City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening everyone. I'd like to call to order the March 11th, 2026 meeting of the FondeLeak City Council. The first item of business is roll call which is done electronically and I will declare a quorum present with us all here. The next item on our agenda is the pledge of allegiance which is followed by a moment of silent reflection. Please rise to the flag of the stands nationy and justice. Next, we'll move on to the consent agenda. The consent agenda finalizes the proposed actions for the meeting. A, February 20 February 11th, 2026 minutes. B, list of claims dated February 17, 2026. And C, list of claims dated March 3rd, 2026. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, I will entertain a motion. We have a motion by Mr. Godfrey. And we should be able to do this right in the app. None of us have.

Okay. All right. And we got a second by Mr. Zimmerman. Are we good on um the location of where wherever we're at. Okay. All right. Um seeing no further discussion, please proceed to vote. All right. And that passes unanimously. Just bear with us. We're still working through some technical stuff, so I think we're good. But now I probably ruined it. Um anyway, next on our agenda is audience comments, agenda and non-aggenda items. The presiding officer will limit speaking time for non-aggenda items to one minute and items noticed on the agenda to five minutes. Miss Hefta, do we have anyone wishing to speak?

Looks like we have two. Uh so we'll start with Derek. Uh is it seas? Uh who wishes to speak on agenda item A, the class B fermented malt license.

So I just wanted to speak on behalf of the building owners. Obviously, I'm going to be uh general contracting and doing the project for them there. Uh their use of this is trying to similar to what we did at Pub 23 that came before you guys roughly a year ago uh that had a small pub allotted inside um as a suite in the gas station to allow them another uh form of supplemental income in there, another revenue stream that they can utilize uh within their gas station there. So they went through obviously pulled the correct permits that need to be pulled, state approved plans, had everything set forth would would just need the class B liquor license to allow them to operate and get everything going. And they would be having somebody in there at all hours that they're open in there. There is a way if they're not open that day, they can lock it from the outside as well as in the uh gas station, but there would be somebody in there present at all uh hours operation in there. Right.

Thank you so much. And we also have Katherine Griffith who wishes to speak on item agenda item D, the Brothertown restoration. And um just I want to just double check with council, but I did uh speak with Miss Griffith earlier. Um she would like to read the letter that would be attached to the resolution um that if we would pass that, this is the letter that would then be sent on to Congressman Growthman. Um so she's going to introduce it. Um but it might take a little bit more than five minutes. I just want to make sure everybody's okay with some additional time. All right, good. Okay, Miss Griffith, the floor is yours.

Thank you very much. Um, so let me explain first why I'm asking the city council to write a letter on behalf of the Brothertown Indian Nation to Representative Glenn Growthman. The reason is that they are seeking federal restoration um re restoring the relationship government to government that they used to have. My letter will explain how they lost it. they have to go through an act of Congress Congress to restore it which is a much higher hurdle than any other tribes have to pass. Um and it turns out that representative Growthman is absolutely essential to their making process on this. the other people who are willing to champion their cause say they must have the representative of jurisdiction, Congressional District 6. Um, and they must have a bipartisan uh team of people willing to sponsor this and and see it through. In both counts, he's essential. So, they've asked me to work with them. I've been working with the tribe for a couple of years. They asked me to work with them to try to get several local um government organizations and individuals to support their case. So, this is the letter that the tribe has approved um to send to Glenn Growthman. Dear Representative Growthman, the FondeLac City Council is pleased to support I hope the FondeLac based Brothertown Indian Nation in its bid for restoration of its federal status. We respectfully request that you co-sponsor legislation to restore their status as a federally recognized Indian tribe. We believe restoration will bring significant benefits not only to the Brothertown themselves, but to our broader community as well. The Brothertown Indian Nation traces its origin to seven federally recognized tribal nations originating in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York. In 1785, they established a government which has functioned continuously ever since. The United States government recognized the sovereignty of the

Brothertown Indian Nation through six treaties signed between 1788 and 1838. After being removed from their lands multiple times and threatened with further removal to Kansas, the Brothertown Indian Nation sought to stop the removals by coming American citizens and be and having the reservation land allotted to individual tribal members. However, in 1839, while the United States distributed some reservation lands to tribal members and granted citizenship, it also terminated the sovereign status of the brothertown, a result the tribe did not seek. In 1924, all American Indians were granted citizenship without having to forfeit membership in their tribal nations, nor were those nations required to give up their federal recognition as a condition of their members receiving citizenship. In 1980, the US government finally created a process for tribes to establish federal recognition. The Brothertown Indian Nation immediately filed a letter of intent to seek federal recognition. 32 years later in 2012, the US Department of the Interior issued a decision that the Brothertown had been terminated by the 1839 Act of Congress. They further decided that because an act of Congress had terminated federal recognition, only an act of Congress could restore it. This poses a hurdle unique to the Brothertown. There would be numerous benefits to both the tribe and the broader community of federal restoration. The benefits to Brothertown include the ability to develop tribal infrastructure and services such as housing, education, and medical care to better support tribal members, federal protection of land, water, and cultural resources, access to some federal programs and benefits, and the ability to contract for services with the federal government. Benefits to the broader community include a culturally and economically

thriving Brothertown Indian Nation, spillover economic benefits of some federal programs, the expansion of cultural tourism, and enhanced benefits to the whole community of the Brothertown's work to study and protect the Lake Wnebago waterways and restore wild rice. The Brothertown have a long and dynamic local history. Building and operating the first grist mill in the area, constructing and operating the first steamboat ferry, the Manchester on Lake Wnebago, and building the first Methodist church in the area. They have served proudly in the US armed forces since the Revolutionary War. Brothertown members Alonzo Dick and William Fowler, a relative of former tribal chairman Robert Fowler, were elected to the Wisconsin territorial legislature in the 1840s, decades before most Native Americans were even allowed to vote. The Brothertown Indians continued to be active in and embedded in the local community. For example, they help other organizations raise money through bingo nights at their community center in Fondelac. Current beneficiaries include Catholic war veterans and Critter Junction Pet Rescue. The Brothertown play an important role in the annual Celebrate Community event at the Expo Center. Brothertown veterans periodically present the colors at the start of FondeLac County Board meetings. The tribe has been asked to make a piece of outdoor art for the Fondelac Community Campus. They're currently restoring a recently acquired cultural center in Calamet County on original reservation land where they expect to hold events open to the public. The Brothertown have broad support for federal restoration including from the following entities. The FondeLac County Board of Supervisors on behalf of their constituents. The Great Lakes Intertribal Council representing the federally recognized tribes in the state of Wisconsin. the Onida Nation, the Stockbridge Muny Moheakin Tribe, the Monomony Nation, Governor Tony Ivers, and various local

and regional faith and social justice communities. We request that you help strengthen the economic and cultural fabric of our community by actively supporting the Brothertown's bid for federal restoration. Your leadership is key to moving forward. As constituents, we will thank you sincerely and then if you approve, it would be Tiffany on behalf of all of you and the and the city. Thank you.

