Village Board

VILLAGE OF HORTONVILLE VILLAGE BOARD DECEMBER 4, 2025 MEETING MINUTES APPROVED DECEMBER 18, 2025 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, Clerk-Treasurer Jane Booth, Director of Public Works Aaron Steber, Chief of Police Brian Bahr, Library Director Alexandrea Krause, and Attorney Ashley Lehocky. Consent Agenda Motion [Moeller/Olk] to approve as outlined. Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. A. November 20, 2025, Regular Board meeting minutes B. Presentation of accounts and other claims against the Village Public Hearing A. 2026 Budget Presentation Motion [Arendt Vanden Heuvel/Keel] to open the public hearing for the 2026 budget presentation. Unanimous voice vote, motion carried. Administrator Treadwell said the tax levy will be dropping a substantial amount due to the reevaluation. Our equalized value is up to about seven million. A few things changed here, we had to change the way that the ambulance fee was allocated. Motion [Arendt Vanden Heuvel/Moeller] to close the public hearing. Unanimous voice vote, motion carried. Agenda Changes None Preregistered Citizens to be heard Tony Phillips, 4278 N Bountiful Lane, Appleton was here to say he is running for the 56th Assembly. Dave Murphy was our previous representative, and he has decided not to run next year so I have decided to run. I am running as a Republican. I live in Grand Chute, just north of Alliance Church Dave said he was a cancer physician for twenty-six years in the Fox Cities, currently retired. I have raised 5 children with my wife, and they all went to Appleton North. One my sons Stanley played soccer and football with Nathan Treadwell, and it is clearly impressive to see what you are doing now, that is great. I do have a website and Facebook – Phillips for Wisconsin, go check it out. Committee Reports None Unfinished Business from previous meetings None New Business Discussion and possible action on Resolution R-23-25 adopting the 2026 Budget and Approving the Tax Levy Administrator Treadwell summarized the budget. Motion [Moeller/Arendt Vanden Heuvel] to approve Resolution R-23-25 adopting the 2026 Budget and Approving the Tax Levy. Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Discussion and possible action on Appointment of Election Inspectors 2026-2027 Clerk Treasurer Booth noted that we did receive a listing from the Republican Party, however, when she called them all, all but one was working for another municipality and they wanted to continue with their municipality. Motion [Arendt Vanden Heuvel/Jewell] to approve the Appointment of Election Inspectors 2026- 2027. Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Discussion and possible action on Resolution R-21-25 Amending Personnel Manual DPW Director Steber said that this did get approved at the last Public Works meeting. Motion [Moeller/Olk] to approve Resolution R-21-25 Amending the Personnel Manual. Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Discussion and possible action on WE Energies easement in Miller Park DPW Director Steber said that this is an easement that WE Energies is looking to move a gas line in order to move the bridge next year. This is scheduled for March of 2026. Motion [Moeller/Jewell] to approve the easement changes as presented based on the approval of the attorney. Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Discussion and possible action on updates to Ordinance Sec. 42-125. – Private sewer laterals. DPW Director Steber said that this was discussed in an earlier meeting, and the biggest question was the collection of fees, and we have added that section. Motion [Arendt Vanden Heuvel/Moeller] to approve Ordinance O-6-25 regarding private sewer laterals. Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Discussion and possible action on Ambulance Fees Administrator Treadwell said that we were contacted by the County that we were no longer allowed to put an ambulance fee onto the tax bills as a special charge. They told us that they were contacted by the State DOR. The Department of Revenue’s opinion was that the ambulance charge was for a person and not a property. We were not the only community that was impacted by this, Greenville is also another community that was blindsided by this. Attorney Lehocky said that when Jane and Nathan called me regarding this I was filled with rage. I don’t understand where this came from. We have a community in Winnebago County that we represent and that was the first community where we started to run into this issue, where the County was refusing to put those fees on the tax bill. I don’t think that the county can say to us, no, we’re not going to put this on your tax bill. I don’t think it is up to them to decide what we are going to impose as a special charge. I think it is a matter of what we are billing and if somebody disagrees with it, it is up to us and them. We have contacted the League and the League sort of said we don’t want to get involved. Most communities wrap them into their fire fees. We don’t have the ability to do that. Discussion ensued. Consensus was to send letters to residents and explain the situation and if they don’t pay it; it will be added to the tax bill next year. Motion [Moeller/Jewell] to direct staff to bill residents for ambulance fees. Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Report of Village Officials Clerk-Treasurer: The report is in the packet. Director of Public Works: The report is in the packet. The guy’s got the ice-skating rink set up at Alonzo Park. Chief of Police: The report is in the packet. We finished interviews with the final candidate for full time. Officer Sweeney and Officer Hauser went to Police Lights of Christmas and raised about $2,000 which gets put back into the community. Library Director: We gathered over 400 items for the Food Pantry. We have a self-defense class set up for next year. Speed puzzling is set again for the third time. Attorney: Nothing Administrator: I will get my report out next week. Some other development projects President Bellile thanked the staff for all their hard work on the budget. Any other miscellaneous topics for future discussion None Communications and Miscellaneous Business Black Otter Lake District news: Nothing new, next meeting is January 12. Building permit report: The November building report was submitted. Hortonville-Hortonia Fire District news: Nothing new Gold Cross Ambulance run reports and news: None Hortonville Civic Association: Nothing new Senior Activities Committee: Next meeting is Thursday, at noon. Comments and suggestions from citizens present None Motion to go into Closed Session Motion [Arendt Vanden Heuvel/Olk] to go into closed session under State Statute 19.85(1)(g). Unanimous voice vote, motion carried. Board to return to Open Session Motion [Moeller/Olk] to return to open session at 7:50 p.m. Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Any action on matters discussed in Closed Session None Adjournment Motion [Olk/Moeller] to adjourn. Unanimous voice vote, motion carried. The Board adjourned at 7:51 p.m. Minutes submitted by, Jane Booth, WCMC Village Clerk/Treasurer