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Record of Proceedings

Altoona City Council Meeting - May 14, 2026

Meeting Portal — Thursday, May 14, 2026
BodyAltoona, Wisconsin
SessionMeeting Portal
DateThursday, May 14, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:00:25

Original source
Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:10

So that's just a few seconds.

Speaker 2

0:12

So that's too good.

Speaker 1

0:13

So it

Speaker 2

0:13

was down there

Speaker 1

0:14

again.

Unassigned speaker

0:15

So we're in a whole lot of the colours.

Unassigned speaker

0:16

I want to do that.

Speaker 3

0:22

Okay.

Speaker 4

0:23

All right.

0:23

Let's go ahead and call the regular council meeting of Thursday, May 14, 2026 to order.

Speaker 5

0:35

And

Speaker 3

0:35

true public

Speaker 5

0:36

force.

Speaker 4

0:45

Roll call for councilpersons, roll call for department heads.

Speaker 6

0:49

Mayor Brendan Pratt.

0:51

Councilperson Dale Suber.

0:53

Councilperson Timothy Lima.

0:55

Councilperson Bruce Thielen.

0:57

Councilperson Matthew Beeran.

0:59

Councilperson Susie Zilmer.

1:01

Councilperson Susan Rowe.

Speaker 7

1:03

Here.

Speaker 6

1:03

We also have present attorney Chris Gearhart.

1:06

City Administrator Michael Goha Golot.

1:14

Finance director, Tina Nelson, Planning Director, Taylor Greenwell, and Cindy Bauer, City Clerk.

1:20

We have a quarrel.

Speaker 4

1:21

All right.

Speaker 3

1:29

Limo second.

Speaker 4

1:30

We have a more sense than a second.

1:32

All in favor say aye.

1:33

Aye.

1:33

Aye.

1:34

Opposed.

1:34

Motion carries.

1:36

Discuss consider approval of the minutes of the April 21st, 26th, 2026 City Council organizational and regular council meeting.

1:44

Lima so moves.

Speaker 1

1:45

Roll a second.

Speaker 4

1:46

Okay.

1:47

We have a motion and a second.

1:48

All in favor say aye.

1:50

Aye.

1:50

Opposed.

1:51

Motion carries.

1:53

Report city officers, department heads, city committees.

Speaker 8

1:57

Just a couple of things, Your Honor.

2:01

First of all, I want to congratulate public works.

2:06

So Public Works.

2:07

Public Works is doing pretty good this year.

2:09

They got a 5.2 million dollar grant for Spooner Avenue earlier in the year.

2:16

And they got another 700 and some thousand grant dollar grant for building the footbridge in the dip.

2:24

So really, really good work.

Speaker 1

2:28

Nice.

Speaker 8

2:28

So

Unassigned speaker

2:29

it

Speaker 8

2:30

that's not the the it's 80% of the construction cost.

2:35

The design, we're going to have to come up with the full amount for the design.

2:40

But we're not going to have to have a state contracted designer, so that'll be a lot better for us to work with.

2:50

So that that's that's good good stuff.

Unassigned speaker

2:53

Um

Speaker 8

2:53

the other thing is I uh both Taylor and I today attended uh meeting with the group that led the data center uh debate in Monominee.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Engagement███████████████████████████27%
Transportation Safety█████████████████17%
Procedural███████████11%
Parks and Recreation██████████10%
Strategic Planning██████████10%
Zoning Ordinances███████7%
Engineering And Infrastructure█████5%
Economic Development████4%
Budget Equity Analysis████4%
Summary of Proceedings

Altoona City Council Meeting – May 14, 2026

The Altoona City Council met on Thursday, May 14, 2026, at 5:00 PM in the Council Chambers at City Hall. The meeting included a public hearing and approval of a rezone, a presentation from the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), awarding of contracts, reappointments, and formation of a new Capital Improvement Program (CIP) committee.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved amending the premise description for the Class B liquor license of Egg Rolls & More (1419 Lynn Avenue) to include a designated parking lot area on May 15, 2026, for a graduation.
  • Approved a Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Altoona and the Altoona Lions Club for use of city facilities at Cinder City Park, Altoona City Park, and Devney Park during Cinder City Days.
  • Acknowledged proclamations for National Bike Month (May 2026), Professional Municipal Clerks Week (May 3-9), National Police Week (May 10-16), National Public Works Week (May 17-23), and National EMS Week (May 17-23).

