Wenzel Plaza Bathrooms and Mayoral Appointments Lead to Heated Discussions at Marshfield Common Council Meeting

Wednesday, April 24th, 2024 -- 10:02 AM

The Marshfield City Council discussed the Wenzel Family Plaza bathroom project at their meeting on Tuesday.

The conversation on the item did turn somewhat heated. A report was presented on the progress of the project as there was some concern brought up regarding the location of the bathroom in the Plaza as well as the cost.

Several aldermen stated they’ve received a lot of comments from citizens regarding the price tag of the project, which has come in at $250,000. Several aldermen thought it would be best to hold off on moving forward with the project until more research can be done on a better location and finding a bid at a much lower price.

The Parks and Recreation Director stated that regardless of the location or time frame of the project, the cost will be similar to that, if not more. No action was taken on the item as it was just a report presented to the Council.

Another item that drew heated discussion from the aldermen was the appointment of individuals to different committees for the City by the Mayor. At one point, the Mayor recused herself overseeing the meeting, so she could explain her decisions on the appointments.

Her reasoning was that some committee members that had served for a long time did not get reappointed because she feels new blood and new ideas are needed on these committees, so it can move the City forward.

The Council approved most of the appointments, but did remove the appointment for the Library Board, the Planning Commission, and the Police and Fire Commission.

The Library Board was pulled because an alderman wanted to reappoint a former member instead of the Mayor’s choice, but couldn’t do that, so the Mayor’s new appointment was approved.

For the Planning Commission, some aldermen had issues with the Mayor’s appointment as she didn’t know him well and he hadn’t provided any kind of letter explaining why he wanted to be on the Committee. The Council approved tabling his appointment (5-4) until the next Council meeting, so they can learn more about him.

Finally, with the Police and Fire Commission, one alderman had concerns about the resident being appointed. He wanted to table this nomination to give others more time to apply to be appointed. However, that failed.

There were three others that were seeking to be on the Committee, but they were all police and firefighters. The Mayor felt that her appointment, who isn’t either a police officer or firefighters, was needed to provide an outside perspective to the Committee as the City pays for those services. In the end, the appointment was approved 7-2.

The Board did approve a couple other nominations, which required a ⅔ vote of the council because they both volunteered, but live outside of the city limits.

The Board approved Ryan Niehaus to the Board of Review for a 5-year term ending in April 2029 and Linda Roehrborn to the Airport Committee for a 3-year term ending in April 2027. The Board also approved Kevin Martin to serve on the Ethics Board. The Council also approved the sale of up to $447,514 in Water System Revenue Bonds to satisfy a DNR loan for the City’s temporary PFAS facility.

The Council also approved the second reading of an ordinance abolishing the City’s Audit Committee. The main reasons being that they can’t find qualified people for the Committee and they feel politics twisted it into something it wasn’t meant to be. It was stated that if qualified individuals come forward, they would be open to reforming the Committee.

The Board also had the second reading of an ordinance regarding remote participation in meetings of the Council and city committees, boards, and commissions.

This has been discussed for awhile, but after the removal of a paragraph regarding how often the Council can utilize remote participation in the meeting, it seemed to ease their concerns and it was approved.

The Council also had the first reading of an ordinance that would repeal and replace Chapter 9 of the Marshfield Municipal Code regarding licenses and permits.

City staff has been going through and revamping the language in the City’s licenses and permits, which hasn’t been done in over 40 years. Chapter 9 deals with alcohol and cigarette laws and many changes have occurred to those over the years.

Finally, the Board had a discussion on the Economic Development Board’s ability to expend funds directly from the City’s economic development fund. Most aldermen agreed that the Board should receive final approval from the Council on spending money on a project instead of being able to spend those funds on different projects themselves.

Finally, in approval of the consent agenda, the Council approved:

• The replacement of three Voltage Regulators for $137,503;
• Authorize RFP for construction services for Adler Road Trail project;
• Approve purchase of Trimble S7 total station package (Engineering);
• Authorize refilling vacant position of Police Officer;
• Authorize shifting 4 hours from substitute librarian to another Library employee;
• Authorize recruitment for the position of Senior Planner;
• And authorize recruitment for the position of Community Development Director.

During the Mayor’s comments, she offered sympathy to the City’s School Resource Officer on the recent passing of his wife. She also read an Arbor Day Proclamation.

During the City Administrator’s comments, he discussed a Council Orientation meeting that was held before Tuesday’s regular Common Council meeting and a meeting regarding budget information before the next Common Council meeting.

Finally, during the Public Appearances portion of the meeting, one resident discussed a library board appointment; another discussed aldermen having discussions with constituents and how appointments are done.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.