City Council

COMMISSION ON PUBLIC WORKS/UTILITIES COUNCIL ROOM NOVEMBER 24, 2015 6:45 P.M. The Commission on Public Works/Utilities met in regular session, Chair Quicker presiding. On roll call: all members present. The minutes of the previous meeting were declared approved. Director of Public Works Flynn reported on three burials at the cemetery, equipment maintenance, picking up trash, putting up Christmas decorations, preparing equipment for snow removal, hauling brush and compost, removed flags, changed seasonal banners, leaf pickup is in progress, the winter sand supply has been delivered, salt and sand has been mixed, the sewer bar screen installation has been delayed to November 30, 2015, and Flynn will be on vacation from November 28 through December 8, 2015. Motion Neville, second Mabie, that Water bills Nos. 235 to 255 in the amount of $24,024.52 and Sewer bills Nos. 248 to 270 in the amount of $53,472.37 be paid. All Aye. Motion Counsell, second Neville, to adjourn. All Aye. _____________________________________ Jerry L. Quicker, Chair ___________________________________ Rex R. Roehl, Clerk ************ COMMON COUNCIL COUNCIL ROOM NOVEMBER 24, 2015 7:00 P.M. The Common Council met in regular session, Mayor Mabie, presiding. On roll call: all members present. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. The minutes of the previous meeting were declared approved. Council Member Counsell reported on the November 18, 2015 meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission regarding the Christmas Tour of Homes. Council Member Quicker reported on the November 24, 2015 meeting of the Commission on Public Works/Utilities regarding: 1) current activities, and 2) payment of bills. Mayor Mabie declared all reports filed as presented with the City Clerk. Mayor Mabie stated that the next item is a request by Susie and Gale Gall for review of vicious dog determination under City Ordinance Sec. 7-1-6(b). Susie Gall, 1405 Bruley Street, stated she would like to talk after a few of the others. Dennis Beattie, W10197 Gaylord Road, Merrillan, WI, stated that as a veteran, he understands public safety and safety of citizens. Kurt Gall is a Marine in Afghanistan, and this is his dog. Beattie asked the Council to consider two things: 1) postpone a decision until you hear from the dog owner, and 2) give the Gall family the opportunity to build a secure kennel. Betty Barr, 318 E. Fourth Street, expressed concerns about various portions of the ordinance recently passed: 1) any Police Department employee can determine a dog as vicious, then the owner has five days to remove the dog – do all members of the department have the training to determine if a dog is vicious, there are legal issues here and training needs, 2) documentation of the dog bites, people coming forward a year or year- and-a-half later saying they have been bitten, a bite should be reported when it happens, if a person is bitten you need to find out immediately if that dog has been rabies vaccinated – how do people know if they don’t report it, a bite has to be documented other than by word of mouth, and 3) when an ordinance is put in place is it legal to go back to previous incidences, Barr’s concern is this is setting a precedent – how far are you going to go back, this leaves everyone in the city open if their dog bites someone. Council Member Clough stated understand this was not about the incidence – it had to do with two dogs being declared vicious. One of the dogs has already been relocated out of the City. Barr stated referring back – was the determining person trained, was there proper documentation when the person was bitten. You can’t say a dog is vicious without training. Mayor Mabie stated the ordinance came about because of what happened, Chief Klueckmann had been the City’s K-9 drug dog handler and well trained in dog behaviors, this dog has had problems. Barr stated that her questions are because of general dog concerns. Chief of Police Klueckmann stated we have to deal with safety issues; Klueckmann questioned what special training, he was a trained dual purposed drug dog handler and familiar with dog behaviors; our goal is not to target dogs, two dogs have been determined vicious; proper documentation – calls received, officer responses, the dog was reviewed by a vet three times, a citation or warning was issued for the three complaints received, the dog was deemed vicious and two people came forward afterwards and have been included as part of the report documentation. Council Member Counsell stated that one of the persons came forward later because when it happened, they did not want to make trouble. Klueckmann stated that he would let the City Attorney respond about the retroactive question. City Attorney Wachsmuth stated that the City is not going retroactive, the City’s definition of “vicious dog” was not changed – Section 7-1-1(b)(17) was already in the ordinance. The only change was to have the dog removed, before you had to have $100,000 liability insurance and the dog muzzled and on a leash. The insurance and muzzling requirements were not working. With only two dogs deemed vicious, retroactivity was not placed in the ordinance. Council Member Counsell stated that Wis. Statutes Chapter 174 does the same as we are doing here. Barr stated