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Record of Proceedings

Monroe License Committee Meeting – May 26, 2026

Common Council & Commissions — Tuesday, May 26, 2026
BodyMonroe, Wisconsin
SessionCommon Council & Commissions
DateTuesday, May 26, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
0:01

It's 4 45 and I'd like to call this meeting of the license committee to order if the clerk could call the roll.

0:07

Alder Vestine here.

0:09

Alder Tolman here.

0:10

And Alder Velkley.

0:11

Here.

0:12

I forgot to put this on.

0:14

Are there any corrections of the minutes?

0:18

Hearing none, they will stand as presented.

0:22

I forgot to pull it up.

0:24

Business number one discussion and possible recommendation to common council, the temporary class B wine and class B beer and beer garden applications in conjunction with Cheese Days event.

0:34

So in front of you is the application.

0:36

This is from September 17th through September 20th would be the temporary class B for the Cheese Days Festival.

0:44

And then the map below it kind of shows the entire where the courthouse would be, and then the actual beer garden or the beer premise would be a 30 by 60 tent kind of to the south east of the courthouse there.

1:00

And obviously this would be in conjunction with Cheese Days itself.

1:05

I call it Southwest.

1:07

Southwest.

1:07

I'm sorry, I'm backwards.

1:09

Southwest.

1:14

Oh that's right, that's where the cheese grids are.

1:24

So similar to past years, no issues.

1:30

Yes.

1:36

Can I make a motion to approve?

1:40

I'll second that.

1:42

We have a motion in a second.

1:43

If the clerk will call the roll.

1:46

I have one question.

1:47

Um it looks like on the map they they forgot to highlight the where the bathrooms are again or not.

1:57

Where is that?

2:00

That would probably be part of the the special event permit application.

2:03

Oh okay.

2:04

Never mind.

2:04

Yep.

2:11

Yes.

2:13

That's one change probably.

2:20

The pocket park always asked.

2:35

Any other questions?

2:37

I'm sorry, I'll be there.

2:45

That's fair.

2:52

If you'll call the roll.

2:53

Alder Vestine.

2:54

Aye.

2:55

Alder Tolman.

2:56

Hi.

2:56

And Alder Volkley.

2:58

Aye.

3:02

Next is a discussion and possible recommendation to common council to approve temporary outdoor beer garden license and premise extension for cactus and company at 1610 11th Street.

3:13

This is Administrator Rindy.

3:15

And so we received kind of a late request at the end of last week regarding this kind of event.

3:24

So cactus with some of the local patrons of Bardles wanted to kind of host a fundraiser within Cactus.

3:33

Um to support them with the recent fire.

3:38

Uh of proceeding with that.

3:41

And it was intended just to be within cactus in their normal premises.

3:49

And with discussion of it, started to get a little fearful, it might be bigger.

3:54

And if they so they were at least proactive in communicating with us on that concern and wondering if they could extend their premise to go into the three stalls, kind of in front of their sidewalk cafe, um, within that outer lane of the square to allow for a little more outdoor space to help support if there are a higher number of patrons for this event.

4:16

Um so they submitted this, this extension of the premise request, and then also a public safety would be considering a special event permit.

4:28

Um so I was able to connect with police and fire chief this morning, and one of the recommendations with the special event part that we'll consider truly is to they'll still keep the premise as it's requested, but we will block um enclose kind of that outer lane on the south side of the square to help prevent any driving through traffic going right past the the licensed premise extension.

4:53

So the barricades that they mentioned in the application we would be providing.

4:57

So it looks like Main Street.

5:00

Their request was like that main street would be providing the barricades for their actual like premise area, so around the stalls, but we would be uh using vehicles or other barricades to block the street side.