All right. Thank you. And with that, that ends our audience comments. So, next we'll move on to our action items. Action item A is a class B fermented malt license. Entity is Miracle Mile Pub Corp. Agent Winder Core. Agent address 1422 West Mario Lane, Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Doing business as Miracle Mile Pub. Business address is 508 South Main Street. And our introduction is by our city clerk, Miss Heafter.

Thank you, President Bald. Miracle Mile Pub is applying for a class B fermented melt license for an on premises sales at 508 South Main Street. The applicant will be remodeling the convenience store to create a separate business that will be walled off from each other, have separate entrances, assigned staff, and has submitted a site plan to the inspection department. The property must pass all inspections with building, fire, and county health department. City staff and alcohol license committee recommend approval. Thank you. Is there any discussion from councel? Seeing none, I will entertain a motion. We have a motion by Mr. Heistler and a second by Mr. Godfrey. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, please proceed to vote. And that passes unanimously. Item B is a class B intoxicating liquor and class B fermented malt license entity the Big Garlic FondeLac LLC. Agent Desiree Rockwhite. Agent address 2131 Riverbend Road, Clover, Wisconsin. Doing business as the Big Garlic. Business address 213 South Main Street. Again, our introduction is by our city clerk, Miss Hef.

Thank you again. The Big Garlic is applying for a class B intoxicating and fermented melt license at 213 South Main Street. The applicant has another location in Stevens Point and will be taking over the Lighthouse Bar and Grill. Background checks were done on the officers and agent and city staff and alcohol license committee recommend approval. Thank you. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, I will entertain a motion. I have a motion by Mr. Mullen and a second by Mr. Zimmerman. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, please proceed to vote. And that passes unanimously. Item C is resolution number 9225, a resolution authorizing waiver of the prohibition against possession of alcoholic beverages on specified public waste for fondue fest on September 12th, 2026. Again, our introduction is by our city clerk, Miss Hefer.

Thank you. Again, downtown FondeLac Partnership is requesting the city to wave public consumption on city streets for the annual Fondue Fest on September 12th, 2026. No glass containers or carry-ins will be allowed in the festival area from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. A special event application has been submitted and approved for this event and city staff recommends approval.

Thank you. Are there any questions for Miss Hefer? Seeing none, I will entertain a motion. Okay, sorry. I thought I was on the right one. Uh, we have a motion by Mr. Heisler, a second by Mr. Schistler. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, please proceed to vote. And that passes unanimously. Item D is resolution number 9226, a resolution supporting the restoration of the Brothertown Indian Nation as a federally recognized tribe. Our introduction is by our city council president me. Um so uh I believe Miss Griffith gave us a good um just overview of the situation that the Brothertown Indian Nation has faced. Um but if any council members have any questions, I'd be happy to um try to answer or perhaps I could also ask Miss Griffith um if she can perhaps answer anything that I might not be able to. But uh Mr. Shistler

comment. I hard for him to understand why the tribes would have to have any issues relating to becoming citizens when they were here before any of our ancestors were.

Yeah, I agree. And I know the the brother town in particular has had just a very unusual case with their situation of of how things unfolded for their tribe. So, but yeah, that's doesn't really make a lot of sense. Um, are there any other questions or or comments from council? I am not seeing any. So, I will entertain a motion. It looks like we have a motion by Mr. Godfrey and a second by Mr. Mullen. Is there any further discussion? So, I just I want to thank Miss Griffith uh for bringing this to the council and um oh, people are already voting. Um but um if provided this passes, I'm I'm really glad that we would be able to help take this step to help support the Brothertown um in their efforts because I think it's it's it's so valuable that we have them here in FondeLac and um looking forward to hopefully supporting them more. Uh, with that, I think I'm the only one who didn't vote. All right, that passes unanimously. Thank you. Um, item E is resolution number 9227, a resolution making appointments to the library board, board of appeals, and downtown architectural review board. Our introduction is by our city attorney, Miss Hoffman.

Thank you. I'm filling in for Joe tonight. So, uh, we have an appointment to the library board. Emily Wanin, not sure how you say, but uh and then for board of appeals, Mark Weber, and then downtown architectural review board, Stephanie Roash. And all three of them, the their resumes were attached, and they certainly look like they would be wonderful candidates and additions to the city's.

Wonderful. Thank you. Are there any questions for Miss Hoffman? Seeing none, I will entertain a motion. We have a motion by Mr. Mullen and a second by Mr. Zimmerman. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, please proceed to vote. And that passes unanimously. Item F is resolution number 9228, a resolution amending exhibit O of the city of Fondelac budget fees for special events. and our introduction is by our council vice president, Mr. Heistler.

Excellent. Thank you very much, President Balt. I uh I just want to begin by thanking Miss Hoffman for the assistance in putting the resolution together. I bring this to council tonight because I first became aware of the cost associated with uh the mobile vehicle barriers, which I'm now going to abbreviate as MVBs for the rest of my brief statement. But I first became aware of the cost associated with the MVBs when I first heard about the St. Patty's Day parade, which is this weekend, potentially being charged a $560 fee. You would see that if you looked at the cost estimate prepared by the city attached to the agenda. Parades are typically in the past only been charged a special event fee, which is, I believe, $100. This led this l led me to discuss it on the 13th of January with our city manager and council president. During that meeting, I said that parades are community focused events that don't make revenue. There is no fee for entering the St. Patrick's Day parade, the Memorial Day parade, etc. And I don't believe that parade organizers should feel the need to assess a fee to entry participants in order to recoup those costs. City manager Moore agreed and said the city would wave the MVB fees for parades, which is one of the things you'll see in the attached resolution. After hearing some complaints from some farmers market vendors about rising costs, also I had discussions with Miss Crop from the DFP and Mr. Kirkow at Thelma related to the costs of the MVBs for their events. My assertation is the amount that the city is charging for the MVBs is too high and the cost per barricade model currently being used could lead to confusion and potentially the reduction in in size and scope of the events. Events like Thelma's concerts and the farmers markets are free to the community and my hope they is they will remain that way. My fear is if the MBB costs continue to rise that the money is going to have to come from somewhere to pay for those and that could lead to a reduction in the number of events or their outright cancellation. Let me be clear on this though. My concern with the MVBs has

