Village Board Meeting

1 VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING MINUTES 2 Tuesday, May 20, 2025 3 (Approved Version) 4 5 Agenda Item No. 1. The May 20, 2025 meeting of the Sister Bay Village Board of Trustees was called to 6 order by President Nate Bell at 6:00 P.M. 7 8 Agenda Item No. 2. Roll Call 9 Present: President Bell and trustees Denise Bhirdo, Louise Howson, Chad Kodanko, Brigid White, Kurt 10 Harff, and Patrice Champeau. 11 12 Staff: Village Administrator Julie Schmelzer, Finance Director/Treasurer Vlad Gannik, Utilities Director 13 Megan Barnes, and Clerk Heidi Teich 14 15 Others: Laurel Harff, Hannah Paulus, Chris Janisse, Jill & Keith Wiebe, Rick Dahlstrom, Mickie Mostardi, 16 John Lijewski, Deb Fitzgerald, Ellie Soderberg-Guger, Skip Heidler, Tim & Sue West, Tyler Duvall, Mike 17 Laszkiewicz, Mike Goldstone and Scott Watts 18 19 Agenda Item No. 3. Approval of the Agenda 20 A motion was made by Kodanko, seconded by Harff that the Agenda for the May 20, 2025 meeting of the 21 Village Board of Trustees be approved as presented. Motion carried – all ayes. 22 23 Agenda Item No. 4. Approval of Minutes 24 A motion was made by Bell, seconded by Kodanko that the minutes of the April 29, 2025 meeting of the 25 Village Board of Trustees be approved as amended to note that Trustee White recused herself from that 26 portion of the Executive Session when discussing her lawsuit. Motion carried – All ayes. 27 28 Agenda Item No. 5. Comments, correspondence, and concerns from the public 29 Correspondence received for this meeting and included in the meeting packet were: 30 • An email from Russ Carpenter regarding the property at 2387 Ava Hope Ct 31 • The County of Door Transportation Newsletter for the first quarter of 2025 32 33 Staff also received emailed correspondence earlier today from the following individuals, who all wrote in 34 support of adding stakeholders to the Finance Committee: 35 • Cory Diltz, 2299 Maple Dr, Sister Bay 36 • Mickie Mostardi, 10867 N Bay Shore Dr, Sister Bay 37 • Tom Mostardi, 10867 N Bay Shore Dr, Sister Bay 38 • Nancy Akerly, 10810 N Spring Rd, Sister Bay 39 • Susan Gullick, 10813 Pheasant Ct, Sister Bay 40 41 President Bell asked if anyone wished to offer any additional comments and Tim West, 2217 Mill Circle, 42 was recognized. West added his support in allowing stakeholders to sit on the village’s Finance 43 Committee as he believes it will increase transparency in the process. He also advocated for this as a 44 training opportunity for young people to become involved with village operations. He added that those 45 vetted for the position on the committee should not be friends or relatives of the trustees. 46 47 Agenda Item No. 6. Proclamations  Minutes of the May 20, 2025 Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees - approved 1 a) Historical Society; 30th Anniversary 2 b) June is Pride Month 3 4 Draft proclamations in recognition of the upcoming 30th anniversary of the Sister Bay Historical Society 5 and recognizing June as Pride Month were included in the meeting packet. After the proclamations were 6 read for the benefit of the audience in attendance, the following motions were made: 7 8 A motion was made by Howson, seconded by Champeau to recognize the Sister Bay Historical Society for 9 their thirty (30) years of service by proclamation as presented. Motion carried – all ayes. 10 11 A motion was made by Bhirdo, seconded by Howson to recognize the month of June as Open Door Pride 12 Month by proclamation as presented. Motion carried – all ayes. 13 14 Agenda Item No. 7. Ordinances & Resolutions 15 a) Res. 2025-013; Recreating an Ad Hoc Village Hall Planning Task Force 16 Bell summarized the need to recreate the Ad Hoc Village Planning Task Force as discussed at the prior 17 board meeting. Therefore, an applicable resolution was drafted and included in the meeting packet. 18 19 During discussion on this item, Howson asked if there should be a term limit for the task force. The 20 members felt that it could remain open-ended with the understanding that the task force will be 21 periodically reviewed until renovations on the village hall are complete. Funding was discussed, with 22 Champeau noting that the task force felt the project be taxpayer-funded. Others disagreed, and opined 23 that some degree of fundraising needs to occur as they felt there are individuals who will donate to the 24 project. Bhirdo recalled that when this task force was initially established, the audience in attendance 25 fully supported fundraising for the renovations. 