The Waukesha City Council met on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, at 6:00 PM in the Council Chambers at City Hall. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Alicia Halvensleben, with 14 members present at roll call (later 15 after the appointment of District 11). The meeting included public comment, interviews for the vacant District 11 council seat, multiple votes on consent and new business items, and reports from boards and commissions. The meeting adjourned at 8:31 PM.
Appointment for District 11 Council Seat: Seven candidates were interviewed: Leonard Miller, David Vincent, Timothy Nekich, Erik Helgestad, Aaron Spencer, Becky Fetters, and Jaymz Touchstone. Each candidate was asked about their knowledge of downtown projects, approach to compromise, support for downtown businesses, and views on the Fox River and dredging, as well as net new construction and the Mandel project. The council conducted multiple rounds of voting:
Termination of Tax Incremental Finance District 13 (ID#26-03504): Jennifer Andrews presented a history of TID use, noting that TID 13 was a 23-year-old pay-go district with a shortfall due to capped administrative costs and underdeveloped industrial land. The shortfall is estimated at approximately $67,000. The council approved termination 15-0.
Budget Amendment for TID 13 Shortfall (ID#26-03656): Approved a budget amendment using contingency funds to cover the unpaid staff time from TID 13 termination. The exact amount will be determined after final audit. Passed 15-0 (with two-thirds majority required).
Disallowance of Claim - Chad Stouthamer (ID#26-03668): City Attorney Brian reported on a claim for $600,000 in inverse condemnation related to a denied driveway permit. The council voted to disallow the claim 15-0, shortening the statute of limitations for a lawsuit to six months.
Proposed Revisions to Mun Code Chapter 9 (ID#26-03603): Second reading of revisions to comply with Act 73 and other changes. Topics included proration of license fees, conditional licenses for new premises, formalized license reservation for business sales, new full-service retail outlet (FSR) license provisions, clarification of operator's license residency requirement, removal of park restrictions for beer gardens, removal of Class A license prohibition at gas stations, and loosening of temporary premises enclosure requirements. The ordinance will return for a third reading.
Reports and Other Items:
Mayor's Report & Referrals: Appointed new District 11 Alder Erik Helgestad to the Building and Grounds Committee, Ordinance & Licensing Committee, and Public Library Board (15-0).
All right. It is six o'clock, and uh they tell me that the meeting is running. So uh we will call this meeting uh the Tuesday, May 19th, 2026 council meeting to order. We will start with roll call. Christine here, Everett? Here, Wiggerson here, Piper, Bantrieste Wells, here, Manion Molson, Boteska, Anderson, Matthews, Miklitz, Rem Lemke, here, Camacho. Here, all right, please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. And to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God with liberty and justice for all. Excellent. Next up is public comment. Um, first up, we have Daryl Enriquez. Good evening, everyone. Good evening, I'm Daryl Enriquez. Uh I live at 1712. Um, I'm having a brain thing going on here. No, I live at 1712 Black Hawk Trail. And um, what I've come here to talk to esteemed city leaders is I understand you have a really important decision to make tonight, which would be who is going to fill the aldermatic spot vacated by our new mayor. And uh I am here to speak on behalf of Eric Hegelstad, who I've known for how long has it been, Eric? 15 years. Uh I knew Eric when uh he was a council member, and he was a much respected council member. Um great demeanor, very curious, did his homework, very reliable person. And he's that way in his personal life too. He's got a lovely wife and child, who's a taxpayer, great citizen. I was um I lived in the downtown district for quite a number of years. And Eric always answered my calls, regardless of how big or small the issue was I brought reform. Now, you guys are gonna have some tough decisions to make coming on coming up, uh, especially with finance. I know that because I am on uh the finance committee as a county board supervisor. I represent District 19. Um, even though that district is outside my walls, I still have the entire eastern part of Waukesha. So I'm very concerned about issues in the city, probably even more so than in the county. And one of the big decisions or decisions you'll have to make is budgeting. Um, as we know, the city has the threat of a deficit, just as the county does. And um I would like to see somebody of Eric's caliber being involved with that because one of his strengths is that he's going to make the trains run on time. He's not going to throw a lot of politics at you. Um he's not going to do that to distract you from the task at hand, which is to make a wise decision on potential cuts or ideas on efficiency. So I hope that you see his his upsides and and cast a vote for him. Thank you. Thank you, Daryl. Uh next up, I have Lisa Salb. Good evening, Lisa Salb 434 Madison Street. I am here pretty much to talk again about what uh I had mentioned at the last public comment. Um, I don't know if any of you have received uh any additional information, and just as a refresher, it was in regards to the new zoning code and specifically the zoning map. Uh the plan commission uh approved the zoning map on March 29th. The one that's on the attachment for the new draft is dated uh April 17th. So apparently it's not the same map, and so there are some concerns if that's the one they proved. Why is there a new date? Um their new map. Uh what what are the changes? Um I would appreciate it if you would all take a look at that. Um, but it's such a huge huge thing in regards to even the amount of pages just reading through it, but so much of it is lumped together that I would hate for something as important as a historic overlay to get lost in the exchange of the the new for the old.