nothing to do with safety only costs. I understand the need for the MVBs and I'm in full support of the police and their plan to secure these events. I'd like to thank Chief Goldstein for a great conversation last week and I'd also like to especially thank Captain Rob Duven for being wonderful to work with in preparation for the upcoming St. Patrick's Day parade on Saturday. I understand that we need to charge something for the MVBs, but I believe the intent of the fee is and should continue to be accountability for event holders. My hope is that this resolution could reduce costs for event holders while still providing accountability. And it's for these reasons I'm in favor of the resolution. However, I would like to make an amendment to the costs on the resolution. So, what I'd like to make the amendment on the costs of is if you if if you'll take a look at the resolution, the resolution as attached is I believe the the exact numbers, if you can pull that up for me, Maggie. Um, I would like to cap the the uh the new fee at one. It's currently stated as $100 per block. I'd like to cap I'd like to start that at 50 capped at 200. So the 100 should go to 50. The 250 should go to 200. That would be the amendment to the resolution I would make. And once again, thanks Miss Hoffman and all involved for helping me research this and get this on the agenda this evening. With that, I would uh I'd love to hear some feedback from council before I make a motion.

Right. So, would you like to formally make that amendment before discussion? I would like to make that amendment right now if that's okay with everybody. Yes. I would need a second on that amendment if you'll entertain that amendment at this time. Yes, that is uh in order. Do I have a second on the amendment? Uh, Mr. Mullen, are we able to do amendments? I didn't know how Granakus was going to work with amendments. I'm really sorry, Maggie. I probably should have got that to you ahead of time. Okay. So, thanks everybody. So, the resolution on the floor is currently an amendment to the resolution um to change the fee schedule and uh so I'll open it up to questions and we'll start with Mr. Mullen.

Thank you, Madam President. Um yeah, I'm I'm in really in favor of reducing the fees. uh when we when we approved the barricades and and these items in the budget um I really didn't have a full comprehension of the effect on all the vendors and things especially at Thelma and um and the farmers market. Um, you know, over the years we have spent a lot of money, spent a lot of time and effort to keep our downtown vital, looking good, and an inviting place. And I really feel that that's important for your identity as a as a city, as a community. and uh we've been trying to foster new events, doing everything we can, and this kind of puts a barrier, you know, in in that in that program. So, um I think the fees when they originally came out, I I'm not sure that everybody, you know, considered the implications of it, especially like to the farmers market. I know that had a that had a pretty big effect on it. Um, and so I'm I'm in favor of keeping those fees lower.

Thank you. Are there any questions or comments from councel? Otherwise, I I'd just like to say I I agree with what Mr. Mullen just said. Um, and honestly, I'd like to take some responsibility that we didn't fully explore the fees because they were presented to us in the 2026 budget. That is something that we did approve as a body. Yep. Um, correct.

But also, as Mr. Mullen said, I don't think many of us really maybe comprehended what kind of impact that would have on some of these events. And considering these are good events for our community to have, for community building. Um, I am completely in support of of Mr. Heistler's efforts to try to make it a little more reasonable for our community partners to try to to make this work. Although, I do want to say thank you to the police department for the work that's been being done to try to make our events safer for the community. I think safety should always be number one. Um, but hopefully we can start out maybe with this and see if this works and keep it open to discussion with the city and with our community partners and kind of see where we go from there. But for now, I think this is an appropriate move. Um, so Mr. Schustler, did you have

Okay. Sorry. Uh, I didn't see you hit your button, so do you have some questions? Yes. Are we voting on this change to the 50 and the 200 or are we voting on the whole thing? Voting on the change. Right. So, right now the motion on the table is the amendment to make it the lower amount that Mr. Heistler we're then we're going to vote again. Yes. Okay. Yep. Thank you. Thank you for the clarification. All right. So, I'm not seeing any other requests to speak unless missing any. Okay. So, we will vote on the amendment to lower the fees to the $50 per block with a 200 cap per event. Um, so please proceed to vote.

You have Okay. So, the amendment does pass unanimously. So now we will move on to the main motion. So to approve the change to the fee schedule with the amended amounts that were in the amendment. Um is there any discussion or questions before we move on? Nope. Okay. Please proceed to vote on the Oh, sorry. You need a motion for that. Maybe

realize. Yes, we don't have actually a motion on the main motion. So we have Mr. Heistler made the motion and Mr. Godfrey seconded. All right. So, please proceed to vote. And that passes unanimously. Thank you. Thank you all. All right. That ends our action items. So, we will move on to the presentation of input items. Item A is creation of a designated outdoor refreshment area or DORA. And our introduction will be by our city attorney, Miss Hoffman.

Thank you, President Bout. Uh this has been talked about on and off for a while. I mean it's come up by staff has talked about it. I've had various people ask me about it. Um there's a variety of muties that have DORAS which stands for designated outdoor refreshment area. I didn't come up with that. My my research indicated it started in Ohio. So blame them for the name. Um but any rate uh if it would be this is just an input item. We just want to know would council be interested in this. if council is I I think the next step would be we we I've already reached out to um DFP and Amy Crup and kind of asked her about this and she had offered that you know if we do want to go forward with this she'd be happy to pull their membership to see if they're interested because frankly if if that group is not interested in this then I don't think it would make sense for council to try and pass something. Um, but I'm I'm, you know, happy to talk about any of the talk about this, you know, the pros and cons and if we want to move forward or not. Um, this could be something. I know Manitwalk has just passed this and they in fact now have made theirs it's it's all all the time in their district. They've made it um 247 um which I well whatever that's interesting. Um, so that's a possibility. You could also do it. Um Maggie was um kind enough to show me that in um Nenah they have a temporary DORA which is is specifically tied to their special events. So the DORA only goes into effect during their special events. And so we already have our special event permit process. So to me that would Maggie pointed out that would be a good way to do it and I was like yeah that that could work. That could definitely work. Well, I guess what I

want to really say is there's lots of different ways to create this if you're interested. And then we would do the research and come up with some different alternatives and bring back a more specific proposal. Again, if council's interested, if DFP is interested, we'd also probably want to like bring it in front of alcohol licensing commission because they would be the ones. So, for instance, if we pass this but somebody's abusing their DORA privileges, they might lose their DORA privileges. And again, it would be the same process we go through when someone loses their liquor license, but we'd have to add that to that their ordinance that creates the alcohol licensing.