26 27 A motion was made by Kodanko, seconded by Champeau to approve Resolution 2025-013 as presented to 28 recreate the Ad Hoc Village Hall Planning Task, comprised of five to seven stakeholders, two of which are 29 trustees, and include the Village Administrator and Village Clerk as ex-officio, non-voting members. 30 Motion carried – all ayes. 31 32 b) Res. 2025-014; Modifying the Membership of the Housing Committee 33 The Housing Committee is currently comprised of five to seven stakeholders, one of whom is a trustee. 34 Bhirdo asked for clarification about why the committee needed two additional trustees. Bell responded 35 that there has been a trustee attending the meetings already so they should take advantage of her 36 participation, and another was interested and had served previously on the Ad Hoc Land Acquisition 37 Committee. 38 39 A motion was made by Bhirdo, seconded by White to approve Resolution 2025-014 as presented to modify 40 the membership of the Housing Committee to include five to nine stakeholders, three of which are Village 41 Trustees. Motion carried – all ayes. 42 43 c) Res. 2025-015; Modifying the Membership of the Finance Committee 44 The Finance Committee has always been composed of three village trustees, and Bell has proposed the 45 addition of two stakeholders. Bhirdo stated that she was offended by the various comments received for 46 this meeting that stated the Finance Committee is not being transparent. She added that numerous 47 Finance meetings are held each year, and the public is always welcome to participate in the budget 48 process. She asked if the stakeholders would be voting members and if they would be compensated. Bell 2  Minutes of the May 20, 2025 Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees - approved 1 replied that the stakeholder members would be paid. Bhirdo also expressed concern over the $6000 - 2 $8000 spent in training the new trustees on the Finance Committee this past year, and one of those 3 members is no longer on the committee. She added that she does not want to see the board spending 4 more money to train new members. 5 6 Howson proposed that the stakeholders have a longer term that would justify the training expense. White 7 and Kodanko also spoke in favor of the addition of stakeholders who hold more than a year term on the 8 committee. 9 10 After discussion, it was the consensus among the members that the stakeholder members have staggered 11 terms of three years for continuity on the committee. To achieve this, one member would be appointed 12 for three years now, and the second member would be appointed for only two years, with reappointment 13 at that time. The majority of the board also favored the classification of “citizen” for the additional 14 members as defined in the Village Board Bylaws, as stakeholders do not necessarily live and pay taxes in 15 the village. 16 17 A motion was made by Howson, seconded by White to approve Resolution 2025-015 as presented and 18 amended to modify the membership of the Village of Sister Bay Finance Committee to include three Village 19 Trustees and two citizens who will serve staggered three year terms, and be compensated for their service. 20 Motion carried – 6-1, with Bhirdo opposed. 21 22 Agenda Item No. 8. f) Ex Officio Discussion; Possible Amendment to Bylaws 23 Bell requested that the members hold this discussion before debating the next Resolution on the agenda, 24 as the trustees’ decision here will affect the way in which the bylaws will be amended tonight. 25 26 It was the consensus of the board that the following clarifications be made concerning the ex-officio role 27 held by the Village President: 28 • The ex-officio can be counted when needed to create a quorum of members 29 • The ex-officio may only vote when they are participating due to lack of quorum 30 • The ex-officio shall be compensated only when serving to fill the need for a quorum of members 31 32 d) Res. 2025-016; Amending the Village Board and Committee/Commission Bylaws 33 After a brief discussion on the role of the ex officio member, Schmelzer walked the members through the 34 various changes to the board and committee/commission bylaws highlighted in the drafts included in the 35 packet for this meeting, as well as the changes just discussed. 