WAUPUN — The Waupun City Council discussed whether to move the polling location from City Hall to the new Community Center, along with passing the new e-bike ordinance at the Special Council Meeting held September 29, 2026.
All members of the Common Council were present, with Alderman Jason Westphal calling in through Zoom. The meeting was called to order 5:31PM.
First on the agenda was a Resolution to Establish the Polling Place of the November 3, 2026 General Election for the City of Waupun.
By default elections would be held at City Hall, but City staff running the elections have recommended moving the polling location to the Community Center at 520 McKinley St due to it being more accessible for voters.
City Clerk Angie Hull explained the inconveniences of elections in the City Hall Auditorium. These included lack of parking downtown, lots of stairs in the front of the building which often get icy during the winter, and requiring an elevator for handicapped individuals. For these reasons, Hull suggested permanently moving it to the gym at the Community Center, as it is an up-to-date facility explicitly built to accommodate mobility issues.
Hull noted that for the last two Gubernatorial races there were 2,443 in-person day-of voters in 2018, and 2,512 voters in 2022. There was also the election in April 2022 where a snowstorm had hit and they were forced to block off the main doors because the stairs were too dangerous from slipping on ice.
Mayor Rohn Bishop said that there is a question about how much money they’re putting into the City Hall if they’re not going to use the building for everything they can.
Hull explained that the lack of parking downtown makes it difficult for both poll staff and voters, but there is more than enough parking at the Community Center. Mayor Bishop asked how many parking stalls there are behind City Hall, Daane said only twelve.
There was a situation in 2024 where a resident got stuck in the City Hall elevator due to mechanical issues after a lighting strike that fried the elevator control circuit, which couldn’t get repaired for several months. This is why the polling location was moved to the Community Center for the November 2024 Presidential Election.
Alderman Dan Siebers asked if there’s any impact of Community Center events during the elections; Hull said they usually book the gym the Wednesday prior through the day of the election, and clean up the night of, so it’s only unavailable for one week. Alderman Kaczmarski asked Recreation Director Kaminski if there was any negativity about the gym being closed for the election, Kaminski said that attendees understood and did not seem to mind.
Alderman Ryan Mielke said that it could be an opportunity to get members to renew membership if they are voting at the same time.
Alderman Siebers asked if there could be a cost analysis for permanently moving all elections to the Community Center, as opposed to having only major elections. The main question for this would be storage for voting booths and equipment, since storage space is already pretty tight at that building.
Mayor Bishop asked if there would be any legal issues about having early voting at a different location from the election. Hull said as long as they notify voters it’s fine, and that they sent postcards to every active voter in Waupun about the location change for the previous polling location change.
Mayor Bishop said that elections have been held at Waupun’s historic City Hall for almost 100 years. Alderman Siebers said that elections give the City Hall a purpose, and that it’s a lot of money to spend on a building if it doesn’t have a purpose.
Alderman Kaczmarski said it should be their first priority to have the most accessibility for voters, such as wheelchair users. Mayor Bishop asked if they should invest more in the Communtiy Center then, and whether that might lead them to stop funding improvements to City Hall. Alderman Kaczmarski said that could be a consideration for a future time.
Mayor Bishop noted the planned improvements for City Hall—including adding air conditioning to the auditorium, which would significantly improve event conditions during summer months.
Alderman Kaczmarski said they should look at this one as an individual election and decide on a permanent decision later, saying they should get input from the community.
Mayor Bishop said he doesn’t think it’s too hard to get here and it’s not too hard to vote, noting that the previous election in 2024 had a voter turnout rate of 98%.
Alderman Siebers asked to reiterate the motion, to make it a one-time move and decide on a long-term plan later. Hull noted that this resolution only applies to this one election.
“I’m just worried about the long term usage of City Hall if we move one of its primary uses out,” Mayor Bishop said. “How do we keep telling people to invest in our downtown if we aren’t going to do it? When we built the Community Center everyone wanted to move over there—it’s brand new and I get it, but it was 1989 when we last remodeled City Hall.”
Motion Alderman Kaczmarski to approve moving the polling location to the Senior-Community Center for the upcoming November 3, 2026 election, seconded by Alderman Mielke. Motion passed 4-2, Alderman Siebers and Alderman Mike Matoushek dissenting.
