Village Board

1 VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING MINUTES 2 Tuesday, July 15, 2025 3 (Approved) 4 1. Call to Order 5 The meeting of the Sister Bay Village Board of Trustees was called to order by President Nate Bell at 6 6:00 P.M. 7 8 2. Roll Call 9 Present: President Bell and trustees Denise Bhirdo, Louise Howson, Chad Kodanko, Brigid White, 10 Kurt Harff and Patrice Champeau. 11 12 Staff: Village Administrator Julie Schmelzer, Utilities Director Megan Barnes, Parks & Streets Director 13 Erik Linczmaier, Marina Manager Dave Lienau, Administrative Assistant Sarah Bertges and Village 14 Clerk Susan Clarke. 15 16 Others: Laurie Harff, John Blossom, Brian Peters, Allen and Alana Gokey, Julie Gilbert, Juliana Behme, 17 Jerry Phelps, Ken Pabich, Jason Rouer, Ashley DeGrave, Karl Fauerbach, Bill Woodward, Jeannie 18 Hoffman, Richard Hoffman, Jeb Saelens, Skip Heidler, Dick Burress, Rick Dahlstrom, Jill Gohdes 19 Wiebe, Ellie Soderberg-Guger, Erin Peddle, James Bertram, Sarah Lawrenz, Vivian Nienow, John 20 Lijewski, Laurie Zelnio. 21 22 23 3. Approve Agenda 24 Bell requested to amend the agenda to alter the order of items discussed in executive session. He 25 also requested to remove agenda item 8e regarding the Operational Agreement and Lease with the 26 Historical Society for the Marina Boathouse. 27 Motion by Howson, seconded by Harff, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried – all 28 ayes. 29 30 4. Approve Meeting Minutes: June 17, 2025 31 Bhirdo noted several corrections to the minutes: 32 ● On page 2, line 28, she did not believe she voted yes for that item 33 ● On page 4, line 30, regarding the concession stand bids, she suggested it should be called 34 "bathrooms" instead of "concession stand" 35 ● On page 4, line 43, she noted the wording was strange regarding Susan Clarke being hired 36 ● On page 7, line 26, "McAvoy's" was spelled incorrectly and should include an "e" 37 ● She questioned whether the liquor license approvals included correcting all the errors on the 38 applications she had identified 39 Nesbitt noted on page 4, line 8, there appeared to be a text amendment issue. 40 Motion by Bell, seconded by Kodanko, to approve the minutes as amended. Motion carried – all ayes. 41  Meeting Minutes of the July 15, 2025 - Village Board of Trustees - Approved 1 5. Comments, Correspondence and Concerns from the Public 2 Champeau read a letter addressed to the board regarding Bell excluding her from the previous 3 month's executive session because she was attending via Zoom due to a severe eye infection. She 4 stated that according to Wisconsin State Statutes 19.89, a village president is not allowed to exclude 5 any board member from a meeting, whether in person or via electronic Zoom, in open or executive 6 session. She expressed concern that the action made her appear untrustworthy and silenced her 7 voice as a board member. 8 Laurel Harff spoke regarding Vivian Nienow's letter about garbage cans and her attached Short-Term 9 Rental (STR). She requested the village make an exception to the STR garbage pickup requirements 10 for the Nienows as they are the only couple in Sister Bay that live in the same home year-round with 11 an STR attached. She noted they pay for garbage pickup through their property taxes, and charging 12 them an additional monthly fee year-round to pick up the same carts seems unfair. 13 Schmelzer reported several letters were received: 14 ● A letter from the library 15 ● A letter from the Beyers that would be discussed later on the agenda 16 ● Vivian Nienow's letter that Laurel Harff referenced 17 ● Correspondence regarding the Gokey property 18 ● Late correspondence regarding the Hoffman property, including photos from Mr. Hoffman 19 20 6. Presentations 21 a. Tourism Update; Julie Gilbert, DDC & Juliana Behme, DCTZC 22 Juliana Behme presented data regarding Sister Bay's lodging units compared to the rest of Door 23 County. She noted Sister Bay has seen the most growth percentagewise in the condo category 24 compared to other municipalities, with a 32% increase in the cottages, cabins, and homes category 25 over the past six years. She reported that Sister Bay has not lost as many resort units as other 26 municipalities and maintains a high ratio of traditional lodging compared to the rest of the county. 27 Ms. Behme also shared data about property ownership, noting that approximately 24% of STR 28 permit holders in Sister Bay have their primary mailing address in Door County, which is lower than 29 the county average of 33%. However, 78% of all permit holders have their primary address in 30 Wisconsin, followed by 11.5% in Illinois and 3% in Minnesota. 