Proposed data center announcement and push for reforms dominate council meeting

Although the proposed data center was not on the agenda, the issue was front and center at the City Council meeting on September 22nd. During the communications portion of the meeting, things grew heated as members spoke in anticipation of an announcement regarding the data center teased by Mayor Randy Knaack. 

Council member Sydney Brennen criticized Knaack, calling his leadership “deplorable” and introduced a resolution of no confidence in the mayor. City Attorney Ben Ludeman ruled it could not be considered because it was not on the agenda.

Brennen continued by pushing for reforms, including allowing the council more control over agenda-setting, prohibiting staff and elected officials from signing nondisclosure agreements without council approval, and requiring early public engagement on large development projects. “It’s ridiculous that a council member can’t put something on the agenda when we speak for the people and we represent them,” she said.

Mary Solberg said she “respectfully [did] not agree” with Brennen’s view, praising Knaack’s years of hard work for the city. 

Cody Gentz credited the mayor’s service but said the data center process “never needed to get this far” and revealed “systemic issues” that require policy changes to ensure transparency and public confidence. 

Longtime member Lee Schwebs, recalling past projects such as Cardinal Glass and Anderson Windows, defended the use of private discussions during negotiations and said any council member can request agenda items. Eric Sutherland agreed, noting that in his experience, “there never was an issue” with council members bringing items forward if proper channels were followed.

After all council members spoke, Mayor Knaack made his announcement:

“Last Wednesday, September 17th, I drafted a memo and had our City Administrator contact Balloonist LLC. In the document, I stated that I am not currently interested in pursuing a tax increment district or development agreement. As the chief executive officer of Menomonie and serving as your mayor, I have listened to the people of Menomonie and around the area. To me your voice does matter. So, as your mayor of Menomonie, the issue of the data center is now on pause. And that’s all I’m going to say about this. So thank you.” 

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Author's note: It was incredibly difficult to hear the discussion that took place at the meeting. There were many community members in attendance (with a large number having to remain in the hallway) who also struggled to hear what was being said. The audio recording, available on the city's website, is very clear. I transcribed the comments made during the communications segment that referenced the data center or related issues. It can be found at the end of this article.

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Prior to the communications portion of the meeting, the council did take up a number of items.

Wastewater Truck Replacement

Council members approved the purchase of a new sludge truck for the Wastewater Treatment Plant. The truck is used daily to haul biosolids from the plant to the sludge storage tank on Badger Drive near Cardinal Glass. 

Wastewater Superintendent Paul Sterk told the council that the existing truck, now 17 years old, has reached the end of its useful life and was never designed for the type of city driving required. Sterk noted that more than 2 million gallons of waste are hauled each year.

The new truck, a 2026 Freightliner M2-106 purchased from Premier Truck Group for $166,939, will come equipped with a 5,000-gallon tank—an increase from the current truck’s 3,500-gallon capacity. The larger size will reduce the number of trips needed.

ATV/UTV Ordinance Changes

The council approved changes to the city’s ATV/UTV ordinance. The updates extend the operating hours, allowing use to begin at 6 a.m. instead of 7 a.m., and expand the approved route along South Broadway from 1st Avenue to 4th Avenue. After waiving the first and second readings, council members adopted the ordinance on a 6-3 vote. Voting in favor were Council members Luther, Sutherland, Schwebs, Gentz, Solberg, and Erdman. Council members Brennen, Yonko, and Pickard opposed. With the change, ATV/UTVs may now operate in the city from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m.

Warehouse Development Proposal

The City previously reached an agreement with SPA Properties, LLC to purchase city-owned land at the intersection of 59th Street NE and 708th Avenue for the construction of a warehouse for an online retailer. 

The council reviewed and approved a certified survey map (CSM) to subdivide the property, creating a 29.01-acre lot for SPA Properties and a 2.62-acre outlot along 708th Avenue that the city will retain.

The retained land will prevent direct truck access to 708th Avenue and preserve space for possible road reconstruction, a request made by the Town of Red Cedar. In addition, a 20-foot-wide utility easement will be established along the east side of the larger lot for future installation of electric, gas, and telecommunication lines and equipment.

The CSM was approved with only council member Erdman voting no. The proposal will now be reviewed by the Plan Commission on September 29.

Liquor license issued to The Yard WI, LLC

The council approved the issuance of a Class B Combination License (beer and liquor) to The Yard WI, LLC, which is contingent upon the sale closing of Dean & Sue’s Bar. Dean & Sue’s owner, Michelle Rugland, surrendered the existing license contingent upon approval of The Yard WI, LLC’s license. Both Rugland and Brittany Williams, a partner in The Yard WI, LLC, appeared before the council. 

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Transcribed comments

Council member Abigail Pickard - Everything in town has been a little wild lately. It’s been wonderful having so many people reach out, but it is really important to remember that at the end of the day, we are a very small, close-knit community, and our behavior affects others, so thank you.

