Home Companion was still on the radio every Saturday night the program would conclude with another memorable monologue about "the little town that time forgot and the decades cannot improve" with the same line, "It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, my hometown..." I think we can all agree that this past summer it was anything but quiet around here on account of the “debate” over Flock cameras, the conduct of our former Chief of Police and whether or not the Council should simply countermand Chief's decision to sign the contract in the first place.
But a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then. On August 28, the Council – encouraged by former Chief Ambrozaitus – chose to “bag” the Flock cameras rendering them unusable. And on September 1st, Chief Ron stepped away from active duty (he will remain on the payroll until December 31 using up his unused vacation and pto-time).
Since then it's gotten very quiet around here (but to be fair things usually do following Labor Day weekend.). But lingering questions remain, such as:
When will the Flock cameras go away?
Good question! We do not own them. They are the property of Flock Safety. We pay the subscription fee much as any of us would do for a streaming service. We have informed Flock that we do not intend to use them anymore but when they get around to coming to retrieve them is anybody's guess. Both former Chief Ron and Interim Chief Jessica Larson did intimate the possibility of getting out of our contract and even getting a refund, especially for the last two years of the three-year term. But last week we received word that Flock would honor no exit from our agreement and that we are on the hook for all $18K, even if we do not use them.
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| The Flock camera by Dunamis |
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| Chief Ron standing by CPD's UTV |
So they remain where they are but they remain bagged and inoperable.
What is Ordinance 808A?
Last week, at October's City Council meeting, the Common Council unanimously approved Ordinance 808A which addresses public decorum and comment during public meetings. Much remains the same as it has always been assumed that any individual wishing to address the council has three minutes to do so, that they are to do so in a courteous and respectful manner and not engage in personal attacks. What is different is that beginning next month only those who live in the 54728 zip code area, pay taxes here or own a business here, may address the council. This area includes the City of Chetek, the Towns of Chetek, Prairie Lake, Dovre, Maple Grove, Dallas and Sioux Creek as well as portions of the Towns of Rusk and Strickland in Rusk County and portions of Sand Creek in Dunn County. Beyond that, say, if you live in Bloomer or Rice Lake, you will not be heard (so long as you do not own property or a business inside 54728).
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| If you want to address the council, you'll need to either live within the green lines or pay taxes here |
Prior to the council meeting if you are wanting to participate in public comment you would privately check in with the City Clerk to ascertain your address thus alleviating the fear of being “doxed”, the concern that your home address would be revealed on the internet. The main reason for enacting this ordinance should be obvious: to keep non-locals from having a say in local matters and stirring the pot in pursuit of their own personal agendas.
What's this about a new arrangement with the neighboring townships?
As most of us are aware, at the present time the city's brush site is free to city residents. All that is necessary when driving up to the “Jack Shack” is to show Jack your city utility bill (either a physical copy, a PSN paperless billing version or a City-issued pass from City Hall) as proof of residency. If you, say, live out on the island (Town of Chetek) or across the highway (Town of Prairie Lake) you cannot dump there. The primary reason is the cost of grinding. I'm told that while most winters we try to burn the brush the last few years we have not had enough snow to properly do so. Currently, our pile is so big that we'll need to contract with a grinding service to get rid of it all at the city's expense. And that's just our stuff – imagine if it were open to a wider circle of people?
After several meetings to work out the details, the council voted to approve the creation of an intergovernmental cooperation agreement between the Towns of Chetek and Prairie Lake and the City of Chetek. By the terms that were agreed upon, any resident of these three municipalities for a fee set by their individual municipality may have access to the brush site. A seasonal pass would be purchased at City Hall and some kind of sticker or card would be issued that would allow access to the site – similar to the seasonal pass to City Dock. While officially the City has not set our seasonal fee yet at the present time $25 is being kicked around as a starting place. This would be a user fee so that if you never used the brush site you would not have to pay for it. All the money collected would be used for the creation of the pass and the cost of grinding the brush.
While the brush site remains open for free at the present time, this agreement will go into effect in 2027. While the folks who live in the Towns of Chetek or Prairie Lake are our neighbors and friends, you'll have to wait until next year to have access to it. But hey, look at the bright side: that's just a little over six months from now before we reopen the site next spring.
Well, as Keillor would put it, that's the news from here... “where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking and all the children are above average.” I'd say that aptly describes us. We're just people trying to making our wonderful community just a little bit better.