regarding proper certification, you can contact Charles Wegner, Clark County Humane Society. Klueckmann stated tonight is the reason he requested that a review procedure be placed in the ordinance, the Common Council has oversight and he is not making the decision solely. City Attorney Wachsmuth stated the ordinance does not set a number of incidences to deem a dog vicious – if a person was killed, one would be sufficient, or it may take more. Klueckmann read the ordinance definition of “Vicious Dog”, stating five bites have been reported – three before and two after. Complaints are reviewed individually. Julie Berry questioned why there was not documentation pictures taken. Klueckmann stated that he won’t have his officers take pictures of a woman’s inner thigh. If the skin is broken, it is a bite. Betty Hansen, 822 Grand Avenue, stated that she is not a dog lover, she has cats, but she knows Zelda personally. She barked the first time they met, but Hansen was a stranger, then she calmed down. Hansen feels bad for the dog, Major Gall should have an opportunity to speak. The Galls have complied with a fence, please give this some thought. Klueckmann stated that the bites were not questioned until we got to this point. He asked if the Galls had talked to their son, but Mr. Gall has refused to talk to his son about the dog. The Galls have had opportunities to talk to their son. Charles Cooper, 210 E. Division Street, Lot #18, stated that his son was bitten by a dog, the dog was put in quarantine, deemed vicious, and still released to the owner. City Attorney Wachsmuth stated she could not respond to a set of facts she knows nothing about. Mayor Mabie stated that matter has no bearing on tonight’s action. City Attorney Wachsmuth stated the old ordinance required insurance and muzzling, but the City had no way to monitor compliance. That is why it was determined that the ordinance needed to be changed. Susie Gall stated that 9 or 10 people sent letters in her support, copies were given to the Mayor, we have $100,000 insurance, put up a fence, and Zelda is not out in the fence without them present. Her son is in the desert on active duty with 1,000 soldiers under his command. Her son will be home in March, and then stationed somewhere else. Zelda is not a vicious dog, she will come up to you and bark, then want to play ball. Gall requested that the Council give her son a chance to come and get his wife’s dog, his wife died (Susie had to oversee the burial), it is not easy for him being over there and grieving for his wife. Mayor Mabie stated that we do understand, but are bound by our ordinance. If the dog were to bite again, we could be sued. We are ready to vote. This is not a hearing, and he is not a judge. We need to keep others safe. Council Member Clough stated that two issues are involved here: 1) public safety, and 2) other circumstances – death of a wife/daughter-in-law and son serving overseas. The Council has to come to a solution. City Attorney Wachsmuth stated nothing requires the dog be put down, the ordinance only requires removal of the dog from the City. Ann Zickert, W8964 Wildwood Road, Willard, asked how do you move a dog without its’ parent. City Attorney Wachsmuth replied the same way you would if you had a sitter or kenneled it. Klueckmann stated that the ordinance authorizes the Police Department to seize the dog. We don’t want to have to do that, we just want to have it moved out of the City. Barr asked how much time is allowed. Klueckmann replied five days. Council Member Counsell stated that there is such a thing as a kennel. We have a situation we are aware of, and while training is important, it is not everything. If in two months, something were to happen, and we had information and documentation and did nothing – then what. Motion Counsell, second Glassbrenner, to uphold the vicious dog determination (on Zelda) as determined by the Chief of Police. On roll call: Council Member Counsell – Aye, Council Member Glassbrenner – Aye, Council Member Clough – Aye, Council Member Quicker – Aye, Council Member Neville – Aye. 5 – Aye, 0 – Nay, Motion carried. Gall stated that she would be pursuing this with an attorney. Council Member Clough stated that the Thanksgiving holiday is followed by Black Friday and Small Business Saturday (support your local hometown businesses), with Hometown Holiday Magic the following weekend. Council Member Glassbrenner reported on attending the Hospital Finance Committee meeting. They had a fantastic October, and a year-to-date $680,000 improvement over last year. They are requesting time on the December Council agenda – they would like to move the City economic development loan to a subordinate position to borrow funds for improvements. Council Member Counsell reported on attending the Clark County Tourism Committee meeting – there are a lot of things coming together with new opportunities going out to communities next year. Motion Neville, second Quicker, that City bills Nos. 1160 to 1194 in the amount of $1,065,693.43 and CDBG Housing Escrow Account bills Nos. 6 to 11 in the amount of $18,768.75 be paid. All Aye. Motion Counsell, second Neville, to adjourn. All Aye. _____________________________________ Steven J. Mabie, Mayor ___________________________________ Rex R. Roehl, Clerk ************