The Owen Common Council held their regular meeting on Tuesday, April 14. Under Public Comment, Alderperson Pam Jaffke asked about city liability in regard to the sewer hole at a property on County X. DPW Chad Smith said he will be enforcing the ordinance with the contractor, who is not being responsive to the homeowner.
Feral cats were again on the agenda. Alderperson Bob Wilczek said that people are happy to see the city doing something. It was noted that there appear to be fewer cats running around. Alderperson Ray Kilty suggested they keep an eye on it and leave it on the agenda for the next meeting.
Licensing of cats was then discussed. It was suggested they could create an ordinance mirroring the one for licensing dogs. It would require cats to have collars and tags. Wilczek said there were two issues with this. The perception would be that it looks like a cash grab and cat collars are usually breakaway. Chief of Police Patrick Fehlman said that if a cat is lost, it is hard to catch, the Humane Society has no room for them and they are usually not chipped. Wilczek said if they are going to do it, they should only charge enough to get back the money they have to pay for the tags. He also said maybe cat owners could get their own tags. Clerk Tracy Rau will ask other clerks if they license cats. Fehlman said if they start live trapping, they need a way to identify the cats. DPW Smith suggested keeping a picture with the registration. Jaffke said they could recommend it be voluntary and at no cost. Alderperson Ken Martine said if cats sometimes get outside, their owner should be responsible for marking them with an identifiable tag or chip. Wilczek suggested sending a new notice with the water bills.
A change to the ordinance on council meetings was approved. They will set the official meeting dates at the annual meeting. Going forward, there will be one council meeting per month, probably on the second Tuesday. If a second meeting is needed, it will be agreed to at the council meeting or by call of the mayor.
Changes to the ordinance limiting the number of dogs and cats were approved as presented. The changes were covered in last week’s edition in the article on the ordinance meeting.
DPW Smith gave his report. For water, he reported on three water main breaks. He has submitted the Annual Cross Connection Report and the Annual Water Withdraw Report to the DNR. He is working on the Consumer Confidence Report. They have completed 68 residential cross connection inspections and eight for businesses. He sent the PSC Water Report to the auditors. He and Brandon Wilson attended the 2026 WRWA Conference. Wilson received the 2026 District 3 Operator of the Year Award. Smith sent in a water sample for the WRWA Taste Test. Of those who submitted samples in Wisconsin, Owen placed 11th. They will be starting to flush water mains. Under Sanitary Sewer, Smith reported that they rebuilt the inside of the vac-truck, jetted some sewer mains, dealt with a sewer backup related to wipes being flushed down the toilet, and submitted the Multi-discharge Variance Report to the DNR. For the Streets Department, Smith said he purchased the 14-foot snow pusher that was budgeted. They plowed snow and the pusher meant they didn’t have to haul it immediately. The dam inspection showed the cracks aren’t getting any bigger but the DNR would like to do some re-checks. He and Clerk Rau attended a FEMA Donations Disaster Class. They started sweeping streets but it is on hold for now as they wait for things to firm up. They did some storm prep for the storms predicted on April 13. Martine asked Smith if he still planned on getting the new meter readers. Smith said he had some but had to wait because of budget cuts. Clerk Rau said Smith will be working with the appraiser from the insurance to look at some things owned by the city.
Under the Mayor’s Report, Mayor Scott Jalling said he went to the Business Expo. He was approached by two residents. One wanted to know when his road was going to be fixed. The other didn’t feel it was right to charge a fee for the cleanup. This led to discussion on whether they should charge the $10 fee per trip or per resident. Alderperson Jason Thornton said he was fine with one fee if the expenses for the cleanup were budgeted for. The cleanup loses money every year.
Under the Treasurer’s Report, Clerk Rau stated that the CDBG Housing account is being closed and the state will be taking it over.