[0:00] I declare the next

[0:02] meeting of the Board of

[0:03] Trustees

[0:04] open on Tuesday,

[0:06] October 6, 2026, at 6:00 p.m.

[0:09] I will conduct a roll call.

[0:10] Caretaker Keller.

[0:12] Present.

[0:12] Caretaker

[0:13] McGurren.

[0:13] Present.

[0:14] Caretaker Nelson

[0:15] .

[0:15] Present.

[0:16] Caretaker Pike.

[0:16] Present.

[0:17] Caretaker Porter.

[0:18] Present.

[0:19] Caretaker Rowdy.

[0:20] Present.

[0:20] And President Watken,

[0:21] absent. The next

[0:23] item will be

[0:24] the appointment of an

[0:25] interim

[0:26] village President for the

[0:27] meeting on October 6, 2026

[0:29] .

[0:30] Nominations are open. Are

[0:31] there any suggestions?

[0:35] I propose to elect

[0:36] John Porter as

[0:37] Acting

[0:38] President.

[0:40] I support

[0:41] the candidacy.

[0:42] Good. Are there any other

[0:44] candidates? OK.

[0:49] Since there are no others, the

[0:51] nomination is complete.

[0:53] We have already voted.

[0:54] Sorry, we have a

[0:56] second candidate. We will

[0:57] now vote

[0:58] on

[0:59] Trustee

[1:00] Porter's nomination for the position of

[1:01] interim

[1:01] Village President.

[1:04] Can we move on to

[1:05] the voting of the

[1:06] Council members? The vote,

[1:09] sorry, was in

[1:10] support. Those who are "in favor",

[1:11] please say "in favor".

[1:12] By. Who is "against"?

[1:14] OK. The proposal

[1:15] is accepted.

[1:17] Trustee

[1:17] Porter has been elected

[1:18] interim

[1:19] Village President and will

[1:20] preside over the

[1:21] remainder of the meeting.

[1:25] We have, I have a book that will

[1:26] help you

[1:27] navigate

[1:28] what... Here I was

[1:33] asked to start with

[1:34] point number two.

[1:38] Good. The next

[1:40] item is approval of

[1:42] the minutes of the meeting

[1:43] of September 1, 2026.

[1:45] Is there a proposal

[1:46] to approve the protocol?

[1:48] I propose to approve

[1:50] the minutes for September.

[1:52] Is there support? I

[1:53] support.

[1:55] Good. The proposal

[1:59] was put forward and

[2:00] supported. Are there

[2:01] any corrections or

[2:02] discussions? OK.

[2:09] I see that there is none. Who is "

[2:11] for", please say "

[2:12] for".

[2:12] By.

[2:14] Who is "against"? I don't see.

[2:19] Okay, the offer

[2:20] is accepted. Number three,

[2:24] comments from the audience. This is the

[2:28] next item,

[2:29] comments from the floor. This is an

[2:34] opportunity for

[2:37] North Hudson residents, property owners and businesses

[2:38] to inform Council of

[2:39] new topics, issues or

[2:41] opportunities that are

[2:42] not on

[2:42] today's

[2:43] agenda but

[2:44] that require

[2:45] consideration at a

[2:46] future

[2:46] meeting.

[2:50] There are 3 minutes for comments

[2:51] , and although there are

[2:53] no members of the public,

[2:54] I read it anyway.

[2:55] Good.

[2:56] OK.

[2:56] Of course.

[2:58] You know,

[2:59] the public is

[3:00] important.

[3:01] Yes.

[3:02] So, with that we move on

[3:07] . Well, okay. New

[3:11] cases, item number

[3:13] four.

[3:14] Administrator

[3:15] Albert, do you have

[3:16] any comments or

[3:17] updates for the Council?

[3:18] I have. Just

[3:20] a reminder that we are

[3:21] in budget

[3:22] season now. We have already

[3:23] held several

[3:24] working meetings. We are on

[3:28] schedule

[3:29] to submit the draft

[3:30] budget to the

[3:30] Finance Committee

[3:32] at the next

[3:32] meeting, which, as

[3:34] we will discuss later,

[3:35] will be postponed to

[3:36] October, even though this is

[3:37] officially a November

[3:38] meeting. If the

[3:40] Finance Committee

[3:42] decides to make such

[3:43] a recommendation, this

[3:44] budget will be

[3:44] presented to the

[3:46] Village Council for review

[3:47] and discussion.

[3:50] Assuming that

[3:51] any changes that

[3:52] arise from

[3:53] this discussion

[3:54] are made to the

[3:57] public hearings scheduled for late November,

[3:58] it is at these that the budget

[3:59] will be approved for

[4:00] further

[4:01] progress. So,

[4:05] things are progressing well with the budget

[4:06] .

[4:08] It is also

[4:09] election season, and we

[4:11] remind you again that the

[4:11] next elections

[4:13] will be held on

[4:13] November 3rd. We began

[4:16] sending out absentee

[4:17] ballots on September 17, and we

[4:19] would like to remind you that

[4:20] in-person absentee voting

[4:23] begins on

[4:24] October 20, the schedule is

[4:26] listed on the my vote website.

