Common Council Meeting - December 9th, 2025

Common Council Minutes The Common Council met at the City of Nekoosa Office Location: Council Chambers, 951 Market St. Nekoosa, WI 54457 Time: Tuesday, December 9th, 2025, at 7:00 P.M. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm by Mayor Daniel J. Carlson. Roll call was conducted by Kallee Ferk, City Clerk. Roll Call Aldermen Present: Alan Marcoux, Larry Krubsack, Brian Lytner, Mike Kumm, Daniel Downing, Anthony Carlson, Garett Kuhn, and Brad Hamilton. Also in attendance was, Rick Schmidt – Director of Public Works, Shawn Woods – Police Chief, and Dennis Fenske. Attendance via Zoom: Mike Hartje – Fire Chief, Darla Allen – Library Director, and Nick Abts – Attorney. Citizen Comment – No citizen comment. Approval of Previous Common Council Minutes – November 11th, 2025 A motion was made to approve the minutes of the previous Common Council meetings as written. Motion by: Brad Hamilton Seconded by: Garett Kuhn Motion carried unanimously. Treasurer’s Report A motion was made to approve the treasurer’s report. Motion by: Brad Hamilton Seconded by: Garett Kuhn Motion carried unanimously. Committee Reports Committee of the Whole A motion was made to approve the minutes of the Committee of the Whole report of November 26th, 2025 to be accepted as written. Motion by: Brad Hamilton Seconded by: Anthony Carlson Motion carried unanimously. Meeting Minutes: 1. No public comments were made in the public hearing. 2. Adoption of the 2025 Municipal Levy Limit Numbers (2026 Budget) for a total of $1,333,099. Alan Marcoux mentioned that he believed that the process of having a Committee of the Whole meeting over a Common Council meeting for budget was incorrect and that he felt there was not adequate notice of the budget public hearing. He reached out to a League of Municipalities attorney to discuss the topic. The clerk corrected this and mentioned that the public hearing was noticed the appropriate 15 days before the allotted meeting. Marcoux countered that he meant it also needed to be noticed in the agenda as a separate item, not just as notice with the budget summary. The clerk understood this and said she would add the agenda item next year during the budget process for clarification, however there were no inadequate practices that were done in this year’s budget publication. She mentioned that she published the budget summary in multiple places including the newspaper, the city website, and the Facebook page. The mayor asked the City Attorney for his thoughts on the item, and he agreed that the public hearing should be notified to the public, but that this issue had not been brought to him by Marcoux before this meeting and he was not aware of the situation in its entirety. The clerk mentioned to him that she posted two items, the budget summary that includes the public hearing notice, and the agenda for the meeting that was held. She said the summary was posted 15 days in advance of the meeting which holds up to state compliance. Mr. Abts then agreed that this process was not in violation of the state laws for budget publishment, but that for next year, adding the item to the meeting agenda separately would be beneficial for better clarification. The clerk then followed up with a secondary question asking if the budget meeting should be held as a Committee of the Whole or as a Special Statutory Council meeting. Marcoux said that the meeting has always been done as a council meeting. The clerk mentioned that she was asking this question for clarification as she did this process as a Committee of the Whole last year as well with the help of the accountant and she did not receive any notification that this was incompliant. Abts said that since both groups are comprised of the same members that this was not a violation but that for future purposes that it should be noticed as a Special Council meeting. The clerk noted this for next year and thanked him for the clarification. Motion to accept the minutes and the levy limit of the Committee of the Whole be adopted for action. Motion by: Brad Hamilton Seconded by: Anthony Carlson Roll call vote: 8 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried unanimously. Public Works A motion was made to approve the minutes of the Public Works Committee report of December 2nd, 2025 to be accepted as written. Motion by: Larry Krubsack Seconded by: Brad Hamilton Motion carried unanimously. Meeting Minutes: 1. Recommend installing a streetlight at the intersection of the railroad tracks and Wilhorn Rd. 2. Recommend approval of the Fairview Lane construction project for 2026 for approximately $1,437,822. Discussed funding through a matching CDBG grant and other options such as loans or self-funding through Capital Improvement Fund. 3. Recommend approval of the Vierbicher engineering consultants’ contract for final engineering, bidding, and construction administration for the Fairview Lane project. Garett Kuhn asked if item 1 had any costs associated to it and Rick Schmidt clarified and said no. Motion that