Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Operations topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Markesan council accepts police chief's resignation, approves credit solicitations and several operational payments
Summary
At its Jan. 13 meeting, the Markesan Common Council accepted Chief of Police Doug Wiorke's resignation, approved soliciting a $125,000 one-year line of credit, enacted a recycling ordinance, authorized equipment and maintenance payments and set recruitment steps for the police chief post.
The Markesan Common Council accepted the resignation of Chief of Police Doug Wiorke and approved a series of financial and personnel actions at its Jan. 13 meeting at City Hall.
The council voted unanimously to accept Wiorke's resignation and to advertise for a replacement. Council members also approved soliciting one-year lines of credit of $125,000 from Ergo Bank and Horicon Bank to help fund an upcoming fire truck purchase, repairs to the fire station approach and a police vehicle.
Why it matters: The resignation creates a leadership gap in the city's police department and triggers a recruitment process while the council authorizes short-term financing to cover capital needs already under consideration.
Among other routine business, the council enacted a revised Responsible Recycling Unit Ordinance, approved a new 2026 fee schedule effective Jan. 13, authorized purchases and maintenance payments for equipment and set a date for deputy clerk interviews.
Key votes and outcomes at a glance: - Motion to accept Chief of Police Doug Wiorke's resignation (Abendroth/Triemstra): carried 6-0. - Motion to advertise for the Chief position (Prill/Triemstra): carried 6-0. - Motion to solicit one-year $125,000 lines of credit from Ergo Bank and Horicon Bank (Kazda/Lager): carried 6-0. - Motion to approve an additional $993.80 payment to Black Gold Diesel Services for the Emergency Management Truck, to be paid from the Emergency Government savings account (Kazda/Triemstra): carried 6-0; total payment noted as $13,993.90. - Motion to enact the revised Responsible Recycling Unit Ordinance (Abendroth/Kazda): carried 6-0. - Motion to approve the new 2026 Fee Schedule effective Jan. 13, 2026 (Prill/Abendroth): carried 6-0. - Motion to approve two block bearings for the sewer plant at $2,256.09 each (Abendroth/Lager): carried 6-0. - Motion to approve Operator's Licenses for Allison Bartz, Joan Lohry and Irene Sieglaff, with the condition that future applications be completed in full (Prill/Kazda): carried 6-0.
The council also considered overturning the mayor's veto of the Remote Work Policy; a motion to overturn the veto failed on a 3-3 roll call, with Ald. Lager, Ald. Thiem and Ald. Triemstra recorded as Nay. Separately, the council approved 40 hours of overtime for the City Clerk for January after an amendment to reduce the cap to 15 hours failed; the main overtime motion carried 4-2 (Prill and Abendroth recorded Nay).
The council moved a Soldiers & Sailors building plan draft back to committee for further discussion and specifically asked that the Water/Wastewater Supervisor be included in that review. The minutes record that no action was taken on sending new shelter plans to "GEC"; the minutes do not expand that acronym or record next steps.
The meeting opened at 7:00 p.m. and adjourned at 7:41 p.m. Clerk/Treasurer Tamra M. Harrington is the recording official on the minutes.
What comes next: The council set a Finance Committee meeting for Jan. 20 to interview deputy clerk candidates and will proceed with recruitment and interim staffing decisions for the police department as needed.
