OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Manitowoc Board of Public Works Meeting – September 9, 2026

Common Council & Committees — Wednesday, September 9, 2026
BodyManitowoc, Wisconsin
SessionCommon Council & Committees
DateWednesday, September 9, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
0:00 / 24:39

Transcript — Verbatim
0:59

Yeah.

1:00

All right, we'll call the board of public.

1:03

Yep.

1:03

We're called the Board of Public Works to order at this time.

1:05

We do have a quorum.

1:06

We do have our first item on the agenda is a noxious weed appeal.

1:12

This is four seventeen twenty-seven Johnston Drive.

1:18

And let me just hold on real quick here.

1:21

Is this which one?

1:22

I'm sorry, which one is this one?

1:23

Is this Zoom?

1:24

Okay.

1:25

Marina, is this you?

1:30

Oh, I think you're on I you think you're on mute.

1:43

Nope, there.

1:44

Okay.

1:45

Can you hear me now?

1:46

Yes, can hear you now.

1:47

Thank you.

1:47

If you um so uh we have uh all the information, all your information that you provided.

1:52

If you have anything that you'd like to add before we uh deliberate this, okay, sure.

1:57

I'd like to add something.

1:58

So basically, I um when we bought the land, uh when my ex-husband Nathaniel Jeremiah Jones and I bought the land, uh we were still married, then the marriage iterated unfortunately with all the abuse and nonsense going on.

2:11

And so basically uh the land was this plot of land was kind of you know was um uh a challenge for both of us because he didn't want to even divide it by lore, you know, like fifty-fifty, and he was threatening me all the time when he abandoned me because I filed for divorce only five months after he abandoned me.

2:29

He was threatening me that if I ever set my foot on that property while he was away, people would tell him and he would be after me.

2:36

So basically he was intimidating me.

2:38

And while I still lived in Mantwalk with his visits at nights and whatnot, you know, I was kind of, you know, I couldn't think clearly to a certain extent.

2:45

I was intimidated.

2:46

When I moved to Milwaukee, I was like filed for divorce.

2:49

I started uh filing process petitions, you know, I started fi I started fighting for my rights.

2:54

But um with the contentions divorce going on and whatnot, again, I knew there were two things why I didn't update my address immediately, two factors, and why I uh didn't take care of the land immediately.

3:06

And though obviously I was an owner at the time.

3:08

Number one, this contentions divorce, you know.

3:10

I didn't know who the land who would get the land.

3:12

I I actually thought that the land would be split 50-50, so I was kind of hesitant about that.

3:17

And again, I was still since I was going through a very high Catholic divorce.

3:20

I kind of, you know, I was still kind of uh slightly concerned that if I stayed, you know, like contacting you guys, you know, and learning more, he could use that against me because I was pressing he had the attorney.

3:31

Well, uh thankfully uh we eventually reached the marital uh settlement, you know, and basically he had to give him the land.

3:39

But uh the uh gap of time between the divorce itself and between the day when I first appeared in uh in the city hall and learned all about the deaths and all the stuff about the two deaths, and I'll explain that in a moment.

3:51

That gap of time basically for a couple of weeks I was just getting back to normal after the divorce, and then I started putting the quit claim together since I'm not an attorney, you know.

4:00

I was going through all the counties, you know, all the county uh websites figuring out how to do it, so it took some time and I'm still now fighting for the land.

4:08

Technically, although it's mine, it's not mine, so obviously I'm taking care of it because it's mine, but I'm still fighting with him for the enforcement and whatnot.

4:15

So basically I started taking care of the land only now.

4:18

As soon as I learned about everything, I understood that the thing was serious, so I immediately hired a person and man to walk, my friend actually.

4:25

I paid her and I got the you know the evidence of me paying her.

4:29

And I say taking care of the land.

4:30

So from now on, whatever happens, whatever agreement you guys reach, I'm going to take care of the land because now you know now that I know basically that.

4:38

I can uh do this two things at the same time.

4:41

I could work on the enforcement and I can work on that thing.

4:43

So I'm going to have the land mode uh uh, you know, sometime in September also, you know, it's coming.