31 Regarding occupancy and revenue, Ms. Behme reported that Sister Bay is down by about 5.4% in 32 revenues so far this year, with a decrease in occupancy over the past couple of years, partly due to 33 additional units coming on the market and a decrease in rented unit nights. 34 Julie Gilbert then distributed information to the Board and presented about the tourism impact in 35 Door County, reporting that the visitor economy generated a record $651.2 million in total economic 36 impact, with direct visitor spending totaling $523.2 million, supporting more than 3,500 local jobs 37 and contributing $53.3 million in state and local taxes. 38 Ms. Gilbert highlighted several projects funded through the Community Investment Fund, including: 39 ● $90,000 awarded to Sister Bay for a multi-jurisdictional trail 40 ● $48,489 for the purchase of a shuttle bus 41 ● $75,000 to build an ADA accessible restroom at Sister Bay Beach 2  Meeting Minutes of the July 15, 2025 - Village Board of Trustees - Approved 1 She also discussed sustainability initiatives, including efforts to reduce single-use plastics, expand 2 composting and recycling, and offer free hydration at community events. Ms. Gilbert mentioned the 3 Heritage Trail Pass that features 28 cultural and historic sites across the county, which already has 4 over 600 users since its launch in early June. 5 Howson inquired about current retail sales data, and Ms. Gilbert indicated they receive VisaView 6 data quarterly, but that talking to businesses suggests some retail struggles, though the patterns are 7 inconsistent across different regions. 8 b. County Update; Ken Pabich, County Administrator 9 County Administrator Ken Pabich introduced Jeb Saelens, Director of Emergency Management for 10 Door County, who shared a pamphlet and discussed the county's new emergency alerting system 11 called "Door County Ready," which replaced the previous Code Red system. Mr. Saelens requested 12 that the village update its website to reference the new system instead of Code Red. 13 Mr. Saelens also mentioned the county's hazard mitigation plan update, which is currently on hold 14 due to federal funding issues. He encouraged the village to develop emergency operation plans for 15 major events and to designate a local emergency manager who could be contacted during 16 emergencies. 17 Ashley DeGrave, Technology Services Project Manager, provided an update on the county's 18 communications project upgrade. She explained that the county is moving from a VHF system to a 19 P25 APCO 7/800 megahertz system, which provides dedicated frequencies for public safety and 20 reduces interference. 21 Ms. DeGrave shared a map and presented the system design, which would use existing 22 infrastructure and add eight additional sites. She reported that the county judiciary public safety, 23 finance, and admin committee recommended that the county fund the purchase of subscriber 24 radios, with municipalities only responsible for preventative maintenance costs of $32.50 per device 25 per year. 26 Bell expressed concerns about potential interference issues with commercial tower sites. Jason 27 Rouer explained that the new 800 MHz frequency band would be less susceptible to interference 28 than the current VHF system, and that public safety operations take priority when sharing towers. 29 c. Ad Hoc Village Administration Building Review Task Force; Final Report; Dick Burress, Task Force 30 Chair 31 Dick Burress presented the final report from the Ad Hoc Village Administration Building Review Task 32 Force. He noted that the committee was not unanimous in its final determination and that their job 33 was not to determine the size of the building or whether it would fit on a specific property, but to 34 identify the best site for the building. 35 Mr. Burress reported that the committee identified 23 points of consideration and ranked their top 36 five as follows: 37 ● Is the property currently served by sewer and water? (25 points) 38 ● Is the property owned by the village? (20 points) 39 ● Overall cost of the project (20 points) 40 ● Does the property exhibit good ingress and egress? (7 points) 41 ● Would the parking lot be multi-use? (9 points) 42 Bhirdo clarified that the chambers in the proposed plan are the same size as the current meeting 43 room at the fire station, designed for 75 people, not 150 as previously mentioned. She also 3  Meeting Minutes of the July 15, 2025 - Village Board of Trustees - Approved 1 explained that the proposed 8,000 square foot building was not actually 8000 square feet in that it 2 included the dimensions of the front porch, and added the building was sized for current and future 3 office space needs, a meeting room, an executive session room, and a small kitchen for staff. She 4 also reminded the board that the former Logerquist site was one of the top two sites recommended 5 by the task force, so it should not be excluded from considerations. 