Neillsville City Council Approves Purchase of Property

Thursday, October 16th, 2025 -- 12:01 PM

The Neillsville City Council approved the purchase of a property at their meeting on Tuesday.

According to the unofficial minutes from the meeting, the Council accepted the recommendation to purchase the Rib River Properties, LLC, 501 W. Eighth Street, at a cost of $60,000.

Council Member Rolly Gelhaus stated that the City should not be borrowing money or paying anything at Listeman Park. The new ballfield was to be at no cost to the City, now the City wants to pay for mulch. The Ball Association should come in and tell the City why.

Council Member Bill Neville stated it is an asset to the City. We cannot just leave it sit. Council Member Clarissa Rochester stated that ball tournaments bring people into the City and they spend money at local businesses.

Council Member Gelhaus stated the Ball Association should be paying for everything. The Council then accepted the recommendation to borrow for Capital Projects as presented. It passed with one member voting no.

Mayor Dewey Poeschel presented a citizen’s request to amend her February 13, 2024 request to keep chickens at 10 Clay Street. The property is .62 acres. The original approval granted five (5 hen) chickens.

The applicant stated the owner of the property is okay with her adding five more chickens for a total of ten. Chief of Police Jim Mankowski stated that he is a neighbor and never sees her chickens and has no concerns with increasing the number of chickens. The Council approved the request.

Mayor Poeschel nominated Ashley Bryan to fill the vacant Historic Preservation Commission Member position, which the Council approved. City Clerk Rex Roehl presented the Wisconsin Bureau of Aeronautics – Airport Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for Wisconsin Airports in the amount of $9,414.02. The Plan was approved with one member voting no.

The Council also approved a resolution authorizing the application for an urban forestry grant or urban forestry catastrophic grant. Mayor Poeschel stated the next item is the Personnel Committee recommendation from September 22, 2025.

With the upcoming City Clerk-Treasurer retirement/vacancy, an organization change should be considered to move to an Administrator/Public Works, Clerk-Treasurer and Deputy Clerk-Treasurer.

Council Member Dan Clough stated that he has read the “Innovation Planning Grant Study” prepared by Innovative Public Advisors several times. The Study has potential opportunities, recommendations, and possible funding sources, but is hard to say “yes” or “no” without further information.

There are no job descriptions to show what this would look like. Are we going from 3 1⁄2 positions to 4 full-time positions? Council Member Clough stated he would like a closed session to go over these items, to hammer things out as this would be a major reorganization. The item was tabled with one member voting no.

Fire Chief Matt Meyer reported on:

• Setup and firing the 4th of July fireworks;
• A pool fill;
• Two dunk tanks;
• Trucks in the Heritage Days Parade;
• Conducting the water fights for Heritage Days;
• Providing a truck and water for the Mud Bog event;
• Verified the alarm systems at the new Gross Ford;
• Hosted the Public Safety Night Out;
• Provided traffic control and escort for the Highground Motorcycle Ride;
• Provided trucks and crew for the Men’s Club Demo Derby at the Fair,
• Attended Community Fire Hall and Rural Fire Association Board meetings;
• Displayed a truck and turnout gear for the 24th Anniversary of 9/11;
• The DNR conducted an audit on the grant items received;
• Provided a truck for the Granton Fall Fest parade;
• And Firefighters Vine, Calkins, Slenzka and Kallian provided fire extinguisher training to 137 employees at Atmus Filtration.

Fire Chief Meyer also reported on responding to 18 calls this quarter:

8-City:

• A lift assist to EMS;
• 3 faulty alarms;
• A cancelled enroute to an alarm;
• A cancelled alarm before leaving the building;
• An assist to EMS with the UTV and a down power line standby.

9-Rural:

• A grass fire;
• A skidder fire;
• A one-car accident;
• A two-car accident;
• A cancelled enroute to a car accident;
• Smoke odor in home;
• Accancelled enroute to an alarm;
• An On-Star activation with nothing found;
• A structure fire and a mutual aid to Spencer Fire Department for tenders to haul water for a barn fire.

Fire Chief Meyer also:

• Thanked the City Crew for painting the Fire Hall parking lot lines;
• One firefighter has left the Department;
• New firefighters are needed;
• Equipment is good;
• The old City firetruck has a leaking valve which needs repair;
• The Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBAs) are outdated and a grant has been applied for;
• And this year’s Firemen’s Steak Feed served 1,178 steaks and 65 kids meals.

Chief of Police Mankowski reported on:

• Training;
• Squad car maintenance;
• September parking enforcements, citations, warnings, office activities, officer activities, business patrols and contract policing.

City Clerk Rex Roehl presented the Third Quarter 2025 City Financial Statements.

Mayor Poeschel presented a thank you letter from the Wisconsin Air National Guard for the Neillsville Airports support of Volk Field, Camp Douglas, WI training scenarios and readiness.

The Council also heard the various committee reports from the past couple weeks. Council Member Barb Petkovsek reported on the September 23, 2025 meeting of the Grants Committee regarding:

• Reviewing and updating the list of grants in progress;
• And discussion on and referral of the 2026 Grants Committee budget to the Finance Committee.

Mayor Poeschel reported on the October 2nd, 7th and 9th, 2025 meeting of the Finance Committee regarding:

• Presentation of department budgets;
• Work on the 2026 budget;
• Adoption of the Wage Schedule for 2026;
• Recommendation of budget categories and levy amount of the 2026 budget to the Common Council for Public Hearing, Monday, November 10, 2025 at 7:15 P.M.
  • Total Budget $3,954,326
  • Proposed Levy including Tax Incremental Districts- $1,463,473
  • An increase of $41,934;
• A closed session for deliberating or negotiating the purchase of public properties, the investing of public funds, or the conducting of other specified public business, as long as competitive or bargaining reasons require a closed session;
• Reconvening into open sessionl
• Discussion on and recommendation to purchase the Rib River Properties, LLC, 501 W. Eighth Street at a cost of $60,000;
• And discussion on and recommendation on a split vote to borrow for the following Capital Projects and getting loan proposals for $400,000 with repayment over five years from the three local financial institutions for:
  • Police Station – Tuck pointing and repairs $ 35,000
  • Fire Department – Self Contained Breathing Apparatus 202,500
  • Public Works Garage – Expansion and Construction 23,000
  • Public Works Compost/Materials Site Expansion – Land purchase and fencing 62,000
  • Cemetery – Columbarium – niche unit, setup, Concrete base and landscaping 62,500
  • Listeman Park Toys – Rubberized mulch and borders 15,000
  • Total $400,000

Council Member Clough reported on the October 14, 2025 meeting of the Commission on Public Works/Utilities regarding:

• Current activities;
• Discussion on, approval of and recommendation that Resolution No. 644 to Authorize Application for Urban Forestry Grant or Urban Forestry Catastrophic Storm Grant be adopted;
• And reviewed the Third Quarter 2025 Financial Statements.

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