NO, ‘YOU CANNOT HAVE CHICKENS IN TOWN’
JEREMY WALTNER – PUBLISHER
Maybe it’s because of the time of year or maybe it’s because of the increased cost of eggs, but Freeman Mayor Michael Walter told the Freeman City Council at its most recent meeting last week that he has been asked my multiple people whether raising chickens in Freeman city limits is permitted.
No, the mayor said at the first of two regular monthly meetings held Tuesday, April 4: “You cannot have chickens in town.”
“I don’t know, but I’ve had several people ask. It’s close to spring, I guess, and eggs are expensive,” Walter said, but he noted that city ordinance 6.0302 strictly prohibits it.
So now the public knows.
On a more serious note, Walter said he has also been asked by a number of people why the markings on the newly poured Main Street roadway have faded significantly since the surface was completed last summer. He was told it’s because of a curing compound laid onto the concrete — which he was told was to be expected — that was likely exacerbated by the hard winter.
“Probably a combination,” he said, “and we think it’s just a one-time thing.”
“Paint doesn’t stick on concrete real well in good times,” said councilor Charly Waltner. “If we repaint, let’s paint yellow instead of white.”
And Walter noted that new markings should also be painted on Sixth Street — the main artery that leads from Highway 81 into the city.
Also in regard to the new Main Street, council president Blaine Saarie noted at the April 4 meeting that the ship date for the new historic lighting still to be installed throughout the downtown business district is June 6 of this year, and reminds the public that purchasing the fixtures through NorthWestern Energy — as opposed to part of the engineering contract with Sayre Associates — was a significant cost savings to the city.
Other business
A number of other matters were on the table at the Freeman City Council’s April 4 meeting:
The council set Saturday, June 10 and Wednesday, June 14 as clean-up days in the city, where tipping fees at the city’s rubble site are waived (with the exception of televisions and computer monitors). The June 10 date is in conjunction with the citywide rummage sales that run June 9-10.
The council voted to spend approximately $1,000 on the purchase of a new propane-powered floor fryer — a standalone unit with two small baskets — for The Fringe at Valley View Golf Course to replace the current unit that is unreliable. City officials noted the restaurant at the municipal golf course made about $12,000 during the 2022 season; The Fringe opened again for the 2023 season on April 1.
Judy Schrag was hired as part-time, seasonal help at The Fringe. “He (clubhouse manager Rory Hermsen) needs somebody before school gets out to help him at lunch time; it gets pretty busy out there,” said Lisa Edelman, finance officer with the city of Freeman.
Charly Waltner told the council that a recent inspection of the rubble site went well, but that electronics should be added to the permit when it is renewed in 2024. “We’re OK for now, but in the future …” he said.
Blaine Saarie informed the council that a snow pile that had been left by someone other than a city employee at the south end of Poplar Street, near a drainage ditch, had been moved, and that the city should be proactive next year to prevent that from happening again. “It would be a good idea for next year if we put a sign or something there — no piling snow,” he said. “It cost us at least a couple of hours and two guys, and we didn’t put it there. I think it would be a good idea to make it clear that somebody else should be paying for that.”
For the minutes from the Freeman City Council’s April 4 meeting, see page 4B.
The Menno City Council met last week, as well; those minutes are on page 11B.