Council member Gretchen Yonko - In anticipation of the mayor’s report potentially I wanted to write it down it’s been kind of a rough rough day. Sorry, this is unrelated to what I’m about to say … I feel our previous local motto was traditional yet progressive. I feel this action taken was neither, the potential action that might be reported, isn’t progressive or traditional. If our foundations in Menomonie are based on stability and thoughtful process as they have been, unpredictable actions may be bold and exciting, but the consequence not so much. Due to potential what I’m anticipating, I feel the need to express that your voices were being heard by the common council also, and the council from my perspective has been acting with stability and process in mind. Our community remains welcome to opportunity and responsible progress. I do not feel the… so I’m going to work with the council to deal with any consequences that occur from actions of our administration and keep Menomonie moving forward in the best way possible for everyone in the community. I just wanted to make sure that everyone knows that we are listening and we are taking into consideration everything everyone that speaks to us and will continue to do so, thank you.

Council member Sydney Brennen - Randy, your leadership to this city and to this council has been deplorable. It has been disappointing and I just have no positive words for it. We as a community have faced a really difficult decision that has needed open healthy discussion and dialogue and I want to say I want to thank you all for coming. Your voice does matter and I know that you don’t think that and you think I must be an enemy, but we’re all not. We all matter to this community and we all care so much, but Randy has made it seem as this council is against its people which is absolutely I have no other words but ridiculous…therefore, I want to make a motion to pass a resolution of no confidence in Mayor Knaack whereas the mayor is elected by the citizens of the city of Menomonie to provide leadership uphold the the laws of the State of Wisconsin and the ordinances of the city and to serve the best interest in the community and whereas the common council has determined that the conduct and decisions of Mayor Knaack have failed to meet the standards of leadership, accountability, and transparency expected of the office and whereas the counsel recognizes that while this resolution carries no statutory authority to remove the mayor from office it serves as a formal expression of this body’s disapproval and concern. Now therefore be it resolved that the common council of the City of Menomonie hereby issue the resolution of no confidence in Mayor Knaack. 

Mayor Randy Knaack -That was interesting, thank you Sydney.

Council member Sydney Brennen - I put a motion on the floor. 

City Attorney Ben Ludeman - Since it hasn’t been on the agenda it’s not something that can be voted on.

Council member Sydney Brennen - Then I’m proposing a discussion for the council to become involved in the agenda setting there once was a time in the city that the president of the council and the vice president had a say I think it’s ridiculous…. There’s no reason that one person should control the entire agenda for the city and the way it moves forward. Additionally, I wanna ask for early community communications on major projects to require public outreach and information early in the process of large initiatives like we’ve seen with this data center. I would improve communications of council agendas. Council members, including myself are the only ones that are making that the public available of the agendas… I want to improve communications of the council agenda. I want the public to have a knowledge before if that’s just posting on our website clearly people aren’t accessing it. I want a restriction on NDAs. I wanna prohibit staff or elected officials from signing nondisclosure agreements without council approval and public knowledge. I want public engagement policy. I want to provide council members with tools to connect with constituents beyond personal social media. I want clear criteria for major projects. I want to define thresholds such as project cost, staff hours and scale of community impact that will automatically trigger early council review, community outreach, and ongoing progress updates. I think it’s ridiculous that a council member can’t put something on the agenda when we speak for the people and we represent them. Thank you. 

Council member Mary Solberg - Well I didn’t have anything to say but I do now. I…..respectfully not agree with Sydney’s take of the mayor. He and I have been on this council many years…. In the process we’ve seen a lot of good things come to Menomonie. You will not find anyone who works harder to make those good things happen than the mayor. That’s all I’m going to say now.

Council member Cody Gentz - Yeah, so I also you know I want to appreciate all the work that the mayor puts in and everything he’s done for the city but I also do want to acknowledge that this data center project never needed to get this far. The council did have a chance to stop it the mayor had multiple opportunities to stop it whether by vetoing the rezone and forcing a revote or by directing staff early on to not engage with the project. And sort of this situation has highlighted systemic issues with the council. We need to make sure the future projects are handled better. We need to tighten our procedures so that public confidence and our system of checks and balances is maintained. We should establish a formal policy requiring early counselor committee review before significant staff resources are devoted to major proposals. We should form a standing committee based on economic development that would conduct preliminary reviews of projects like this and eventually take over the duties of the housing ad hoc when that expires. we should prohibit NDAs that shield projects from public scrutiny. We should involve the council more directly in setting meeting agenda to improve accountability and oversight, and we should adopt clear standards for proactive public communication so the community is engaged and informed from the outset we owe it to the community to ensure that the next big proposal whatever it may be is handled through a process that is transparent, consistent, and has the community’s confidence.

