Village Board

1 VILLAGE OF SISTER BAY BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING MINUTES 2 TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2024 3 (APPROVED VERSION) 4 5 Agenda Item No. 1. Call Meeting to Order 6 The November 19, 2024 meeting of the Village of Sister Bay Board of Trustees was called to order by 7 President Nate Bell at 6:00 P.M. 8 9 Agenda Item No. 2. Roll Call 10 Present: Trustees Nate Bell, Denise Bhirdo, Kurt Harff, Louise Howson, Lilly Orozco, Patrice Champeau 11 and Alison Werner. 12 13 Staff: Finance Director/Treasurer Volodymyr Gannik, Utilities Director Megan Barnes, Parks & Streets 14 Director Erik Linczmaier and Clerk Heidi Teich 15 16 Others: Laurel Harff, Amy Zacharias, Zack Zacharias, Mike Martin, Steve Musinsky, Rachel Stollenwerk, 17 Debra Fitzgerald, Ellie Soderberg-Guger, Karen Berndt, Chris Schmeltz, Christian McWhinney, Lissa 18 Parr, Myles Dannhausen, “Roger”, and one other individual 19 20 Agenda Item No. 3. Approval of Agenda 21 A motion was made by Howson, seconded by Orozco that the Agenda for the November 19, 2024 22 meeting of the Village of Sister Bay Board of Trustees be approved as presented. Motion carried – All 23 ayes. 24 25 Agenda Item No. 4. Approve Minutes – October 15, 2024 and October 21, 2024 26 A motion was made by Bhirdo, seconded by Orozco that the minutes of the October 15, 2024 regular 27 meeting be approved as presented and October 21, 2024 special meeting of the Village Board of 28 Trustees be approved as presented. Motion carried – All ayes. 29 30 Agenda Item No. 5. Comments, Correspondence and Concerns from the Public 31 Correspondence received for this meeting included the Sheriff’s Department Incident Report for the 32 third quarter. 33 34 Bell asked if anyone wished to make a public statement. Steve Musinsky – 10519 Fieldcrest Rd – was 35 recognized. Musinsky relayed concerns he had about a neighboring short-term rental (STR) property 36 at which the guests had lit a bonfire during recent serious drought conditions. He then suggested that 37 the village set a limit on campfires and bonfires used by STR guests. He further suggested that the 38 village require house numbers be placed at the edge of the driveway for emergency services as it is 39 difficult to identify addresses when the numbers are affixed to the home. Finally, Musinsky noted that 40 he has questions about the broadband service coming to Sister Bay, but no one from Bertram is 41 responding to multiple messages he has left. 42 43 Agenda Item No. 6. County Supervisor Report 44 County Supervisor Voight was unable to attend tonight’s meeting. 45 46 1  Minutes for the November 19, 2024 Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees - approved 1 Agenda Item No. 7. Ordinances/Resolutions 2 a) Res. 2024-019; Village Hall Planning Task Force; Extend Responsibility to Three-Year Term 3 The Village Hall Planning Task Force was originally set to dissolve in December 2024. The task force 4 has requested an extension for an additional year to continue work while they pursue grant funding 5 for desired renovations at the village hall. A formal resolution is needed to approve their request. 6 7 A motion was made by Bhirdo, seconded by Orozco to approve Resolution 2024-019 which grants the 8 Village Hall Planning Task Force an additional year of organization until December 2025 as presented. 9 Motion carried – all ayes. 10 11 b) Ord. 2024-020; Adopting a Records Retention Policy for the Village of Sister Bay Water and Sewer 12 Utility 13 The Sister Bay Sewer and Water Utility Committee has recommended a formal policy for records 14 retention, in alignment with requirements of the Wisconsin Public Records Board, Department of 15 Natural Resources, and Wisconsin Public Service Commission. An ordinance to that effect was included 16 in the meeting packet and has been reviewed at the committee level. 17 18 A motion was made by Werner, seconded by Harff to adopt and pass Ordinance 2024-020, Adopting a 19 Records Retention Policy for the Village of Sister Bay Water and Sewer Utility, following approvals of 20 the State of Wisconsin Public Records Board, Department of Natural Resources and Public Service 21 Commission as presented. Motion carried – all ayes. 22 23 c) Ord. 2024-021; Amend Chapter 6; Alcoholic Beverages 24 In October, the Village Board reviewed an ordinance updating Chapter 6 of the Municipal Code as 25 necessitated by the passage of 2023 Wisconsin Act 73 in December 2023. Teich noted that there was 26 a change to the draft previewed at the prior meeting to correct the form numbers of the alcohol 27 applications provided by the state which appear in §Sec. 6.10(2)(a). 28 29 A motion was made by Werner, seconded by Harff to adopt and pass Ordinance No. 2024-021 updating 30 Chapter 6 of the Sister Bay Municipal Code pertaining to alcoholic beverages as presented. Motion 31 carried – all ayes. 32 33 Agenda Item No. 8. Discussion/Action Items 34 a) Administration Building; Design Approval 35 Multiple designs for a new administration building were drafted and reviewed by the Parks, Property 36 & Streets Committee over the past several weeks and are coming to the board for approval tonight. 