Published: Jan. 22, 2019
West Bend Common Council approves chicken ordinance
Salary changes OK’d for police, Department of Public Works
By Nicholas Dettmann
ndettmann@conleynet.com 262-306-5043
WEST BEND — A second reading of the proposed chicken
ordinance within city limits yielded the same result at Monday night’s Common
Council meeting.
The difference now is, the ordinance will be implemented
into city code.
On Jan. 7, the eight council members voted 4-4 on the
ordinance that would amend section 9.07 and create sections 9.075 and 12.175 of
the municipal code, allowing residents to maintain chickens within city limits,
but with guidelines.
Voting against it was aldermen John Butschlick, Rich Kasten,
Steve Hoogester and Roger Kist. Mayor Kraig Sadownikow issued the tie-breaking
vote in favor of it.
Because the ordinance didn’t receive unanimous support,
Administrator Jay Shambeau said the ordinance had to be read a second time,
which is what happened Monday. And, just like two weeks ago, the council voted
4-4 on the ordinance, with the same aldermen casting the “no” votes.
Before Sadownikow announced his deciding vote, he, for one
said this is the only third topic he’s had to vote on in eight years. He also
offered insight based on discussions he had with constituents.
“My personal tally in either emails, phone calls or
face-to-face interaction is 7-6 in favor of the chickens,” Sadownikow said. “I
did speak to a group of about 30 folks week before last, I would say maybe 20
of them were constituents and I asked each of them to raise their hands if they
were sick of the chicken topic and all 20 hands went up. I then asked them to
leave their hands up if they had a burning desire one way or the other and
every single hand went down.
“I suspect this is a personal choice with folks. I wasn’t
seeing a great sway one way or the other.”
Then, because of that, he said he would maintain his “yes”
vote.
Several other municipalities throughout Washington County
have been dealing with the issue of chickens, including Jackson and Slinger.
Among the issues municipalities are having with the chicken topic is the
concern of noise and smell, as well as enforcement.
Alderman Chris Jenkins introduced the ordinance in West Bend
nearly two years ago. In March 2017, the ordinance was rejected by all council
members, except Jenkins. At that time, Butschlick said chickens are meant to be
raised on a farm.
Jenkins said after Monday’s meeting he thought a change of
the council’s makeup likely helped bring a more open mind to the idea and
helped push it forward to Monday’s result.
The ordinance allows residents to keep up to four chickens
at $50 per year. They can only be kept at single-family homes or duplexes.
Roosters are forbidden, and residents are not allowed to slaughter chickens on
their property.
Other parameters in the ordinance included enclosures must
be rodent-proof, water-proof and predator-proof, and must be placed within an
enclosed space. They can’t be in the front yard, must be at least 5 feet from a
lot and cannot be within 25 feet of a separate residence.
By about Feb. 15, residents can start the process to get the
licensing to have chickens.
“If you’re interested in getting chickens in the city of
West Bend, you can obtain a form, which is a license application from the
Treasurer’s office,” Shambeau said. “Once you have that form, it’ll get
transferred up to the Development Department. ... The department will review
for setbacks and other parameters that are required for the chickens.”
Shambeau said residents may or may not need a plat of survey
to receive the chicken license permit, which means a surveyor to locate the
property lines.
❑❑❑
Pay increases approved for police department, DPW Council
members unanimously approved a pair of wage modifications Monday.
Wage increases of 3 percent for each of the next three years
was approved for the West Bend Police Department after negotiations between the
city and the West Bend Police Protective Association. An additional 1 percent
is available to the veteran officers in year three.
Kasten said the negotiations for the contract “went very
well.”
Michelle Hoey, human resources director, made a presentation
about the compensation schedule for the DPW. She said the department has
struggled with recruiting and retaining employees.
Before Monday’s decision, entry-level wages were at $18.50
per hour. According to her presentation, what was happening was West Bend would
hire entry-level employees, train them and those employees would then leave for
better pay.
The proposal was to increase the entry-level pay to $21 per
hour.
Butschlick and Sadownikow each agreed that they didn’t want
West Bend to be a training ground for employees and other municipalities.
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