Additional charge would be incurred for any future inspections
By Kellen Olshefski
SLN Staff
The City of Elkhorn Common Council voted in favor of setting a $75 fee for beekeeping permit applications at its meeting Monday night.
City Clerk Cairie Virrueta said Monday night while the ordinance stated a fee for the permits would be established by resolution, she’s already had multiple people in the city come to her to file paperwork and at this time.
Virrueta said Monday night the City Zoning Administrator charges $50 to inspect the site and with the additional paperwork required by city staff to complete the permit process, she recommended $75, something which is pretty much on par with surrounding communities which have similar beekeeping ordinances.
Virrueta said this would only be an initial fee and applicants would not be required to pay the fee in following years.
Mayor Brian Olson said being a structure and applicants would only be required to file once, he felt permit fees should be higher.
“You go and get fence permits and things like that, you do a garage, you do something like that, they cost more than $75,” he said.
Olson said from his standpoint, he feels this is a permanent structure and should be treated as such, though City Attorney Ward Phillips said a permanent structure would have a foundation by definition, though he understands where Olson is coming from.
“We didn’t set any guidelines on what these things should be made of,” Olson said. “You have a thousand bees sitting in there, you get a windstorm and if this thing’s not structured into the ground, you’ve got bees all over the place.
“I’m just throwing out a concern. It should be a structured product and you should charge more.”
Virrueta noted that under the ordinance on beekeeping, if the city were required to go out and re-inspect a beekeeping operation, there would be an additional charge at that time.
Alderman Scott McClory asked whether the permit is tied to the residence or the person who applied, which Alderman Hoss Rehberg said it is tied to the person. However, Virrueta added that if the permit holder were to move, they would have to start the permit process over again.
A motion to set the fee at $75 by Alderman Bruce Lechner was passed unanimously.