4:50

Uh also another thing, another thing, uh about the land, uh about the mowing stuff.

4:57

I understand the other like I said, I was intimidated, that's why I didn't update it.

5:00

So that's how I would explain the first two deaths.

5:03

And uh the last two the last two fines.

5:05

And so far as the first fine is concerned, I learned about this fine at first only from his attorney.

5:12

And when I learned about this fine from his attorney, I already included uh the uh the uh file I downloaded uh you know in winter, and it's actually available on the Wisconsin e courts, you know, in the Milwaukee County Court archive.

5:27

I could always um give you the stamped version too, unless I'm already giving you the stamped version.

5:32

So I when I learned about this, I started going to the website, I started looking at the fines, I tried to find the fine.

5:38

And all I saw, I couldn't I didn't know where to go online.

5:42

All I saw wasn't the fine was basically just the regular taxes.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████58%
Engineering And Infrastructure███████████████19%
Pending Litigation█████████████17%
Public Safety█████6%
Summary of Proceedings

Manitowoc Board of Public Works Meeting – September 9, 2026

The Board of Public Works met Wednesday, September 9, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. in the Common Council Chambers and via Zoom, with a quorum present. The board heard two assessment appeals, approved a lift-station access road contract, and accepted change orders and pay estimates. All votes were unanimous.

Noxious Weed Assessment Appeal – 1727 Johnston Drive

  • The appellant, identified as Ms. Jones, asked the board to waive or reduce the noxious weed assessments on the property. She described a recently finalized, contentious divorce, prior intimidation by her ex-husband, a delayed change of address, financial hardship as a low-income student, and said she had begun paying someone to maintain the property.
  • A board member said the city operates on a complaint-based system and had followed its protocol; the work was done by paid third-party contractors, the property's lawn is currently overgrown, and granting relief would place the cost on other city taxpayers.
  • In response to Alderman Recklberg, staff said the city does not offer installment plans for noxious weed assessments. The assessment is added to the tax bill and is due by January 31, but property owners may make partial payments before the assessment is placed on the tax roll.
  • The board voted unanimously to deny the appeal. The denial will be forwarded to the Common Council for final action on Monday, September 21, 2026, and the owner may address the council at that meeting.

Snow Removal Assessment Appeal – 701 N. 7th Street

  • Landon Evey, a new Manitowoc resident and first-time home buyer, appealed the $300 snow removal assessment. He said he was unfamiliar with the city's sidewalk-clearing rule, received the invoice about two months after the event, and asked for the charge to be waived or reduced.
  • Staff explained that snow complaints are also complaint-based, and the ordinance requires snow on sidewalks at 6:00 a.m. to be removed by 8:00 p.m.; enforcement action can occur after that time and is not necessarily tied to a 24-hour deadline. The complaint in this case and Evey's shoveling occurred on the same day.
  • A board member proposed a one-time waiver with the condition that if a future snow violation occurs, the owner would have no right to appeal. The motion carried unanimously.
  • The waiver recommendation will also go to the Common Council on September 21, 2026. The board noted Evey's alderperson is likely Mike Cummings and suggested he confirm the outcome with that office.

Agreement with Bob Braun Excavating, LLC

  • The board approved an agreement with Bob Braun Excavating, LLC to reconstruct the asphalt roadway within the access easement to the River Heights Lift Station for a contract price of $21,300.77.
  • City staff said two quotes were received and this was the lower of the two, and the work is a maintenance item for the driveway serving the lift station.

Change Orders

  • Approved a first-and-final change order with Brickline Inc. for the 2026 epoxy pavement marking program, increasing the contract by $15,208.61, attributed to four new railroad-signal-related requirements and final quantities.
  • Approved a first-and-final change order with Silar Brothers Construction for the 2026 remove-and-replace sidewalks program, decreasing the contract by $61,811.77 and reducing contract time by 11 days. Staff cited final quantities and narrower, 4-foot sidewalks in the area compared with the 5-foot width used in estimates.