36 37 A motion was made by Howson, seconded by Kodanko to approve Resolution 2025-016 to amend the 38 Village of Sister Bay Board of Trustees Bylaws, and, the Village of Sister Bay Committee/Commission 39 Bylaws and Rules, as presented and further amended to clarify the rules regarding participation by an ex- 40 officio member; specifically, the village president, when acting in an ex-officio role, can vote and be 41 compensated if participation is based on the need to create a quorum. Motion carried – 6-1, with Bell 42 opposed. 43 44 Agenda Item No. 7. Discussion/Action Items 45 a) Highway 57 Trail; Award Contracts 46 Schmelzer reviewed the need for the village to select an engineer and construction oversight firm for the 47 State Highway 57 trail, which was discussed at an earlier meeting of the Parks, Property & Streets 48 Committee. The committee previously selected Stantec Consulting for those roles, but it was discussed 3  Minutes of the May 20, 2025 Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees - approved 1 that Stantec, who wrote the grant application and were named as lead on the contract instead of their 2 partner firm, would not be approved by the Department of Transportation (DOT). The committee then 3 forwarded a recommendation to award the contract to Robert E. Lee & Associates for both engineering 4 and construction oversight. It was noted that the DOT would need to give their approval as well. 5 6 A motion was made by Bhirdo, seconded by Howson to enter an engineering contract with Robert E. Lee 7 & Associates for the State Highway 57 Trail, and pursue a contract for construction services with Robert E. 8 Lee & Associates for the same trail as presented. Motion carried – all ayes. 9 10 b) Housing Committee; “Wiltse” Property Funding Request 11 Schmelzer provided a brief overview of the work of the Housing Committee in developing a model for 12 affordable housing in the village. The committee has now reached a point where they need to know the 13 value of the land (which is debt-free) and necessary infrastructure to continue with the development. 14 The committee cannot determine how many lots will be created until they know, via a land plat, what is 15 available for their use after subtracting the buffer zone around the wastewater plant, the area for 16 retention ponds, the areas that cannot be served by sewer and water, and that portion of the land that 17 is unsuitable due to the contaminants found in the soil. Once the roads and infrastructure are mapped, 18 they can identify the number of lots being created. Money has been committed to housing in the 19 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), and they are requesting a commitment from the board that that money 20 is available for their use. 21 22 Bhirdo felt that the board needed to commit to some point in time to pursue this project after the 23 Finance Committee reviews it. 24 25 Kodanko requested a formal presentation by the Housing Committee and time to consider the proposal, 26 noting that the property also needs to be zoned. Bell agreed, and requested a breakdown of the 27 number and type of homes and at what cost. 28 29 Champeau clarified that the committee does want a mixture of housing styles, but they don’t have 30 drawings to present. Howson felt a plat was unnecessary until the funding of the project was 31 determined. Champeau pointed out that the money for this project was included in the CIP for funding 32 in 2024, but had been pushed out to 2025. 33 34 White asked to understand where the push to develop this affordable housing came from and was told 35 that it is a shared desire to provide housing for the local workforce and those looking to make Sister Bay 36 their home at an affordable rate. White opined that the board should dictate what they want on the 37 property and find a developer who can provide that versus asking a developer to propose what can fit 38 on the land. Schmelzer shared that the Housing Committee proposes a model in which the village 39 provides the land and infrastructure, and then enters into a development agreement with a builder who 40 will contract individually with the buyers of the lots to construct their home based on what has been 41 approved through the development agreement. They also desire to see all lots be deed-restricted to 42 prohibit short-term rentals. 