5:12

That would be what we would provide for that.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Event Planning█████████████████████████████████████████████50%
Public Safety█████████████████████████28%
Cannabis Regulation████████████████████22%
Summary of Proceedings

Monroe License Committee Meeting – May 26, 2026

The License Committee of the City of Monroe met on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, at 4:45 PM in the Council Chambers. Members present in person were Christopher Vestin, Richard Thoman, and Darlene Voelkli. The committee unanimously approved two license recommendations for the Common Council: a temporary wine/beer license for the Cheese Days festival and a temporary outdoor beer garden expansion for Cactus & Co. to support a local business after a fire. The meeting adjourned at 4:54 PM.

Correction of Minutes

  • The minutes from the May 11, 2026 meeting were accepted as presented (unanimous).

Discussion Items

  • C.1 – Temporary Wine & Beer Licenses for Cheese Days (Sept. 17–20, 2026)
    The committee reviewed applications for a temporary Class "B" Wine & Class "B" Beer license and a Beer Garden permit in conjunction with the Cheese Days event. The proposed beer garden would be a 30-foot by 60-foot tent located southwest of the courthouse. City Clerk staff noted the application matched previous years with no issues. A question was raised about the location of restrooms, which would be handled under a separate special event permit.
    Motion: Voelkli moved to approve and recommend to Common Council; Thoman seconded. Passed 3-0 (all present voted aye).

  • C.2 – Temporary Outdoor Beer Garden License for Cactus & Co. (1610 11th Street)
    Administrator Rindy presented a late request from Cactus & Co. to host a fundraiser for Bartels, a local business recently damaged by a fire. Initially planned within the existing premises, the event expanded in scope, prompting a request to extend the licensed premises into three parking stalls in front of the sidewalk cafe on the south side of the Square. The Monroe Police and Fire Chiefs recommended closing the outer lane of the south side of the Square to separate traffic from the increased pedestrian crowd. The city would provide barricades for the road, while Main Street would barricade the sidewalk and three stalls. The sidewalk itself would be blocked off due to expected crowds, with pedestrians rerouted through the closed street lane.
    Motion: Thoman moved to approve and recommend to Common Council; Voelkli seconded. Passed 3-0.

Key Outcomes

  • Unanimous Votes (3-0) on both items: The committee recommended approval of the Cheese Days temporary licenses (C.1) and the Cactus & Co. outdoor beer garden and premise extension (C.2). Both recommendations will go to the Common Council for final action.
  • No other business was presented; the meeting adjourned at 4:54 PM.

Meeting Transcript

It's 4 45 and I'd like to call this meeting of the license committee to order if the clerk could call the roll. Alder Vestine here. Alder Tolman here. And Alder Velkley. Here. I forgot to put this on. Are there any corrections of the minutes? Hearing none, they will stand as presented. I forgot to pull it up. Business number one discussion and possible recommendation to common council, the temporary class B wine and class B beer and beer garden applications in conjunction with Cheese Days event. So in front of you is the application. This is from September 17th through September 20th would be the temporary class B for the Cheese Days Festival. And then the map below it kind of shows the entire where the courthouse would be, and then the actual beer garden or the beer premise would be a 30 by 60 tent kind of to the south east of the courthouse there. And obviously this would be in conjunction with Cheese Days itself. I call it Southwest. Southwest. I'm sorry, I'm backwards. Southwest. Oh that's right, that's where the cheese grids are. So similar to past years, no issues. Yes. Can I make a motion to approve? I'll second that. We have a motion in a second. If the clerk will call the roll. I have one question. Um it looks like on the map they they forgot to highlight the where the bathrooms are again or not. Where is that? That would probably be part of the the special event permit application. Oh okay. Never mind. Yep. Yes. That's one change probably. The pocket park always asked. Any other questions? I'm sorry, I'll be there. That's fair. If you'll call the roll. Alder Vestine. Aye. Alder Tolman. Hi. And Alder Volkley. Aye. Next is a discussion and possible recommendation to common council to approve temporary outdoor beer garden license and premise extension for cactus and company at 1610 11th Street. This is Administrator Rindy. And so we received kind of a late request at the end of last week regarding this kind of event. So cactus with some of the local patrons of Bardles wanted to kind of host a fundraiser within Cactus. Um to support them with the recent fire.

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