[4:27] So, we have hours

[4:31] available for

[4:31] in-person

[4:33] absentee

[4:34] ballot voting. We also

[4:37] want to mention

[4:38] flyers from third

[4:39] parties. The

[4:42] Wisconsin Election Commission

[4:43] sent out a

[4:44] notice about the

[4:45] increase in

[4:46] third-party mailers being

[4:48] sent to

[4:49] Wisconsin voters,

[4:50] they notified the

[4:51] clerks, and I

[4:52] just wanted to

[4:53] pass this

[4:54] information along because I think it's

[4:55] important. This

[4:56] causes a lot of

[4:57] confusion. So, if

[4:59] you received a postcard,

[5:00] letter, or form

[5:01] encouraging you to

[5:02] vote

[5:03] absentee

[5:04] or telling you to

[5:06] register—I've already

[5:07] posted about it on

[5:08] Facebook. While some of these

[5:10] mailings look

[5:12] quite official, they

[5:13] may not be coming

[5:14] from the Wisconsin Election Commission

[5:15] or the

[5:16] clerks.

[5:17] Please be aware that these

[5:19] forms, which you may

[5:20] receive from

[5:21] third parties, are not

[5:22] your

[5:23] ballot. I think this

[5:24] caused a lot of

[5:25] confusion. People

[5:26] assume they are

[5:27] already registered

[5:28] to vote by

[5:29] absentee ballot

[5:31] , but they are not, and in

[5:32] some cases they

[5:33] provide a pre-

[5:34] filled

[5:35] absentee

[5:36] ballot request form. They just

[5:39] say to send it to

[5:40] your secretary, but the

[5:41] fine print

[5:42] says

[5:43] to make sure

[5:44] you have the ID in the database.

[5:45] We see them

[5:46] coming without ID. So

[5:48] now we have to

[5:49] send them back to

[5:50] people. So we simply

[5:52] ask everyone to carefully

[5:53] review the mail

[5:55] you may

[5:55] receive.

[5:57] Make sure

[5:58] it is truly from the

[6:00] Wisconsin Election Commission. Some

[6:02] of them even have the

[6:03] secretary's name on them, even though

[6:05] we didn't send them.

[6:06] Again, they

[6:07] may contain

[6:08] outdated or

[6:09] incorrect

[6:10] voter information. So, what

[6:12] we and the

[6:13] Wisconsin Elections Commission

[6:15] are reminding you of is:

[6:16] please visit the

[6:17] official Wisconsin

[6:18] Elections Commission website

[6:19] , where you

[6:20] will find out if

[6:21] you are registered and

[6:22] where you can also request an

[6:26] absentee ballot. So we

[6:28] really encourage

[6:29] people to use

[6:30] this particular election

[6:31] site. I repeat, this is

[6:34] myvote.wi.gov. This will be your

[6:36] reliable source of

[6:37] information. So if

[6:38] you have any

[6:38] questions, please

[6:40] call us.

[6:41] We understand that this

[6:42] can be confusing.

[6:44] One other thing

[6:46] we wanted to mention

[6:47] about absentee voting

[6:48] : there's a

[6:49] certain perception or

[6:50] idea that

[6:52] absentee voting is a

[6:53] safer way to vote

[6:54] than in-person

[6:55] voting, and I

[6:56] want to clarify again:

[6:58] Minnesota and

[6:58] Wisconsin

[6:59] are different. In

[7:02] Wisconsin, if you

[7:03] send an

[7:06] absentee ballot by mail

[7:07] or come and

[7:08] vote in person,

[7:09] that ballot is

[7:10] actually

[7:10] counted or

[7:11] filed the same

[7:13] day the

[7:14] polls open. So

[7:16] if something happened on

[7:17] Election Day that

[7:17] prevented

[7:18] vote registration,

[7:19] it would affect all

[7:20] votes in Wisconsin.

[7:21] Early

[7:22] voting does not

[7:23] mean that your

[7:24] ballot

[7:24] is counted

[7:25] early. You just

[7:26] make your choice, and

[7:27] we store it

[7:29] here. So there is some

[7:30] confusion between

[7:31] early

[7:32] voting in

[7:33] Minnesota and

[7:33] in-person

[7:35] absentee voting in

[7:36] Wisconsin. These are slightly

[7:37] different processes. So we

[7:39] just wanted to

[7:40] remind people about that

[7:41] . There are no security advantages here

[7:43] .

[7:46] Do you know when

[7:47] they arrive? Are

[7:48] they scanned immediately,

[7:49] or how does it happen

[7:51] when they...

[7:53] Yes, we record that

[7:55] they are received or

[7:55] returned, and then

[7:57] they are stored in a

[7:58] secure place until

[7:59] Election Day, after

[8:00] which they are counted

[8:01] or...

