Town Board Monthly Meeting Minutes 2/9/26

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Town of Liberty

Ordinance meeting

February 9, 2026

6:00pm

  1.  Chair Vidas called the meeting to order at 6pm.
  2. Chris put together an ordinance that could be passed for #2026-1 and amended from #2012-2. Establishing fire protection charges. 
  3. It was decided that each member of the board would email Chris with verbiage changes and then we will vote next month to pass it.
  4. Chair Vidas moved to adjourn the meeting at 6:28pm, seconded by Supervisor Halbleib, motion carried.

Town of Liberty Boad Meeting

Liberty Town Hall

February 9, 2026

6:30 PM

  1.  Meeting was called to order by Chair Vidas at 6:30pm
  2. Chair Vidas moved to approve January 2025 minutes after being read with no corrections.  Supervisor Townsley seconded, motion carried.
  3. Chris read the treasurer’s report which was then put in the file.
  4. ARPA funds report: Chris handed out the report stating what money has been used and where and how much we have left.  We will be purchasing display boards outside the town hall and town shed. Then we will have about $200 left to spend or send it back. Chair Vidas moved that Chris order the display boards using his credit card and we will reimburse him.  Supervisor Halbleib seconded, motion carried.  A written report has been filed.
  5. Dumpster Monitor’s report: Nothing to report. The Country Critters will be at the dump on Feb 21st to help collect non-perishable foods for the La Farge food pantry.
  6.  Equipment and Road report: The truck is still in need of exhaust gasket repair and will be going to the La Farge truck center for an estimate.  We will mention the old truck sitting outside and see if they are interested in it for parts.
  7. Patrolman wages, hours and benefits:  There was much discussion on this matter.  Many ideas were tossed around.  We are having a hard time finding an experienced person with a CDL, who can work within our budget.  We talked about asking the county again and what that looks like for costs.  Wade Lawler offered to contact Phil Hewitt and do a comparison of when Adrian put together an amount a few years ago.
  8. Building permit update: nothing to report
  9. First public comment: Carrie wanted to clarify that she is not an advocate for dumping children at a bus stop, but suggested that may be an option of a centralized bus stop instead of having to go up the entire road. Terry mentioned that the chair of the board can help out with plowing or whatever the patrolman may need even without a CDL.
  10. Town Announcements:   Reminder to the board members still needing to take the district Board of Review training.  We do not have a February primary, but will have our first election of the year in April.  Jason updated us on what he learned at the district meeting on the 22nd of January.  Phil Hewitt was there to talk about the bridge inspections and how to go about fixing the bridges. 
  11. Updates from Wade Lawler.  Wade updated us on 3 things.  The flood plain maps are finished and being sent to the Federal Register.  Then the public has 90 days to give their input.  Landfill talk is still going on, and they are still waiting on the DNR to find their application in compliance. The power line/transmission lines that are going through are not going to affect The Town of Liberty but will in Kickapoo and Genoa.  There is a meeting on the 22nd at the Gays Mills community center if anyone is interested in learning more.  Wade asked for our support for the April election since he has someone running against him.
  12. Bridge inspection updates:  Phil Hewitt met with Jason, Orlin and Chris and said that the bridges on Lyster Road and Harrison Hollow over the creek need to be repaired. They both scored a 3.   Right now we can lower the weight limit to 5 tons, which Orlin will post.  Then the engineer will come and look at them and tell us how they need to be fixed.  There is a grant available, but unfortunately, we don’t qualify, because they are giving it to bridges that are at a 2 first.
  13. Community Development grant: We decided at this time we would not go for the grant but focus our bridge repairs.
  14. Website updates: Thanks goes out to Catherine Fox for all the website work she has done for us in the past 3 years.  We truly appreciate it.  Chair Vidas is now working on the website and keeping things posted, adding links and trying to make it more friendly. 
  15. Email to .gov status: Supervisor Halbleib has looked into everything needed and just needs to finish answering some questions to get it all done.  There is no cost for this. 
  16. Fencing issue with Bender and Mueller:  A surveyor came out and put up the ribbons as to where the stakes were supposed to be and found that the fence needs to be moved. Muellers will call the courthouse to make sure it was recorded properly.  Per December meeting minutes they said they would move the fence if the markers were found and put up.  
  17. Electronic Record Keeping: Carrie Vanek informed the board of one of the better ways to store files.  Google Drive or one drive is an option that doesn’t cost a lot of money and is very easy to use. She encouraged us to think about it for the future of our records, survey information and the Comprehensive plan.  Also said it would take some time, and we need to figure out a protocol for the process.
  18. Action and discussion on Town adopting a purchasing policy procedure: After much discussion, the policy was read as a resolution, and Supervisor Halbleib moved to adopt the purchasing policy #2026-1.  Supervisor Townsley seconded all in favor, motion carried 3-0.
  19. Special Meetings: There was a lot of discussion on this, with much public input. It was determined that we need to discuss it further and hope to make it work for the board members.
  20. Brain storming and goals for the Town of Liberty:  We tabled this to next month, but Supervisor Halbleib wanted us to think about the patrolman’s job for future goal discussions.
  21. CPC updates: Carrie said they are doing great.  They have been through 39 surveys and making good progress and have a good process.  They should be done with the surveys in March.
  22. Updates on capital projects and community grant funds: Chris needs to finish up some paperwork from the fire sign grant.  We should receive that money in February.
  23. Second period for public comment: Mike M. encouraged us to embrace change.
  24. Chair Vidas moved that we approve paying the monthly bills for February 2026 of $25,309.71 Supervisor Halbleib, seconded.  All in favor, motion carried.
  25. Future agenda items: CPC updates, website , .gov emails,  board goals, fencing issues, re-appointing the clerk, pass a resolution for more road money, gravel bids, special meetings, electronic recording and ordinances.
  26. Next meeting date is March 9 at 6:30pm with ordinance work at 6pm. 
  27. Meeting was moved to adjourn by Chair Vidas, at 8:44pm, Supervisor Townsley, seconded all in favor motion carried.

Respectfully submitted,

Sharon Engh