Pay Estimates

  • Approved the following pay estimates unanimously:
    • Saddle Brothers Construction, estimate no. 1, 2026 remove/replace sidewalks, $28,877.65.
    • Air's Associates, estimate no. 9, 2026 sanitary sewer replacement, $1,516.55.
    • Brickline Inc., estimate no. 1, 2026 epoxy pavement marking program, $132,070.89.
    • Silver Brothers Construction, estimate no. 4 and final, 2026 remove/replace sidewalks, $3,397.00.
    • Farner Asphalt Sealers LLC, estimate no. 1 and final, seal coat program, $136,345.40.
    • Brickline Inc., estimate no. 2 and final, 2026 epoxy pavement marking program, $16,667.00.

Key Outcomes

  • Denied the noxious weed assessment appeal for 1727 Johnston Drive.
  • Granted a one-time waiver of the snow removal assessment for 701 N. 7th Street, with no future appeal eligibility for a similar violation.
  • Approved the Bob Braun Excavating contract, both change orders, and all presented pay estimates.
  • Noted there were no contractor payroll affidavits.
  • Adjourned.

Meeting Transcript

Yeah. All right, we'll call the board of public. Yep. We're called the Board of Public Works to order at this time. We do have a quorum. We do have our first item on the agenda is a noxious weed appeal. This is four seventeen twenty-seven Johnston Drive. And let me just hold on real quick here. Is this which one? I'm sorry, which one is this one? Is this Zoom? Okay. Marina, is this you? Oh, I think you're on I you think you're on mute. Nope, there. Okay. Can you hear me now? Yes, can hear you now. Thank you. If you um so uh we have uh all the information, all your information that you provided. If you have anything that you'd like to add before we uh deliberate this, okay, sure. I'd like to add something. So basically, I um when we bought the land, uh when my ex-husband Nathaniel Jeremiah Jones and I bought the land, uh we were still married, then the marriage iterated unfortunately with all the abuse and nonsense going on. And so basically uh the land was this plot of land was kind of you know was um uh a challenge for both of us because he didn't want to even divide it by lore, you know, like fifty-fifty, and he was threatening me all the time when he abandoned me because I filed for divorce only five months after he abandoned me. He was threatening me that if I ever set my foot on that property while he was away, people would tell him and he would be after me. So basically he was intimidating me. And while I still lived in Mantwalk with his visits at nights and whatnot, you know, I was kind of, you know, I couldn't think clearly to a certain extent. I was intimidated. When I moved to Milwaukee, I was like filed for divorce. I started uh filing process petitions, you know, I started fi I started fighting for my rights. But um with the contentions divorce going on and whatnot, again, I knew there were two things why I didn't update my address immediately, two factors, and why I uh didn't take care of the land immediately. And though obviously I was an owner at the time. Number one, this contentions divorce, you know. I didn't know who the land who would get the land. I I actually thought that the land would be split 50-50, so I was kind of hesitant about that. And again, I was still since I was going through a very high Catholic divorce. I kind of, you know, I was still kind of uh slightly concerned that if I stayed, you know, like contacting you guys, you know, and learning more, he could use that against me because I was pressing he had the attorney. Well, uh thankfully uh we eventually reached the marital uh settlement, you know, and basically he had to give him the land. But uh the uh gap of time between the divorce itself and between the day when I first appeared in uh in the city hall and learned all about the deaths and all the stuff about the two deaths, and I'll explain that in a moment. That gap of time basically for a couple of weeks I was just getting back to normal after the divorce, and then I started putting the quit claim together since I'm not an attorney, you know. I was going through all the counties, you know, all the county uh websites figuring out how to do it, so it took some time and I'm still now fighting for the land. Technically, although it's mine, it's not mine, so obviously I'm taking care of it because it's mine, but I'm still fighting with him for the enforcement and whatnot. So basically I started taking care of the land only now. As soon as I learned about everything, I understood that the thing was serious, so I immediately hired a person and man to walk, my friend actually. I paid her and I got the you know the evidence of me paying her. And I say taking care of the land. So from now on, whatever happens, whatever agreement you guys reach, I'm going to take care of the land because now you know now that I know basically that. I can uh do this two things at the same time. I could work on the enforcement and I can work on that thing. So I'm going to have the land mode uh uh, you know, sometime in September also, you know, it's coming.

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