Village Board

VILLAGE OF HORTONVILLE VILLAGE BOARD JULY 17, 2025 APPROVED MEETING MINUTES President Jeanne Bellile called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Community Center at 531 N. Nash St., Hortonville, Wisconsin. Trustees present: Bob Jewell, Shauna Keel, Carrie Lathrop, Jim Moeller, Jane Olk, and Julie Arendt Vanden Heuvel. Trustees absent: Officials/Staff present: Administrator Nathan Treadwell, Deputy Clerk-Treasurer Lauren Prochnow, Director of Public Works Aaron Steber, Chief of Police Brian Bahr, Library Director Alexandrea Krause and Attorney Ashley Lehocky. Officials excused: Clerk-Treasurer Jane Booth Consent Agenda Motion [Arendt Vanden Heuvel, Olk] to approve as outlined. Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. A. June 19, 2025 Regular Board meeting minutes B. June 19, 2025 COW minutes C. Presentation of accounts and other claims against the Village Agenda Changes None. Preregistered Citizens to be heard None. Committee Reports A. Library Board – we meet on Monday. Unfinished Business from previous meetings None. New Business Amber Ebert, Hawkins Ash presented on the 2024 Audit. Discussion and possible action on Memorial Square Design DPW Steber – Initial engineering drawings, MSA did a shade study to get optimal shade. Dan Ramer from MSA is here tonight. Concept design for entry/gateway for board input. What do you want on it, type of design, etc… Trustee Arendt Vanden Huevel – how tall is it? Is there anyway anyone can jump up and hang from it? Maybe 12-14 feet, the higher you go, the more cost there is. We’ve reached out to Appleton Sign, and they can size it. Is the intention to be lit, or metal? Certainly, we can have electrical outlets. Discussion ensued. Board liked the classic arch gateway with light lettering, with options of high brick and low metal base. Next, DPW Steber asked the board if they had an opinion on garbage, bike racks, memorials, picnic tables, shades. Board would like to see Village colors included in the concept. Trustee Arendt Vanden Huevel would like to see the Little Free Library moved and saved, maybe moved by the splash pad or by the trail? What is the barrier between the alley and the alley ramp? Wall will remain as is and nothing expanded to the east. Best to extend wall to edge of sidewalk. We will try to match. Railing will be put across the top of the wall. MSA to take the input from board back to their design team to come up with a concept incorporating Village themes within the design, to be reviewed at a later meeting. Discussion and possible action on Business event promotion on Facebook Administrator Treadwell stated people have asked to share/post things for businesses or promotional events. Asking for board opinion, other non-profits for fundraisers. How do we promote fairly? Trustee Arendt Vanden Heuvel voiced concern - are we keeping it equal and equitable. There should be a business association in the community that can share the promotional businesses. Business should stay with business; government should stay with government. It would be very hard to maintain. What if a permit is taken out for it, because it’s a special event, can we promote that? Trustee Olk – I could say I’m having an adoption event. I could say I’m a business doing this, but I would be promoting the event on my own page. Trustee Moeller – if there’s an event taking place on Village Property, then we can promote because it’s on the Village Property. For example, Wolf River has a public event taking place at Alonzo Park, then we could promote it because it’s on our property. Board was in agreement not to go forward with promotion of business events from the Village. Discussion and possible action on Budget amendment for Construction project on John and Fountain Court Administrator Treadwell presented that Veteran’s memorial is completed. We were unsure if it was going to be done, we had the budget pushed into last year, $7,920 was the total cost and the project is complete. The cemetery care services portion will pay for stormwater for fountain court, we’re using it from cemetery care services, because it’s being used from staff for cutting of lawn. The contractor was unable to mow for the cemetery this year, so our staff has taken that on. We shifted that portion set aside to use it for contractual amounts for this. Motion [Arendt Vanden Heuvel, Moeller] to approve R-13-25 for budget amendment va 1-25 Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Discussion and possible action on Loan for Stormwater Water upgrade Administrator Treadwell – This is the Loan we’re going to take out for TID 3 to pay for the upgrade to the storm sewer we had with Terrace Manor. At the time when we did Grandview Rd they didn’t know what they wanted to do with the storm sewer so we couldn’t do anything with that parcel. We had to pay for the upgrade for the water for that road. This is to help pay for that. The TID will help pay for the costs. This will be spread over 7 years. The only difference for this is the date for this is for the 21 rather than the 18. This is the only change in the paperwork. Motion [Arendt Vanden Heuvel, Moeller] to approve the loan for the storm sewer water upgrade at 5.5 % for $71,360 at Wolf River Bank. Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Discussion and possible action on Certification for Payment #2 – Mueller Electric for the Alonzo generator DPW Steber – This is the second payout, project is finished. We’re going to hold about $2,000 in retainer because we have a little bit of site demo to finish up. New generator is in, will hold during power outage will control the wheel as long as the generator across from Kwik Trip. Motion [Moeller, Arendt Vanden Heuvel] to pay second amount to Mueller Electric in the amount of $47,878. Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Discussion and possible action on Stormwater Pond Maintenance DPW Steber – as new subdivisions are being put in and we’ve been accepting them, we also then accept maintenance on the ponds from DNR when they’re put in. We’ve found that the way they’re spec when they’re built is problematic, because they’re full of nuisance species. We’ve had a hard time, no one wants to touch them. They’re very weed infested, at steep angles, etc... We’ve had Vande Hey in to inspect and start over and Merjent make them more naturalized. All of this is more expensive than what is in the current budget. Recommendation would be to go through area 3 on Warner St through Merjent through TID 3. It’s then just annual maintenance; in the meantime, it’s our crews mowing down the annuals. The seed bank has 100’s of thousands of species. When native vegetation is established, it’s easier to maintain. Discussion ensued, including a suggestion from Trustee Moeller regarding burning the ditches to keep the invasive species at bay. Motion [Olk, Keel] to approve Area 3 at 110 Warner St at Merjent in the amount of $15,675 Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Discussion and possible action on Parking change request for 2025 Harley Raffle. Administrator Treadwell – this is the same thing we do every year. Motion [Arendt Vanden Heuvel, Moeller] for Thursday Aug 14, for Main Street to be set aside for motorcycle parking for bike night, and Olk Street in front of Commercial Club be set aside for handicap parking on Saturday, August 16. Unanimous voice vote, motion carried. Discussion and possible action on Alonzo Park Closure 8-10 a.m. August 6th. One of the companies that makes playground equipment has chosen Alonzo to shoot for playground equipment and close the park and provide them with children. They want to show it off, we need it to be shut down. Motion [Olk, Arendt Vanden Heuvel] allowing Alonzo Park to be shut down from 8-10 on August 6. Unanimous voice vote, motion carried. Discussion on Potential Creation of Alley 1 to one way Alley. Administrator Treadwell – This is something to talk to owners about and bring back to the board at a later date if we want to proceed with this. Discussion ensued. Report of Village Officials Clerk-Treasurer: The report is in the packet. Director of Public Works: The report is in the packet. Trustee Jewell – I was approached by a resident with 2 concerns – 1- goose poop on sidewalks, DPW - we’re trying to get out there in the morning to spray it off, with all the commotion they’ve moved considerably. 2- The swings are low; we can still move a couple up to see if that will help the situation. President Bellile – wanted to compliment Public Works for moving the cabinets out, they did a phenomenal job. Chief of Police: The report is in the packet. Lots of training and events. National Night Out is Tuesday, August 5 from 5-7. Library Director: I did not have a report in the packet, we’ve been very busy, just shy of 1200 for the summer program Last year was 1250. It’s been a great summer, we’re fully staffed, less burnout and doing great. Attorney: My name is Tyler Pluff. I was in Door County previously and came down to Appleton to Town Counsel. Administrator: The report is in the packet. I have been working with a few different developers on a few different projects. Our splash pad was featured in the Appleton magazine along with Black Otter Lake Park. Any other miscellaneous topics for future discussion Trustee Arendt Vanden Huevel – when I’ve gone to school board meetings there’s a protocol for public comments and it says how it works. Maybe a discussion regarding something on what we can create. I’m talking if somebody came to a meeting and wasn’t sure how to proceed I’m not sure how to word it but looking for direction. Communications and Miscellaneous Business Black Otter Lake District news: We had our meeting last night, preparing for annual meeting. Did our first sampling and sent it off to the state to get monitoring. Building permit report: The June building permit report was submitted. Hortonville-Hortonia Fire District news: Met on the 8th of July, talked on the budget. Fire calls are down. EMS is average. Fire department purchased a new battery-operated jaw, which works underwater. Continuing to keep the old unit. Plan to try to pay for the cost with fund raising money, otherwise will pay with. There was a fire on Gaigg Lane in Hortonia. The HHFD report and budget was submitted. Softball tournament is July 23=25. Gold Cross Ambulance run reports and news: The June Gold Cross run report was submitted. Hortonville Civic Association: The circus was successful, but 2nd show was rained out. Will be back in 2 years. Planning an event next year for 4th of July. Senior Activities Committee: In the packet. Comments and suggestions from citizens present None. Motion to appoint Minute taker for Closed Session Motion [Arendt Vanden Huevel, Jewell] to appoint Shauna Keel as minute taker for Closed Session. Unanimous voice vote, motion carried. Motion to go into Closed Session Motion [Olk, Arendt Vanden Huevel] to go into closed session under State Statute 19.85 (1)(c) “Considering employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data of any public employe over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility.” Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. 5-minute recess to clear meeting room Board to return to Open Session Motion [Moeller, Jewell] to return to open session at 7:45 p.m. Unanimous voice vote, motion carried. Any action on matters discussed in Closed Session None. Adjournment Motion [Moeller, Olk] to adjourn. Unanimous voice vote, motion carried. The Board adjourned at 7:47 p.m. Minutes submitted by, Lauren Prochnow, WCMC Deputy Clerk/Treasurer