43 44 Bhirdo added that the former board was committed to the affordable housing project, and perhaps that 45 needs to be a discussion with this new board to determine their commitment level. She also requested 46 that this be a top priority on the Finance Committee’s next agenda so they can start figuring out how to 47 work it into the 2026 budget. 48 4  Minutes of the May 20, 2025 Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees - approved 1 Schmelzer concluded by repeating that the Housing Committee would like funding for an engineer to 2 draw a plat based on the available land, while Bell proposed the board dictate to the engineer the type 3 and number of houses desired and have the plat drawn in that manner. It was determined that nothing 4 further could happen at this time until the public hearing to fix the zoning of the land which will take 5 place a week from now. 6 7 c) Fire Board; Donation Request 8 A discussion was held at a recent Fire Board meeting wherein they learned of the Town of Liberty 9 Grove’s decision to donate a sum of $10,000 to Fire Chief Hecht’s family, who is living in Indiana where 10 he is undergoing treatment for an unexpected medical incident which occurred while attending a fire 11 department conference. Assistant Fire Chief Goldstone was present to report that Hecht has undergone 12 several surgeries but remains too unstable to transport back to Wisconsin. He shared that donations for 13 the family can be made to a special fund set up at any Nicolet National Bank branch or through an online 14 Go Fund Me account. 15 16 During discussion on this item, the board recalled a prior request in which they learned that taxpayer 17 money cannot be donated to a particular individual. Donations to certain 501(c) organizations are 18 possible, but the firefighters association is not one such organization. 19 20 Several suggestions were made including getting legal advice on how to proceed with a donation and 21 then asking Finance to allocate the funds, taking the money from the unrestricted fund balance and 22 making a donation to the Door County Community Fund which would then be forwarded to the family. 23 Goldstone was asked about the timing of the donation, and he responded that the need is not 24 immediate (as other donations are coming in) and waiting a month to receive a donation is perfectly 25 fine. 26 27 It was the consensus of the board that a sum of money be allocated to the Hecht family in whatever 28 method they determine possible in the next month or so. 29 30 d) Liquor License Request; One Star Burgers & Dogs; 10440 Orchard Dr; Hannah Paulus - Agent 31 The owners of One Star Burgers & Dogs, Chris Jannise and Scott Watts, were in attendance at this 32 meeting to request a pro-rated Class B Beer and Class C Wine license for the property at 10440 Orchard 33 Dr., Sister Bay, which they are renting. The term of the rental agreement does cover the full license 34 year, which is required, and both owners meet the criteria for licensure under state statutes. They 35 further requested that Hannah Paulus, also in attendance, be appointed as Agent for the business. 36 37 A motion was made by Bhirdo, seconded by Harff to approve the issuance of a Class B Beer and Class C 38 Wine License to One Star Burgers & Dogs, Hannah Paulus – agent, for the premises located at 10440 39 Orchard Dr. for the remained of the current license year as presented. Motion carried – all ayes. 40 41 e) Revised Employee Handbook 42 An updated employee handbook was included in the packet for the members to review. Howson gave a 43 brief overview of the work done by the Personnel Committee to update this manual, which was greatly 44 lacking in its former iteration. Some of the major changes included an expanded explanation of 45 benefits, a grievance procedure, and processes for how to deal with complaints about supervisors. 46 Schmelzer noted that the manual had also been reviewed by staff for their feedback as well. 47 48 During discussion, the following comments or suggestions for changes were made: 5  Minutes of the May 20, 2025 Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees - approved 1 • Page 2 of the handbook, paragraph 3 - Bhirdo stated that staff should be given notice of any 2 changes in benefits, policy or procedures and not be expected to follow meeting agendas to see 3 when/if this is ever being discussed. A statement to the effect of “all attempts will be made to 4 notify staff of changes will be made” was discussed. 