Board Meeting

1 VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING MINUTES 2 Tuesday, December 16, 2025 3 (Approved with Amendments) 4 5 1. Call to Order & Roll Call 6 President Bell called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. 7 8 Present: Denise Bhirdo, Louise Howson, Nate Bell, Brigid White, Denise Bhirdo, Kurt Harff and 9 Patrice Champeau. Staff present: Administrator Julie Schmelzer, Village Clerk Julie Thyssen, Finance 10 Specialist/Treasurer Vlad Gannik. 11 12 Via Zoom: Cynthia Nelson, Marina Manager Dave Lieneau, Karen Bernt, Laurel Harff, Utility Director 13 Megan Barnes, Trustee, Brian Dahlke, Parks Director Erik Linczmaier, Linda and John Blossom, Sarah 14 Bertges, Thor, mw. Others: Robert Krystyniak, John Lijewski, Skip Heidler, John Wettstein, Ken 15 Church, Mary Kay Shumway. 16 17 2. Approve Agenda 18 Motion by Howson, seconded by Harff, to approve the agenda. Motion carried – all ayes. 19 20 3. Approve Meeting Minutes: Nov. 11, Nov. 17 Budget, Nov. 17 Board, Nov. 18 and Nov. 24, 2025 21 Minutes were reviewed individually. The Board made minor corrections, including: 22 • Ensuring consistency in referring to President Nate Bell. 23 • Correcting "Austin" to "Townsend" on Nov. 18 minutes 24 • Revising misidentification of Bhirdo as being opposed on ice rink matching funds 25 • Correcting Parks building budget reference from $2 million to $4 million 26 Motion by Bhirdo, seconded by Kodanko, to approve November 11 minutes as amended. Motion 27 carried – all ayes. 28 Motion by Bhirdo, seconded by White, to approve November 17 (first meeting) minutes as amended. 29 Motion carried – all ayes. 30 Motion by White, seconded by Howson, to approve the November 17 (non-budget) minutes. Motion 31 carried – all ayes. 32 Motion by White, seconded by Bell, to approve November 18 minutes as amended. Motion carried – 33 all ayes. 34 Motion by Bell, seconded by White, to approve November 24 minutes as amended. Motion carried. – 35 all ayes. 36 37 4. Comments, Correspondence and Concerns from the Public 38 Lijewski noted that two documents regarding the Sister Bay Historical Society lease agreement need 39 to be reconciled before board consideration. 40 41 Champeau thanked Schmelzer for her excellent service as Village Administrator, acknowledging her 42 knowledge, organization, and contributions to Sister Bay projects including the historic district and 43 Boathouse Museum. 44 45 The Board acknowledged correspondence regarding the Deviley project and the Halper project.  Minutes of the December 16, 2025, Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees – Approved with Amendments 1 2 5. Ordinances & Resolutions 3 Ord. 2025-014; Planned Unit Development & Zoning Map Amendment; Nicholas & Mary Deviley; 4 Limited Access Road off Highway 57. 5 6 Schmelzer clarified this was being treated as a public hearing as required by code. The proposal is for 7 a 55-unit planned unit development off a limited access road from Highway 57 north of the aquatic 8 center. Planning Commission recommended approval with conditions that would be addressed in 9 the development agreement. 10 11 Discussion addressed concerns about dumpster placement, garage units, road connectivity options, 12 and buffering between properties. The development will include 11 "A" units, 16 "D" units, 18 13 townhomes, and 10 "R" units. Building envelopes will dictate what type of home can be built in each 14 location. 15 Motion by Bhirdo, seconded by Champeau, to adopt Ordinance 2025-014 for the planned unit 16 development and zoning map amendment. Motion carried – all ayes. 17 18 6. Discussion/Action Items 19 a. Development Agreement; Planned Unit Development; Nicholas & Mary Deviley; Limited 20 Access Road off Highway 57 21 The Board reviewed the development agreement that included provisions addressing concerns 22 about garage units and dumpster placement. The development includes a dog park, appropriate 23 parking accommodations, and specific building envelopes. 24 Motion by Bhirdo, seconded by Kodanko, to approve the development agreement as presented. 25 Motion carried – all ayes. 26 27 b. Development Agreement; Multi-Family Development; Tim Halbrook Builders; 2390 & 2394 28 Ava Hope Court 29 Schmelzer noted several changes requested by Halbrook, including a contribution of $5,000 rather 30 than $8,000 for playground equipment, assignment provisions, and insurance modifications. The 31 Board was concerned about Halbrook's request to remove the obligation to maintain the park area. 32 Motion by Bhirdo, seconded by Bell, to approve the development agreement contingent on: (1) 33 retaining original insurance requirements, (2) reinstating park maintenance obligations, and (3) 34 subject to attorney review of assignment provisions. Motion carried – all ayes. 35 36 c. Lease Agreement; Marina Boathouse; Historical Society; 10697 Bay Shore Drive 37 Two versions of the agreement were presented - one from village staff and another developed by 38 the attorneys. Discrepancies were identified in the payment structure and termination provisions. 39 Board members expressed concerns about the payment terms changing from a $50,000 cap plus CPI 40 to $40,000 plus CPI after 2035. 