It aims to take safety, privacy into account
By Kellen Olshefski
Correspondent
The City of Elkhorn Common Council voted in favor of enacting of an ordinance that would apply to unmanned aerial vehicles – commonly referred to as drones – use within the city limits at its May 3 meeting.
The topic first came before the council on April 20, at which time the first reading was approved, giving councilmembers the ability to review and submit any suggestions or concerns to city attorney Ward Phillips so that any updates could be made ahead of last week’s meeting.
Following a motion to approve by Scott McClory, seconded by Karel Young, alderman Tom Myrin raised a question about the permitting process for the use of drones. Myrin noted both the Elkhorn Area Chamber of Commerce and Walworth County Fairgrounds had approached him and asked if they would be required to come in and apply for a permit for every single event.
“I would just like them to be able to come in and say, ‘I’m going to do this five, six, seven, eight times for the year’ and they’re done,” Myrin said. “I don’t want them to have to do it every single time.”
Phillips said those looking to use drones in that capacity would be able to come in and apply for numerous events at once.
“They can come in the one time and say here our application requests for these time periods,” Phillips explained. “What we don’t want is where they come in with 50 and they have no intention of doing 48 of them.”
When questioned about whether the $10 fee would apply to each individual event, Phillips said he believes that to be true, and City Administrator James Heilman said the idea is that the nominal $10 fee would help protect against excessive applications for dates that are never going to be used.
City Clerk Lacey Reynolds also noted that processing these types of applications is time consuming and suggested the city perhaps consider instituting a seasonal fee for the use of drones at events.
Phillips noted the drone situation is an issue that’s completely new – a new area for communities to review – and said the drafted ordinance was based off of successful ordinances from other communities.
“I would suggest that it might be wise to give it a year, see how it goes. See where you’ve got your problem areas at the end of the season and then we can address them,” Phillips said.
McClory also questioned two other areas of the ordinance: one being the prohibition of flying near a municipal lockup facility, with a concern that the ordinance could prohibit drones above the courthouse square; the second was related to a section of the ordinance that prohibited drones from being flown within 500 feet of a public assembly of more than 100 people.
Phillips said that he worked with Elkhorn Police Chief Joel Christensen and ultimately determined the courthouse square would not be an issue. As for public assemblies such as large events, use is only prohibited without a permit.
“So, what you’re talking about here is they don’t want people harassing folks if they want to have a family reunion,” Phillips said, noting that drones wouldn’t be allowed for those events without a permit.
He also reminded the council that when a permit is applied for the applicant will be asked where they’re going to fly the drone.
A motion to approve the ordinance was passed by the Council unanimously.
In other business
In other business last week, the council voted in favor of selling City Hall to the Walworth County Historical Society for $1, with a proposed closing date of Sept. 1.
With city officials and staff set to move into the new City Hall later this year, it has been seeking potential buyers for the current building downtown.
The Walworth County Historical Society intends to move into the nearly 100-year-old building in several phases as it refurbishes and renovates aspects and areas throughout the building to address key concerns. According to WCHS representatives, it will begin its move by shifting the Doris M. Reinke Resource Center over to the building first.
The city and historical society are also looking to work together throughout the process, with the society hoping to begin renovations on the building’s roof over the course of the summer.
For more details on the sale of Elkhorn City Hall to the Walworth County Historical Society and the society’s plans for the building, see the May 20 issue of the Independent.
