Town of Germantown
Official Website of the Town of Germantown, Juneau County, WITown of Germantown
Planning Commission Meeting Minutes
June 17, 2025
Present: Commission Chairperson Keith Korbein, Commissioners Gervase Thompson, Tamaya Loewe, Mick McCormick, Mike Edwards; Zoning Administrator Dick Martin Deputy Clerk/Treasurer Michaele Korbein
Absent: None
Also Present: Chris Renner, Brad Pavloski, Pat Pavloski from developer CR58 Land Investments LLC, and members of the public: Mark Loewe, Luke Bacher
–Call to Order
The Planning Commission meeting was called to order by Chairperson Keith Korbein at the Germantown Town Hall at 5:30pm.
–Pledge of Allegiance
–Possible approval of meeting minutes
Tamaya Loewe made a motion to approve the minutes of the May 20, 2025 Public Hearing and the May 20, 2025 Planning Commission meeting, with the correction to the Planning Commission meeting minutes to reflect correction to wording for Room Tax instead of Short Term Rentals being noted twice; seconded by Mick McCormick; motion passed 5/0.
–Review of PUD listing
The list noted only two developments really in process, plus one development for condos that has not had any activity for a long time. Thank you to Chris Renner, Brad Pavloski, and Pat Pavloski for providing the listing. This will aid the town in current and future discussion and planning.
–Staff meeting for Barefoot/Bear Paw PUD
Since there was no activity in just under two years, it was helpful to review in a staff meeting. The items that were provided for this evening’s meeting were the updated and adjusted versions of what was originally presented in 2023. Those changes were suggested/advised by Larry Koopman, Germantown’s town engineer from Lampert & Lee. Discussion, comments, and questions followed.
Why did you change the PUD name? The answer was to be a friendlier name.
Is the snowmobile trail still in the middle, or where was it moved? The snowmobile trail runs in the right-of-way of Hwy 58.
Were any buildings moved? The old Bean residence was moved off the land, as was a shed.
How was the total included acreage figured? 22.71 acres were taken from Beach Lake and .38 acres were taken from Waterstone. These were part of the land swap for the 38th Street project.
Density was noted to have lessened and green space area improved. There is a concern with diversity of housing -really no different type of construction or buildings as compared to Sand Point. There also was a question that with the large number of users of the recreational offerings of pool, clubhouse, and tennis courts, would those amenities be able to serve that many properties. Brad Pavloski explained about the four different model homes they offer, with the smallest being their best and most popular seller, as it is more cost effective to build and lower cost to buyers. The number of homes between Copper Point and this are about the same at 700+. They also thought their amenities are very under-utilized, so they do not feel that their amenities are an issue.
Another thought was to make sure to balance all the continuing development with the Town’s Comprehensive Plan. Also, some owners may be worrying that more rental properties will saturate the market and cut into their own rental businesses.
Would there be only the two allowed access points off of Hwy 58 to the snowmobile trail? And, as for ATV/snowmobile use, will that be an issue when riders try to cross HWY 58 to get to Dollar General or farther? The reply was that the trail would not align with the driveways, so should not be an issue.
What will the surface of the road by the proposed storage buildings on Hwy 58 will be? Gravel -which will be maintained by the HOA.
Discussed road shoulders, in having 3’ of gravel on shoulders to keep sprinklers back for snowplowing, to be more proactive in preventing calls to the Town hall in the spring. Sometimes it is hard to find the road in the snow to plow and when contractors/owners put sprinklers out to the road, they will get damaged. The noted one issue with this is that landscapers do not always have proper measurements from the road, which is also not yet finished, so the sprinklers are not quite where they should be located when the road is finished.
Concerns noted about town roads that are being affected by the development and possibly doing a cost sharing for repairs of those roads, namely 38th and 15th. Question on asphalt thickness of 3” vs 2.5” and which is better. It was noted the thickness in center of road may be 3” or more and 2” more on the edge, which seems to work best.
Bean’s shed was moved and will be used for machine storage. No new sheds will be built.
Questioned to Dick Martin if he had reviewed this presentation and if it is compliant with the ordinance? He replied it was, and he added that as long as they keep constructing the cul de sacs the way they do now, there will not be a problem going forward for plowing. This application was deemed complete one day before the sunset date.
It was noted that shortened road names would really have been helpful.
There had already been a public hearing on this in May 2023 that was for re-zoning and for a preliminary plat of Bear Paw PUD on this property, the re-zoning of which was approved by the Town Board at their June 13, 2023 meeting. Larry Koopman sent a note on June 16, 2025 that he had reviewed the adjusted and revised final PUD documents as of May 14, 2025, that everything appears to be in order, that Pavloski’s had addressed his review comments from 2023, and that he would recommend the Planning Commission to forward a recommendation for final approval to the Town Board. So, then the next step would be for a regular Planning Commission meeting to do the final PUD recommendation ??? Since this evening’s meeting was posted as a staff meeting since it had been several years since this was looked at.
–Work Session continued on Short Term Rentals
And
–Work Session continued on Room Tax
A recommendation was made to go with State Statutes, to include verified registration and license with the state, report on inspection, insurance, and contact info for designated responsible person who is within the range of 30 minutes from the property, and to also implement the room tax of 8% of which 70% would go to a qualified tourism entity of our choosing and 30% the Town would keep for which its usage is unrestricted. And there would be a yearly filing on both. Would need to determine the date to have these renewed on -maybe June or July. Several other comments included not restricting STRs and allowing year-round renting.
Luke Bacher, who was present and who was part of the STR work at the State level, was asked what he thought owners of rental properties would have concerning an STR ordinance. He replied: Do not restrict rentals to 180 days, having someone who is in the 30-minute area, and making sure to collect the room tax.
The Sheriff’s office should be called for noise issues at rental units.
Signs offering properties to rent would not be allowed as per the sign ordinance and would therefore be in violation of the sign ordinance.
Campgrounds do not fall under STRs or room tax.
Would there be penalties for not following the ordinances? Yes -amounts will need to be worked on. Some would like to have stiffer penalties to be a deterrent. Could owners lose the ability to rent out their properties if police are called to the property for issues or violations, or if they fail to register?
–July meeting
The date will be July 15, 2025, starting at 5:30pm.
–Adjourn
Mike Edwards made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Mick McCormick; motion passed 5/0.
Meeting adjourned at 6:57pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Michaele R. Korbein, Deputy Clerk/Treasurer