Fowl talk

Council debates pros, cons of a permitting system

HARTINGTON — Hartington City Council members Monday decided they need to get their ducks in a row before they can consider a new fowl ordinance.

After a presentation by 14-year-old Sylvie Neiman at the last council meeting, council members decided to consider putting a permitting system in place that would allow some chickens, other fowl and horses to be housed within the city limits.

City Clerk Casey Schulte said after talking with several other communities, she discovered most towns do allow chickens inside the city limits.

Mayor Mark Becker said if these animals were allowed in town, he would like to make sure the city “knows where they are, so we can monitor them.”

Becker suggested using a permit system to register the animals with the city office, similar to what is now used for dogs. The permit would need to be renewed annually. That way, if an issue arises, the city has the authority to deny a permit request, he said.

“We have a statute to register dogs, why can’t we do the same thing with chickens?” he said.

Councilman Colin Kathol agreed with Becker.

“We should handle it the same way we handle dogs,” he said. “The bottom line is this — we allow people to have dogs in town, and we do these things if people somewhat take control over them. If they’re off running all over town, that’s a little different.”

Councilman Chris Bartling said he would be opposed to allowing fowl and other animals to reside within city limits.

“They bring rats and mice to town. We don’t want that,” he said.

After a lengthy discussion, City Attorney Nikki Brandt advised the council to table the issue so they could gather more information.