Items 1, 2, and 3 of the Public Works Committee Meeting be adopted for action. Motion by: Larry Krubsack Seconded by: Brad Hamilton Roll call vote: 8 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried unanimously. Property Recreation and Human Affairs A motion was made to approve the minutes of the Property Recreation and Human Affairs report of December 2nd, 2025 to be accepted as written. Motion by: Mike Kumm Seconded by: Larry Krubsack Motion carried unanimously. Meeting Minutes: 1. Discussed new contract and pricing for the Nekoosa Community Center. Public Safety A motion was made to approve the minutes of the Public Safety report of December 2nd, 2025 to be accepted as written. Motion by: Anthony Carlson Seconded by: Larry Krubsack Motion carried unanimously. Meeting Minutes: 1.Recommend accepting $25,000.00 donation from Domtar to replace storm siren on top of the Domtar mill. 2. Recommend accepting donation of equipment (self-contained breathing apparatus) from Alliant Energy for the Fire Department. 3. Recommend hiring Dominick Sawyer for the Fire Department. Motion that Item 1, 2, and 3 of the Public Safety Committee Meeting be adopted for action. Motion by: Anthony Carlson Seconded by: Brad Hamilton Roll call vote: 8 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried unanimously. Ways & Means A motion was made to approve the minutes of the Ways & Means Committee report of December 9th, 2025 be accepted as written. Motion by: Daniel Downing Seconded by: Brad Hamilton Motion carried unanimously. Meeting Minutes: 1.) Audited all the bills. 2.) Recommend application to serve fermented malt beverages and intoxicating liquors to Aaron Jacoby for The Spot and Jessica Poupore for GPM (Bread and Butter gas station). 3.) Recommend $4,000.00 donation for “For Nekoosa” for 2026. Motion that Items 1, 2, and 3 of the Ways and Means Committee Meeting be adopted for action. Motion by: Daniel Downing Seconded by: Brad Hamilton Roll call vote: 8 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried unanimously. Old Business – Alan Marcoux asked a question on the Property Recreation and Human Affairs meeting minutes. He stated that he thought the community center updated rental agreement would be up for approval at the meeting so it could begin in January of 2026. Rick Schmidt, Director of Public Works stated that he planned to add the item on the January Property Recreation meeting for it to be approved. New Business Discussion and possible action on election workers for the 2026-2027 term. For the next two-year election term, City Clerk, Kallee Ferk looked for approval of the following election workers: Carol Krubsack – Chief Inspector, Donette Krcmar – Chief Inspector, Joann Zagrzebski, Carole Dorn, Elaine Wolfe, Lynette Hilgers, Sarah Krubsack, and Bonnie Knutson. Some potential subs are Mary Thomas, Darlene Johnson, and Wendy Bryant. Kallee Ferk made mention to the new hire, Joann Zagrzebski, as she was nominated to work the City’s elections by the Republican Party of Wood County. A motion was made to approve the election worker appointments. Motion by: Brad Hamilton Seconded by: Garett Kuhn Roll call vote: 7 Ayes, 0 Nays. Larry Krubsack obstained. Discussion and possible action on MSA continuing to do the CDBG RLF documentation for $2,000.00 a year. City Clerk, Kallee Ferk discussed that the state restructured the CDBG Revolving Loan Fund for housing updates. Instead of municipalities administering the program, the region now will be taking control of the applications. However, with this restructuring the funding changed. MSA, who currently manages these accounts for the city, has requested that they pay a yearly fee of $2,000.00 for the service to be continued. The clerk showed that this expense could be accounted to her general operations account (100-00-51420-310-000) as she has room in her budget for it. A motion was made to approve the $2,000.00 expense to MSA for the CDBG RLF fund administration. Motion by: Brad Hamilton Seconded by: Anthony Carlson Roll call vote: 8 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried unanimously. Approval of all Department Reports A motion was made to approve the various monthly reports from the Police Chief, Public Works Director, Fire Department, Community Center, and Charles & JoAnn Lester Library. Motion by: Brad Hamilton Seconded by: Anthony Carlson Motion carried unanimously. Audit Bill List / Approval of Bills Pooled Cash: Check #64308-64410 and other voucher payments from 11/11/2025-12/08/2025 Total Expenditure from all Funds = $266,111.15 Payroll: Check #56293-56297 Voucher #V13923- V13991 payments from 11/11/2025– 12/08/2025 Total: $141,189.42 A motion was made to approve the bills for the month. Motion by: Brad Hamilton Seconded by: Anthony Carlson Roll call vote: 8 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried unanimously. Adjournment A motion was made to adjourn the meeting. Motion by: Brad Hamilton Seconded by: Anthony Carlson Motion carried unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 7:22pm