Neillsville City Council Approves Recommendation from Public Works Director Regarding Surplus Items
Friday, April 15th, 2022 -- 11:00 AM
The Neillsville City Council approved a recommendation from the Director of Public Works.
The Council approved authorizing the Director of Public Works to sell or get rid of City of Neillsville surplus items. Mayor Diane Murphy then read Mary Mashin’s resignation from the Tourism Committee, which the Council accepted.
City Clerk Rex Roehl reported that the Common Council’s annual reorganizational meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 19th, at 4pm, followed by the annual meeting of the Board of Health at 4:30pm.
Council Member Julie Counsell stated that the last two years, they have gotten the draft nominations from the Mayor for the Committee nominations on the Friday before the reorganizational meeting to give the Council Members time over the weekend to look over the nominations.
City Clerk Roehl also stated City Hall would be closed on April 15th, today, for the Good Friday Holiday. Mayor Elect Dewey Poeschel was present and stated that he would turn in as much paperwork and nominations as possible by late Thursday afternoon.
Fire Chief Matt Meyer reported on the First Quarter of 2022:
- They attended a DNR mock forest fire planning meeting;
- ADNR engine training in Augusta;
- An ice rescue training refresher and trainer training, then they came back and trained the rest of the Department;
- They also attended a Clark County Emergency Services meeting in Thorp;
- The rescue trailer is ready to roll;
- The four new firefighters have started training;
- All the ladders have passed testing;
- Provided a port-a-tank for the Polar Plunge event;
- Provided a truck for the girls’ basketball send off to State;
- And attended the State Fire Conference in Green Bay.
The Department has responded to 16 calls:
12-Rural:
- Four vehicle rollovers,
- Two faulty alarms,
- House collapse,
- Two structure fires,
- Log skidder fire,
- Dump truck accident,
- And a mutual aid call to Granton;
4-City:
- Two CO2 alarms,
- And two false alarms.
Fire Chief Meyer stated they looked at trucks while attending the Green Bay Fire Conference and prices have gone up 15%. A truck is about $500,000 now and continuing to increase. Many of the companies won’t give a quote as it takes 16 months to build.
In 2013, the Rural Fire Association truck cost $238,000. They have met with a representative of Rosenbaur, South Dakota and will be meeting with a representative from Darley, Chippewa Falls, later this month. They are continuing to look around.
Chief of Police Jim Mankowski reported on:
- Trainings;
- Officer Backlund has completed Department Field Training and now on solo patrol;
- Officer Anhalt is in Department Field Training;
- Working on pre-employment background check on a part-time officer candidate;
- Construction and painting of the Police Department is finished;
- Squad car maintenance;
- And March citations, complaints, business checks and activities.
Mayor Murphy stated that Tuesday was her last meeting and they need to keep progress going in the Community. The following was accomplished during her terms as Mayor:
- New sewer plant;
- Boon Subdivision Development – formed a TIF with streets and utilities;
- Leeson Electric located here in a spec building, built a second facility – sold to Regal Beloit, now MEC;
- Nelson Muffler left the City, but worked with OEM to expand here, negotiating with Lloyd Meyer for the land for OEM to build on;
- Extended a road north out of the Industrial Park for emergency access, working with Industrial Park employers to get a State of Wisconsin TEA grant for the construction costs;
- Motel study – Tom Silberngal built the Super 8 Motel;
- Dental Clinic in Boon Subdivision worked with the Marshfield Clinic;
- Purchase of the former BMO bank building for the new City Hall;
- Working with NIC to get a $50,000 state grant for the future Bike and Walking Trail;
- Updated the City’s Comprehensive Plan which allowed creation of a TIF District for Developer’s Agreement and adjacent Street improvements for the Lisenby’s apartment development;
- The Swiderski Housing development will invest about $12 million into our community, they are asking the City to create an overlaying TIF and invest $1.2 million for land and as street.
Mayor Murphy felt there had been very little progress between 2010 and 2020. Murphy stated she has worked hard to move the City forward and will continue to do so. She also believed the largest obstacle has been mean spirited people. She believes he has done nothing wrong, but possibly some errors. She has worked with committees and others.
Murphy stated keep working on the Swiderski development, keep Don Quicker, Chris Straight from WCWRPC, and Natalie Erpenbach involved in the creation of a needed TIF District. Murphy stated she is still going to stay involved. President of the Council Joe Neville presented Diane Murphy with a plaque for dedicated service to the City of Neillsville for two years (2020-2022).
City Clerk Roehl reported that Open Book was Wednesday, April 13, 2022 from 11:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M., Board of Review will be Monday, May 16, 2022 from 8:00 A.M. to 10:00 A.M. and City Hall will be closed Friday, April 15, 2022 for the Good Friday Holiday.
City Clerk Roehl reported that the City of Neillsville was incorporated 140 years ago on the second Tuesday of April 1882 and became a Fourth-Class City 100 years ago on January 1, 1922.
City Clerk Roehl read Chief of Police Mankowski’s letter regarding the third license application for a resident. The Chief's position has not changed and he does not recommend issuing the operator’s license.
Chief of Police Mankowski stated he did a follow-up and sent police reports to the Council Members. The Council denied the license. Council Member Counsell stated this is the third time the individual has applied. She's been selling without a license, putting her employer in jeopardy also. She is ignoring the Council and not asking for a second chance. Why would an employer allow her to sell?
During the appearance portion of the meeting, Diane Kren, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, asked the Common Council to:
- Establish guidelines for the Room Tax distribution so they are clear with no gray area;
- To train the Room Tax Committee so they understand the rules and expectations;
- To set-up and post the Room Tax Committee agendas and minutes on the City website;
- And to create a clearer expectation of use for Grant Applicants so they know what the money can and can’t be used for.
Sheila Nyberg, Clark County Economic Development Executive Director, stated that she enjoys working with the City. She gets inquires for every location within the County, looking for continuing opportunities to grow, she will continue to work with and for the City to grow.
Council Member Neville reported on the March 24th and April 17th meetings of the Heritage Days Committee regarding:
- Financial report;
- Discussion on and hiring of Time and a Half Variety Band for Saturday from 6:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. and Uncommon Denominator for Saturday from 9:00 P.M. to 12:00 A.M.;
- Discussion on kid’s events;
- Booked a face painter;
- Discussion on and approved spending $400 on Neillsville Heritage Days signs;
- Discussion on donation letters, Grand Marshall, trailers, Miss Neillsville, golf outing and a fishing tournament at the trout pond for kids;
- Discussion on entertainment, kids events, signs, donation letter;
- Discussion on and approval of Dania Shilts as the 2022 Grand Marshall;
- Updates on the parade, Miss Neillsville, food golf outing and music;
- And discussion on and approval to change the event theme to “Neillsville the Gold Standard”.
Council Member Clough reported on the April 12, 2022 meeting of the Commission on Public Works/Utilities regarding:
- Current activities;
- Discussion on and recommendation to authorize Director of Public Works Friemoth to sell or get rid of City of Neillsville surplus items;
- And reviewed the First Quarter 2022 Water and Sewer Financial Statements.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.