WAUPUN — The Waupun City Council passed new job descriptions for positions in the Department of Public Works, as well as proposed new ordinance changes later in the meeting.
The Special Common Council Meeting was held Tuesday, October 27 and called to order at 5:30PM. All members were in attendance.
First on the agenda was consideration-action.
2027-2028 Shared Ride Taxi Operating Contract — Just approved at the Transit Committee meeting earlier in the afternoon. Motion Alderman Jason Westphal, second Alderman Mike Matoushek. Passed unan, no discussion.
Department of Public Works Reorganization — City Adminsitrator Kathy Schlieve said they’ve been working to fill the Assistant Director of Public Works position since the beginning of this year, but have been unable to fill the position.
Schlieve said that they had several candidates who turned down the position, but noted that none of the candidates they identified met all of the qualifications they were looking for—thinking they may be able to develop those qualities on the job. The feedback they received from the candidates suggested that the “overwhelming nature” of the job needs to be changed to something more sustainable.
The recommended reorganization would split the Assistant Director position into two, and eliminate the Working Foreman position in favor of establishing new roles of Street Superintendant and Building and Grounds Supervisor. This fits in the proposed budget and the following motions would approve these new positions.
“The City keeps growing, we keep adding facilities, things happen—we’re trying to get guys with experience to run these facilities and do the repairs and set up for events,” Daane said.
Motion Alderman Dan Siebers, second Alderwoman Bobbi Jo Kunz to approve the changes.
Alderman Ryan Mielke asked if there would be a future for a director role, which Schlieve said there would be. Alderman Matoushek asked if it was possible to fill the position internally, to which Schlieve said they already announced the proposal to the Public Works crews prior to the meeting, which is open to conversation, and that they would be posting the jobs internally very soon.
Matoushek also asked about the phasing out of the Working Foreman position. Schlieve said the current position is more of a management role and less of a supervisor role, which is what they’re looking to move towards with the two new position.
Schlieve said that this is a department where a lot of cuts have occurred, but with still more responsibilities.
“When I was an alderman twenty years ago we had seventeen public works guys and now we’re down to thirteen, even though we keep adding streets and ameneties,” Mayor Rohn Bishop said. “They have to plow it, they have to mow it, and take care of it all.”
Mayor Bishop also noted that the position of Public Works Director is often underappreciated, as it’s a lot of responsibility with a lot of public input. The motion passed unanimously, along with the following two motions for the new job descriptions.
Department of Public Works Buildings & Grounds Supervisor Job Description — From previous. Motion Siebers, second Westphal. Passed unan.
Department of Public Works Street Superintendent Job Description — From previous. Motion Matoushek, second Kunz. Passed unan.
Monthly Financials – September 2026 — Motion Matoushek, second Mielke. Passed unan, no discussion.
Next were board recommendations, which only included the updated Library Job Descriptions and Compensation Scale Classifications — From Library Board, where it was passed unanimously. Motion Siebers, second Matoushek. Passed unan.
CONSENT AGENDA — Future Meetings, License-Permit Applications, Expenses — Passed unan, no discussion. Committee meeting minutes and department reports were included in the agenda, but were not read during the meeting.
Finally was the discussion review portion of the meeting.
Ordinance 9.02(6) Entitled Abandoned Motor Vehicles — Mayor Bishop said there was a situation in 2024 with an abandoned RV in the Park View Plaza parking lot, and a similar issue occurred recently which led to a review of the abandoned motor vehicle ordinance. Alderman Westphal explained that a vehicle had been abandoned at the Pella Lutheran Church parking lot, and they wanted to know what could be done to clean it up. According to the ordinance, vehicles are considered abandoned if they are left on a city street or other public property for more than 72 hours—but on private property it’s only considered abandoned after 30 days. State law only gives 48 hours for private property, so the recommended change was to update the ordinance to match State statute. No objection from City Attorney Dan VandeZande or Chief of Police Jeremy Rasch. Alderman Matoushek noted that usually a complaint isn’t made until it’s already been in one spot for over a week. Will bring this back next month for adoption.
Fireworks Display Ordinance — Currently acquiring a fireworks display permit requires insurance, and approval is at the discretion of the Mayor. Alderman Siebers said there was a question about this earlier this year where a few parties requested permits for fireworks. Mayor said the groups were Homan Auto Sales for an event at The Rock, which he did approve the permit for, Edgewood Church, who rescinded the application after discussing it, and one for fireworks at Veterans Memorial Field during the Homecoming football game, which was not officially filed. City Attorney VandeZande said other communities have similar ordinances, recommending that Fire Chief BJ DeMaa review some of those ordinances and see which ones he would like to see the City emulate. Alderman Matoushek asked if there were fees for the applications, which Mayor Bishop said he didn’t know off the top of his head. Mayor Bishop said that there hasn’t been a fireworks permit requested in four and a half years of being in office, until this summer with three—which may have been for the America 250 celebration. Ballweg Implement also had a fireworks show, which was not in City limits. A draft will be presented at a future City Council meeting.
Youth Advisory Council Workshop — Jaelle Weinberger was invited to speak along with three other members of the YAC on the discussions they’ve had since forming. Weinberger gave a brief overview of the goals the group came up with, which included creating an online youth jobs opportunity portal through Inspire, and developing local teen hangout spaces and events. Next year, she said, they’d like to focus on sidewalk safety and developing school routes. Inspire WI is a nonprofit academic-to-career development program, which is managed through CESA6 for Fond du Lac, Dodge, and Green Lake Counties. Schlieve said that it is a very useful tool for connecting applicants to local job openings, and isn’t very well known—which this initiative may help change. As for the teen hangout spot, Weinberger said she’d like to set up weekly events at places such as the Union for students to be able to come together. The YAC will continue working on plans for these projects.
Meeting adjourned at 6:08PM.
