CITY OF MENOMONIE COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA
Menomonie City Hall
800 Wilson Avenue
1st Floor, City Council Chambers
7:00pm Monday – December 1, 2025
Pledge of Allegiance
- Roll Call
The following members were present: Luther, Crowe, Sutherland, Yonko, Pickard, Schwebs, Gentz, Solberg, Sommerfeld, Erdman and Brennan. The City Administrator was absent.
- Approval of Minutes
A motion was made and seconded to approve the Minutes from the November 17, 2025, City Council Meeting. All voted to approve.
- Public Hearing:
- Public Hearing for Proposed Ordinance 2025-10, an Ordinance rezoning certain lands along 4th Avenue NE from Limited Multiple Family
Residential District (R-2) to Multiple Family Residential District (R-3). This is for Bridge to Hope.
Mr. Schofield showed the map of the area to be rezoned. Bridge to Hope wants the rezoning to install solar. Other properties within 350 feet were informed of the hearing. Molly Mooridian, Director of Bridge to Hope, spoke in favor of the rezone.
- Public Hearing for Proposed Ordinance 2025-11, an Ordinance amending portions of Section 14-5-2 relating to Subdivision Improvements.
Mr. Schofield briefly described the proposed changes. The City posted a notice in the paper regarding the proposed changes. No one spoke at the hearing.
- Public Hearing for Proposed Ordinance 2025-12, an Ordinance amending portions of Section 10-4-7 Off Street Parking.
Mr. Schofield described the proposed changes. No one spoke at the hearing.
- Public Hearing for Proposed Ordinance 2025-13, an Ordinance creating Section 10-4-11 Site Lighting.
Mr. Schofield stated this is a totally new ordinance. Changes from the original proposal will be further discussed in Section 4. No one spoke at the hearing.
- Public Comments (other agenda items only).
Menomonie resident Bruce Trimble was the first speaker. He has worked for 55 years on Menomonie improvements. The Data Center is a huge potential improvement. Need to look at this positively. A $1.5 billion investment is a lot of money. Can build 3,000 houses worth $500,000 each for this amount. The Data Center will bring other development and move the city forward.
Douglas Buck from Quarles & Brady, the attorney for Balloonist spoke next. He was at the meeting to encourage the city not to go forward with the proposed data center zoning change. He shares Bruce’s words. Balloonist would like to re-engage with the city and negotiate a Development Agreement. Many of the potential issues will be handled in an agreement. He gave the example of water usage. The data center will use less water than the farmers used and will be the 4th or 5th highest city water user. There are so many potential benefits. The proposed new zoning is a reversal of years of progress. The data center would result in the addition of a large tax base.
- Old Business:
- Proposed Ordinance 2025-10, an Ordinance rezoning certain lands along
4th Avenue NE from Limited Multiple Family Residential District (R-2) to Multiple Family Residential District (R-3) – discussion, possible waiver of first reading, possible waiver of second reading and possible adoption.
Director of Public Works Schofield showed the map of the area. It is behind the hospital. Rezone from R-2 to R-3. Lot has already been surveyed. Planning Commission recommended approval unanimously. There will be no change to how the land is used.
Brennan made a motion that was seconded by Erdman to waive the first reading of Proposed Ordinance 2025-10, an Ordinance rezoning certain lands along 4th Avenue NE from Limited Multiple Family Residential District (R-2) to Multiple Family Residential District (R-3). All council members voted to approve.
A motion was then made and seconded to waive the second reading of Proposed Ordinance 2025-10, an Ordinance rezoning certain lands along 4th Avenue NE from Limited Multiple Family Residential District (R-2) to Multiple Family Residential District (R-3) All voted to approve.
Brennan made a motion that was seconded by Crowe to adopt Proposed Ordinance 2025-10, an Ordinance rezoning certain lands along 4th Avenue NE from Limited Multiple Family Residential District (R-2) to Multiple Family Residential District (R-3). All voted to approve by a roll call vote.
- Proposed Ordinance 2025-11, an Ordinance amending portions of Section 14-5-2 relating to Subdivision Improvements – discussion, possible waiver of first reading, possible waiver of second reading and possible adoption.
Public Works Director Schofield explained the proposed changes. Brennan motioned and Erdman seconded it to waive the first reading of Proposed Ordinance 2025-11, an Ordinance amending portions of Section 14-5-2 relating to Subdivision Improvements. All council members voted to approve.