[8:02] Are they processed on

[8:03] Election Day immediately,

[8:04] or...

[8:05] During the day, when the

[8:06] time comes.

[8:07] Of course. I

[8:08] was just curious

[8:09] how it works.

[8:09] Yes. So, a few more

[8:12] updates. I would like to remind you about

[8:15] the motorcycle rally, especially

[8:16] for residents of

[8:17] the southern part of

[8:18] the city, which is

[8:18] planned for this

[8:19] weekend. So on Saturday

[8:21] mornings you may

[8:22] notice an increase in

[8:23] traffic.

[8:25] Last month,

[8:26] 11 new

[8:27] licenses for

[8:28] construction workers were approved. We

[8:31] also approved two

[8:32] new licenses for

[8:33] door-to-door delivery people—people

[8:34] who are allowed to

[8:35] go door-to-door—

[8:36] and this is another update

[8:38] from Anderson. They were

[8:40] here earlier this year

[8:41] and applied for a

[8:42] new license, which

[8:43] was approved. And one more thing:

[8:45] the permit for

[8:46] specialized

[8:47] repair crews is valid

[8:48] until the end of this weekend

[8:49] . We have one

[8:50] operator license,

[8:51] no

[8:52] utility permits,

[8:53] which were obtained in

[8:54] September. We did

[8:55] receive one new

[8:56] utility permit

[8:57] this week.

[8:59] So, you may

[9:00] notice that some

[9:01] cable companies

[9:02] are starting

[9:03] to step up, but

[9:04] as of September, they

[9:05] weren't. Additionally,

[9:08] we did not have a Zoning

[9:10] Board meeting in October

[9:11] , and

[9:12] at this point,

[9:13] nothing is

[9:14] scheduled for November. This is all

[9:15] my information.

[9:17] Very good. The next

[9:18] issue is consideration of

[9:19] postponing the

[9:20] November

[9:21] Council meeting. Is there

[9:22] an offer?

[9:24] I move that the

[9:25] next meeting of the

[9:27] Board of Trustees be postponed from

[9:28] Tuesday, November 3,

[9:30] 2026, to Tuesday,

[9:32] October 27, 2026,

[9:34] due to the

[9:35] 2026 general election.

[9:37] Is there a second party that

[9:38] supports it? I

[9:39] support.

[9:40] Thank you, Mary. Em.

[9:44] The proposal was

[9:45] made and

[9:46] supported. Are there

[9:47] any discussions,

[9:49] pertinent debates, or

[9:50] explanations?

[9:52] Yes, I think we

[9:53] see this

[9:54] every two years,

[9:55] certainly because of the

[9:56] November elections.

[9:57] So we just want to

[9:58] move the meeting a

[9:59] week earlier so that there is

[10:01] no conflict with the

[10:02] election period.

[10:04] Will the Finance

[10:05] Committee meet

[10:06] before the Council meeting?

[10:08] Yes.

[10:13] Good. Are there any other

[10:15] discussions? If

[10:17] there are no "for", please

[10:19] say "yes".

[10:20] Yes.

[10:20] Who is "against"?

[10:22] The proposal is accepted. The

[10:25] next item is

[10:26] consideration of the adoption of the

[10:27] proposed

[10:28] resolution. Is there

[10:29] an offer?

[10:31] John, I move to

[10:33] approve amendments to

[10:34] Chapter 94 of the

[10:35] North Hudson Township Code of Ordinances

[10:36] , Articles 1, 2, and 3,

[10:38] relating to

[10:39] water and

[10:40] sewer, to

[10:41] reflect the transfer of

[10:43] utilities

[10:44] to the City of Hudson.

[10:47] Thank you, Brian. Is there a

[10:49] second party that

[10:50] supports it?

[10:52] I support.

[10:53] Thank you, Kirk.

[10:55] The proposal was

[10:56] made and

[10:57] supported. Are there

[10:59] any discussions?

[11:01] Let me provide

[11:02] a little context on

[11:04] this. So, when we

[11:06] signed a contract with

[11:08] the

[11:08] utility to

[11:09] transfer the

[11:11] township's water and sewerage to the

[11:12] City of Hudson, we

[11:13] agreed to adopt the

[11:14] city's

[11:15] water and

[11:16] sewerage ordinances. So,

[11:20] our ordinances

[11:21] will remain in effect

[11:22] for stormwater, but

[11:23] for water and

[11:24] sewer—that was

[11:26] part of the signed

[11:27] agreement. The reason for

[11:30] the slight delay

[11:31] is that

[11:32] the city was in the process

[11:33] of reviewing its

[11:34] ordinances and they

[11:35] just approved

[11:36] their new rules.

[11:39] So now they

[11:40] have asked us to

[11:40] adopt those

[11:41] resolutions that they

[11:42] recently updated and

[11:43] approved. So,

[11:44] again, this

[11:45] applies to their

[11:46] water and

[11:47] sewer policies,

[11:48] as they are now

[11:49] responsible for those

[11:50] utilities.

