Village of Palmyra

MEETING MINUTES Village of Palmyra REGULAR VILLAGE BOARD MEETING Monday March 2, 2026 Village Hall 100 W. Taft Street 6:00 P.M. The meeting was called to order by President Gorsegner at 6:00 pm. Roll call: Ball, Deichl, Gorsegner, Petruska, Smith, Tucker, Wallace-present. Deichl via TEAMS Pledge of Allegiance Communications Village Clerk Mueller reminded the board that there is a special board meeting tomorrow for Dept Head reviews. She asked if everyone had the new review forms. President Gorsegner reported that he met with Josh Gajewski from the Town board last Monday to start discussions on the research to see if we can join with other fire/EMS departments. They will meet again on the 1st week of April. Monthly Reports: Typed department reports were submitted except for the Rec. Dept. and Court. Public Forum: Peggy Cappel, 223 W. Main St. says that she would like some clarification on some of the ordinances within the village and signage. The parking lot on S. Second St. specifically. Does the sign belong to the park or the parking lot or both. There are 2 guys living in the parking lot in their car and they own a dog who is not on a leash. They move their vehicle after 72 hours. How many of these people are we going to have in this lot, this is like the 4th one so far. She does not want homeless to start gathering. Pres. Gorsegner says there is an ordinance on the agenda for clarification for vehicles and things like this. Cappel says the parking lot is dirty at times and has full garbage cans. She has had no issues from these people. Diana Marie Dempsey: 116 S Third St. Apt 2 has had to call the police because when she is exiting her home 2 white males are in the lot and they have a clear view of her apt. and they own a pit bull. Her home is her sanctuary, and she doesn’t feel safe going out her door with the pit bull off leash. The elder man started shouting at her, she ignored him and immediately dialed 911. Then both men were videotaping her so she called 911 again, an Officer came and said he was going to talk to them. The owner of her building came, and they were also videotaping them on her back porch. This has been going on since Sept. Gorsegner said the ordinance change will give the PD more teeth. New Business: Discussion and Possible Action on the Following Items 1. Smith/Petruska motion to approve the following minutes: Feb. 11th combined Village Board & Police & Fire Commission meeting, Feb. 16th Village Board meeting and the combined meeting with the Police & Fire Commission, the Personnel Committee minutes from Feb. 23rd, 24th, 25th as presented. All ayes- motion carried. 2. Building Permits: None at this time 3. New Business: A. Wallace/Tucker motion to convene, upon passage of the proper motion, into Closed Session at 6:11 pm with staff, pursuant to §19.85(1)(c), Considering employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility. Specifically, to discuss the Deputy Clerk/Treasurer and Recreation Director positions, interviews. Roll call vote: Ball, Deichl, Gorsegner, Petruska, Smith, Tucker, Wallace-aye. Motion carried. B. Petruska/Smith motion to reconvene into open session at 7:03 pm pursuant to §19.85(2), Stats., for possible additional discussion and action concerning any matter discussed. Roll call vote: Ball, Deichl, Gorsegner, Petruska, Smith, Tucker, Wallace-aye. Motion carried. Tucker/Smith motion to  submit a written offer to Michelle O’Brian for the Rec Director part time position at $16.25/hr. no benefits, 15-20 hrs per week except for April – August during busy sport times then can exceed 20 hours per week but not more than 29 hrs. per week. Roll call vote: Ball, Deichl, Gorsegner, Petruska, Smith, Tucker, Wallace-aye. Motion carried. Tucker/Smith motion to submit a written offer to Heather Hazelett for the part time deputy Clerk/Treasurer position at $29/hr., no benefits. Roll call vote: Ball, Deichl, Gorsegner, Petruska, Smith, Tucker, Wallace-aye. Motion carried. C. DPW Superintendent Scott Halbrucker reported that the bids for the PFAS project are in and Mid City was lowest at $4.9 million. MSA is reviewing their bid. No action is necessary at this time. D. Appointment to fill the vacancy on the Police & Fire Commission. President Gorsegner said he had no one to appoint. Trustee Petruska asked why not. Gorsegner said he hadn’t heard from any of them. E. Tucker/Petruska motion to approve an Operator’s license application for Randy Andrus. All ayes- motion carried. F. Wallace/Tucker motion to approve the January 2026 financial statement, bank statement and cash account balances as presented and read by the Village Clerk/Treasurer. All ayes-motion carried. G. Petruska/Wallace motion to approve the quote from Medcom for compliance services regarding employee notices for a cost up to $799. Roll call vote: Ball, Deichl, Gorsegner, Petruska, Smith, Tucker, Wallace-aye. Motion carried. H. Wallace/Ball motion to approve the payment of bills totaling $145,145.46 on the bill list with extras presented tonight to Wex Bank PD/FD fuel, reimbursement to Randy Harris work boots, Hydro Corp, WE Energies, mileage for Rec. Director, Basketball referees and score board persons, Municipal court payment to both the State and County. Roll call vote: Ball, Deichl, Gorsegner, Petruska, Smith, Tucker, Wallace-aye-motion carried. I. Sgt. LePak gave the board some history on the reason for the request for the ordinance that is on the agenda tonight. This will help with the problems of people living in their vehicles in village parking lots and parks. Right now our ordinance is open to interpretation. There are several other ordinances that LePak would like to get cleared up but right now this is the most important one. Petruska/Ball motion to approve Ordinance 2026-03 to repeal and recreate section 9.24 of the Village ordinances, extended habitation of recreational vehicles. Trustee Petruska would the Village President to give Sgt. LePak permission to work with the Village attorney on the other ordinances. Trustee Tucker wants to somehow give these homeless people resources to help them. All ayes-motion carried. J. Smith/Petruska motion to appoint Kathy Weiss and William Ousley as Election Workers. All ayes- motion carried. K. Wallace/Smith motion to appoint Kathy Weiss as the Village representative for the ThriveED/ and the Jefferson County Economic Development Consortium. All ayes-motion carried. Ball/Smith motion to adjourn at 7:37 pm. All ayes-motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Laurie Mueller, Village Clerk/Treasurer Minutes approved without corrections March 16, 2026