Lincoln City Council
Animal topics dominate discussion

 

[June 11, 2020] 

In their first committee of the whole meeting in several weeks, animals seemed to dominate the topics as Lincoln aldermen discussed animal control, troublesome dogs, and allowing chickens to be raised within city limits.

Public participation

The evening began with a call to order by Mayor Pro-tem Tracy Welch. The meetings are still limited to in-person appearances by essential members only. Public comments are taken via telephone. When the lines were opened up, there were a number of call-ins this week.

A caller who is a Ward 1 resident spoke about the need to be tougher on animal violations. He addressed a particular problem with a nuisance dog on 21st Street in Lincoln.

The caller said that the dog is large and menacing. While he has yet to bite anyone as far as the caller knows, he is a chaser. He chases cars down the street, people walking and kids on bikes. The caller said that it is only a matter of time until something goes wrong. In addition, he said that the dog barks a lot and at all hours of the day and night.

The caller asked that the city give the Animal Control warden more authority to handle the situation. It is the caller's understanding that the warden cannot issue tickets for noise violations and that there are a lot of gray areas as to whom to go to between city police and animal control to get something done about the dog.

Alderman Kevin Bateman joined in saying that he, though a Ward 2 alderman, has received calls and complaints about this particular dog as well. He said it was a serious concern of the residents who live in the area, and Bateman felt those concerns were justified.

Alderman returned to that conversation later in the evening as agenda items nine and ten were in regard to the “Animal Control Act/Contract” and “Fines for Animal Control.”

The next caller repeated a request first made at the November 12, 2019, committee of the whole meeting. Kevin Qualters had at that time requested that the city consider allowing chickens to be raised within the city limits.

This week that topic came back on the agenda, and Qualters called in to repeat his request.

Qualters wants to raise up to six chickens for egg production for his family. He told the council that he does not want to produce eggs or meat for sale and that there would be no slaughter of birds. He only wants eggs.

He said that nearby, Williamsville has now written ordinances to permit chickens for the same purpose. He said in that town the ordinance included a permit that had to be purchased from the city as well as annual inspections of the chicken coops and the resident’s designated area for the chickens. He added that the city also implemented rules about distancing coops from neighboring homes.

In addition to Qualters, Dr. David Gerlach called in to discuss this. While Gerlach is the president of Lincoln College, he is also a resident of the city and was calling in representing himself.

He said that the conditions that we are living under now and concerns for availability of food during the early days of the coronavirus was driving home to many the need to be more self-sufficient. He said acts like growing gardens and having chickens for egg production would increase self-sufficiency.

In addition, Gerlach said that there were educational benefits to having the birds as it would be good for youngsters and would help some learn more about agriculture.

Alderman Ron Keller addressed this only briefly saying that in 2014 the council had passed an ordinance prohibiting a wide variety of animals including chickens.

Chickens were to be discussed in item 12 of the agenda. Welch recommended that the council move on to the order of agenda and bring the topic back up when it came up on that agenda.

Animal Control and Fines

When items nine and 10 came up on the agenda, Welch said that the council should discuss the two together as they were related.

Bateman started by saying that he had looked at the city code referring to animal control and had noted that the Animal Control Warden has no authority to issue citations. He felt that should be changed and said the city would benefit from permitting the warden to issue citations by taking at least some of that responsibility away from the police.

The police, he said, would still need to be involved in certain situations, and they would still be able to issue citations at any time, but would not be required to be present for a citation to be issued.

Alderman Jeff Hoinacki said he agreed that the warden should be permitted to write tickets, but he wondered how that would work, because the warden is not a city employee. Would that muddy the water?

City Attorney John Hoblit said he had some reservations. He said that he felt this could cause some issues for police officers and that there could be ramifications. At the same time, he said that a review of the codes also indicated that in 1985 the council had given the authority to write tickets to the animal control warden and his/her staff. Hoblit said he didn’t know when or how that had changed.

Bateman referred back to the call earlier in the evening about the nuisance dog on 21st Street. He said that he had conversations with animal control and law enforcement on the removal of the dog. At that time, the warden had said that she did not have the authority to remove the animal. If she had that authority she would have done it by now.

Welch said that he had met with Bateman, the Lincoln Police Chief and the city attorney on this topic. He said that in order to implement the changes proposed, there would have to be very clear guidelines on who was permitted to do what.

Alderman Sam Downs also commented, bringing up the problems with coyotes and other feral animals in the city. The animal control isn’t able to do anything about those and he wondered if that could be changed as well.