[11:53] So, essentially, ours

[11:54] looks the same as

[11:55] theirs. Good.

[12:00] So, Gino, I have a

[12:01] question. The unification of

[12:07] water supply and

[12:08] sewage made the

[12:09] village equal to the city,

[12:10] we are the same, and we have the

[12:12] same tariffs, and

[12:13] this decree that they

[12:14] just passed... I don't

[12:15] know if it was in

[12:16] their previous

[12:17] decree or if it's just in the

[12:18] new one, where they

[12:19] really create

[12:20] different categories of

[12:21] consumers for

[12:22] sewage.

[12:27] The distinction between

[12:29] the city and those

[12:30] outside the city, and this

[12:31] seems to reveal

[12:32] something that I

[12:33] thought we had already

[12:34] agreed on in our

[12:35] initial agreement. And I

[12:39] just want to

[12:39] make sure that

[12:40] accepting this doesn't

[12:42] invalidate the

[12:43] agreement we signed that

[12:44] we are ratepayers at the

[12:45] same rates as the

[12:46] city.

[12:48] No, that's a valid

[12:49] question, and the reason

[12:50] it's still in

[12:52] their ordinances is

[12:53] because they

[12:54] serve other

[12:55] groups outside the city as well

[12:57] . But no, that's not true, and I

[12:59] was in charge of the contract

[13:00] , and the ordinances were

[13:01] reviewed by Becky

[13:02] Norman after

[13:04] we received them from the

[13:05] utility director

[13:06] . This will not

[13:09] cancel the agreement we

[13:11] have. So when you

[13:12] read this

[13:13] wording, we

[13:14] will be considered the same as the

[13:15] city, since

[13:16] we are now part of

[13:17] this

[13:18] utility. As they

[13:19] continue

[13:20] to offer and

[13:21] expand their

[13:22] water and

[13:23] sewer services outside of

[13:24] the city, these

[13:25] customers may be

[13:26] treated as

[13:27] wholesale customers,

[13:28] another

[13:29] utility when they

[13:30] move to other

[13:31] towns, and so on. But this is a

[13:32] valid clarifying

[13:33] question, but

[13:35] it does not

[13:35] apply to us. Our

[13:37] contractual status.

[13:38] Thank you. And one more

[13:39] additional question:

[13:40] from what I heard, our

[13:42] lawyer has already

[13:42] reviewed this.

[13:43] They both

[13:44] watched it, yes.

[13:45] Thank you.

[13:47] Okay, is there any more

[13:48] discussion?

[13:52] Since there is none, everyone in

[13:53] favor, say "yes."

[13:55] Yes.

[13:56] Against? Okay,

[14:02] the offer is accepted.

[14:06] Next we have the

[14:07] committee recommendations, number seven, the

[14:10] planning commission recommendations.

[14:13] Since the

[14:14] planning commission did not

[14:15] meet in September,

[14:16] we will move on to

[14:17] personnel and

[14:17] finance. Uh-huh. The

[14:24] next item is

[14:25] approval of

[14:26] the accounts. Is there

[14:27] an offer?

[14:28] I move that

[14:29] the council

[14:30] approve the

[14:31] irregular accounts

[14:33] for October 2026 in

[14:35] the amount of $121,688.17

[14:36] cents.

[14:37] I support.

[14:38] Second proposal.

[14:39] Okay, the motion

[14:40] has been made and is

[14:41] seconded. Are there

[14:42] any discussions?

[14:44] I'll just add a few

[14:46] larger items: we

[14:47] had a payment to the city of

[14:48] Hudson of

[14:49] approximately

[14:50] $84,000. This is under our

[14:52] fire service contract. This is the

[14:53] second installment of this

[14:54] payment. Again,

[14:56] this was planned

[14:58] and

[14:59] budgeted for, along with

[15:00] $5,700 for further

[15:01] tree management,

[15:02] i.e. removal of

[15:03] dead and diseased

[15:04] trees within the township.

[15:06] We are close to

[15:07] completion, but this

[15:08] was the last payment

[15:10] this year for

[15:10] helping

[15:11] manage our

[15:12] trees. Are

[15:17] there any other

[15:18] discussions? If not,

[15:21] we will proceed to a

[15:22] roll call

[15:23] vote. Mary?

[15:27] Yes.

[15:28] Good. John? Yes.

[15:31] Brian?

[15:33] Yes.

[15:33] You are okay. Trustees,

[15:36] the proposal is approved.

[15:41] Next, we have

[15:41] an offer to

[15:43] purchase a tractor. Is

[15:45] there an offer?

[15:46] John proposed

[15:48] recommending for

[15:49] approval

[15:49] the use of up to 24,000 from the

[15:51] utility vehicle fund

[15:53] to purchase a

[15:54] compact tractor

[15:55] -loader. Is there

[15:57] anyone who

[15:58] will support?

[16:00] I support.

[16:01] Very good, thank you.