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were offered during the Citizens Participation Period or the public hearing for the rezone.

Discussion Items

  • Rezone of 311 US Hwy 12 (Parcel #1820122709254200004): The council held a public hearing for a rezone request from Hoss Bros., LLC, to change 0.72 acres from R1 to commercial for a warehouse, showroom, and office. Staff confirmed the rezone meets all criteria in the zoning code, and the Planning Commission recommended approval. The council then approved Ordinance 5A-26.
  • MPO Presentation: Eric Anderson, MPO Director / Senior Planner from WCWRPC, presented an overview of the MPO, its role, and recent projects with Altoona (bike/ped plans, sidewalk inventory, safe routes to school, TAP grants). He distributed a new long-range transportation plan booklet and crash data specific to Altoona. Key data: The intersection of Claremont Avenue and London Road had 71 crashes (23.7 per year) in 2022-2024, the highest in the MPA. The MPO aims to form a working group to improve safety on Claremont Avenue. Discussion also included the state’s Highway 53 corridor study from Claremont to North Crossing.
  • Pavement Preservation Program Bid: The council awarded a contract for crack sealing, microsurfacing, and Gilsonite sealing on streets and bike trails. The total bid amount was $91,005.20 to Farner. The program was budgeted at approximately $100,000 from leftover project funds.
  • City Attorney Appointment: The council reappointed John Bailey and Will Riley as City Attorney for a two-year term ending May 2028.
  • Assessor Appointment: The council reappointed Megan Bickford of Accurate Appraisal as City Assessor for a two-year term ending May 2028.
  • Ad Hoc CIP Committee Formation: The council approved the formation of an ad hoc Capital Improvement Program committee, consisting of two council members and one public member (Mark Willer recommended). The committee will work to improve the budget process, consider moving to a two-year capital budget, and align projects with strategic goals. Staff will bring an ordinance amendment for the two-year budget in June.
  • Other Reports: City Administrator Michael Golat reported on a $5.2 million grant for Spooner Avenue and a $700,000+ grant for a footbridge, attendance at a data center debate meeting in Monominee, and updates on the TAP grant. Councilmember Susie Zilmer reported on a League of Wisconsin Municipalities conference and proposed a statewide certification program for council members. Planning Director Taylor Greenwell announced the upcoming Parks and Open Space Plan update, seeking two council members for the steering committee. A discussion on hailstorm repairs (Item 5) was postponed to the next meeting.

Key Outcomes

  • Approved Ordinance 5A-26 rezoning 311 US Hwy 12 (motion by Stuber, second by Burin, unanimous aye).
  • Awarded pavement preservation contract to Farner for $91,005.20 (motion and second, unanimous aye).
  • Reappointed John Bailey and Will Riley as City Attorney for a two-year term (motion and second, unanimous aye).
  • Reappointed Megan Bickford as City Assessor for a two-year term (motion and second, unanimous aye).
  • Approved formation of the ad hoc CIP committee (motion and second, unanimous aye).
  • Consent Agenda approved unanimously.

Meeting Transcript

So that's just a few seconds. So that's too good. So it was down there again. So we're in a whole lot of the colours. I want to do that. Okay. All right. Let's go ahead and call the regular council meeting of Thursday, May 14, 2026 to order. And true public force. Roll call for councilpersons, roll call for department heads. Mayor Brendan Pratt. Councilperson Dale Suber. Councilperson Timothy Lima. Councilperson Bruce Thielen. Councilperson Matthew Beeran. Councilperson Susie Zilmer. Councilperson Susan Rowe. Here. We also have present attorney Chris Gearhart. City Administrator Michael Goha Golot. Finance director, Tina Nelson, Planning Director, Taylor Greenwell, and Cindy Bauer, City Clerk. We have a quarrel. All right. Limo second. We have a more sense than a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed. Motion carries. Discuss consider approval of the minutes of the April 21st, 26th, 2026 City Council organizational and regular council meeting. Lima so moves. Roll a second. Okay. We have a motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed. Motion carries. Report city officers, department heads, city committees. Just a couple of things, Your Honor. First of all, I want to congratulate public works. So Public Works. Public Works is doing pretty good this year. They got a 5.2 million dollar grant for Spooner Avenue earlier in the year. And they got another 700 and some thousand grant dollar grant for building the footbridge in the dip.

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