Second on the agenda was Ordinance to Recreate Ch 6 Bicycles for the inclusion of Electric Bicycles.
City Attorney Dan VandeZande distributed a copy of the draft and a memorandum with two suggested revisions after the Police Department reviewed it. The Police Department recommended removing the helmet requirement to refocus on a more positive outreach with education, as well as changing the downtown use restriction to cover more of the central business district, which would apply to operating all miniature vehicles.
Mayor Bishop said he thought that the State Legislature will likely be looking at this when they get back in session this winter, so it might change what options they have. He said this push was mostly because people don’t want to hit kids riding their bikes irresponsibly.
Alderman Kaczmarski asked what they needed to do for the ordinance. VandeZande said that they could move for adoption with the recommended changes, or adjourn it for revision for the next meeting.
Alderman Siebers said he read through it and thought they did a great job, then made the motion to accept and adopt. Motion Siebers, seconded Matoushek. Alderman Kaczmarski thanked VandeZande for his work on this. Alderman Siebers thanked the Police Department for pushing for positive enforcement. VandeZande echoed that sentiment. Passed unan.
Next on the agenda was discussion-review for the 2027 Budget Preview. City Administrator Schlieve said the budget is balanced, but does not accomplish anything new over previous years due to increases in prices. The preview also did not include the Police contract in negotation and any contributions to Forest Mound Cemetery. Finance Director Casey Langenfeld said putting together the numbers for this year was not easy, who then went through the numbers in a presentation. The presentation was included in the agenda packet.
This was followed by the first consideration-action item, Publication of Public Hearing Notice for 2027 Annual Budget — The public hearing will be held at a future meeting in November. Motion Siebers, second Matoushek. Siebers thanked Department heads for their work on this, since this is a months long process. Passed unanimously.
2027 Business Improvement District (BID) Operating Plan — Passed unan, no discussion.
MSA CDBG Grant Administration and Labor Standards Monitoring Agreement — Passed unan, no discussion.
First Amendment to Service Agreement between City of Waupun and SSM Health Dean Medical Group — Passed unan, no discussion.
City of Waupun Employee Wellness Program Policy — Alderman Kaczmarski asked if the policy was presented to employees yet, Schlieve said they’ve been talking about this for a long time so this wouldn’t be surprising to employees at all. Schlieve said this is common practice now and Waupun has been behind the curve in this regard. Passed unanimously.
Amend the Waupun Youth Advisory Policies — The YAC held their first official meeting last Monday for inducting their new members. They got fourteen student signups for the Council and accepted eleven—totalling a group of fifteen, including the original four. One member is from CWC and the rest are WASD students. Jaelle Weinberger said they discussed a few small controversies such as whether pineapple could go on pizza, but they tabled the discussion for the next meeting. Alderman Siebers asked about the proposed changes for the motion, Jaelle said it was just to change the membership range from 8 to 12 members to 8 to 15. Motion Kunz, second Meilke. Passed unan.
Mayoral Appointment of the Youth Advisory Council — Motion Matoushek, second Kunz. Passed unan.
Interim Community Center Coordinator (Part Time) Job Description — Motion Siebers, second Matoushek. Kaczmarski asked if this would be more than one person or just one person. Schlieve said it would be just one person; they’ve asked several of the part time employees but most are retirees who don’t want more responsibilities than they already had. Passed unan.
Final item on the agenda was the consent agenda, which included Future Meetings, License-Permit Applications, Expenses — Passed unanimously, no discussion.
Mayor Bishop asked if any department heads wished to discuss their monthly reports, which none had anything more to add.
The Mayor then read the resignation of Rachel Kaminski, who has gotten a new job at the Recreation Department in Columbus. He said he gave her a glowing recommendation to the Mayor of Columbus, and thanked her for everything she did for the City. Kaminski thanked the Council and City for all they did for her, and that she hoped that Columbus would be as good as Waupun.
A farewell party had been held for Rachel earlier that afternoon at the Waupun Senior Center, which was followed by the monthly Mayoral Listening Session, held the last Tuesday of every month at 1PM.
The meeting adjourned at 6:19PM.