Okay. Well, thank you for that introduction. Um, so I'll open it up to questions and comments from council and we will start with Mr. Heistler.

Thanks for that great introduction and all the research that's gone into it so far, Deb. I really appreciate it. I just want to say that I had a great conversation also with Miss Heft. Thank you for the for the comments and I just I think that that we're on the right path if we want to pursue something like this. I'd be in favor of Adora tied into special events and special events only. I don't want this to be an every day of the week type thing. I I don't want DOR the DORA, which by the way is kind of a stupid acronym if I'm just going to be totally honest with you. I I I don't want it to have an additional burden on law enforcement. I mean, and that's that would not be the way to go. I think I think Adora might be best served if it's if its purpose is mainly cleaning things up so that we don't have to do as many resolutions every time that there's special events. Uh this might allow organizations to do popups, but they'd also still have to follow all the special event applications from what I understand. And I also learned from Miss Heftter, thank you, that the city has an internal special events review committee that includes all city departments, which would, in my opinion, be the ideal place to look at this as a possibility to review Dora's boundaries and bring specifics back to council at a later date. I think, you know, for us to try to to figure out where it should go and and who should be involved and all and all the particulars, I think, is is really not the best use of council's time. I guess my hope would be if it is something that council's interested in pursuing that we could get consensus on our shared purpose and vision and then leave the technical details to that special event review committee because we want to make sure that a like Deb mentioned the DFP and other event holders want to be on board with it and and are good about it. It's not going to place a strain on law enforcement and that uh and that we're able to get buyin from the city department heads that are involved in making things like this happen. So, thank you very much.

All right. Thank you. Uh, Mr. Mullen. Yes. Thank you. Um, I have a I have a few questions on this. Uh, one I think Mr. Heiser kind of um addressed is that uh in terms of u Maggie's work, this would simplify it potentially depending on how it's set up. It would just eliminate the need for all the resolutions waving the prohibition of alcohol on public streets. So you could just do like a, you know, like for Thelma, you could give them, you could grant them a Dora for a season or whatever. And yes, if that's if they're within those boundaries, then

Right. You know, you'd set up I mean, that's that's kind of the the perfect example of one that'd be very self-contained, well defined. Correct. You know, and and I also would be in favor of of of doing that um only during events. Um, I'm gonna have to visit Manitalk and see and see how that's working. Um, that seems crazy.

Uh, because um, you know, and I read all these materials and and one of the things um, the way you would know if somebody is is operating legally is they have the Dora Cub. But and as as I was talking to uh another downtown business on this, what's to stop somebody from just grabbing that cup out of, you know, the garbage and walking around drinking all day, you know. Um so the person people I've talked to said, you know, that might be a possibility. We don't want we certainly don't want to uh encourage public drunkenness outside of events. Um, and uh, now I've I've seen how these things work in in other areas, especially if they have kind of a um a designated area where it's bars and restaurants and and the the ones I'm thinking about in particular, they were like malls. They were closed off. they didn't have traffic, so you didn't have people potentially intoxicated walking around in traffic. Um, we really don't have any areas like that here. So, um, to to to set up a district, I think, is is kind of hard because in those entertainment districts that I've seen where, you know, it's all bars and restaurants, it kind of makes sense. Okay. And especially, you know, these were, you know, in in Memphis and and other warmer cities. So, you know, people are sitting outside much much longer during the year and it would be very hard to police anyway. You know, if you've got restaurants with outside seating and people are drinking there and people are walking around, I think

it would it just makes it simpler from a policing standpoint. It's like, okay, we're going to keep open intoxicants inside this area. Uh the other thing um that I would encourage or I would be interesting is and I don't know if if chief if you had a chance to think about this at all but you know to to give some thought as to what that would mean or the impact of that um in terms of enforcement. I mean is this going to be a a headache to enforce? Is it going to make it easier? Is, you know, and I'd really like some input on that. Uh because I do not want to create

um a problem for the police, you know, I mean, it might be easier cons, you know, depending on how this is all set up, you know, you might be able to, you know, focus enforcement, but um I certainly don't want to make it any more difficult for the police. So that's it for now. Chief Goldstein, did you did you have any thoughts on this yet or is this something that I don't know if you want to comment on Mr. Mullen's questions or I don't want to put you on the spot either because it's kind of

I'm on the spot every day so that's that's totally okay. Um and I've shared some of my thoughts with uh Miss Hoffman. Uh it's it's new, right? and I've reviewed uh the same documents that you have uh seen and just to share a few of those you know I I got to see how this tracks and I mean you're talking about some you know parameters and criteria that you're putting on it so it's a little different from you know even just the the uh ordinances that that were shared prior to doing this but you know I think maybe on our end it might create an increased risk of intoxication disorderly behavior public disturbances um enforcement challenges for us might stretch us even you know thinner as I asked my officers to enforce designated zones and boundaries, follow container rules, uh minors that are in the area, etc. And then the other thing I was thinking of was on the uh like DPW side is is the cleanup, you know, so there's there's things as you go through that it's, you know, we look at it from different perspectives and different lenses. So I just ask, you know, as it goes through from city council to the city directors to DFP is everybody is allowed to put their perspective on this so that if it is going to happen, please understand that there always going to there's going to probably be some unintended consequences with any action that we take. So that would be my my initial like blush on on this topic.

Thank you so much. All right. Are there any other questions or comments from council on this time? Um Oh, sorry. I don't know why it's not showing up on our end, but Mr. Schistler, you can have the floor. You still got to use this one. Yeah. Oh, yes. Is that what Yeah. So, use this one. It's It's not working in the app. So, yeah. Please push your physical like button.

