Mondovi Council approves pair of ordinance changes; outcome of Parks Commission meeting discussed

by Beth Kraft

Ordinances pertaining to open burning and keeping chickens in Mondovi’s city limits discussed at previous meetings were approved by the City Council at its second regular meeting of the month on Tuesday, May 26.

The city’s open burning and refuse burning ordinance was re-created to address guidelines for fire pits and bonfires in the city. New to the ordinance are restrictions advising that no open burning can take place within 15 feet of combustible materials or buildings, with the exception of backyard grills. 

Additionally, bonfire and fire ring flame height is to be limited to 18 inches above the top of the structure, an increase from the 12 inches city leaders agreed was acceptable on at the Council’s last meeting.

The ordinance will also now give the city’s fire chief and police chief the authority to extinguish any fire they identify as dangerous for any reason.

Other portions of the existing ordinance were unchanged, including a list of materials that cannot be burned such as garbage, painted wood, plastic, rubber, recyclables, and yard waste, and a ban against burn barrels on properties within the city limits.

The penalty for violating the burn ordinance is $25, but not more than $250, plus the cost of prosecution. Penalties increase with each offense. 

City residents who wish to apply for a conditional use permit to keep chickens on their properties now know the penalty for violations of that city ordinance.

A $25 fee plus court costs was agreed on by the Council for violations of the conditional use permit to keep chickens, which would also come with permit revocation.

The Council also approved the minutes from a May 14 Parks Commission meeting, sparking some conversation on the subject.

At the meeting, Mondovi Youth Baseball Association reps suggested two different plans for placing a new baseball field at Mondovi’s Memorial Park in the Arboretum area, just west of the existing Linse Field.

The MYBA explained growing youth participation in the organization dictates the need for another field in town, and the Arboretum offers the best spot. However, their plans were met by some criticism from nearby residents who voiced concerns about losing green space and existing mature trees in addition to increased traffic near their homes.

Mondovi Mayor Treig Pronschinske, who attended the Parks Commission meeting, said he was still waiting for the committee to bring a recommendation to the Council.

The committee had discussed meeting again to delve further into the issue, but Pronschinske told the Council he hadn’t yet heard when that meeting would take place.

The possibility of placing the baseball field on city-owned land next to the Mondovi Tourist Park, known as the Olson farm property, was also brought up.

Pronschinske wished to clarify that the city did not necessarily purchase the Olson farm specifically for a baseball field—a common misconception around town, he said.

Councilman Dan Johnson noted the city was interested in purchasing the property because it was adjacent to an existing city park and was reasonably priced.

The Mondovi Historical Society had also agreed to care for the property, Pronschinske added, and obtaining land next to a park was sure to be a rare opportunity.

Investigating creating a city policy to address the donation of sick leave time and Family Medical Leave Act time was also discussed by the Council at the suggestion of councilwoman Lynn Smith.

The issue came up recently after city administrator Dan Lauersdorf volunteered to donate some accumulated sick leave time to a city employee.

Smith commended Lauersdorf for the gesture, but thought the city should have a policy to govern any future sick leave donations to be consistent from one case to the next for all city employees.

The city’s employee handbook currently does not address the option to donate sick leave or FMLA time, Smith pointed out.

Lauersdorf said a new policy to address the issue would have to be negotiated with the union for some employees.

The Council agreed the city should check with other businesses to see how they handle the subject of donating sick leave, tabling the issue until more information can be gathered on the subject.

Other discussion topics that night included concern for the upkeep of Mondovi’s parks, with several Council members in agreement that the buildings at Linse Field could use some attention—namely a fresh coat of paint.

Council member Lori Larson asked who is responsible for the upkeep of the field and buildings.

Lauersdorf said the Mondovi Softball Association built the facility back in the ‘70s and takes care of maintenance.

Larson also noted some dead trees along the first base line of the field are a hazard and should be taken down.

Geese at Mirror Lake Park and pigeons downtown also continue to be problems in Mondovi, the Council agreed, but ideas of how to confront the nuisance birds are in short supply.

It was hoped that work to rip-rap the shoreline at Mirror Lake last fall would discourage the geese from nesting there, but it doesn’t seem to have worked, Pronschinske acknowledged.

Business owners downtown continue to struggle with an overabundance of pigeons, Larson said.

Both types of birds leave unsightly messes on downtown buildings, sidewalks and in the grassy areas in the parks. The geese can also be aggressive.

Pronschinske noted something will have to be done about the pigeons and geese soon.

In other business that night, the Council approved the following:

• temporary Class “B” picnic license for Mondovi Softball Association (Josh Dregney) from June 1-14, 2015, contingent on final approval by Mondovi Police Chief Scott Smith