Citizens now required by law to clean up after Fido
BROKEN BOW - People in Broken Bow are now responsible for cleaning up after their animals and properly disposing of the waste.
At the April 12 Broken Bow City Council meeting, council members approved Ordinance 1258 Amending Municipal Code Chapter 93 and adding 93.52 Animal Waste to the Municipal Code. It is now unlawful to allow a dog to leave feces on city property such as a park or sidewalk and not clean it up and dispose of it.
During a public hearing on the ordinance, City Administrator Dan Knoell said the city has been receiving lots of complaints.
Knoell said people let dogs run free on baseball and soccer fields as well as in city parks and do not clean up after them. “The Parks Department does their best job mowing and trying to make sure the waste is always cleaned up but we are receiving multiple phone calls about waste,” he said. “It’s soccer season and the kids are having to dodge land mines.”
He related a personal experience of attending his son’s baseball practice and watching another child dive for a ball. “When he stood up, from his neck to his middle area was a streak of dog feces,” Knoell said.
He also spoke of a military veteran who, as a volunteer, cleans animal waste from the Square. This citizen asked a person to pick up after a dog and was challenged with rough language. He also cited a recent incident at Melham Park when a woman with two dogs said she would pick up after the dogs but didn’t.
“This ordinance holds people responsible for the collecting and disposing of the animal feces,” the administrator said. “It includes public parks, streets, sidewalks, public right-a-ways, baseball and softball fields, Tyke Arnold field, Paul Brown Field, Melham and the downtown Square.”
The approval of the ordinance gives the Parks and Streets Departments, the Police Department and other city employees the authority to enforce it.
Knoell said it also extends to horses in parades. Last year, he said, he and two other individuals spent two and a half hours cleaning horse waste from streets after the Custer County Parade.
Mayor Rod Sonnichsen noted the ordinance extends to private property, saying, “If you walk your dog and it leaves feces on private property, that is also unlawful unless you have prior permission from the property owners.”
Knoell noted law enforcement K9s are exempt from the ordinance while on duty, however, he expressed confidence that local law enforcement dog handlers would clean up after their dogs as soon as possible.
The council waived the three readings of the ordinance. Knoell said soccer season is underway, baseball and softball season will soon start. Two large tournaments (DYO and American Legion) are scheduled for Broken Bow this summer.
“We don’t want the embarrassment of dog feces,” Knoell said. “Those tournaments bring in a lot of people.” The ordinance passed unanimously.
Council president David Schmidt stated that Parks and Streets Departments do a very good job. “Our parks are one of the areas where we excel. It’s unfortunate that an ordinance like this is needed but I feel like it’s our responsibility to make those parks as clean and safe as possible.”
Council member David Baltz asked about disposal bags and dispensers for city parks. Knoell noted in the past, when disposal bags were out, kids played with them and the bags had to be picked up, however, he said, “We are ready to put them back out.”
In other business, the council approved a Free Tree Dump Saturday, April 23, and Saturday, April 30 with the hours of 8:30 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1 p.m.- 5:30 p.m.
The council approved changing the location of three future council meetings to the Broken Bow Public Library for the following dates: April 26, May 10 and Nov. 8.
Present at the meeting were council members Larry Miller, David Baltz and David Schmidt. Chris Myers was not present. Also at the meeting were Mayor Sonnichsen, City Administrator Knoell, City Attorney Jason White and Deputy City Clerk Megan Linn.
The next city council meeting will be Tuesday, April 26 at 6 p.m. at the Broken Bow City Library.