Bateman said that where the coyotes are concerned the answer is no. Coyotes are wildlife and fall under the Department of Natural Resources.

[Illinois Department of Resources - Coyotes]

Bateman said that in crafting new policies, the city wanted to be careful not to put the animal control warden in harm’s way. He said there are still going to be circumstances when law enforcement needs to respond to a call.

He added that based on what Hoblit had said earlier, the city apparently wrote authority for the warden, but perhaps never voted to implement it?

Alderman Steve Parrott asked if animal control was available 24-hours per day. Bateman said that yes the department is on call 24/7. However, he said that in a conversation with the city attorney, state’s attorney, and Lincoln Police all had agreed that night time calls should be the responsibility of the police department first.

Bateman said when dogs bark there are a number of reasons including night time intruders into a home. Animal control should not have to take the risk of arriving on the scene under such a circumstance.

Moving on the fines imposed, Hoblit reviewed the fines for “Dogs at large.” He said that the fines are tiered with the cost increasing based on the number of calls for one dog in one year. The fines range from $10 for the first offense to $50 for the fourth offence in a 12 month period. After the fourth offense in one year, the fine moves to $100 per incident. He noted that in addition to the basic fine, the defendant also pays court costs of $100 per offense.

Bateman said he felt that there should be a zero added to the back of each of those fines. He noted that the fines for barking dogs is higher than for those of a dog running loose. Fines for barking are implement as “not less” than $75 “nor more than” $250 per occurrence.

Hoblit pointed out that the barking dogs fall under nuisance noise in the city code and it is therefore a police matter. He said that there would need to be adjustments made to not only the animal control ordinances but also the police nuisance ordinance.

Welch said that the council would benefit from seeing something in writing. He asked that Bateman and Hoblit work together to draft the changes needed.

Bateman pointed out that the city’s contract with Animal Control is past due for renewal. There will need to be changes and additions done to the animal control contract based on the changes made to city ordinances. Both need to be done in tandem as much as possible. Bateman said the council could revisit the topic at the June 23rd committee of the whole, with the written recommendations in front of them.

Welch said he is not in favor of fast tracking topics because it leads to oversights and errors. However, he added that there are Lincoln constituents who are asking for help and he doesn’t want to leave those constituents in limbo. In addition, the animal control contract needs to be approved and signed.

As the discussion came to a close, it was decided that Bateman and Hoblit will get together immediately to work on the amendments. When they have completed them, the changes will be emailed to all the aldermen for review. If they can get the work done by Thursday, June 11th, then the items may be placed on the voting agenda for next week. If not, then the changes will be held over to the June 23rd committee of the whole.

Chickens in town

Moving on to the chicken issue, Keller said that city Zoning Officer Wes Woodhall has drafted a proposed ordinance for the allowance of chickens in the city. He said that the draft included requirements for coops, security, disposal of waste, and also prohibits roosters. He asked that the council review what has been drafted and suggest any changes or additions. He would like for the new ordinance to be discussed at the June 23rd committee of the whole.

Bateman said that he was opposed to allowing chickens in the city for one big reason: coyotes. He said that the number one draw for coyotes is a chicken. Because the city already has a coyote problem, he feels chickens would only make the problem worse.

Bateman added that in speaking with the animal control warden, she had said that she gets a lot more calls and questions about pot belly pigs and pigmy goats than she ever does chickens. Bateman said the council should be prepared for those requests to come next if they permit chickens.

Keller said he understood Bateman's concerns regarding the coyotes, but that other cities are allowing chickens and they don’t appear to have a concern about coyotes. He added that perhaps those cities don’t have a coyote problem to start with though.

Keller also said that a large satisfaction survey he had seen that involved several cities had shown that violations concerning chickens were very low.

Keller also drew chuckles from the group when he punned “if the coyotes get the chickens, I guess we can charge them with 'foul play'.”

Woodhall was not in council chambers but did call in to comment on this topic. He said his only concern about chickens was nuisance odor.

He added that he was in favor of the permitting process because it would give the city more information about where chickens are located. Welch commented that yes, it was known that there are already some chickens in the city. With the permit, the city could see just how many.

Welch requested that Keller and Hoblit work together on a proposal for the aldermen to consider. That proposal should be ready for the June 23rd committee of the whole.

With that decision, the animal debates for the evening concluded. Council members went on to discuss other topics to be added to the June 15th voting agenda.

[Nila Smith]