6 The board discussed the old parks maintenance building property and the benefit of building on the 7 site, but also discussed the challenges and negative aspects. 8 Kodanko expressed concerns about spending $4 million on the new parks building and an additional 9 $3 million on the proposed administration building. Bhirdo noted that she had previously presented 10 financial information showing how the projects could be funded without raising taxes. Kodanko 11 requested Bhirdo present her information again at the next meeting. By consensus the board agreed 12 to schedule a presentation by Bhirdo at next month's meeting to explain the village’s debt and 13 financial plan for the administration building. 14 Motion by Howson, seconded by Kodanko, to accept the report from the Ad Hoc Village 15 Administration Building Review Task Force. Motion carried – all ayes. 16 17 7. Resolutions 18 a. Res. 2025-020; Creating a Technology and Telecommunications Committee 19 Bell explained that he proposed creating this committee after examining some technological issues 20 at the village that didn't make sense to him. He noted that the proper way to set direction would be 21 through a committee making recommendations to staff and the board. 22 He provided an example of finding two different Wi-Fi systems at the Marina, one of which had been 23 unplugged and replaced entirely rather than being augmented. He also noted concerns about the 24 village's dependence on Charter for connectivity and the fiber outages that have occurred. 25 Discussion focused on whether trustees should serve on the committee, with Bell noting his draft 26 indicated no requirement but agreeing that trustee representation would be important for 27 communication. Kodanko supported having people with technical expertise on the committee to 28 help with direction and decision-making. 29 Schmelzer clarified that the committee would develop a strategic plan for technology, create 30 recommendations for vendors, and address cybersecurity concerns, which the village currently lacks. 31 Motion by Howson, seconded by Kodanko, to create a Technology and Telecommunications 32 Committee with one board member and two stakeholders. Motion carried – all ayes. 33 b. Res. 2025-021; Amending Bylaws to Create a Technology and Telecommunications Committee 34 This resolution was presented to amend the village bylaws to include the newly created Technology 35 and Telecommunications Committee. 36 Motion by Howson, seconded by White, to amend the bylaws for the Technology Committee as 37 amended to include one board member. Motion carried – all ayes. 38 8. Discussion/Action Items 39 a. Conditional Use Permit; Nonconforming Structure Addition; Karl Fauerbach; 10885 N Bay Shore 40 Dr. 4  Meeting Minutes of the July 15, 2025 - Village Board of Trustees - Approved 1 Schmelzer presented a conditional use permit application that had been recommended for approval 2 by the Plan Commission with one condition regarding a shed on the property. She noted that Mr. 3 Fauerbach was present to answer any questions. 4 Motion by Howson, seconded by Champeau, to approve the conditional use permit for Karl 5 Fauerbach at 10885 N Bay Shore Dr. Motion carried – all ayes. 6 b. Development Agreement; 11 Unit Hotel with Manager's Unit; Hoffman Family's Investment 7 Properties, LLC (Richard & Jeannie Hoffman); Chalet Lane 8 Schmelzer explained that this project was previously approved, but the development agreement had 9 expired before a permit could be issued and construction begin. The applicant had returned with the 10 same plans, with the only change being that one of the hotel units would now be a manager's 11 quarters. The Plan Commission had recommended approval to the board. 12 A concern was raised about the height of the building exceeding the 35-foot limit, measuring 13 approximately 43.3 feet at its tallest point. Skip Heiler, a Plan Commission member, had submitted a 14 letter expressing concerns about the height and was present to offer comments on his concerns. 15 Attorney Woodward, representing the Hoffmans, argued that they were vested in the original 16 approval and that the height had been approved in the original process. Village Attorney Nesbitt 17 advised that since the Plan Commission had already approved the project, attempting to backtrack 18 could create legal liability for the village. 