I like don't want to be too repetitive, but I definitely should be limited to specific events. And I've seen other communities try it and it creates problems if it's a big area like we have a huge area of bars and restaurants if it's located in one part that's people that are far from it are going to feel like they were you know you favored these people over here and you left us over here. So that's a problem with it was just such a we have such a huge area. So that's all.

Okay. Thank you Mr. Mullen. I was just going to say that we could um we could potentially institute something like this for event only for you know I'm thinking of venues like thema which has a lot of events creates a lot of extra work for our city clerk and you know and we could just kind of get our toes wet trying that out for something like that and then, you know, see how that works and then maybe think about expanding it.

Yeah, I think that's a good suggestion. Although, I do like the idea of surveying our downtown businesses and just kind of seeing if there's other businesses that are interested. Oh, yeah. We would I would I would definitely want to do that, right? you know, I would want to do all the other things we talked about, but I was just suggesting if that might be a way after all of those discussions and everything, if we still feel like we want to go ahead with it, that might be a good like kind of test case. Absolutely. Yeah, I think the makes the most sense just because of the types of events that they like to hold. And well, and it's very it's very defined area. It's very self-contained. So,

I think that's a really good point. Um, are there any other questions or comments from council? I guess the biggest thing is are there any council members who don't want to pursue this because we don't want to direct city staff to continue to research if there's somebody who has some some major concerns or um apprehensions about it? No. Okay. But um obviously communication will still be open. This is just an input item. So, if you know if uh questions or or concerns from business owners or residents come up like this is certainly an ongoing conversation, but for now it sounds like the consensus is that we'd like to pursue um seeing if we can make this happen. So, thank you so much, Miss Hoffman. All right. And then we will move on to uh item B, which is a veterans park donation conversation with our introduction by council member Laring.

Okay. So, the completion and upgrades to Veterans Park, which is a county-owned park, um, in front of this building. I think you've all probably seen it. I talked about this about a month ago. Um, this this upgrade has the ability to provide opportunities to um to our downtown and to the downtown businesses, especially around the park. It's um the park's not a graveyard and using the park for veterans events has the support of even um Dave Tulliffson um who's with county veterans. Um I see a big opportunity coming with the city's um 250year parade. Um I think like especially the park could somehow be incorporated into this big celebration. Um just uh over $160,000 is still needed. It would be nice to get the park completed with the addition of lights and security cameras um within the park. Something that is necessary for the park. The city is already providing lighting around the park. This is great and um this is also a great um opport like it's great for the veterans and it shows how the city takes the initiative to partner with the county. I would love for the city to have a part of the development of the rest of this park, especially because it's in the heart of the downtown and will benefit everyone here. Um, and so there is there's um it shows that the lighting fixture is what's needed yet and for the cameras and I would like the city to get in on it before that opportunity closes for us. And I was looking for $50,000 for us to donate to the park. All right. Thank you. Um, are there questions or comments from council? Mr. Schustler, thank you for hitting your button.

Yeah, I I I I'd have to think about this. I'm not sure about it, but just from a procedural standpoint, we did address this subject of supporting the Veterans Park and we did make our decision of what it's like. This is the second time around. I just don't know if that's a good way for us to operate to approve something and then have come back and approve it again. I I'm not I'm not saying I'm against the idea of the 50,000. I just procedural aspect of it. Just wondering.

Okay. I do want to say too that um I've been working with Dave Tulliffson talking about um the events that we could have there because right now we don't have events there and I like I said it's in such a great part of the city that I think it would be great if we could have some veterans events there. Um like events there that through at least the veterans groups to keep it um you know respectful to veterans. Um, and then like I said, it would be great to have it done and ready for that big celebration that's coming. And I think we do need cameras in that park and we do need lighting. Um, it will help for security reasons and things like that and vandalism.

Uh, I'll move on to Mr. Heistler. Thank you. Uh thanks for the discussion. Uh and uh and it it seems to me to be something that the city would be interested in investing in and and on a personal level makes sense. I'm just curious about a couple of things. Do and and I don't want to put anybody on the spot, so I I don't if if answers aren't known, that's okay, too. Uh do do we know when we have is there a target opening for Veterans Park? Yeah, there's a target opening. Um the opening is whether or not we have these lighting fixtures and cameras. I believe the opening is before Memorial Day or Memorial Day. Okay.

So Memorial Dayish and and then and I'm assuming and I and it's not correct to assume. So Chief, I'm going to put you on the spot for just a second about this. I'm assuming that because the park isn't completed yet, you guys haven't been able to make a security assessment as far as what city PD would would allow there and be involved with and all that sort of stuff. Is that is that an accurate statement? And if that and if if it does indeed open Memorial Day, would that be something that we could see? Because I I I don't want to talk about events for the city if we don't know what is possible from a security and safety standpoint. That's got to be paramount.

Uh specific to Veterans Park, I mean, so we've had those discussions internally and collaboratively. So, as we sit and you're talking about the footprint is what you're talking from, right? Yeah. Um and I have a few thoughts to share if if the city council is is okay with kind of

my thought process and the police thought process as far as where we're sitting today and then you can probably see where we can uh move forward. So, um, as you can imagine, you know, the safety and security of participants, spec spectators, volunteers, and vendors is our number one priority for every downtown event. I mean, that's safety is number one, and in our vision, people first. Um, recent tragedies across the country have reinforced the need for communities to re-evaluate how large public gatherings are protected. That's really where we started with that. If you remember back to the Wauaawa Christmas tragedy, um, that demonstrated how, you know, vulnerable parade routes and events can be. Um our responsibility is to learn from those events and take proactive steps so our community remains safe. So over the past year um and you mentioned uh Captain Rob Duvenick I can tell you we've had uh just number of uh conversations and strategic planning uh just him and I and also with the city. So we've worked closely with DPW fire rescue DFP and city leadership to review the downtown event footprints uh and safety plans. And you know, we we focused on our emergency vehicle access, so fire, rescue and police, crowd density, pedestrian safety, traffic control points, and the ability to deploy those MVBs that you were talking about to mitigate uh effectively. Just so everybody knows, nationally, one of the most significant threats to large public gatherings, the use of vehicles as a weapon. Um to address this risk, the city invested and with city council support in the MVBS and uh so the updated route and footprint allow us to strategically place those protective barriers where they're most effective. So why did we make these uh route adjustments? I can tell you we made slight modifications to improve vehicle barrier placement. That was that was one uh uh safety point. The other one was to reduce uncontrolled access points. So I'm a visual person. And hopefully you can see as I use my hands, if you can think of the parade route, you know, we'll start with Reese and you get to

