Minocqua will be getting a new police officer to replace long-time officer Steve Zajicek who is retiring after 20 years on the Minocqua department.
After Wednesday’s closed session, the town board approved Police Chief David Jaeger’s recommendation to hire Alex Schmidt as a police officer. The effective retirement and hire date for both is March 1. Schmidt is a Rhinelander native and currently serves as a Forest County sheriff’s deputy, a position he’s held since July 2018.
“Officer Zajicek has served our community for 20 plus years and has been an outstanding asset to our department,” said the police chief after the meeting. “We would like to wish Officer Zajicek the best in his retirement.”
In addition to the chief, the department has two detective sergeants, a lieutenant, and seven patrol officers.
In other action on a very light agenda, the board approved 5 p.m. as the time for future bi-monthly board meetings. The 6 p.m. time will remain for budget and annual meetings. Some years ago the board met at 7 p.m. before the shift to the earlier hour.
With few exceptions, notably when Marshfield Clinic sought a conditional use permit for its new hospital, past board meetings have rarely seen much attendance by the general public.
Town chairman Mark Hartzheim also appointed Karen Stinemates to the library board of trustees to fill the vacated position of Jean Mejerle for the remainder of her term. He also re-appointed Laura Mendez and Stephanie Wotachek to the library board for another three-year term.
