Council Meeting Minutes 2025 09 17

• Mayor Day called the meeting to order at 5:30PM with the Pledge of Allegiance and Prayer.
• Y – Yes, N – No, A – Abstain, Abs – Absent
• Roll Call:

     5 Members Present

Other Village Representatives Present:

• Denise Knecht – Fiscal Officer; Dawn Fitzcharles – Village Administrator; Amanda Knecht – Administrative Assistant

Media Present:

• Brian Koeller, The Bryan Times; India Kenner, The Village Reporter

Public Present:

• Jana Griffin, Brian Bowsher, Denise Dahl

• Motion to Approve Meeting Minutes from 09.03.25:

Motion PASSES 5-0

Jana Griffin, Freedom Voters: Jana is here on behalf of the Freedom Voters organization. This is a small grass roots movement with a mission to inform fellow citizens of America’s biblical foundation and constitutional right, and to be politically knowledgeable in hope to empower voters. For 2 years they have been educating themselves biblically on God & Country, learning the importance of the founding of our country and how the Bible was included in our founding documents, the importance of voting and participating in local events & local government. This year the organization will be bringing Pastor Lorenzo Sewell to the Quality Inn in Holiday City on October 18^th @ 9am. Pastor Sewell is a dynamic national voice in faith and public leadership. Sewell delivered a speech at Republican National Convention in 2024 before the election as well as the prayer at the pre-inauguration worship service for President Trump in 2025. His work in community revitalization makes him a truly inspiring figure. Also, Wednesday October 22 thru December 17 from 6:30-8:30 Jana will be hosting a class titled Biblical Citizenship in modern America. Each Wednesday will take a journey through the Bible and American History. Everyone is invited.

Denise Dahl, MPA Epiphany Planning & Development: VA Fitzcharles introduced Denise as we are looking for different approaches for community planning and economic development in the mid-level commercial realm. We have a fair amount of “retail leakage” which means people in 43517 are spending their money on certain things outside of town. From that information we are able to identify the top business that would be successful. We cannot use county entities as they are set up for industrial and larger projects. In order to attract services that we are in need of, we need to bring in contacts such as Denise. Denise started the conversation with stating that in government and in public service the two primary goals are serving the public and saving the public money if you can. One of the biggest challenges a lot of communities have are unattainable ideas. 1. Vision- Digging into and defining the realities of what your vision is. “What is reality and what is wish?” 2. Priorities and partnerships- within your vision what are your priorities that you can really go after and who are the partnerships that can be leveraged? “How can we go further, faster?” 3. Resources- who, what, when, where, how? What are our actual resources? Who can we leverage to get us where we want to be at the lowest cost possible? 4. Strategy- All the above coming together, have a few really good conversations. 5. Take action- looking into a timeframe that you can actually hit based on facts and reality.

Dawn added some additional comments. The top 3 priorities we would be looking for Denise to assist us with in addressing, as far as economic development goes; She would assist us with 7 open vacant commercial parcels as well as vacant commercial buildings, put funding package together for the Brownfield project redevelopment, RLF for housing at the state level. Denise would also assist us in pushing out our message and information out to contacts that she has by leveraging priorities in partnerships. Dawn mentioned some of the retail business types that would be successful according to spending data that may be successful are quick serve food (convenience Store), quick car maintenance and tire center, and a 24-hour gym.

Mayor Update by Robert Day:

• Presented Amanda Knecht as “Employee Highlight”

Administrator Update by Dawn Fitzcharles:

• Airway holding an open house for its 75^th anniversary this Saturday from 9am-1pm; giving guided tours, providing refreshments, drawing for prizes
• Fall health fair October 24-25 from 6am-10am in the training room at Town Hall
• In process of scheduling a CRA and Wage & Comp meeting in October, doodle polls went out today
• Finance Committee meeting on 11/5 at 6:15 following the council meeting and will include department heads discuss where they are in 2025 and where we propose to go in 2026
• Public hearing meeting on 10/1 before the council meeting to review zoning request recommendation from planning commission
• Midyear financial review as of August 31 at 10/1 meeting also
• WTP plans approved by the State; finalizing bid specifications then taking out for advertisement, coming back for permission hopefully by 10/1 meeting, waiting for legal advertisement and put specifications and legal docs through Reid
• Coffee with Commissioners coming to Edgerton Local Schools on November 18^th @ 9am; more details will be made available closer to the date
• Seating, waste cans, dog waste stations marked out at Miller Park, anticipated to be installed over next couple weeks
• Asphalt sealing completed at Miller Park last week
• After 11pm this evening we will be taking delivery of the building of the new community center at Miller Park; the structure will be unloaded tomorrow
• Friendly discussion about only flushing the 3 P’s; PLEASE DO NOT flush ANY wipes, although they say they are flushable they are not biodegradable and get stuck in the sewer collection line on the way to the treatment facility; lift stations have been put through the ringer lately, this is a time-consuming, very costly repair we would like to avoid.
• Hydrant flushing will begin on October 6; vital process in making sure hydrants and valves are in good working order
• Trick or Treat will be Saturday, November 1^st from 4:30-7; Trunk or Treat will be 5:30-6:30

Fiscal Officer Update by Denise Knecht:

• Credit card statements ready for review and signature
• Motion to pay bills 09.17.25:

Motion PASSES 5-0

Employment status: Zachary Harrington, intern 1 seasonal, resigned effective 9/11/2025. Zach was with us for 3 summers.

• Motion to approve resignation of Zachary Harrington effective 9/11/2025:

Motion PASSES 5-0

Rules Committee 9/11: Discussed suggested updates to the VOE Personnel Policy & Procedure manual to include breastfeeding policy, body-worn camera public records policy, cybersecurity policy, and digital signature acknowledgments.

Council Discussion:

Wallace asked if anyone had volunteered yet to do costume judging activities after Trick or Treat on Nov 1. Nothing has been relayed to our office of that.

• Motion to adjourn at 6:18PM:

Motion PASSES 5-0