Merill, that's a pretty wide open area, but you know, a lot of our command is in that area and we have some control. When you go from Merrill to second, you know, and you can visualize downtown, it is an incredible landscape for us for safety. Why? Because it is all buildings and it provides it provides just a natural barrier against vehicles. When you get south of Second Street and you start to move to Third, I want you to visualize. On the east side, there's a large parking lot on Third in Maine, that's really hard to control. And then on the west side, you have Nebat, which has a very large parking lot. And then just south of that, you have Court that goes into Veterans Park. Prior to what they're doing at Veterans Park, those are all open access points and just incredibly hard to to control with anything. We would need, I would tell you, tens maybe hundreds of personnel and extra MVBs just to lock those on those areas because so many vehicles can get through. That really pushed where we were having those conversations with Second Street. I just wanted you to kind of see that visual

that up to Second Street. Our downtown is a beautiful safe place that allows us to protect those intersections the way we do. Past Second Street, not so much. Um the goal of the adjustments was in is not to change the tradition and I know I've had a lot of talks with uh city council and members of our community but ensure that those traditions can continue safely for years even past past me. I mean it's just we're in a new day when we have to you're you're you're believing in your your police chief and fire chief to ensure and DPW to ensure that we have a safe place for our community to go. Events like parades and the farmers market are important parts of our community identity. I know uh Mr. Mullen had talked about our identity and I want families to, you know, feel comfortable attending and participating. As your police chief, my responsibility is to plan for risk before they become incidents. That's why we are where we are today with that footprint. Adjusting routes and event layouts based on modern safety practices is part of a responsible event management. I understand that changes to long-standing traditions can feel difficult. I can tell you I'm feeling the phone calls and the emails. They feel difficult. But I share with you that these decisions were made carefully, collaboratively, and with the sole goal of protecting the people that make those events safe. So that's where we're at. Now, as I drive around, I know I see Veterans Park has different structures that are going up. Doesn't mean that we cannot re I mean, that's what we do, right? We assess, we reassess, we re-evaluate as we go. But as we stand today, hopefully this lays out a little bit of of my my vision on what safety is for uh the that downtown area and that footprint. Got it. Thank you for the comments, Chief. Really appreciate that because and I I guess my the my only question as as we move forward is is not that not that it, you know, we're opposed to the to the financial contributions, but I just I'm I'm just curious on how all of that works with so many conversations yet to

be had. I guess that's really kind of because as chief alluded to, there's things that need to be figured out yet and certainly we as a city need to figure some things out yet too and so does the county. So I'm just not exactly sure where that leaves us. And um with that, I guess I'll end my comments. Thanks again, Chief.

Welcome. I did want to say um I like in no way when I said incorporate the park into the parade, you know, when we have the celebration in town um for the parade route or anything to go past the park. Just meaning that that park is um you know, we're upgrading it and spending money on it. And you know, it would be nice to actually use that park and get that park completed and make sure that there's no damage in that park or anything since it does sit sit in the city. Not only is it a county property, but we also have a responsibility as a little responsibility as the city to also, you know, I think be a part of the whole picture with that park and I think it would be great if we could be.

Thank you, uh, Mr. Mullen.

Yeah, as I as I stated last time this came up, um I just want to remind everybody that um u citizens of Fondelac are also pay county taxes and so the money that you know we've contributed our share as Fondelac County residents. Uh we've also kicked in another 75,000 for lighting. So, you know, we we've paid twice and I'm not opposed to to putting some more money in. Um, you know, everybody loves veterans and the park is right in the middle of our downtown and we want it to be beautiful and we want it to be successful and all that, but I think we really need a formal request from the county. Um, you know, they they need to I really want to know what they're going to do with the money, what they need the money for, how much they need, and you know, I I I want to ask, you know, I want them to ask. So, I don't know what you mean by formal request, but I am the vice chair of that committee. I'm making a formal request and that was my idea actually and I I have talked to Terry Diesel um who is part of our county you know with county parks and um there is a it there is a a list on here we have um a shortfall so there are it's a it's you know there are figures that you've been provided with that we need lighting fixtures and we need cameras um for that park. So, the lighting fixtures would be inside the park, not the ones on the outside of the park.

Yeah, I understand that. So, I don't know how you want that formal request, but like I said, um also, Miss Bralt is also on that um particular committee. So, that would be the ear committee. And um I'm making the formal request as the vice chair of that. And I have talked to Dave Telison and to Terry Diesel about it. And yeah,

no offense, but um I you know, I don't think the that request can come from a county committee to the city of Wisconsin. I I or city of Fondelac. You know, I really feel like that has to come from the office of the the county exec. Okay, I will speak to him about it. I think that Yeah, that would be fine. We'll move on to Mr. Zimmerman. Thank you, Miss Burl. Uh, Miss Hoffman, do we have a dollar? Do you know the dollar amount we've already given towards this exact amount? Not to put you on the spot, but Well, I don't, but I believe uh uh council member Mullen has said it. It's 75,000 towards 75,000 for

It is 75,000. Yeah. Lighting. And then we also have put some money towards new gu uh trash receptacles through the downtown. So, there's some of those by the park as well. I don't want to sell the city short here. We've already contributed money, guys. 75K All right, that's one. I agree with some comments already spoken is we've talked about this. It went nowhere. To me, it was a mute point. Um I have some concern also um given the fact that we have two county board supervisors on this council. I have an issue with them requesting this. I agree it should also come from the county themselves, either the head of the veterans organization or the county executive himself. Miss Hoffman, any legal advice you can give on two county board supervisors asking for money?

One, but when it comes to voting, I guess.

Yeah, I'm just asking. I mean, city residents are also county residents. And I I think every council member has to make their own determination if there is is a conflict. you know, whether this is something that is coming from their county role and shouldn't be necessarily coming to city or if it's if it can fit into both, their their city role and their county role. So, I I mean, again, that's part of what you sign up for when you run for this this job. So, I I would leave it to our our council woman to determine if she has a conflict or not. Is there an obvious conflict, like a legal conflict, that I would say no, you can't do it? No, there's not. Yeah, I mean I just saw a need and I saw an opportunity to partner um and work together and I thought it was a good opportunity for the businesses in the city and um I mean that's really an important thing is you know that we we think about the the local businesses and opportunities to the city.