5 • Page 5, last bulleted point under Sexual Harassment – clarification needs to be made to identify 6 the proper party to notify if the supervisor is the offender, namely the Village Administrator or 7 Personnel Committee Chair. 8 • Page 8, Gifts and Gratuities – the monetary amount able to be accepted by staff is $100.00. 9 Anything more needs to be reported to the Finance Director. 10 • Page 8, Gifts and Gratuities - delete the last line about donating any gift or gratuity to a non- 11 profit. 12 • Page 9, Drug and Alcohol-Free Workplace – a lengthy discussion took place on whether THC 13 should be specifically called out in this section. 14 • pg. 12, item 14 - the level of gas should be changed to a quarter-tank before refilling is required. 15 • A discussion should take place at the Finance Committee regarding the budgeting of up to 80 16 hours of employee comp time. 17 • A discussion should take place at the Personnel Committee regarding the payout of an 18 employee’s PTO when they leave employment, or if that can be used to pay for the employee’s 19 continuing insurance needs. 20 • Correct the typo on page 20, line 1, under Health Savings Account. 21 22 A motion was made by Bell, seconded by Kodanko to approve the newly revised Employee Handbook as 23 presented and further amended as discussed at this meeting pending final review by the Personnel 24 Committee Chair. Motion carried – all ayes. 25 26 g) Committee Appointments 27 28 A motion was made by White, seconded by Kodanko to appoint Mike Laszkiewicz and Andy Woerfel to 29 the Finance Committee, with Laszkiewicz’s term to expire in 2028 and Woerfel’s term to expire in 2027. 30 Motion carried – 6-1, with Bhirdo opposed. 31 32 A motion was made by Kodanko, seconded by Champeau to appoint Nate Bell and Steve Bacsi to the 33 Sister Bay Plan Commission with Bell’s term to expire in 2026 and Bacsi’s term to expire in 2028. Motion 34 carried – all ayes. 35 36 A motion was made by Kodanko, seconded by Champeau to appoint Louise Howson as Chair of the Ad 37 Hoc Green Tier Legacy Community Committee. Motion carried – all ayes. 38 39 A motion was made by Bell, seconded by White to appoint Chad Kodanko and Louise Howson to the 40 Housing Committee. Motion carried – all ayes. 41 42 A motion was made by Bell, seconded by Bhirdo to appoint Brigid White, Nancy Akerly, Kathy Van 43 Gemert, and Doug Hanson to the Ad Hoc Village Hall Planning Task Force, with Patrice Champeau 44 appointed to serve as Chair. Motion carried – all ayes. 45 46 A motion was made by Kodanko, seconded by Harff to appoint Terry Kelly as Chair of the Zoning Board of 47 Appeals, with a term to expire in 2027. Motion carried – 6-1, with Bhirdo opposed. 6  Minutes of the May 20, 2025 Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees - approved 1 2 No recommended appointments to the Personnel Committee were offered. 3 4 h) Monthly Financial Report & Appropriations 5 Finance Director Gannik prepared the monthly statements and included them in the meeting packet for 6 the members to review. Several questions were asked by the members and responses were provided. 7 8 A motion was made by Bell, seconded by White to approve the monthly bills in the amount of 9 $1,363,168,69 as presented. Motion carried – all ayes. 10 11 Agenda Item No. 9. Committee Reports 12 Minutes shared in the meeting packet included: 13 14  Ad Hoc Admin Building Review Task Force: April 10, 2025 and April 30, 2025 15  Door County Coastal Byways: 2025 Budget 16  Sister Bay & Liberty Grove Fire Board: February 27, 2025 17  Housing Committee: January 28, 2025 and April 22, 2025 18  Sister Bay/Liberty Grove Library Commission Meeting: April 14, 2025 19  Marina Committee: April 16, 2025 20  Parks, Property & Streets Committee: May 5, 2025 21  Personnel Committee: February 25, 2025 and May 13, 2025 22  Plan Commission: April 22, 2025 23  Door County Tourism Zone Commission: April 17, 2025 24  Sewer & Water Utilities Committee: May 13, 2025 25  Village Hall Planning Task Force: April 15, 2025 26 27 Champeau reported on the actions of the Sister Bay Historical Society, noting that the Christkindlmarkt 28 profited $50,000 this year; the organization is still looking for an executive director; the boathouse 29 museum does not require an elevator or a bathroom; the farmers market has been renamed to Open 30 Aire Market; and Strawberry Fest will be held on June 28th. 31 32 Champeau inquired about the timeline for installing historical markers around the village, and Howson 33 responded that they have been working with Terry Wolf of the Sister Bay Historical Society on this 34 matter. There will be more to report after the Parks, Property & Streets Committee meets next month. 