37 After its most recent meeting on November 4, 2024, the Parks Committee is recommending approval 38 of Design C as it appears in the meeting packet. With approval of a design, the village will proceed with 39 a Request for Proposals to generate construction drawings and obtain a final cost estimate. Display 40 boards with the three design options were posted at the fire station and made available for members 41 of the public to view. 42 43 Little discussion took place on the designs presented. Werner asked if there was unanimity on Design 44 C among the Parks Committee members and it was noted that Laszkiewicz was the only one opposed 45 to the project. Werner then reiterated the need for the new building and spoke in favor of Design C, 46 as did the other members. 47 2  Minutes for the November 19, 2024 Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees - approved 1 A motion was made by Howson, seconded by Orozco to approve Design Option C for a new 2 administration building as presented. Motion carried – all ayes. 3 4 b) Ice Rink; Friends Group Report 5 Myles Dannhausen was present to update the board on the progress of the Friends of the Sister Bay 6 Ice Rink group to date. Dannhausen shared that the group, which includes Christian McWhinney, Kevin 7 Grant, Brian Fitzgerald, Jess Reinke, Elizabeth Grooms, Carrie Baldwin, Bobby Kroenig, Matt Stone, Ellie 8 Soderberg, Anne Dannhausen and Cole Vanderleest, among others, is continuing to work on obtaining 9 501(c)3 status. He stated that when the village commits its $500,000 to the project, they will connect 10 with Brett Bicoy at the Door County Community Foundation to begin fundraising efforts through a 11 capital campaign. In addition to other fundraising efforts, the group had a booth at this past year’s Fall 12 Fest. He further noted that volunteers have already spent time cleaning the rink surface to prepare it 13 for the coming season. 14 15 Dannhausen requested that the friends group enter into a management agreement with the village 16 for the new rink once built. The group would manage the rink in exchange for an annual contribution 17 from the village to cover operational costs. Dannhausen shared that a member of their group, Jess 18 Reinke, has substantial management experience and most recently served as director at the Kress 19 Pavilion in Egg Harbor. 20 21 In response to an earlier question about the ease of operating a chiller system, Dannhausen noted that 22 overall concerns with chiller systems are minimal. The systems work well, and very little training is 23 required. He spoke with other system operators who cited small issues with rodents who may get in 24 by the electrical cords. Bell asked if maintenance needs to be performed by specialists and 25 Dannhausen replied that most systems offer service contracts. Also, there is an option to rent a chiller 26 on a seasonal basis and maintenance of those rental units would not be the village’s responsibility. 27 28 Howson spoke about the benefits of establishing an operating agreement and shared the example of 29 the SBAA agreement with the village for the shuttle bus. Bhirdo also clarified for Dannhausen that the 30 village has approved the $500,000 commitment of funds for the 2025 budget year. Champeau asked 31 Dannhausen what additional costs the village would be responsible for after the initial fundraising. 32 Dannhausen noted that this would be negotiated in the operating agreement, but estimates that at 33 least $30,000, which the village currently budgets for rink operations, would be reasonable, plus up to 34 $55,000 annually for electric to run the chillers. 35 36 Dannhausen concluded by stating their aim is for the rink to be open five days a week from mid-Nov 37 to the end of February, and that he will contact the Community Foundation immediately and begin the 38 process of approaching donors to contribute to this project. He will provide additional updates as work 39 progresses and report back to the Parks, Property & Streets Committee. 40 41 c) Development Agreement; Stollenwerk; Aquatic Facility; Highway 57 42 A recommendation was forwarded from the Plan Commission to approve a development agreement 43 between the Village of Sister Bay and PCI Holdings, LLC, for the construction of an aquatic facility on 44 Sister Bay Parcel 181-00-08312813H on State Highway 57. The development is planned for completion 45 by November 19, 2026 and is subject to the conditions outlined in the draft development agreement 46 included in the packet for this meeting. 