Erdman motioned and Brennan seconded it to waive the second reading of Proposed Ordinance 2025-11, an Ordinance amending portions of Section 14-5-2 relating to Subdivision Improvements. All voted to approve.
Crowe motioned and Brennan seconded it to adopt Proposed Ordinance 2025-11, an Ordinance amending portions of Section 14-5-2 relating to Subdivision Improvements. All voted to approve.
- Proposed Ordinance 2025-12, an Ordinance amending portions of Section 10-4-7 Off Street Parking – discussion, possible modifications, possible waiver of the first reading, possible waiver of second reading and possible adoption.
Public Works Director Schofield presented the Ordinance with the changes recommended by the Plan Commission. Luther made a motion that was seconded by Sutherland to modify Paragraphs 7, 8 and 9 of Proposed Ordinance 2025-12 to change the threshold to eight (8) parking stalls before paving and curbing is required. All Council members voted yes.
Luther then made a motion which was also seconded by Sutherland, to waive the first reading of Proposed Ordinance 2025-12, an Ordinance amending portions of Section 10-4-7 Off Street Parking. All Council members voted yes.
Because of the changes from the original proposal, this will need to come back before the Council again to be presented for potential approval.
- Proposed Ordinance 2025-13, an Ordinance creating Section 10-4-11 Site Lighting – discussion, possible modifications, possible waiver of the first reading, possible waiver of second reading and possible adoption.
Public Works Director Schofield presented the information on the proposal. Changes have been made to the original proposal. A maximum kelvin level has been added. Additionally, the Plan Commission recommended that the ordinance does not apply to holiday lighting.
Solberg motioned and Pickard seconded it to modify Paragraph A of Proposed Ordinance 2025-13 to add “and have a maximum corrected color temperature of 4,000 Kelvin.” All Council members voted to approve.
A motion was made by Pickard and seconded by Sutherland to modify Paragraph E of Proposed Ordinance 2025-13 to add “12. Decorative holiday lighting”. All Council members voted yes.
Motions were made and seconded to waive the first and second readings of Proposed Ordinance 2025-13, an Ordinance creating Title 10, Chapter 4, Section 11 Site Lighting.
Because of the changes from the original proposal, this will be brought back to the council at a future date for consideration.
- New Business:
- Proposed Ordinance 2026-01, an Ordinance amending portions of Title 10 of the City Code with respect to warehousing definition, data center definition and creation of I-4 Data Center Industrial District – discussion, possible introduction and possible referral to the Plan Commission.
Public Works Director Schofield stated that the City Code must allow specific land uses for any legal business. Based upon feedback from the community and elected officials, however, additional discussion should occur regarding the appropriate level of regulation of data centers. One method of doing so is the creation of a new Data Center Industrial District (I-4), which can be refined with additional opportunities for public input.
As a result, a proposed Ordinance discussing the I-4 Data Center zone has been developed. Two typos were noted in the proposal provided which need to be corrected.
Council member Erdman asked if the specific ordinance could cause issues for existing data centers as 24-7 and the City have data centers. How will this ordinance prevent them from being included? What happens if a resident has a gaming computer in their basement? The 24-7 data center is across the street from the building where the trucks and customer center are. Windows are all covered. Neighbors don’t like the noise and complain but no one has moved yet. Schofield will look at the 24-7 data center. People are against AI. Maybe if the type of data center is identified? Can there be a storage versus processing data center with AI considered processing?
Council member Schwebs asked how this new ordinance would affect the 320 acres that have already been zoned. Does this need to be rezoned? Schofield said this acreage will have to reapproach the city although he later stated that there would need to be a legal evaluation to determine that.
Council member Brennan stated that the city needs to be careful as to how this is presented. While the new zone may be wise, the city needs to look like a good business partner and not a “we don’t like data centers”. Some people didn’t like the closed-door approach to what was happening.
Luther motioned to introduce the Proposed Ordinance 2026-01, an Ordinance amending portions of Title 10 of the City Code with respect to warehouse definition, data center definition and creation of Data Center Industrial (I-4) District and Refer Proposed Ordinance 2026-01, an Ordinance amending portions of Title 10 of the City Code with respect to warehouse definition, data center definition and creation of Data Center Industrial (I-4) District to the Plan Commission for Review and Recommendation. Pickard seconded it.
Crowe mentioned that state assessors say data centers are warehouses but that the city does not need to zone them as such. It is a good thing to push this to I-4. Yonko stated this will assist the developers, allows for greater public input and will keep the laws up to date.
