2026, with the first event planned for May 14th. V. REPORTS/RECOMMENDATIONS 3. EMS overview report for 2025 and 2026 considerations During the EMS overview report for 2025 and 2026 considerations, Chief Brian Cushman presented two different reports to Council showing year end 2025 stats,  as well as EMS outlook for 2026 and beyond. During this report, Chief Cushman stated that in 2025, the Dodgeville Area Ambulance had 1,055 calls for service. Of these 1055 calls, 655 of these calls were for residents within the City of Dodgeville. Cushman also states that the highest reason for calls were for falls. Lastly, Cushman states that average response time for a call for 2025 was 4.6 minutes with their main ambulance. Regarding staffing, Cushman states that there are currently 35 staff members. Of these 35 members, 6 are full time. Finally, Chief Cushman has asked to be part of a future Admin & Personnel committee meeting to discuss staffing shortages, and to help come up with a plan on how to recruit and retain employees for the 2026 calendar year and beyond. 4. Library update During the library update, Library Director Carrie Portz informed council that they recently held a Job Pod training at City Hall on Monday, February 16 th which included library staff, members of the Southwest Library Board, Southwest Job Center and others who will benefit from this job pod implementation. Portz stated that at this time, there is only one other library in this area that is implementing this job pod (Viroqua library), however, Dodgeville is now the first library to have implemented this training. Also during this report, Portz stated that RFP’s (request for proposals) are due Thursday, February 19th for the furnishings for the new library. Lastly, Portz stated that 2.3 million has been received from the library grant. And finally, Portz states that as of the February 17th council meeting, the library project is 30% complete. 5. Deputy Clerk/Treasurer Report During the Deputy Clerk/Treasurer report, Wolfe stated that property taxes for the 2025 tax season had now been closed out with the County, and that settlement checks had now been issued and mailed to the Iowa County, Dodgeville School, and Southwest Technical College. Wolfe reminded council members and others in attendance that pet licensing for the 2026 calendar year were due on March 31 st. Lastly, Wolfe stated that in the upcoming weeks, she would be continuing to prepare for the audit, as well as prepare for the Spring Election, held at the Iowa County Law Enforcement Center on Tuesday, April 7th. 6. Mayor Report During the Mayor report, Mayor Hottmann reminded council members of the Special Common Council meeting planned for Thursday, February 19 th beginning at 5:30pm. VI. OLD BUSINESS VII. NEW BUSINESS 7. Discussion and possible action on recommendation from the Public Works Committee to approve a proposal from RES for water quality trading relating to phosphorus compliance requirements by the DNR. Motion by Weber, second by Olson to approve recommendation from the Public Works Committee for a proposal from RES for water quality trading relating to  phosphorus compliance requirements by the DNR in the amount of $1,332,000. Roll call vote 7-0. Motion carried. 8. Discussion and possible action on recommendation from the Public Works Committee to approve estimate from Vierbicher to complete a Capital Improvement Planning Analysis for our city streets Motion by DeVoss, second by Olson to approve recommendation from the Public Works Committee to approve estimate from Vierbicher to complete a Capital Improvement Planning Analysis for our city streets in the amount of $8,500.00. Roll call vote 7-0. Motion carried. 9. Discussion and possible action to approve the commercial lease between the Dodgeville Public Library and Dennis Marklein in regards to the Library Annex. Motion by DeVoss, second by Reynolds-Lair to approve the commercial lease between the Dodgeville Public Library and Dennis Marklein in regards to the Library Annex, which will terminate on October 1, 2026. Roll call vote 7-0. Motion carried. VIII. ADJOURN 10. Motion to Adjourn Motion by Olson, second by Weber to adjourn. Voice vote 7-0 Time: 6:23pm