19 Several trustees expressed concerns about the building height but acknowledged that the previous 20 approval created a challenging situation. It was noted that delays in the project were partly due to 21 road width requirements that later changed, which had prevented the Hoffmans from proceeding 22 immediately. 23 Motion by White, seconded by Kodanko, to approve the development agreement. Motion carried by 24 roll call vote: Bell-Aye, Champeau-Aye, Harff- Aye, Kodanko- Aye, White- Aye, Howson- Aye, Bhirdo- 25 Abstain. 26 c. Development Agreement Amendment; Completion Deadline Extension; Luna View, c/o Al 27 Gokey; 2399 Maple Dr. 28 Schmelzer explained that Mr. Gokey's development agreement had expired, and he was seeking an 29 extension. The Plan Commission had referred the matter back to the board and requested input 30 from neighbors. 31 Letters were received from nearby property owners, including Sister Bluff Estates and the Yacht 32 Club, expressing concerns about noise, construction activities, and runoff control. The Yacht Club 33 requested specific timelines for completion of various aspects of the project and limitations on 34 construction hours. 35 Kodanko expressed frustration with ongoing issues at the site, including illegal parking of 36 construction vehicles and early morning construction noise. Mr. Gokey apologized for the 37 disruptions and explained the challenges of coordinating deliveries and construction activities. 38 Motion by White, seconded by Bhirdo, to amend the development agreement to allow outdoor work 39 to resume after Fall Fest following the normal guidelines in the development agreement, with the 40 entire project to be completed by the end of 2025. Motion carried – all ayes. 41 d. Crop Agreement; Jim Seaquist; Former Wiltse Property 42 Schmelzer presented a crop agreement allowing Jim Seaquist to maintain cherry trees on village 43 property. Bell raised concerns about arsenic contamination in the soil from a former mixing station 5  Meeting Minutes of the July 15, 2025 - Village Board of Trustees - Approved 1 and questioned whether harvesting fruit from contaminated soil created liability issues for the 2 village. 3 Schmelzer confirmed that the majority of the cherry trees were not in the contaminated area but 4 agreed that Seaquist should be informed about the contamination. Board members discussed the 5 need to amend the contract to explicitly acknowledge the arsenic issue. 6 Motion by Kodanko, seconded by Bhirdo, to approve the crop agreement and to ensure Seaquist is 7 made aware of the arsenic contamination. Motion carried – 6-1, with Bell opposed. 8 e. Operational Agreement and Lease; Historical Society; Marina Boathouse at 10697 N Bay Shore 9 Dr. 10 [This item was removed from the agenda earlier in the meeting.] 11 f. Appraisal Request; Post Office Property 12 Schmelzer explained that the village needs to renew its lease with the post office. The Parks 13 Committee recommended getting an appraisal of the property’s rent value, as they believe it may be 14 worth more than the leasing agent is suggesting. Currently, the post office pays approximately 15 $17,713.75 per month (about 80 cents per square foot) in rent. 16 Trustees discussed the potential cost of an appraisal, noting that a previous appraisal for a different 17 property cost about $1,000. They agreed that having an accurate appraisal would be valuable for 18 lease negotiations and potential future discussions about the property. 19 Motion by Bhirdo, seconded by Kodanko, to approve an appraisal of the post office property with a 20 cap of $2,500. Motion carried – all ayes. 21 g. Plan Commission Fees 22 The board briefly discussed Plan Commission fees, particularly the $500 courtesy review fee that was 23 raised as a concern regarding Happy Coffee's signage issue. Schmelzer noted that the Plan 24 Commission would be reviewing all fees at their next meeting before presenting recommendations 25 to the board. 26 h. May-June Enforcement Actions 27 The board discussed enforcement actions taken by the village's Code Compliance Officer, focusing 28 on two specific cases: 29 ● Happy Coffee: Howson questioned why the owner was not properly informed about signage 30 violations and did not receive responses to her questions. Bhirdo explained that as Plan 31 Commission chair, she had seen the signage and inquired whether a permit had been issued. 32 Schmelzer explained the technical differences between the old and new sandwich board 33 signs, noting that the new sign did not comply with material requirements and did not have 34 changeable text. She also shared a detailed timeline of events explaining the efforts staff 35 took to obtain compliance. 