Committee of the Whole

MEETING MINUTES Village of Palmyra Committee of the Whole Monday December 16, 2024 6:00 pm Village Hall 100 W. Taft St. Palmyra, WI. The Committee of the Whole meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm by Village President Kathy Weiss. Roll call: Ball, Gorsegner, Kinjerski, Petruska, Troiola, Weiss present. Smith was available by phone. Pledge of Allegiance Communications: President Weiss announced that Trustee Nick Troiola has resigned effective Jan. 1st so anyone that is interested in filling his seat for a little over a year the board would take a letter of interest. New Years Day brunch at Squidy’s 8-noon. Weiss read the Governor’s proclamation acknowledging the clerks, election workers and postal workers efforts and dedication making sure all of the voters can vote safely and that the functions of democracy are upheld. Truste Petruska updated the board that there is an invoice for becoming an Ice Age Trail member, the Village and the Town are officially members and this was an effort by a group of about 5 women here in the Village. It is a very good thing for the Village to help put us on the map and get more people coming through our town. Jan-Feb onboarding of their website will take place, the State parks turn 125 yrs old this summer. Department Reports: Building Inspection – typed report submitted Clerk / Treasurer- busy with taxes, not too many complaints yet but it’s early. Library-next month there will be a Director’s report Parks & Recreation - none Public Safety- Officer LePak mentioned that Cocoa with cops for event for this Wednesday has been rescheduled. Approx. 40 citations are going out to residents for unregistered vehicles approx. 40. Public Works- Scott said they are cleaning up scrap. He is still dealing with calls from the service line letters. Committee Reports: Old Business: 1. Ball/Gorsegner motion to amend the minutes from Nov. 18, 2024 regarding the conditional use application for the Airport as read clarifying the 5 year time frame. All ayes-motion carried. The Plan Commission will need to amend the minutes also as this was a joint meeting. New Business: 1. Entire Committee of the Whole: A. Discussion/possible action on Ehlers proposal for 2025 Levy Limit Referendum Assistance. Brian Roemer from Ehlers stated that this year’s budget was a challenge, to say the least, with a deficit of $176,000. He explained the levy limits and different options to free up funds like putting the hydrant rental onto the water bills but this requires a full PSC rate case and is expensive. Scott Halbrucker said that the Village will need to do a rate case in a year or two anyway for the PFAS project that will be taking place. Roemer explained that the  board would need to determine the amount they would be requesting to increase our levy by, and the referendum question would need to be the County by Jan. 21st in order to be on the April ballot. There is a lot of work to be done by the board between now and Jan. 20th but it can be done and Ehlers would assist the Village. Jan 6th Board meeting Brian will come with a series of numbers. There would need to be several newspaper publications and the Board should get some educational materials out to residents so they are informed about what the referendum is about and why we need it. Clerk Mueller said that the board should also look at what was cut out of our 2025 Fire/EMS/Police budgets and decide if there will be more officers hired. Petruska/Troiola motion to move forward with the referendum work. Roll call vote: Ball, Gorsegner, Kinjerski, Petruska, Smith, Troiola, Weiss- aye. Motion carried. B. Troiola/Gorsegner motion to accept the final 2023 Audit from Johnson Block, Village auditors. They had come to a previous meeting to review the draft audit with the Board and there have been no changes from their presentation. All ayes-motion carried. C. Ball/Kinjerski motion to amend the motion that was made for the purchase of the new cot to read: Order the cot now and pay for it in 2026 upon delivery. All ayes-motion carried. Gorsegner/Troiola motion to approve the corrected minutes from Dec. 2, 2024 Village Board meeting and the Dec. 9, 2024 special village board meeting. All ayes-motion carried. D. Petruska/Gorsegner motion to approve the Joint Powers agreement County 911 Emergency system with Jefferson County Sheriff. All ayes-motion carried. E. Discussion/possible action on our ongoing projects as follows: *Emergency Management Plan and FEMA Training for Trustees – Scott Pavlock is not present, there are no updates so no action taken. F. Petruska/Gorsegner motion to NOT donate to the Jefferson County Clean Sweep program. All ayes-motion carried. 2. Administration and Planning Committee: Chairperson Gorsegner A. Petruska/Smith motion to approve Resolution 2024-11, adoption of the Section 125 Cafeteria Plan. All ayes-motion carried. B. Petruska/Troiola motion to raise the fee for failure to obtain rabies vaccination from $50 to $100. Kinjerski nay, all other board members-aye. Motion carried. Troiola/Ball motion to change the Animal Impoundment fees: 1st offense from 25 to $125, 2nd offense from $50 to $150, 3rd and subsequent offenses from $75 to $175. Kinjerski nay, all other board members aye-motion carried. Gorsegner/Ball motion to change the name “Dogs at Large fee” to “dog pick up fee” and the amount from $25 to $50. This is the fee if the Police get and keep an animal during their normal business hours. Kinjerski nay-all other board members aye. Motion carried. Trustee Gorsegner said that he would like to compare all of our fees with what other communities charge maybe at another meeting. Halbrucker stated that they just need to go to other municipalities’ websites and look up their fees. Gorsegner/Petruska motion to approve Resolution 2024-12 for the 2025 Fee Schedule. Kinjerski – nay. All other board members- aye. Motion carried. 3. Budget & Finance Committee: Chairperson Troiola. A. Petruska/Troiola motion to approve the payment of bills totaling $341,082.98 on the bill list with extras to Rec Director Butler for mileage, Ice Age Trail membership $1500 to be paid out of the general fund misc. expense account. Trustee Ball says 1 resident will donate to this and he will talk with the Chamber. Civic Plus, Pitney Bowes, AFLAC, Farrel Equip & Supplies, Insight FS, and Pat’s Services. Roll call vote: Ball, Gorsegner, Kinjerski, Petruska, Smith, Troiola, Weiss- aye. Motion carried. B. Troiola/Gorsegner motion to approve October’s financial statement, cash account balances, and bank statement. All ayes-motion carried. C. Petruska/Troiola motion to approve the contract with the Jefferson County Humane Society for 2025 in the amount of $4,623.15 (which is the discounted rate). We get a discount if pay the full balance within 30 days of the calendar year. Roll call vote: Ball, Gorsegner, Petruska, Smith, Troiola, Weiss- aye. Kinjerski-nay. Motion carried. 4. Public Safety Committee: Chairperson Ball A. Petruska/Ball motion to approve the purchase of a new ambulance in the amount of $354,278.00, method of payment to be determined at a later date and the delivery will be in 2026. Chief Gartzke said this will replace the 2014 ambulance. The ambulance company will use it as a demo for a couple of months, which will give us a discount. He and Sam Meier have gone through the quote line by line. Roll call vote: Ball, Gorsegner, Kinjerski, Petruska, Smith, Troiola, Weiss- aye. Motion carried. Payment options were discussed as whether to prepay. We would have to pay in 2025, and we could use some of our funds that are invested to cover this depending on what the interest rates are on our investments. B. Trustee Ball scheduled a meeting for Thursday Dec. 19th at 10 am at the Public Safety Building to address the Public Safety building concerns. Troiola/Kinjerski motion to adjourn at 8:13 pm. All ayes-motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Laurie Mueller Village Clerk/Treasurer Minutes approved with corrections Jan. 6, 2025