West Bend council names city dispatch wireless 911 PSAP, approves Creekside rezoning, traffic changes and $3,000 Walmart grant; moves to closed session

The West Bend Common Council on May 19 unanimously approved designating the City of West Bend dispatch center as the wireless 911 public safety answering point (PSAP) for calls generated inside the city, adopted zoning and land‑use changes for the Creekside subdivision, approved several traffic‑safety amendments to the city traffic manual, accepted a $3,000 Walmart Spark Good Grant and confirmed multiple appointments and license renewals before adjourning into a closed session to review candidates for the city administrator position.

The PSAP designation was presented as part of the city's Next Generation 9-1-1 transition. Chief Gearing said Washington County will remain a secondary answering point and that Captain Grinwald and city IT staff have been working with carriers and consultants to implement the system. "We are hoping May 21 is our target date," Chief Gearing said. Council members were told the transition was funded in part by a 2022 grant from the governor's office and by city appropriations the council previously approved.

Why it matters: the change routes wireless 911 calls generated within the city directly to West Bend dispatch, rather than first to the county, which officials said will reduce triage delays and improve response times for incidents in city limits.

Council action and details

- Next Generation 9-1-1 / PSAP designation: The council voted to name the City of West Bend dispatch center as the wireless 911 PSAP for the city, with Washington County as a secondary answering point. Officials said carriers must acknowledge the city's resolution and that Captain Grinwald planned to contact carriers and the state to provision the emergency services IP network number required for the change. Funding for the transition was described as largely covered by a prior state grant and city funding approved earlier; the council unanimously approved the resolution.

- Traffic manual amendments (Resolution No. 8): The council approved four changes recommended by the Traffic Safety Commission: lower the speed limit on River Road from 55 to 45 mph through to Rusco Road; restrict some parking at locations cited for poor sight lines; add a four‑way stop at Water and Forest; and add a mid‑block pedestrian crossing by the county buildings on East Washington Street. Director Newman reported that new "yield to pedestrian" signs at River and Decorah had been installed earlier the same day.

- Creekside land‑use and rezoning (Ordinance Nos. 2 and 3): The council amended the 2020 comprehensive plan to change the recommended land use on roughly 9.8 acres in the Creekside subdivision from two‑family residential to single‑family residential, and rezoned approximately 10.1 acres from RD2 (two‑family) to RS4 (single family). City staff explained the slight acreage difference reflects the plan's exclusion of rights‑of‑way, while zoning boundaries are measured to centerlines of adjacent streets. Both the Plan Commission and the council voted to approve the land‑use amendment and rezoning.

- Walmart Spark Good Grant (Resolution No. 6): Chief Gearing asked the council to accept a $3,000 Walmart Spark Good Grant facilitated by John Fitzgerald, a Walmart manager who participates in the department's crime prevention patrol. The council approved placing the funds as follows: $1,000 to the fire department's smoke and carbon‑monoxide alarm program; $1,000 to the police department's crime prevention fund; and $1,000 to be routed through finance to the Fraternal Order of Police's Shop with a Cop program.

- Appointments and consent agenda: The council approved consent agenda items 2 through 18 (details listed in the meeting packet). The mayor's appointments confirmed Rebecca Serwatt to the Downtown BID Board (replacing her husband, Tracy Serwatt) and Jed Dalnick to both the Board of Zoning Appeals and the Plan Commission (replacing Chris Schmidt, who no longer resides in the city). The licensing board met earlier in the evening and approved minutes from May 5 and a slate of license renewals and new license applications including liquor, tobacco/electronic vaping, massage establishments, amusement arcade/device approvals and secondhand dealer renewals; the licensing board then adjourned.

- Closed session: The council voted to adjourn into closed session under Wisconsin Statute 19.85(1)(c) to consider employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data of public employees and to review candidates for the open city administrator position. The clerk called the roll and recorded ayes from Aldermen Sizer, Sternig, Engleking, Schmidt, Zingsheim, Butchlich, Sparks and Bergquist; the council did not reconvene afterward and adjourned from closed session.

What the council did not decide tonight: No final hiring decision for city administrator was made in open session. Several items on the consent agenda were approved as a block; individual packet descriptions provide specifics for those items.

Meeting context: The council held routine commission reports (Plan Commission, Tourism, BID board), a badge pinning earlier in the meeting and several brief department updates. The NG911 and Creekside items drew the most substantive discussion and technical clarifications from city staff.

For the record: council motions on the packet items were approved by voice vote unless otherwise recorded; the closed‑session motion was adopted by roll call. The meeting began with public safety staff recognitions and concluded with the council entering closed session.