41 Motion by Bell, seconded by Kodanko, to refer the agreement to a joint Marina/Finance committee 42 meeting to reconcile differences before final approval. Motion carried – all ayes. 43 44 d. Operational Agreement; Waterfront Museum; Historical Society; Marina Boathouse at 45 10697 Bay Shore Drive 2  Minutes of the December 16, 2025, Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees – Approved with Amendments 1 This item was deferred pending resolution of the lease agreement. 2 3 e. Development Agreement, Marina Boathouse; Historical Society; 10697 Bay Shore Drive 4 This item was noted as informational only. 5 6 f. Agreement; TSS Engineering Design Services; Marina Building 7 Lienau explained this agreement completes the engineering package for the marina building, with 8 TSS Engineering handling exterior structure analysis while ACE Engineering covers interior elements. 9 Total engineering costs remain under the $25,000 threshold for bidding requirements. 10 Motion by Howson, seconded by Bhirdo, to approve the TSS Engineering design services agreement. 11 Motion carried – all ayes. 12 13 g. Current Administration Building; Impact on Road Reconstruction Project 14 Extensive discussion focused on whether to sell or demolish the current administration building. The 15 Parks Committee had recommended demolition to create parking spaces, but several trustees 16 advocated for exploring the building's value before making a decision. The building, constructed in 17 1948, is 1,601 square feet and insured for $300,340. 18 Motion by Kodanko, seconded by Champeau, to pause the demolition planning and obtain a 19 professional appraisal of the property. Motion carried 6-1 with Bhirdo abstaining. 20 21 h. Future Administration Building; Finalize Location 22 The Board discussed the merits of the Mill Road site versus the Logerquist property. Bhirdo 23 presented extensive documentation supporting the Logerquist site, citing future expansion 24 potential, less congestion, and better long-term planning. Other trustees favored the Mill Road 25 location for its central location, existing utilities, and compatibility with the library. 26 Motion by Howson, seconded by Kodanko, to select Mill Road as the site for the new administration 27 building. Motion carried 4-3 with Bhirdo, Harff and Champeau opposed. 28 29 i. Post Office Lease; Renewal 30 The Board reviewed the revised lease that removed auto-renewal provisions favoring the Post 31 Office. The lease term is five years. 32 Motion by Howson, seconded by White, to approve the Post Office lease renewal as presented. 33 Motion carried – all ayes. 34 35 j. 2026 Fee Schedule 36 The Board discussed the fee schedule, with particular attention to short-term rental violation fees. 37 Kodanko advocated for aligning STR violations with comparable violations elsewhere in the village 38 code. The Board agreed to address STR fees specifically at a future meeting. 39 Motion by Bell, seconded by Howson, to approve the 2026 fee schedule with amendments to 40 washer/dryer tax language and skate sharpening fees. Motion carried – all ayes. 41 42 k. Employee Handbook; Miscellaneous Amendments 43 Amendments included addressing harassment from the public, parks department compensation for 44 Fall Fest and winter work, and tobacco usage clarification. 3  Minutes of the December 16, 2025, Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees – Approved with Amendments 1 Motion by Bhirdo, seconded by Kodanko, to approve the employee handbook amendments with 2 corrections to the harassment policy language. Motion carried – all ayes. 3 4 l. Legal Consultation Allocation for Housing Review 5 Motion by Bell, seconded by Howson, to allocate $5,000 for legal review of housing committee 6 documents. Motion carried – all ayes. 7 8 m. Monthly Financial Report & Appropriations 9 Motion by Bell, seconded by Kodanko, to approve bills totaling $578,850.40. Motion carried – all 10 ayes. 11 12 7. Staff Reports 13 The Board suspended the rules to consider the appointment of election inspectors, which needed 14 approval before December 30, 2025. 15 Motion by Bell, seconded by Howson, to suspend the rules. All in favor: Aye. Motion carried. Motion 16 by Bell, seconded by Kodanko, to move election inspector appointments to the action items. All in 17 favor: Aye. Motion carried. Motion by Howson, seconded by Kodanko, to approve the election 18 inspectors as presented. All in favor: Aye. Motion carried – all ayes. 19 20 The 2025 tax levy resulted in a 7.3% decrease in property taxes, which was acknowledged as a 21 positive achievement by the Finance Committee. 22 23 Finance was acknowledged for achieving a 7.3% decrease in property taxes. 24 25 8. Committee Reports 26 Utilities Committee received a presentation on sludge drying equipment. 27 Library Committee hired Laura Wilker as new clerk-treasurer, replacing Sheila Bristol. 28 Historical Society reported the Christkindle event was highly successful despite cold weather, 29 generating approximately $60,000 in revenue. 30 31 9. Matters to be Placed on a Future Agenda or Referred to a Committee, Official or Employee 32 • STR violation fees review 33 • IPE wood for picnic tables and benches 34 35 10. Next Meeting 36 January 20, 2026 37 38 11. Adjourn 39 Motion by Howson, seconded by Kodanko, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. 40 The meeting was adjourned at 9:25 p.m. 41 42 Respectfully submitted, 43 44 Julie Thyssen, Village Clerk 4