36 ● Beyer Property: Discussion centered on a $767.50 citation issued to property owners for 37 parking on their own grass. Kodanko strongly objected to the high fine amount compared to 38 the $55 fine for regular parking citations. Schmelzer explained that the citation was 39 mistakenly issued under the Short-Term Rental code rather than regular zoning code, and 40 that the Code Compliance Officer had first provided a warning before issuing the citation 41 when the violation continued, adding a zoning citation was still several hundred dollars. 42 Schmelzer reminded the board that staff was directed to issue citations to short-term rental owners 43 for their violations, and now requesting them not to enforce the code, was sending conflicting 6  Meeting Minutes of the July 15, 2025 - Village Board of Trustees - Approved 1 messages to staff. The board agreed to add a future agenda item to discuss enforcement processes 2 and fee structures to provide clearer direction to staff. 3 i. Monthly Financial Report and Appropriations 4 The board reviewed the monthly financial report. 5 Motion by Bell, seconded by Kodanko, to pay bills in the amount of $174,627.10. Motion carried – all 6 ayes. 7 9. Staff Reports 8 Schmelzer reported on several items: 9 ● The vandalism of stop signs over the weekend 10 ● The Dorr Hotel's decision not to proceed with the previously approved sprinkler contract 11 ● Zaza's Pizzeria decision to comply with the tree planting requirements as originally approved 12 by the board 13 10. Committee Reports 14 The board reviewed committee reports and discussed several items: 15 ● Marina Committee: Kodanko was not listed as absent or excused in the minutes but clarified 16 he missed the meeting due to not checking his village email in time 17 ● Parks, Properties, and Streets Committee: Howson provided information about the historical 18 sign planned for the marina area 19 ● Fire Board: Bhirdo questioned the motion to sell unused equipment and pay the individual 20 completing the process 10% of the proceeds 21 ● Library Board: Bell asked about a potential conflict of interest with the chair’s husband 22 being hired 23 Motion by Howson, seconded by Harff, to accept the committee reports. Motion carried – all ayes. 24 11. Matters to be Placed on a Future Agenda or Referred to a Committee, Official or Employee 25 Items to be placed on future agendas included: 26 ● A review of the enforcement processes and associated citation schedule 27 ● Update on the administration building funding, including Bhirdo's debt presentation 28 ● The Board agreed to refer the administration building location to the Parks Committee for 29 further consideration along with the Knowles Nelson Stewardship grant issue discussed at 30 previous meetings 31 12. Executive Session 32 a. Adjourn to Closed Session 33 7  Meeting Minutes of the July 15, 2025 - Village Board of Trustees - Approved 1 Motion by Bell, second by Howson, to go into closed session pursuant to Wisconsin statute 2 19.85(1)(g) to confer with legal counsel for the governmental body who is rendering oral or legal 3 advice concerning strategy to be adopted by the body with respect to litigation in which it is or is 4 likely to become involved, specifically, cases regarding the Town of Liberty Grove; Hunter and Jessica 5 Clinton, et al; Adam and Brigid White, Bertram Communications, and Preserving Foundations/Paula 6 Anschutz. Roll call vote: Bell-Aye, Bhirdo – Aye, Champeau-Aye, Harff- Aye, Kodanko- Aye, White- 7 Aye, Howson- Aye. 8 b. Reconvene into Open Session 9 Motion by Bell to exit closed session; second by Kodanko. Roll Call Vote: Bell – Yes, Bhirdo – Yes, 10 Howson – Yes, Harff – Yes, White – Yes, Kodanko – Yes, Champeau – Absent. Noted: Champeau had 11 to leave early. 12 13 c. Motion or Action, as Appropriate 14 1. In regard to the Clinton and White case, motion by Howson to advise legal counsel to take actions 15 consistent with discussion in closed session; second by Kodanko. Motion carried – all ayes. 16 2. Motion by Kodanko to request Bertram revise their schedule and bring the agenda item next 17 month; second by Howson. Motion carried; 5-0 aye, with Bell abstaining. 18 19 In that the Board was not able to get through all items in closed session, they determined an 20 additional meeting would be needed to discuss the Preserving Foundations matter. A meeting was 21 scheduled for July 21, 2025, between 1:00 and 3:00, the meeting time pending confirmation from 22 Bhirdo that she would be available. Motion carried – all ayes. 23 13. Adjourn 24 Motion to adjourn by White, second by Kodanko. Motion carried – all ayes. The meeting adjourned 25 at 10:25 p.m. 26 27 28 Respectfully submitted by Sarah Bertges, Administrative Assistant 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 8