By Ryan Whisner
Two ordinance changes approved by the Fort Atkinson City Council will have a differing impact on both juveniles and adults.
The council approved a redrafted version of the city’s curfew violation ordinance and removed an ordinance that had established the Fort Atkinson Municipal Building’s hours of operation.
Council members approved both ordinances unanimously.
Fort Atkinson Police Chief Adrian Bump explained that there were two main motivators behind coming up with a new version of the curfew violation ordinance.
“We want ordinances to be easy to understand, both for people that they affect for them to easily understand them and apply them and follow,” he said. “The other thing is, we want ordinances to be functional and useful for those who apply them, our law enforcement officers in this situation.”
The chief noted that the existing ordinance was older and had some unusual wording in it, making it somewhat confusing.
“That makes it not only confusing for parents, but also makes it more cumbersome for our officers to efficiently and effectively apply the ordinance and get to the end result,” he said. “We want to have compliance and we want to then also change behavior.”
Specifically, Bump explained that the current ordinance takes away officers’ use of discretion at every level of application.
“I feel that ordinances are used the best in our community when officers can use their discretion to apply them at the appropriate times and not be forced to modify them or be forced to apply them,” the chief said. “In the end, it’s not about writing a citation or getting someone in trouble, but we want to change the behavior and reduce opportunities for bad things to happen.”
Bump redrafted the ordinance to get rid of some of the words, such as those that tied the officers down.
For example, using the word shall in the ordinance takes away any discretion for the officer.
“An officer would struggle to be able to use their discretion in a situation,” he said. “Just to go a little bit further, not every violation deserves a citation, and not every violation requires a warning. That’s what this ordinance was doing in the way it was worded.”
Under the current ordinance, Bump said a curfew violation could take an officer off the street for up to an hour more.
“We deal with curfew violations weekly, more commonly in the summer than during the school year, but it’s a common violation or issue that we’re dealing with,” Bump said.
The existing ordinance required the officer to take the juvenile into custody, return them to the police station and then contact a parent or guardian.
“I feel it’s more efficient and effective for us to maybe do that. sometimes,” the chief said. “Really when you’re maybe on a traffic stop with juveniles or at a home that is not their own. A lot of times it’s easier for the officer to take the child to their home and drop them off to their parents or have the parent come to that scene and release him from there.”
He said that allows law enforcement to be way more efficient and effective and have quicker, more direct contact with the parent and problem-solve the situation as fast as possible.
As amended, the ordinance makes it unlawful for any person under the age of 18 years to loiter, loaf, or idle on foot, bicycle, or in any type of vehicle on any public street, avenue, alley, park, school grounds or other public place in the city between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and midnight and 5 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Violators will be subject to a penalty of $25 to $100 for a first violation and $25 to $150 for a second or subsequent violation.
In addition, any parent or guardian also may be issued citations for permitting any violations of the curfew ordinance.
Municipal building hours of operation
City Clerk Michelle Ebbert was responsible for presenting an ordinance to eliminate the existing city code that restricts the municipal building’s hours of operation.
Currently, per ordinance approved January 4, 1994, business hours for the municipal building are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., except summer hours from the Monday after Memorial Day to the Friday before Labor Day are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
“Staff has researched what made them put office hours into the ordinance and unfortunately we’re not really to come up with anything,” Ebbert said. “It seems with the summer hours they felt it was important in 1994 to establish it with an ordinance versus having a policy set by the city manager or the city council.”
With the advancement of technology, the city has been able to offer more services effectively to its residents through the city website. For example, she said more than 1,600 residents use Express Bill Pay for their utility payments.
“What’s convenient with Express Bill Pay I is you can see your bills, see your previous bill, get notification when your utility bills are ready, make payments online and there’s no charge,” the clerk said.
Options for online application and payments also have increased with the Fort Atkinson Parks and Recreation office. Applications for shelter use and program enrollment is available online.
In addition, municipal court citations and parking tickets can be paid online.
“Most recently we’ve upgraded and allowed for building permits to be applied and paid for online,” Ebbert said. “These conveniences along with decreased foot traffic since COVID-19 made some overall changes within our office.”
The intent is to maintain what is currently referred to as the “summer hours” 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. as the regular municipal building hours.
With the council’s approval, the ordinance will terminate on Labor Day.
She said the staff does not feel that changing office hours is going to negatively impact residents, visitors, or guests.
“There are several times throughout the year that we will make adjustments as needed,” Ebbert said, citing specifically property tax time, dog license renewal, and especially elections. “
Also, she noted that the elimination of the ordinance authorizes the city manager to temporarily close the building due to inclement weather or an emergency.”
“In my nine years I don’t think that we have ever closed for any reason,” she said. “We’ve certainly made sure staff is safe and comfortable to get home, but we’ve been fortunate that we’ve been able to stay open to serve the public.”
Fort Atkinson Municipal Building, file photo/Chris Spangler.
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