[16:04] The proposal was... a

[16:07] lighter piece of

[16:08] equipment that would help

[16:09] with

[16:10] park and roadside maintenance, that wouldn't

[16:11] cause damage

[16:13] while working. They

[16:14] plan to

[16:15] use it

[16:16] for

[16:17] weed control,

[16:17] clearing Ferry

[16:18] Landing, removing blackberry

[16:19] bushes,

[16:20] tree care, and

[16:21] general

[16:23] park maintenance. They are asking

[16:28] that instead of a pickup truck,

[16:30] which they

[16:31] would normally request at this time of

[16:32] year from the

[16:33] utility

[16:33] vehicle fund, which is

[16:35] about

[16:36] $40,000, we

[16:36] consider this

[16:37] compact tractor.

[16:44] Their reason is

[16:45] that after purchasing a

[16:46] loader and

[16:47] other

[16:48] snow removal equipment,

[16:50] the team uses the

[16:51] pickup trucks less often, so

[16:52] their

[16:53] service life is longer.

[16:58] And while the vehicle pool

[17:00] is great and

[17:01] appropriate, they

[17:02] prefer a

[17:03] compact tractor

[17:04] for

[17:05] maintenance rather than a

[17:06] pickup truck, which is why they are

[17:07] asking for it.

[17:14] So, Brian, this

[17:15] compact tractor,

[17:16] what is it? I'm

[17:17] sure it's not

[17:18] some big John

[17:20] Deere. Is it like a skid

[17:21] steer loader or

[17:22] something?

[17:23] Well, it's a tractor.

[17:24] This is a real tractor.

[17:26] It will have a bucket

[17:27] in the front and a mower

[17:28] in the back.

[17:29] Of course.

[17:30] Or additional

[17:31] equipment in front.

[17:33] Remove the bucket and

[17:34] put the mower on. This

[17:36] allows them

[17:37] to enter areas

[17:38] where large

[17:38] forklifts

[17:39] cannot reach.

[17:40] Ugh.

[17:41] And it's lighter, so he

[17:42] believes that

[17:43] using lighter

[17:44] equipment in parks is

[17:45] better. You can

[17:46] check this. This,

[17:48] you know, you see, he's

[17:49] almost

[17:49] his photo now.

[17:51] And you rightly noted

[17:52] that he raised this

[17:53] issue a few

[17:54] years ago.

[17:55] Well, yes, a while

[17:56] ago, yes. But the work

[18:01] they did,

[18:02] trying to take out the

[18:03] equipment, the

[18:04] playground, just with

[18:05] big

[18:06] loaders, it

[18:07] just destroyed the

[18:08] park, and you had to

[18:09] fix it. Are

[18:14] there any other

[18:15] discussions?

[18:17] So how will this affect the

[18:19] next pickup truck? Do

[18:21] we need to

[18:22] add additional

[18:23] funds, will the purchase

[18:24] be far enough

[18:25] away that it

[18:26] will be replaced by

[18:27] then, or how will it be

[18:28] affected?

[18:29] Good question.

[18:31] I think there are several

[18:32] factors here. Yes, I think

[18:34] in their five-year

[18:35] plan they don't

[18:36] foresee a need for a

[18:37] pickup truck in the near

[18:38] future. So, again

[18:41] , when we

[18:41] look at these funds,

[18:43] these trust funds, this is

[18:44] not something we

[18:45] put in the budget.

[18:46] These are the funds that we

[18:47] direct to these

[18:48] funds if

[18:49] we have a budget left at the end of the year

[18:50] . And

[18:52] so we absolutely

[18:53] can continue to

[18:54] do this, and we should

[18:56] continue to do so if

[18:57] we have that money. But

[19:00] his expected

[19:01] use of these

[19:02] funds is less because of

[19:03] the durability of the new

[19:04] pickup trucks. With

[19:09] that in mind, we also had

[19:10] conversations with Ellers

[19:11] about when it's appropriate

[19:12] to take out loans, what do

[19:13] they recommend

[19:14] regarding loans? And I think

[19:17] in the past, there

[19:18] may have been some

[19:19] hesitation about

[19:20] using

[19:21] credit to buy

[19:22] vehicles

[19:23] . Ellers says the

[19:26] situation for

[19:26] municipalities

[19:28] has changed dramatically, and they

[19:29] say: if we

[19:30] can still continue to

[19:32] put money into these

[19:33] trust funds, that's

[19:34] great, and we should

[19:35] consider ourselves

[19:36] lucky, because

[19:37] most

[19:37] municipalities do

[19:38] n't. And,

[19:40] in fact, almost all

[19:41] the municipalities

[19:42] they work with

[19:44] take out loans for

[19:45] new equipment. So

[19:47] , if we were in

[19:48] a situation where

[19:49] something happened to the truck

[19:50] and we

[19:51] needed to make

[19:52] a purchase, but we didn't have

[19:53] enough funds in the

[19:54] fund, taking out a loan would

[19:55] be a perfectly

[19:56] acceptable option

[19:57] , which is currently being chosen by

[19:59] most

[19:59] municipalities.

