Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Votes at a glance: Wauwatosa council approves appointments, ordinances, permits and contracts
Loading...
Summary
The common council voted on multiple items including appointments, a tobacco‑sales ordinance, a public‑participation resolution for the Milwaukee County Research Park master plan, permits for events and liquor licenses, traffic controls, and several contracts and professional services; most measures passed unanimously or by large margins.
The Wauwatosa common council took votes on a slate of administrative, regulatory and capital items. Below is a concise list of the actions taken and the council outcomes as recorded in the meeting.
Appointments (motion to approve all, moved by Alder First, seconded by Alder Gustafson): The council approved multiple appointments and reappointments including Alan Kessner (alternate member, Board of Review, term to 03/31/2028), Virginia Jones (Equity and Inclusion Commission, term to 10/31/2026), Frankie Gahr (Tourism Commission, term to 07/31/2026), Ted Martin (ex officio member, Youth Commission, term to 05/31/2026), reappointment of Joel Tillson (Community Development Authority, term to 04/30/2029), reappointment of Daniel Underberg (Tourism Commission, term to 07/31/2026), and appointment of Zachary Kessler as interim city clerk effective 07/24/2025. The motion passed with 10 votes in favor and 1 dissenting vote (10–1).
Plan Commission referrals and ordinances: The council voted on two Plan Commission items in a single vote. An ordinance to amend the municipal code regulating locations of cigarette, tobacco and electronic vaping device sales was recommended by the Plan Commission 6–0; Alder Morgan requested a separate vote and ultimately the ordinance passed the council 10–1. A related resolution establishing public participation procedures for the Milwaukee County Research Park Master Plan passed unanimously.
Government Affairs committee items (moved as a group with several items separated for individual votes): Resolutions and permit approvals passed largely by unanimous council votes. Items approved include: - Fireworks user permit for Patty Kong / Wauwatosa School District for Wauwatosa West homecoming (09/26/2025 9:15–9:30 p.m.) — committee 7–0, council vote: unanimous. - Special event permit for Tosa Fest (09/05/2025 and 09/06/2025) — committee 7–0, council: unanimous. - New Class B beer and reserve Class B liquor license for Pour Inc., 7300 W. Chestnut St., agent Thomas Gabbard (period ending 06/30/2026) — committee 7–0; Alder Gustafson indicated a potential conflict and voted “present”; council approved the license (vote recorded as passing; Gustafson recorded present). - Temporary extension of licensed premises for Cafe Hollander (Village al fresco event 07/29/2025) — committee 7–0, council: unanimous. - Extension of licensed premises for Walters on North (event 08/16/2025) — committee 7–0, council: unanimous. - Successor agent appointment (David Sippel for Maggiano’s Holding Corporation, d/b/a Maggiano’s Italy) — committee 7–0, council: unanimous. - Resolution urging the Wisconsin Legislature to amend Wis. Stat. §125.51 to expand temporary Class B authority for nonprofit and community events — committee 7–0, council: unanimous.
Transportation Affairs: Two items moved together and passed unanimously: installation of all‑way stop control at 117th Street and Gilbert Avenue (committee 5–0) and an ordinance adopting a 25 mph posted speed limit on Fleet Street/Milwaukee Avenue between 60th Street and the east city limit (committee 5–0).
Financial Affairs: The council approved several financial and procurement items: - Professional services agreement with AECOM for preliminary engineering of the Walnut Road UP Railroad Underpass (YIP Project 1124), amount $830,000; committee recommended approval 6–1; council vote recorded as passing with one dissenting vote. - Fleet superintendent request to order 2026 fleet purchases in advance of the 2026 budget and waiver of competitive bidding for one Prentice 2024 log loader dump body — committee 7–0, council: unanimous. - Consulting services agreement with Kieni Architects for site improvements at the Public Works site, amount $70,797 — committee 7–0, council: unanimous. - Contracts related to consolidation of the city's deferred compensation program — committee 7–0, council: unanimous. - Amendments to the 2025 operating budget to create a restricted public health reserve and to allow enforcement as an allowable expense of the vehicle registration fee revenue — committee 7–0, council: unanimous. - Ratification of bills and claims — roll call vote passed 11–0.
Board of Public Works recommendations: The council approved multiple items on the board’s report, including encroachments for soil boring/monitoring well and a fence, intergovernmental cooperation with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, and bids/contracts. Notably, the council awarded contract 25‑09 for sanitary sewer improvements on Diane Drive and Discovery Parkway to Globe Contractors in the amount of $633,240 and approved related fund transfers (the board recommended approval 4–0; the council passed the item with a single dissenting vote). The council also approved contract 25‑21 (Swan Boulevard Bridal deck ceiling) to Farner Asphalt Sealers LLC, amount $43,024.80.
Where the transcript records specific vote counts, they are noted above. For items where the record shows committee recommendation and a unanimous council voice vote, the council recorded passage; where individual councilors asked for separate votes, those rolls are recorded in the minutes.