I'll just follow up. We have we gave him $75,000. So that's my last comment. Thank you. And I have a question. Didn't we need to do the lighting outside of the park anyway or not? Was that something that we that we the the contribution to the outside lighting around the park? Because the trash receptacles are going to be all over the downtown, but the the um the 75,000 for the lighting is just for around the outside of the park, right? Yeah. So, it doesn't have to do with the property inside the park at all. Okay. Um, I have a couple more. Uh, so I'll move to Mr. Godfrey because Mr. Mullen, you've spoken before.

Uh, first of all, Angela, thank you for bringing this ahead in front of us and Chief and Trisha and Deb, thank you guys for your input on this. Um, I I I wholeheartedly love the idea to to support our veterans. I I'm I'm I'm come from a veteran family. I I love what I I love our veterans. They are the reason that a lot of us have a lot of the freedoms that we have. But we've we've given $75,000 to date already and we just you can't we had this already. We talked about this a few a couple weeks ago again. Here we are again talking about this again. And it's like every time there's a shortfall, it's coming back to a nickel and dime us for it again and and again and again. I mean that this is getting to me it's getting redundant and it makes no sense to keep bringing this back in front of us for more and more and we've already given it. And I echo the sentiments of m Mr. Mr. Zimmerman. It's I I I really think this should come from um a county executive or someone other than and no offense to Miss M Miss Brol and and nor to you, Miss Miss Larry, for being county board supervisors, but I really think this should come from a someone else besides you guys besides you because you are a sitting council member and a sitting county superboard supervisor. So I think this it it it may not you you're doing it out of the kindness of your heart and I understand that but perception is that don't look right in perception right now. So I I

think that needs to come from either Sam Kaufman or some someone else another county board or someone else on that committee than than than a sitting council member or a sitting county board supervisor. Perception of of the public is is kind of important right now. I think that don't look good. But I don't want people to think that I don't support veterans because that's not the case. But we just talked about this a few weeks ago and we don't need to be back here again wasting our I mean it's not wasting time, but we don't need to keep sitting here tying up a meeting talking about this over and over again. And if we're going to do it, let's do it the right way. let's get someone else to to to to submit it and talk about it instead of a city county board supervisor and a city council member. It's no different. So

So just to respond, I think Miss Hoffman, our city attorney, just cleared that up that there's not a conflict. I I I understand that. Yeah, it's not a conflict, but it may it may not be a conflict, but yeah, that appearance appearances doesn't look don't look good. It it it's not a perceived conflict, but the appearances of that conflict can we we're all public officials. Yeah, I was gonna say yeah, I don't know why this has all of a sudden become an issue. I think it's because there's an election and a few of us going on right now. No, it's not about an election.

Well, and I only brought this up one just a minute and I only brought this up one other time. So, it hasn't been brought in front and I never asked for a donation. I was talking about something else like partnering with the county. I don't know how else like we can just partner. Part of me being on both was so and I think I don't know about you Miss Sprout but was so that we could start working together as partners with our county because I don't think we do a lot of really well like our collaborations don't go very well with the county and I just um yeah I just saw a need and I just like any other person on the city council working working to do things in the city. I mean, we're there's barriers being thr thrown up. People are working on parks and doing things and getting money for things in parks. I should be able to do the same exact things and there there is no conflict. So, it's frustrating because I mean it's only 50,000 and this amount of 75,000 I I think it's great that we've contributed but again it's on the outside of the park which we would have had to do anyways. And so, and like I said, the the receptacles, the trash receptacles, those are going to be all over the city. So, it's not like we're donating $100,000 to Veterans Park right now.

M Mr. Godfrey, did you have any more to add? Okay. And I'll just jump in because also as a a county board supervisor, um there have been issues that have come up at the county board that sometimes involve the city. And I've been told as long as I'm thinking, you know, remove your city hat, put on your county hat, or vice versa, depending on which board you're on, I I I don't want to imply that there's any kind of of conflict. I I understand though. I think the point Mr. Godfrey is making that there can be some perceptions or you know, so I'm not saying that there is. I

wasn't trying to say that there is. This was just we live in a day and age of people are with their perceptions of what especially both yourself Tiffany and myself we are both two two elected officials on two different elected bodies and we have two different responsibilities for for you have a county's hat and a city hat and I'm I have a school board hat and a city and a city hat. So if something comes before the school board and I need to talk about it or the city and the school board needs to collaborate or talk about something, I'm going to remove myself. That's just period. And but but I'm not saying that that that's wrong or right, but be because of the perception or the perceived or what someone else can think that there is a conflict. I'm just going to re for personal reasons and myself and my own clarity. I I just remove myself from that discussion. I'm not accusing anybody of of a conflict. It's just who how who I am and how I do it. You don't have to do that, but I just would try to think logically and think outside the box.

I mean, we've taken a lot of ARPA funds and done things in parks in the city that cost a lot of money, and all I'm doing is asking for us to contribute $50,000. There's been way more money than that that have been donated to things in parks and things like that here in the city. And bringing up a conflict of interest during an election with certain community members who are constantly pointing out conflicts of interests, I understand, but I'm just I'm just saying it's just not Yeah. Right. And I I don't want to fine

into an argument with a lot of back and forth. I think we're just coming from different points of view of of how, you know, the these dual roles work in in these situations. So, I think, you know, you're just coming from different perspectives at this point and I think that's okay. Yeah. And I mean, I'm trying to find a way to make our county and our city roles actually work for the good and yeah, I don't know how to do it otherwise. All right. Well, I'm going to move on to Mr. Mullen because he's been patiently waiting.

Thank you. Um, I don't have I don't have a problem with you bringing this up. In fact, I'm glad you do. And I'm glad you did because frankly, the the county has has not been very forthcoming about this. I mean, the county should have been in there. They should have invited us in. I mean, this is right in the heart of our downtown. I mean, I understand the veterans got to say what, you know, what they want, and I'm not saying we wanted to control the project, but, you know, they really should have worked hard to to be a partner cuz we would have been there, you know, I mean, we we did the stage at the fairgrounds and we initiated that and we're the biggest donor to that project and, you know, so we, you know, at the city are are open to partnership. We want to have partnership and we've put our money where our mouth is when it comes to partnership with the county, but uh and and you know, I'm not I'm not averse to kicking in some more money and helping them out, but you know, we'd like to be involved in the process, especially with with this particular property because it is right in the heart of our downtown. But I just want to say I in the absence of formal county overtures, I appreciate you bringing this up.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Heisler.

