By DAVID STEINKRAUS
Journal Times | Posted: Tuesday, December 11, 2007 12:00 am
IVES GROVE - The Racine County Board Tuesday evening postponed the rezoning of land for a new and contentious fire station in Wind Lake and sent the item back to the Economic Development and Land Use Planning Committee.
The reason, said committee Chairman Jeff Halbach, is to give supervisors time to have any questions answered. He said he intends to return the item rapidly to the board for a vote.
The county board chamber was standing room only Tuesday with many uniformed firefighters present. More than a dozen speakers spent about 45 minutes debating the station, but there was little disagreement about the need for a new station. Speakers focused almost exclusively on the effect that fire truck sirens might have on farm animals.
"The particular item is that our cattle will be spooked," said Steve Henningfeld. "If this goes through, I don't know if I will be able to stay in business because of my animals going through fences." Who will be liable, he asked, "if the cattle gets out and say, a car hits our cows, 1,600-pound animals, and kills somebody?"
"I can't imagine we're the only fire operation near a livestock operation in the United States, or certainly in the state of Wisconsin," said Don Hunjadi. Other stations elsewhere and near large livestock operations have had no problems, he said.
In 27 years, there have been no complaints about noise and animals, firefighters said. And fire department member Debbie Blazei said she has cows, pigs and chickens, none of which is disturbed by the siren on her truck as she leaves for a call.
The Norway Town Board and Plan Commission will take up the issue of zoning conditions at a 7:30 meeting tonight at the town hall.
In other matters:
* The board accepted the nomination of John Wisch, 54, of 5720 Randal Lane, to fill a vacant seat representing part of southeastern Caledonia. County Board Chairman Mike Miklasevich nominated Wisch to finish the term of David Hazen who resigned in November after taking a job as chief financial officer for the Racine Unified School District. The term ends in April.
* The board's Executive Committee held a closed session to discuss whether the closed YWCA building in Racine could be of use to the county. The building is across the street to the west from the Racine County Courthouse. The discussions are in the most preliminary stage, and there would have to be much evaluation before a decision, Miklasevich said.
* The county Child Support Department has been in rented Downtown space for years, and a small gray building on the east side of Wisconsin Avenue, which used to house a meeting room and the County Board offices, was razed to make way for an the county jail addition.
* The Executive Committee accepted a draft revision to the county's ethics policy. It was prepared by a special committee and, in particular, strengthened the section on conflicts of interest, said Corporation Counsel Jon Lehman. The draft will be posted on the county's Web site for public comment and will have its first reading at the Jan. 8 board meeting, Miklasevich said.
* The Executive Committee learned that board meetings will be recorded and the audio files placed on the county's Web site. There have been discussions about making board activities more accessible to the public, Miklasevich said, and an audio file seemed the best option.
"We don't know what the quality will be yet, but at least this is a step in the right direction."
* The board approved the transfer of $9,904 within the county budget to provide a glass barrier at the reception desk of the Racine County District Attorney's office. It would not be bulletproof glass but just something to provide a barrier, said Supervisor Peter Hansen, who chairs the Finance Committee which handled the request.