47 3  Minutes for the November 19, 2024 Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees - approved 1 Howson inquired about the lighting, and it was noted that the conditions outlined on the second page 2 of the development agreement do address lighting. The proposed hours of operation are 6:00 AM to 3 8:00 PM. No additional discussion was held. 4 5 A motion was made by Bell, seconded by Orozco to approve the development agreement between the 6 Village of Sister Bay and PCI Holdings, LLC, Rachel Stollenwerk – Agent, for the construction of an 7 aquatic facility on State Highway 57 as presented. Motion carried – all ayes. 8 9 d) Development Agreement; Eagle Mechanical; Contractor Sales and Service; Highway 57 10 The Sister Bay Plan Commission has forwarded a recommendation that the village approve a 11 development agreement with Eagle Mechanical, Inc, for the construction of a contractor’s sales and 12 service facility on Parcel 181-00-08212831H along State Highway 57. The project is slated for 13 completion by November 19, 2026 and is subject to the conditions as outlined in the draft development 14 agreement included in the packet for this meeting. No additional comments were offered by the 15 trustees. 16 17 A motion was made by Howson, seconded by Harff to approve the development agreement between 18 the Village of Sister Bay and Eagle Mechanical, Inc., Mark Nelson – Manager, for the construction of a 19 contractor sales and service facility on State Highway 57 as presented. Motion carried – all ayes. 20 21 e) Assessment Services Contract; Action Appraisers & Consultants, Inc. 22 The village’s contract for assessment services expires this year. A renewal contract from the current 23 assessor, Action Appraisers & Consultants, was included in the meeting packet. The contracted price 24 offered is $28,500 for the first year (which is the same as the village has been paying annually for the 25 past eight years), and $48,920 for the following three years, which includes a full revaluation of village 26 properties in 2027. It was noted that there was a typo in the staff report which will be corrected before 27 the documentation is filed. 28 29 Amy and Zack Zacharias of Action Appraisers were in attendance at the meeting to respond to 30 questions regarding their services. Zacharias explained that prior contracts with the village were 31 executed in such a fashion that the village would always be kept in compliance with the state, whether 32 that require multiple market updates in subsequent years or simply maintenance services. During the 33 past contract period, Action Appraisers performed two market updates. This past year, the village was 34 at a 94% level of assessment, but has again fallen out of compliance since the release of the state’s 35 property report in early October. 36 37 Also included in the meeting packet was a proposal for services from Associated Appraisal Consultants, 38 Inc., who serves as assessor for the City of Sturgeon Bay and Towns of Gibraltar and Liberty Grove. The 39 proposed cost of their services is a total of $150,000 spread over five years, plus revaluation costs. 40 41 A motion was made by Werner, seconded by Howson to approve a contract for village assessment 42 services with Action Appraisers & Consultants Inc. through 2028 at a total cost of $175,260 as 43 presented. Motion carried – all ayes. 44 45 f) CDBG Contract; Village Hall Renovations; Bay-Lake RPC 46 Champeau explained the Village Hall Planning Task Force has allocated funds in the amount of $10,000 47 to write a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) as they pursue renovation of the village hall 4  Minutes for the November 19, 2024 Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees - approved 1 as a community center. This is the first time the village is eligible for such a grant program, as low- to 2 moderate income levels of village residents now fall within the program criteria. A proposed contract 3 with Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission to draft the grant application was included in the meeting 4 packet. 5 6 A motion was made by Bhirdo, seconded by Orozco to approve a contract with Bay-Lake Regional 7 Planning Commission to draft a grant application for the Community Development Block Grant 8 program to renovate the village hall as a community center as presented. Motion carried – all ayes. 9 10 g) Design Services Contract; Village Hall Renovation & Restrooms; McMahon Group 11 The Village Hall Planning Task Force is seeking approval to request architectural drawings for 12 renovations to the village hall based on earlier conceptual plans provided by Isaksen Architects. The 13 cost to enter into an agreement with McMahon Associates, Inc. to create the drawings is less than 14 $25,000 and does not require a request for bids. A contract for services was included in the meeting 15 packet for the members to review. No additional discussion was held. 16 17 A motion was made by Bhirdo, seconded by Harff to approve a contract with McMahon Associates for 18 the drafting of an architectural design and opinion of probable costs for renovations to the Sister Bay 19 Village Hall as presented. Motion carried – all ayes. 20 21 h) Animal Control Contract; M.R. Wildlife, LLC 22 The Village of Sister Bay contracts with M.R. Wildlife, LLC for animal control services. The fees 23 associated with the contract, which expires at the end of the year, are $100/month plus additional fees 24 for responding to an animal call, mileage reimbursement and related services. 