[20:02] Well, you certainly have

[20:04] the ability to do

[20:05] that within our

[20:06] debt limits, and it would greatly

[20:07] expand our

[20:08] spending capabilities.

[20:09] So, I think that's nice to

[20:11] hear, actually.

[20:12] Yes. Agree.

[20:14] I think we started this

[20:15] because these numbers were

[20:16] just killing us.

[20:17] So we decided we had to

[20:18] prepare for

[20:19] this. So, that's why

[20:20] it all

[20:21] started in the first place.

[20:21] Well, another thing is that back

[20:22] then we were clearing

[20:24] snow with all our

[20:24] pickup trucks. We

[20:26] no longer use them to clear

[20:27] snow, so

[20:27] their lifespan

[20:29] has extended.

[20:31] The situation is

[20:32] different with police cars.

[20:32] We said at the time

[20:33] that this did not

[20:34] mean that

[20:35] it was the

[20:36] wrong decision at the time. It's

[20:38] just that a lot

[20:39] has changed,

[20:40] obviously, with where we

[20:42] are now and

[20:43] with the municipalities and

[20:44] our capabilities,

[20:45] so the advice

[20:47] is changing a little bit, and Ehlers

[20:48] acknowledges that, so.

[20:53] Very good. Are there any other

[20:55] discussions? If there are none

[20:57] ,

[20:58] we will proceed to a

[20:59] roll call

[20:59] vote. Brian?

[21:01] Yes.

[21:05] Mary?

[21:06] Yes.

[21:07] Thank you. Okay,

[21:09] the offer is accepted. The

[21:13] next item on the

[21:14] agenda is,

[21:15] um, the

[21:18] WPPA union contract. This is the

[21:19] Wisconsin

[21:20] Association of

[21:20] Professional

[21:21] Police Officers.

[21:22] John, I have this for...

[21:23] Yes, John, I have this

[21:24] for us today.

[21:25] What do you have?

[21:26] Yes. Therefore, I propose

[21:28] to approve the

[21:31] WPPA union agreement as presented and

[21:31] to authorize the

[21:32] Village President and

[21:33] Administrator/

[21:34] Secretary to sign

[21:35] the agreement on behalf of the

[21:36] Village of North

[21:37] Hudson. I

[21:39] support.

[21:41] Good, very good. Uh,

[21:43] further discussion

[21:44] ? Any discussions?

[21:47] Um, since

[21:47] President Viken

[21:48] is away today,

[21:49] do we need to

[21:50] amend the

[21:51] signing proposal to

[21:52] make sure we

[21:54] approve it in time? I

[21:55] don't know if there's a

[21:56] deadline or something else

[21:57] we need to

[21:58] consider.

[21:58] Um, no, uh, that's a

[22:00] fair question. Um,

[22:02] there's no, uh,

[22:03] preliminary

[22:04] deadline. The current

[22:05] contract is valid until the end of the

[22:07] year. Um, so I think

[22:09] everything will be fine, but

[22:10] that's a good, that's a good

[22:12] idea. Um, if,

[22:13] of course, we

[22:14] find ourselves in a situation

[22:15] where he can't

[22:16] do it in time,

[22:17] then we'll go back

[22:18] to this issue and

[22:20] ask for another

[22:21] signature. I think. Um, and

[22:26] we'll just talk a little bit

[22:27] about the fact that

[22:28] we, you know, have completed

[22:30] negotiations and

[22:30] collective bargaining between the

[22:32] uh,

[22:33] police

[22:33] department union and uh,

[22:35] some of us in the

[22:35] village that were

[22:36] approved at one of

[22:38] our previous

[22:39] meetings. Um, so the

[22:42] proposed agreement

[22:43] reflects the terms that

[22:44] were agreed upon or

[22:46] negotiated between

[22:47] the village and the WPPA and then,

[22:48] um, you know,

[22:49] prepared for

[22:51] your formal review and approval.

[22:53] I wonder, boss, if

[22:54] you could provide an

[22:54] update on the information

[22:55] you provided to the

[22:56] finance committee

[22:57] . I think you

[22:58] summed it up very well.

[22:59] Yes, of course. So,

[23:00] one of the issues that

[23:02] came up in the

[23:02] finance committee

[23:03] was what

[23:04] salary increases and

[23:05] things like that

[23:06] were being discussed. In

[23:07] our previous

[23:08] contract, or in the

[23:09] current one, which

[23:10] expires

[23:11] at the end of this

[23:12] year, there are three

[23:12] pay levels. There is a

[23:14] base rate,

[23:14] an allowance for an

[23:16] associate's degree, and an

[23:17] increase for a

[23:18] bachelor's degree.