Thank you. Um, it's been a great robust discussion. Um, and I think I think everybody has has really good perspective that they brought to this. U, thank you, Mr. Zimmerman. Thank you, Mr. Godfrey. And I I want to kind of connect us all the way back to where we started because I think I think Mr. Schustler makes a good point in that discussion. This discussion is good. This discussion was a great discussion for the sake of of having a good discussion, but now I think we need to figure out where do we go from here. And I think the consensus is we want to help the veterans. We are excited about the project and I think there's a more formal request that needs to be made. So, I I just kind of wanted to summarize everything and just kind of put it out there like that. With that being said, Miss Luring, thank you for bringing it forward and uh and I guess we'll wait to see what that formal request looks like and where we go from there.

Thank you. Um, so I'm not seeing anybody else in the queue right now and I've kind of been holding back on my thoughts because I I have a lot of conflicted feelings about this. I think the biggest thing I want to appreciate Miss Larrying for is recognizing that we we need a better relationship between our city and our county. And if this is a step that we can take, maybe this is is the right one. But I I am also on the side of the council members who have said, you know, we need some sort of formal request, not just from somebody who's serving on both roles, but perhaps from the county executive or or maybe, I don't know, the county board as a whole. I don't know who exactly the best person or people to get this request from, but personally, not being the most popular person always on the county board, I um I feel like it to have to build on the relationship, I think there needs to be some better understanding of what what things might look like going forward. I think Mr. Heel was trying to summarize that in that I don't want to see the city just being the place that the the county comes when they're in a bind and we haven't had any kind of partnership in the project, but they're coming with a hand out because we might bail them out because I think it's important to note as Mr. Mullen alluded to that the county's already put $400,000 into this project of county dollars and those are also our dollars as county residents as well. So there's a lot of public investment that's already been in this project and then the idea was that the rest was supposed to be raised through the donation process and now they've hit a wall as far as you know they're not getting the the rest to make up for this last part of the project. Maybe the city is the right partner for that. But I want us to see be seen as a partner not just a you know hey come bail us out now that we need to finish

this project. So, right, we're not an ATM. Um, so I I I do appreciate that you've brought the request. I just I don't know if if you or I either of us would be the right person to be making the request on the behalf of the county, if that makes sense. I mean, I think it's okay because people on city council do different projects and make requests and get donations and do things in parks and other places in town. I mean, definitely, especially with ARPA funds and ARPA money that was spent. Um, the reason that I wanted us to be in on it is because they can get the donations and they will by the time the park is set to open and I wanted us to have a role in that and be a part of it and not have someone say, "Well, the city didn't take a role in that." And that was why I came to the city and requested um us to be a part of that

because it's an exciting project and it's right in our downtown. All right. All right. Well, I'll move on to Mr. Godfrey. Angela, thank you for bringing this to the council. I understand your your your purpose the purpose behind it. This is this is something that can bridge it possibly bridge the gap between the city and the county, but and thank you for bringing this in front of us. Really appreciate it. Mr. Zimmerman.

Thank you, Miss Balt. I guess my final comments is I think we're all happy to help the veterans and as we did, we did the $75,000, but we can't buy a relationship with the county. I was kind of pitched that with the stage. Oh yeah, we'll contribute to this and this relationship will, you know, rebuild itself and now we're going to get the same pitch with Veterans Park. You cannot buy a relationship. We can't buy it with money. So I need to see some some added interest on both parties that they want to work with us and we want to work with them, not just when the money needs to be due. So that's where I'm at with it. Thank you. Um, I guess the the one other concern I have with a financial contribution to this project is we as a council haven't really had any discussion of priorities. If there is extra money that we have lying around, if there's a $50,000 amount or or x amount, whatever that amount might be,

well, before I did not mean to put Miss Davey on the spot and I'm I'm not going to make you do that right now. But but you did though. But but that is a conversation that we haven't had as a council if if there's projects within the city that might need to be a bigger priority than a county project that we weren't directly involved with. So I miss Dave if you want to comment on any of that. But Sure. And I was you know ready tonight in case you guys did decide to move forward with making some type of financial donation. So, this would come out of our fund balance. So, we would, you know, we have that that money sitting there in our fund balance. This would come out of there because it is an unbudgeted, you know, expenditure that council would direct us to make.

And I guess the thing that I'm a little uncomfortable about with that right now is just that there's been so many conversations across the county of money and how it's impacting residents. And you know, because we've got the county jail discussion, we've got a school referendum on the ballot in April. We've got just a lot of things. You know, the revaluation affected people financially for our property owners. There's just so many things that I don't feel comfortable saying here, just take $50,000 of of city tax dollars if there's something else that we need to prioritize first.

And I mean, I agree with that. And um so I this was prior to all of these conversations that we recently had with the jail. So unfortunately this comes around the same time because I can't afford a raise in my property taxes either. But this is money that was sitting there and I did talk to Joe Moore about this and I asked actually for just a little bit more. Um and he said that this was you know a good amount that we could I mean it's money that's already sitting there. So, I guess if there's some way to offset, you know, property tax money with that or something else that that's fine, but it's going to go to probably some other project or somewhere else that, you know, I just thought that this was an important thing for our city to be a part of this. So,

thanks for considering it. I thought I'd bring it in front of the council.

Right. And and I'm what I'm sensing the consensus is is we're not ready to move forward. with the financial contribution today. But if there is an ask from the county that maybe can lead to a better partnership, maybe, you know, I don't think anybody's opposed to considering that, right? Yeah. So, so I really appreciate that you're continuing the conversation. I think it is important. I I want to see a better relationship between the city and the county. I think we all do. So, if this is a step forward, I don't think we're ready exactly this point tonight, but I don't think anybody's opposed to continuing to consider. So, so I'm I'm sorry that like, you know, it's maybe not the best outcome right now, but I appreciate that we had this discussion. So,

all right. Is there anybody else who wanted to chime in otherwise? I'm not seeing any. Okay. So, thank you. And that was our last input item. So, I will entertain a motion to adjurnn. Second. We have a motion by Mr. Zimmerman, a second by Mr. Heistler. This is not debatable. Please proceed to vote. And that passes unanimously. We are adjourned.