Council member Lee Schwebs - I need to speak, I’ve been on this council, this is my 28th year. I’ve been here when Cardinal Glass came forth. I happen to be working for Northern States Power Company. I was the division manager here. I sat in several secretive, I guess if you wanna call them that, meetings because that’s how it’s done when you’re dealing with big projects. I was here when distribution center went in. I was here when Anderson came I was on the council. And things went well, I think everybody in the community is happy that it’s here. I guess Sydney I’m going to disagree with you. I know I was under the council I think twice it was a meeting with the administrator, with the city engineer and others at times meeting to set the agenda that wasn’t there at all the meetings. We did have a president and vice president at one time on the council. I think they felt they were King and Queen and they wanted to set the agenda, but any one of us can ask to have something on the agenda. We can, it isn’t Randy setting the agenda he’s part of it the city administrator is part of it and we can be part of it by requesting certain things put on so I really object to what you presented.  

Council member Eric Sutherland - I want to speak on that as well. Because this isn’t the first hot item topic that’s come through this chamber. It’s been some time but I but I believe there was some discussion about who’s setting the agenda in the past. And it’s probably been about eight years ago since we really had this discussion as far as I know, but I do believe that we discussed this, that you would allow council members to put forth items to be put on the agenda and it would be voted on and I believe that occurred a few different times so there never was an issue as far as I’m concerned with council members getting items on the agenda maybe ultimately you have the final decision, but from my experience, there’s never been an issue with getting something on the agenda if you went through the proper channels so I just want to be known.

Mayor Randy Knaack - I’m going to address a couple of things, but I’m going to play nice in the sandbox. I’m not going to throw my toys. I really love our counsel. I love our dialogue. I love the work that we do. The administration is forth right and everybody tries so hard to do the right thing for the city. If somebody wants something on the agenda it may not fit on the next meeting because it might be a full agenda. It may fit on a subsequent meeting or something along those lines, but if there’s something that needs to be placed on the agenda, by all means, we will consider it. Without a doubt. I’m not gonna get into a whole bunch of things like walking quorums and council members doing things that probably aren’t kosher. I’m not perfect. I don’t tend to be perfect. I listen to citizens. I listen to the community members. If there’s something that is a concern I think I need to address it, and so I took a bold move perhaps in the eyes of some people And I know not everybody’s gonna agree with what I did last week but I did something that I thought was proper and so with that being said, I have an announcement to make. Last Wednesday, September 17, I drafted a memo and had our City administrator contact Balloonist LLC. In the document I stated that I am not currently interested in pursuing a tax increment district or development agreement as the chief executive officer of the Menomonie and serving as your mayor. I have listened to the people of Menomonie and around the area. To me your voice does matter. So as your mayor of Menomonie the issue of the data center is now on pause. And that’s all I’m going to say about this. So thank you. Thank you all for your voice and things that matter in Menomonie. I grew up here. Menomonie means everything to me. And without Menomonie’s support I wouldn’t be sitting in the mayor‘s office and Menomonie is very important to me and so I try to make the best decision I can but like I say I’m not perfect but we’re gonna move out with the rest of our meeting. 

Council member Jeff Luther - Randy thank you, not only show that you care about the community care you care about the townships around our community, you care about the people of Dunn County and you care about the people of Western Wisconsin. Thanks again. 

Council member Sydney Brennen - If you truly did our roads wouldn’t be in shambles and people wouldn’t be living in slums like I’m just being honest like everyone had a chance to say how amazing Randy is, but I’m tired of this council being a red rubber for what the mayor wants you guys might be able to get what you want on the agenda but there’s people in the community that haven’t because he’s being puppeted by members of the community that are slumlords. 

Mayor Randy Knaack - Hey everybody, we’re OK. We got this. We got this ladies and gentlemen just bare with me for a moment okay. I understand Sydney that you don’t agree with me and maybe the way I’m doing things and that’s fine. You’re open to your opinion on how things happen. I’ve been in this seat for quite a while now. We’ve faced a lot of dilemmas. We’ve worked on our lake. We worked on parking downtown. When I first got in the Mayor‘s office I worked so hard in filling up our businesses downtown. We’ve worked on Project Hope which I’m so proud of this man right here. As police chief he put Project Hope together which saves lives for methamphetamine and drug addiction and helps so many people across not only our town but now other towns and we also presented this nationally and at a Wisconsin level. So yes, you may not agree with me on certain areas but I feel good about what I’ve done as the mayor. We’ve had $100 million worth of buildup in our industrial Park in the last 10 years. We’ve got things happening in Menomonie that are incredible, Wolskes Bay, the Winter Wonderland. Talking with people… when people come to town and wanna know about Menomonie I show them our schools, I show them the Mabel Tainter Theater, I show them the lake that we’re working on we’re gonna try and make cleaner. I’ve been talking to the governor about cleaning up our lake and how to get it done, where to find the money. There’s things happening behind the scenes more so than anybody realizes it. OK yes I come to the mayor‘s office and I do whatever I can to make it better, but I am not only surrounded by incredible people. My staff, my City Council, but the community at Menomonie and I’m here for you. I’m not here for me, so what matters to me is the city of Menomonie and all the people in it. I’m not gonna take my gloves off and argue with your points because yes maybe I’m not perfect but I will say that I love Menomonie and that being said we’re gonna finish up this meeting in a cordial fashion and we’re gonna keep moving to make Menomonie as good as it can be.