Council member Sutherland expressed concern that the city is not negotiating in good faith. This is introducing a situation that stops the negotiation. The city should never do this in any relationship. Any big entity that sees this will say – not going to Menomonie. You can’t trust them to negotiate in good faith. This will kill the project. This gives the developer no leverage.
What does the governor say about this? Has anyone spoken to the Governor. the mayor stated he has not spoken to the governor.
Yonko said the city is not in negotiations. This is in good faith. This provides good clarity. Need to improve to progress.
Sutherland said the city was in negotiations for a year. Data Centers have a lot of capital. This will happen one way or another. These data centers will get built. Maybe not in WI but there will be a way to get around this.
Schofield suggested a closed session may be needed to address some of these questions. All this motion does is move the proposal to the Plan Commission to have more discussion.
Council member Brennan echoed Sutherland’s concerns. The city has not handled this well. If this proposal had been done initially it would be different. This ordinance is setting us up for the future. This is updating the code, but we also need to look better.
The Mayor stated that hindsight is always 20-20. We need to look forward. This will better prepare us for all negotiations.
Luther stated that this all started because the Council voted to approve the rezone and annexation. If that hadn’t happened, we could have looked at this earlier. Members that voted yes let the city down. The three of us that voted no are the ones that didn’t let the city down. I-4 is going to give the Council, City Staff and Balloonist more time to negotiate.
Sutherland stated this is a unique thing. We weren’t prepared. Every city has the same problem – lots of unknown. Don’t blame the city for not being prepared.
The Mayor said no one is being blamed. This is about cleaning up zoning. Schofield has been working hard to fix things. He is working on a two-year project to fix ordinances. This is just phase 1. The Mayor called for a Roll call vote, and it was approved to send the ordinance to the Plan Commission.
- Proposed Grant Application with Dunn County to Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs for Daily Use Radio Grant Program – discussion and possible action
Police Chief Hollister stated that the police department is currently operating with a very old radio infrastructure system and it is overdue for replacement. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find replacement parts for the system. The system operates on a VHF frequency and will need to be updated to an 800-megahertz system soon. The State is currently funding new 800-megahertz tower and radio infrastructure systems in other regions of the state.
Dunn County Officials have requested to be upgraded to the WISCOM 2.0/800-megahertz tower and radio infrastructure system. Based on state funding, it is anticipated our region will be up for new tower & radio infrastructure replacement in late 2027 or early 2028. By switching over to the state WISCOM 2.0 frequency, the city will be saving future maintenance costs and more importantly, not spending money to replace the current radio system. Preliminary estimates for the city to replace its outdated radio infrastructure system is approximately two million dollars. Prior to the Dunn County Communications Center switching over to the state WISCOM 2.0 frequency, new mobile & portable radios compatible for the 800-megahertz frequency will need to be in place for each participating agency. Without grant assistance, the quote to the city is $311,668.00, plus radio installation of $16,062.50 for a total of $327,730.50. If awarded the grant, the 20 percent match incurred by the city would be $62,333.60, plus installation of $16,062.50 for a total of $78,396.10. Erdman asked if the city would need more towers with the new system? The State will foot bill for new towers but may not need more.
Council member Schwebs asked if the fire department will move to the new system. The police chief said yes but their funding will be different.
A motion was made by Crowe and seconded by Schwebs to approve the Proposed Grant Application with Dunn County to Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs for Daily Use Radio Grant Program and the local share not to exceed $100,000. This was a roll call vote with all members approving.
- Budget Transfers
No budget transfer requests were received.
8. Mayor’s Report - Lights on in Wolske’s bay. Parade coming up.
9. Communications and Miscellaneous Business –
Brennan asked if council members can get more information on claims. Solberg said the longer you sit on this body the more you see you don’t know what you don’t know. Need to research. We’ve struggled with things in the past and need to work better at not airing disagreements in public. The Mayor mentioned how he appreciates the city council. He is open to discussions with anyone. Excited that we already have snow and getting ice in the bays. Lake gets used a lot for ice fishing. The administrator is away speaking at an event and helping other communities get grants. The Mayor appreciates everyone’s patience.
10.Claims
A revised list was distributed before the meeting. A motion was made to Approve the Revised Claims List as Presented. It was a roll call vote with all members voting yes.
11.Licenses
- Normal license list – discussion and possible action
No license requests were received
12.Adjourn
A Motion to adjourn was made by Gentz, seconded by Pickard, and carried unanimously.
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