35 36 A motion was made by Howson, seconded by Kodanko to accept the various committee reports as 37 presented. Motion carried – all ayes. 38 39 Agenda Item No. 10. Matters to be placed on a future agenda or referred to a committee, official or 40 employee 41 It was the consensus of the committee that the following items be included on a future board meeting 42 agenda: 43 • Continued discussion on funding of the former Wiltse property development project 44 • Discussion on a monetary donation to the Hecht family 45 • Discussion on the implications of comp time to be had by the Finance Committee 46 • Discussion on the implications of paying out an employee’s PTO to be had by the Personnel 47 Committee 7  Minutes of the May 20, 2025 Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees - approved 1 • Discussion on the creation of a Village Newsletter 2 3 The next meeting of the Village Board of Trustees will take place on Tuesday, June 17, 2025 at 6:00 P.M. 4 5 At 8:41, the board took a brief recess. 6 7 Agenda Item No. 11. Executive Session 8 a) 1. Consider a motion to convene into Closed Session pursuant to Wis. Stats., §19.85(1)(g) to confer 9 with legal counsel who either orally or in writing will advise the Village Board on strategy to be adopted 10 with respect to current or likely litigation: 11 i. Preserving Foundations Agreement – 2387 Ava Hope Ct 12 ii. Bertram Contract Addendum 13 iii. Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Grant – Marketplace Property 14 15 2. Consider a motion to convene into Closed Session pursuant to Wis. Stats., §19.85(1)(c) to consider 16 employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data of any public employee over 17 which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility: Village Administrator 18 compensation and benefits 19 20 At 8:45 P.M., a motion was made by Bhirdo, seconded by Harff to convene into Closed Session pursuant to 21 Wis. Stats., §19.85(1)(g) to confer with legal counsel who either orally or in writing will advise the Village 22 Board on strategy to be adopted with respect to current or likely litigation as notated above, and pursuant 23 to Wis. Stats., §19.85(1)(c) to consider employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation 24 data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility 25 regarding Village Administrator compensation and benefits. 26 27 A roll call vote was taken on the motion, and the members voted in the following fashion: 28 29 Bhirdo – aye; Champeau – aye; Harff – aye; Howson – aye; Kodanko – aye; White – aye; Bell – aye 30 31 Motion carried. 32 33 It was noted that at 9:43 PM, Trustee Bhirdo left the meeting and President Bell recused himself from 34 discussion. At 9:57 PM, President Bell rejoined the meeting and Village Administrator Schmelzer left. 35 36 b) Motion to reconvene into Open Session 37 At 10:14 P.M. a motion was made Bell, seconded by Champeau to reconvene into open session. Again, a 38 roll call vote was taken and the members voted in the following fashion: 39 40 Champeau – aye; Harff – aye; Howson – aye; Kodanko – aye; White – aye; Bell – aye 41 42 Motion carried. 43 44 c) Motion for Action, if Appropriate 45 46 A motion was made by Howson, seconded by White to approve the addendum to the fiber agreement 47 with Bertram Communications as discussed. Motion carried - all ayes, with Bell abstaining. 8  Minutes of the May 20, 2025 Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees - approved 1 2 A motion was made by White, seconded by Champeau that no action be taken on the Knowles-Nelson 3 Stewardship Grant matter until Administrator Schmelzer obtains more information from the DNR. 4 Motion carried – all ayes. 5 6 A motion was made by Kodanko, seconded by White direct staff to send the letter pertaining to the 7 property at 2387 Ava Hope Ct. as discussed in the Executive Session. Motion carried – all ayes. 8 9 Bell noted that no further action was taken concerning the Village Administrator matter. 10 11 Agenda Item No. 11 Adjourn 12 At 10:16 P.M. a motion was made by White, seconded by Harff to adjourn the May 20, 2025 meeting of 13 the Village Board of Trustees. Motion carried – all ayes. 14 15 Respectfully submitted, 16 17 Heidi Teich, 18 Village Clerk 9