WAUPUN — The Waupun City Council discussed the results of the Municipal Code Enforcement pilot program with direction to continue and expand the program city-wide.
This was discussed at the Committee of the Whole meeting held Tuesday, July 28, 2026. The meeting was called to order at 5:30PM with Alderman Dan Siebers absent (excused).
The Council first heard proposed changes to city ordinances.
City of Waupun Ordinance 18.04 Penalty Provisions — Alderman Mike Matoushek suggested to skip the first reading and adopt. Schlieve said they don’t have the bond schedule from the judge yet. Motion to hear first reading. Passed unanimously.
City of Waupun Ordinance 18.08 Citations for Violations of Municipal Ordinances — Passed unanimously with no discussion.
City of Waupun Ordinance Ch. 4 Fire & Rescue Department — Passed unanimously, no discussion.
This was followed by a resolution regarding the BCPL State Trust Loan Program Application and Resolution to Borrow Funds and Levy Tax. Alderman Pete Kaczmarski asked City Administrator Kathy Schlieve to explain this more. Schlieve said this is related to the loans for the Carver Flats project. Passed unanimously.
The Council then moved on to consideration and action items.
Update on Main Street and Memorandum of Agreement with City on Use of BID and Room Tax Funds — This agreement designates nonprofit organization Discover Waupun, Inc (formerly Discover Downtown/Downtown Promotions) as a Tourism Entity for the City of Waupun. The City will provide funds for local tourism promotion and development collected from Room Tax and Business Improvement Districts. This will lead into the Main Street Wisconsin Program, and should the program be successful the City of Waupun will become an official Main Street Community. The full agreement and WEDC Main Street Cohort guide were included in the agenda packet. Passed unanimosuly, no discussion.
Memorandum of Agreement Between the City of Waupun and the WI Department of Transportation Regarding Changes in Access to STHH 26 in the City of Waupun — City Administrator Schlieve explained there was an agreement in place with the WIDOT about access during the original development of the Heritage Ridge expansion in 2004, which since 2017 the City has been looking into loosening restrictions from the agreement. Particularly, the City has been trying to work with the WIDOT on reducing traffic speed for Hwy 26 south of Waupun. Changing speed on a State Highway will require a traffic analysis on this stretch of road, at the City’s expense according to the current agreement. Schlieve said it did not need to be approved tonight, and that it was brought to the Counil now to give time for the City staff to develop this agreement. Alderman Matoushek asked if it would include the addition of traffic lights, which Schlieve said the City does not have jurisdictional control over adding them. Tabled for a future meeting.
REACH Fundraising Sponsorship, September 10, 2026 — City Administrator Schlieve asked if the City Council would like to contribute enough for a table at the REACH fundraiser event. REACH is trying to fundraise $100,000 and they are about halfway there. Alderman Kaczmarski said that the amounts historically would be $1,000 when this table is $2,500—said he would like to contribute $500 with no expectation of a table, and was concerned that the City would not be able to work with other nonprofit organizations if they spent so much on just this event. Mayor Bishop pointed out how much they do for the community with their youth programs, and that the City also gets a lot of that money back since REACH pays rent to the City at the Communtiy Center. It was noted that the Recreation Department is contributing a value of $220 in aquatic center passes for the raffle. Alderman Matoushek suggested doing a 4 seat table for $1,500. Alderman Jason Westphal suggested donating $1,000 without expecting a table, as that is the amount the Council would contribute historically. Westphal made a motion to donate $1,000 towards the REACH fundraiser, seconded by Matoushek. Passed unanimously.
Monthly Financials, June 2026 — Passed unanimously, no discussion.
The consent agenda—future meetings, license-permit applications, and expenses—passed unanimously with no discussion. Board and committee meeting minutes were included in the agenda packet, along with the monthly department reports.
Finally, the Council moved onto discussion items.
First was the Municipal Code Enforcement Pilot Program Update. Before beginning the presentation, Mayor Bishop said that community feedback suggests that the City continue the program, and that the City was very pleased with the progress they’ve made in cleaning up dilapidated properties.
Municipal Code Enforcement (MCE) is an independent contractor company that manages code enforcement for client cities, including Waupun under the pilot program proposed last November.
Allison Schwark from Municipal Code Enforcement attended the meeting to give an update on the pilot program’s progress in the community. She explained their process and statistics over the last six months working in Waupun. According to Schwark, 33 cases have been opened since beginning the program and 12 have already been closed. Mostly focused on severe dilapidated properties, which they’ve given reasonable timelines.
They were given only a limited number of complaints for the pilot program, but Schlieve asked if the City Council would prefer to forward all code violations to MCE or if it should continue to be complaint based. Schlieve noted that the cost is exactly the same between proactive and complaint-based.
Mayor Bishop said that he would prefer proactive, especially since MCE is the first group to get results in cleaning up code enforcement infractions. Mayor Bishop pointed out that the role of code enforcement has been passed around between departments and none have gotten results like this.
Alderman Matoushek asked if it would be done by focusing on quadrants in the city like the pilot program or if it would be on the city as a whole. Schlieve said that other communities they have studied with success had done a focused effort on quadrants.
Alderman Kaczmarski asked if this program would take the place of current building inspections, which Schlieve said it would.
Matoushek asked if it would be easier to make the focus areas smaller. Allison Schwark said that they can do either; it’s mostly based on the way the city wants to address it, saying that it could even be based on specific infractions like junked vehicles citywide.
The next steps listed in the presentation included following up on the open inspections and working with the City to develop a consistent code enforcement program that “maintains community standards, addresses issues before they escalate, and delivers lasting improvements to neighborhood quality and property maintenance.”
Consensus from the Council was to continue with the MCE program. This was a discussion-only item so no action was taken this meeting.
Two other discussion items were on the agenda:
The 2027-2031 Capital and Equipment Schedules, provided for the Council’s review.
Intern/apprentice Jaelle Weinberger gave a presentation suggesting the creation of a Youth Advisory Council between the City and students to develop more local interest in students. Once started, this would be open to all local high school students from WASD, CWC, and homeschool programs.
The meeting adjourned at 6:13PM.