25 26 A motion was made by Bell, seconded by Orozco to renew the annual agreement between the Village 27 of Sister Bay and M.R. Wildlife, LLC, Mark Richard, for animal control services through December 31, 28 2025 as presented. Motion carried – all ayes. 29 30 i) Utility Rate Study 31 The Sister Bay Water and Sewer Utility has been considering the methods by which it calculates rates 32 for treatment and collection. They desire to move to an annual review of rates, and assisted by the 33 village’s auditor, have proposed several rate increases as outlined in the staff report included in the 34 meeting packet. It is the committee’s goal to gradually introduce rate increases to cover the costs 35 associated with sludge handling, among other needs. A public hearing is proposed on this matter for 36 December 17, 2024 as part of the regular monthly village board meeting. 37 38 A motion was made by Orozco, seconded by Werner to conduct a public hearing on increases to the 39 Sister Bay Water and Sewer Utility rates for treatment and collection services as presented. The hearing 40 will be scheduled for Tuesday, December 17, 2024 at or about 6:00 P.M. Motion carried – all ayes. 41 42 j) Fee Schedule Changes 43 The 2025 fee schedule will be presented for approval at the December 17, 2024 board meeting. 44 Currently there are proposed changes for the Sister Bay Marina, and the utility is proposing increased 45 or additional fees for code violations. The trustees were asked for input on any additional were 46 recommendations for changes. 47 5  Minutes for the November 19, 2024 Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees - approved 1 During the review process, Bell requested that a change be made to the Fee in Lieu of Parking. The 2 current rate is $3000 per change of use. Bell proposed the fee be $1000 per space, per year, with the 3 intention that this fee be used to address parking issues within the village. Bhirdo agreed with the 4 proposed rate and noted that there should be a maximum number of parking spaces a business would 5 be permitted to pay for. This will be forwarded to the Plan Commission for discussion. 6 7 Formal approval of the proposed 2025 fee schedule will be requested at the December meeting of the 8 Village Board of Trustees. 9 10 k) Monthly Financial Report and Appropriations 11 The financial statements through November were prepared and included in the meeting packet. No 12 questions were raised by the members. 13 14 A motion was made by Bell, seconded by Werner to approve and pay the monthly bills in the amount 15 of $623,320.23 as presented. Motion carried – all ayes. 16 17 Agenda Item No. 9. Staff Reports 18 Staff reports provided for this meeting came from the Parks & Streets Director, Utilities Director, 19 Finance Director and Marina Manager. The trustees were invited to comment on any of the reports. 20 21 Bhirdo requested that the board agree to direct staff that no holiday decorations be lit until the 22 Capture the Spirit festival. The members concurred. 23 24 Bell complimented Gannik on his recent restructuring of village funds that will result in a small annual 25 increase in interest revenues in the coming year. 26 27 Agenda Item No. 10 Committee Reports 28 29 Finance Committee: The Finance Committee has not met. 30 31 Fire Board: The Fire Board has not met. 32 33 Ad Hoc Green Tier Legacy Community Committee: The Green Tier Legacy Community Committee 34 scheduled a meeting for November but was unable to secure a quorum of members. Schmelzer did 35 provide an informal update on a plastics baler to those members in attendance on November 14th. 36 37 Historical Society: Minutes of a recent Historical Society meeting were included in the packet. 38 Champeau reported that planning for Christkindl is well underway, and the vendor stalls are all filled. 39 The village bus will be utilized for shuttling visitors and Gibraltar school students are being asked to 40 serve as volunteers as they are able. 41 42 Housing Committee: Minutes of the November 12, 2024 meeting of the Housing Committee were 43 included in the packet. A question was raised on $1000/sq. ft. cost noted for the Geneva Ridge homes 44 in Sturgeon Bay and a request was made to verify that figure and what is truly included in that price 45 (land, infrastructure, etc.). 46 6  Minutes for the November 19, 2024 Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees - approved 1 Library Commission: Minutes of the October 14, 2024 meeting of the Library Commission were 2 submitted. Trustee Harff reported on recent repairs to the sprinkler system, which were unbudgeted, 3 but necessary. The library will also be looking for a new landscaper as the company they had contracted 4 with is not renewing for the coming year. 5 6 Marina Committee: The Marina Committee met on October 16, 2024 and minutes of that meeting 7 were included in the packet. Werner noted that there was a meeting last week, but minutes were not 8 ready in time for this meeting. The committee will be working with the utility to negotiate the costs 9 associated with water consumption after a large leak was discovered at the marina. In addition, the 10 marina will also see increased costs in 2025 for sewer collections. 