[23:20] It was agreed to

[23:21] effectively abolish the

[23:22] base

[23:23] rate level and make the

[23:24] old

[23:24] junior

[23:25] specialist level the new

[23:26] base rate, and the

[23:27] educational incentive

[23:28] would be provided for both

[23:29] junior

[23:30] specialist and

[23:31] bachelor's degrees. With

[23:33] this bonus, it's a

[23:35] two-year contract

[23:36] for the 27th and 28th years.

[23:38] So, essentially,

[23:39] the increase in 2027

[23:40] is about 5

[23:42] % due to the adjustment to the

[23:44] new base, and the

[23:45] increase in 2028

[23:47] will be about

[23:49] 3.5%. Another thing that was

[23:50] agreed upon was

[23:52] that the

[23:53] seniority clause was

[23:54] removed from the contract,

[23:56] and 5 cents was actually added

[23:57] to the

[23:57] maximum

[23:58] salary. In our

[24:01] village, the maximum

[24:02] salary is reached

[24:03] after 5 years, and after

[24:05] that point they

[24:06] only receive an

[24:07] annual raise,

[24:08] which comes at the beginning of the

[24:09] contract year.

[24:13] So, these are the main

[24:14] changes related to

[24:15] wages.

[24:17] There were other contracts

[24:18] or discussions, but I

[24:19] think ultimately

[24:21] this was the main change

[24:22] that happened in

[24:23] this contract. And

[24:25] he will outlive me in

[24:27] my position in the

[24:27] department, so that's

[24:28] also good, someone

[24:29] else can

[24:30] negotiate for the

[24:31] next one.

[24:34] Ai.

[24:38] Okay, is there any more

[24:40] discussion? Well,

[24:43] if there are none,

[24:44] let's proceed to a

[24:45] roll call

[24:46] vote. Mary?

[24:48] Yes.

[24:49] Nick?

[24:51] Yes.

[24:52] Very good. Thank you.

[24:54] So, the proposal

[24:55] is accepted. Next, we

[25:02] move on to

[25:03] updates from the mayor

[25:04] regarding

[25:05] utilities. You are the first.

[25:06] Chief Pike, do

[25:07] you have any updates?

[25:09] Of course, we

[25:10] met. We

[25:11] discussed the

[25:11] parking

[25:12] lots, both

[25:13] lots: the one

[25:15] right here and the one

[25:16] down by Browns Beach

[25:17] . The design for this

[25:18] site has been

[25:19] finally

[25:20] approved. There was a

[25:21] question about

[25:22] lighting. We

[25:23] found out that there

[25:24] was already electricity there.

[25:26] So if we decide we

[25:27] want to

[25:28] enlighten him, that

[25:29] possibility is there.

[25:31] Requests for proposals were sent out

[25:32] .

[25:33] We ask them

[25:34] to apply for

[25:35] both properties

[25:36] at the same time, believing

[25:37] that this will

[25:38] save money. Um,

[25:40] they have to be

[25:41] submitted by Friday, the 9th

[25:42] . And then, uh,

[25:44] after the 9th, we'll

[25:46] have a special

[25:48] public works meeting on

[25:49] Monday at 1:00 PM to

[25:50] open the

[25:51] bids and

[25:52] make a decision. This is

[25:55] all I have. That

[25:56] sounds good. Uh,

[25:59] public welfare

[26:00] , uh, Chairman Nelson,

[26:02] do you have an update?

[26:03] Oh, I'm sorry.

[26:04] They bypassed me.

[26:05] I'm fine.

[26:07] It's okay, John.

[26:08] Everything is fine.

[26:09] Okay, the next

[26:10] item is public,

[26:12] uh, works.

[26:12] Public safety.

[26:14] It.

[26:14] Safety, Tim.

[26:15] Public safety.

[26:16] OK.

[26:17] He just wanted to

[26:18] deliberately

[26:19] avoid it. Chairman

[26:20] Keller. Uh

[26:21] , we actually

[26:22] met. Uh,

[26:23] we mainly

[26:24] focused on

[26:25] approving our

[26:26] budget items

[26:27] to pass them on to the

[26:28] finance department.

[26:29] Uh, and we were talking

[26:30] about, uh, e-

[26:31] bikes.

[26:32] At the moment,

[26:33] nothing

[26:33] concrete has

[26:34] come of this. Otherwise, that

[26:35] was pretty much it. We won't

[26:37] be meeting

[26:38] this time, uh, at the

[26:39] October meeting.

[26:40] So our next

[26:41] meeting will be in, uh,

[26:42] November.

[26:43] Thank you. Now, head.

[26:45] Wait, wait, wait,

[26:47] question.

[26:47] OK.

[26:48] What do you mean

[26:49] by "nothing worked out

[26:50] " with

[26:50] electric bikes?

