DARLINGTON — At the City of Darlington meeting held on Tuesday, June 6, 2023 at 7 p.m. the council conducted normal business.
The all-encompassing Ordinance 03-2023 was approved at the City’s Policy, Procedures and Ordinance (PP&O) Committee and then approved at the regular council meeting.
The document, created by City Attorney Aaron Stauffacher, is meant to protect city residents, mostly children, from registered sex offenders (RSO) that are released into the City of Darlington.
A recent trend from the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) is to release RSO into a city of the offender’s choice. Previously, offenders were released into the county where their crime was committed — that has changed. The City of Darlington has received several RSOs in recent years, depending on the severity of their crime or years that they have been out of prison. In some instances, the Darlington Police Department isn’t given notice that RSOs are being released in the city, until after the RSO has established residence.
The ordinance was precipitated by a group of concerned Darlington residents that found out a RSO was living within their neighborhood.
The ordinance identifies areas within the city where RSOs cannot live or loiter called safety locations, with safety zones being a 750-foot buffer around the safety location.
These safety zones include public or private schools; licensed day care centers; libraries; recreational trails; playgrounds or parks — including the Lafayette County Fairgrounds; specialized schools for children — including, without limitation, gymnastics academies, dance academies, or music schools; bus stops; swimming pools, wading pools, or aquatic facilities held open for use by the public; athletic fields used by children; assisted living facilities, manors, and/or skilled nursing facilities for elderly and disabled individuals; Lafayette County Housing Authority residential units; churches or places of worship; and all campgrounds within the City of Darlington.
An unofficial map was created as a guideline for discussion. There is no official map, as safety locations are determined through the language of the ordinance. The ordinance leaves it up to the offender where they can and cannot live, with the assistance of the police department.
It is the responsibility of the RSO to have knowledge of the safety locations and to adhere to the ordinance’s regulations.
Stauffacher noted, “We have made this ordinance the least restrictive as possible, so the document can survive a legal challenge. We have to do our due diligence, balancing what is too restrictive and our goals protecting certain individuals, but not imposing on (RSO) individuals rights.”
The ordinance will be posted on the city’s website.
In other city business the PP&O Committee
● Looked at two firms that would take care of the city’s ordinance codification services. The committee approved using General Code for codification service at a one-time cost of $13,995 with an annual cost of $1,195.
● Approved a façade painting scheme from Michelle Haas for a building located at 315 Main Street.
● Approved the 2022 Compliance Maintenance annual report of the city’s Waste Water Treatment Plant. The report showed all As, except for the Influent Flow and Loading section, as Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) was over the acceptable threshold for every month for the DNR regulations.
The BODs are coming from the Mexican Cheese Producers Plant, and they have been put on notice. The plant is already paying fines with the overages but will be cut off if steps aren’t made to correct the situation. Mexican Cheese is in the midst of treating the BODs before they are sent to the city but have had issues getting the system online.
● Approved Resolution 2023-09, a compliance maintenance resolution that is required by the DNR.
● Approved the renewal of alcohol beverage license applications from local establishments for the period beginning July 1, 2023 and ending June 30, 2024.
A new license was issued
to Driver Opera House Restoration, Inc. per ordinance.
● Received an update on the pool. After years of trial and tribulation, the pool leaks have been found and repaired. The pool is open to the public as of Friday, June 9.
● Approved payment of May 2023 vouchers in the amount of $318,371.