11 12 Parking Committee: The Parking Committee has not yet met. 13 14 Parks, Property & Streets Committee: The Parks, Property & Streets Committee minutes from 15 November 4, 2024 were submitted by Schmelzer. Howson brought up the use of the village bus during 16 Christkindlmarkt and commented that the previous bus was not suited for winter driving, but had new 17 tires, which helped. Orozco added that the village will be paying the associated bus costs (gas, driver 18 wages) for Christkindlmarkt according to available funds in the transportation account. Amounts 19 exceeding the village’s funds will be billed to the Historical Society. 20 21 Personnel Committee: The Personnel Committee has not met. 22 23 Plan Commission: Minutes from the October 22, 2024 meeting of the Plan Commission were included 24 in the meeting packet. No additional questions were asked. 25 26 SBAA: No minutes were provided. Orozco noted that a special meeting was held to discuss an incident 27 which occurred during Fall Fest. To address this issue, all future parade participants will be required 28 to register in advance and updated rules and regulations will be enforced. 29 30 Tourism Zone Commission: No minutes were provided. Howson reported that the tourism zone will 31 meet with Destination Door County on Dec. 5, 2024 to discuss the upcoming year’s strategic plan. She 32 also noted that room taxes are up for the year overall despite decreased occupancy due to increased 33 room rates. 34 35 Sewer and Water Utility Committee: The Sewer and Water Utility met on October 29, 2024 and 36 November 12, 2024. Minutes of both meetings were included in the packet for the members to review. 37 38 Village Hall Planning Task Force: Minutes of the November 12, 2024 meeting of the Village Hall 39 Planning Task Force were included in the meeting packet. Bhirdo pointed out that the minutes refer 40 to an item of correspondence received by the task force members at an earlier meeting. However, 41 because that correspondence was sent directly to the committee members and not staff, it was not 42 accessible to the public. After a brief conversation, it was agreed that correspondence sent directly to 43 committee members should be forwarded to staff by the Chair for proper action and filing. 44 45 A motion was made by Orozco, seconded by Howson to approve the various committee reports as 46 presented. Motion carried – all ayes. 47 7  Minutes for the November 19, 2024 Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees - approved 1 Agenda Item No. 11. Matters to be placed on a future agenda or referred to a committee, official or 2 employee 3 4 The following items were recommended for future discussion: 5 • A public hearing on rates increases to the Sewer and Water Utility Collections System 6 • Approval of the Village of Sister Bay 2025 Fee Schedule 7 • The maximum number of parking spaces for which a business pays the Fee in Lieu of parking 8 to be addressed by the Plan Commission 9 • Werner requested a conversation about garbage requirements in the off-season 10 11 The next regular meeting of the Sister Bay Village Board of Trustees will take place on Tuesday, 12 December 17, 2024 at the Sister Bay Liberty Grove Fire Station at 6:00 P.M. 13 14 Agenda Item No. 12 Executive Session 15 a) Consider a motion to convene into Closed Session pursuant to Wis. Stats., §19.85(1)(e) 16 deliberating or negotiating the purchasing of public properties, the investing of public funds, or 17 conducting other specified public business, whenever competitive or bargaining reasons require a 18 closed session, more particularly to discuss the offer to purchase 2313 Mill Road. Also, discussion 19 may include, pursuant to Wis. Stats. §19.85(1)(g), conferring with legal counsel for the governmental 20 body with respect to litigation in which it is or is likely to become involved, regarding Knowles- 21 Nelson Stewardship Program Grant No. UGS3-166, public parking lot on Mill Road. 22 23 At 7:55 P.M., a motion was made by Bell, seconded by Orozco to convene into Closed Session pursuant 24 to Wis. §19.85(1)(e) deliberating or negotiating the purchasing of public properties, the investing of 25 public funds, or conducting other specified public business, whenever competitive or bargaining reasons 26 require a closed session, more particularly to discuss the offer to purchase 2313 Mill Road; and, Wis. 27 Stats. §19.85(1)(g), conferring with legal counsel for the governmental body with respect to litigation 28 in which it is or is likely to become involved, regarding Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program Grant No. 29 UGS3-166, public parking lot on Mill Road. A roll call vote was taken on the motion and the members 30 voted in the following manner: 31 32 Bell - aye; Bhirdo – aye; Champeau – aye; Harff – aye; Howson – aye; Orozco – aye; Werner – aye 33 34 Motion carried. 35 36 b) Motion to Reconvene into Open Session 37 c) Motion for Action, if Appropriate 38 39 A motion was made by Werner, seconded by Orozco to adjourn the November 19, 2024 meeting of the 40 Village Board of Trustees at 8:43 P.M. from Closed Session with no action to be taken. Motion carried 41 – all ayes. 42 43 Respectfully submitted, 44 45 Heidi Teich 46 Village Clerk 47 8