[26:52] It. We kind of

[26:56] focus on

[26:57] what...what the state is doing

[27:01] , and then on the regulations

[27:02] . I mean, we're

[27:03] still

[27:04] looking into this in detail,

[27:05] but there's not much we

[27:06] can do at this point

[27:07] . So,

[27:11] we are focusing on

[27:12] awareness, and we

[27:13] also plan to

[27:14] raise this issue

[27:15] during the

[27:15] bike meetings in

[27:16] April. So we are

[27:19] trying to

[27:19] work with the

[27:20] parent

[27:20] committee and other

[27:21] similar

[27:22] organizations to

[27:23] hold an event to

[27:23] promote

[27:24] bicycle safety. And then

[27:25] hopefully we'll have

[27:26] more

[27:27] information about

[27:28] e-bikes

[27:29] that we can

[27:30] present to

[27:30] the public, but that's

[27:31] still in the

[27:32] development process.

[27:33] I mean, we all

[27:34] got that

[27:35] last

[27:36] league newsletter where there

[27:37] was a discussion about

[27:38] electric bikes.

[27:39] Yes.

[27:40] It seems like this is something

[27:41] we'll have to

[27:43] deal with eventually.

[27:45] Ultimately, but

[27:46] the situation is still

[27:46] open because there is little we

[27:48] can do

[27:49] at this

[27:50] point. It's more a

[27:52] question of awareness.

[27:55] I think, going back

[27:56] to your comment

[27:57] about the publication

[27:58] coming out of the league,

[27:59] you know, there's actually already a

[28:00] state

[28:01] law that deals with

[28:02] a lot of these things;

[28:03] and it's a matter of educating

[28:04] young people who

[28:05] may not have been taught by their

[28:06] parents, or their parents

[28:07] have taught them, but they

[28:08] do what

[28:09] young people do and don't listen to

[28:10] their parents. So,

[28:11] we try to

[28:12] educate people as we

[28:13] talk to them,

[28:14] but I think there are

[28:15] other options for other

[28:16] ordinances that the

[28:18] public safety committee

[28:19] wasn't ready for at the time, and

[28:20] wanted to try an

[28:21] educational

[28:22] approach. We've held

[28:23] bike rodeos in the past

[28:24] , usually in early

[28:25] spring when people

[28:26] start getting out their

[28:27] bikes. So,

[28:28] hopefully,

[28:29] working with the

[28:30] parent

[28:30] committee, we

[28:31] will bring this

[28:32] information to our

[28:33] children, as well as to the

[28:34] adults who are now

[28:35] also riding them.

[28:36] We plan to actively

[28:37] engage in this.

[28:38] Good.

[28:38] We also

[28:39] learn a lot. I know we've had them

[28:40] before

[28:41] , and

[28:42] not many people showed up,

[28:43] but we want to

[28:44] make sure we

[28:45] implement something right away, and

[28:46] every month, at every

[28:47] meeting,

[28:47] we remind people,

[28:48] "Hey, here's the date." "This is

[28:50] what we're going to do."

[28:51] We will pay attention to

[28:52] education. I've

[28:54] only had two people come up to me and

[28:55] say, "Are you

[28:55] going to

[28:56] do something about these kids

[28:57] riding

[28:58] bikes?" Just,

[29:01] you know, passersby.

[29:02] Many of the questions at Pepper

[29:04] Fest were about the same thing.

[29:05] Truth? Good. Okay,

[29:08] thank you.

[29:10] Okay, very good. The

[29:11] next item is the

[29:12] report of the

[29:13] Public Works Committee,

[29:14] Chairman.

[29:15] We weren't going to.

[29:16] Good. Next

[29:19] item—the report of the

[29:20] Parks Committee, Chairman

[29:21] McGurn, do you have the report?

[29:23] Yes, we were going to.

[29:27] The Park Board

[29:28] submitted

[29:30] recommendations for the

[29:32] 2027 budget to the village administration.

[29:35] Our top

[29:35] priority was Summer's

[29:37] Landing: building a

[29:38] stationary

[29:39] restroom and planting

[29:40] trees around the

[29:41] pickleball court to provide protection

[29:43] from the heat. And if it is not

[29:44] possible to make a

[29:45] stationary one, then

[29:46] consider the option of a

[29:47] temporary toilet.

[29:49] The second was a

[29:50] conceptual plan

[29:51] for Fairy Landing so we

[29:52] could begin seeking

[29:53] funding for

[29:54] the concept. The

[29:59] third priority

[30:00] was expanding the

[30:01] ice rink at Pepper

[30:02] Fest Park. The fourth was

[30:05] installing a fence

[30:06] for the

[30:07] pickleball court in Glen Oaks and

[30:08] installing an

[30:09] auxiliary restroom.

[30:10] This is what we put forward,

[30:11] and from what I understand from

[30:13] our

[30:13] administrator, these

[30:14] issues

[30:15] have been discussed, and we will

[30:16] hear more during the

[30:17] upcoming

[30:18] budget presentation.

[30:21] Very good, thank you. Well, the

[30:24] next item is

[30:25] closing the meeting.

[30:28] It looks like we're closing

[30:30] this meeting at 6:32.

[30:33] Completion proposal

[30:34] .

[30:36] Great, thank you.

North Hudson Village Board October 6, 2026 LIVE

Transcript