By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
Throughout 2016, Whitewater officials have debated the merits of having a lock box ordinance on the city’s books through a series of debates, taking public comment and forming an ad-hoc committee whose members delved deeply into the issue.
The debate has ended, and the Common Council has decided to repeal its existing ordinance and refrain from making any amendments toward a new one.
The decision, made Nov. 1, leaves the issue of fire protection measures in the hands of Fire Chief Don Gregoire and property owners who could voluntarily take part in the effort.
The council’s decision last week came on a narrow 4-3 vote.
Council members Stephanie Goettl, James Langnes III, Patrick Singer and Patrick Wellnitz voted to repeal the existing ordinance outright.
Langnes, who led the motion to repeal the ordinance, said he received robust feedback from residents on the ordinance and its lack of necessity.
“It was a mistake,” Langnes said of the council’s decision a year ago.
During deliberations, Goettl referred to the ordinance as “a nightmare issue” and said she believed it never should have been enacted in the first place.
Voting to retain the ordinance, yet make tweaks to it, were council members James Allen, Lynn Binnie and Chris Grady.
At its core, the lock box ordinance would have required a number of multi-tenant residential and commercial facilities provide accommodations for police, firefighters and emergency medical professionals to access a building in the event of an emergency.
Under provisions of the ordinance, property owners would have borne the responsibility of funding the secure boxes and matching keys.
The council had enacted a lock box ordinance a year ago, and it did take effect Jan. 1. Almost as soon as the policy was enforceable, city officials began hearing an earful from concerned property owners.
A number of criticisms were aired. Some commercial property owners claimed they had adequate steps in place and asserted a lock box was a costly duplicative effort. Other people took city officials for task for a perceived lack of communication as the policy was under review.
Eventually, the council held off on enforcing the ordinance. Several officials said the wording within the document, largely borrowed from another municipality, contained vague references.
Earlier this year, the ad-hoc committee had recommended a series of changes, including narrowing the scope of which specific property would have to comply with the ordinance. As recommendations surfaced, several officials suggested a one-size-fits-all approach might not work.
Although the city will not enforce the lock box ordinance, Gregoire and Assistant Fire Chief Mike Higgins will continue working with property owners on the issue.
Last month, Gregoire revealed about 300 lock boxes already exist on city structures because of a program implemented within the community nearly three decades ago.
Gregoire and Higgins also noted they have authority to require multi-tenant buildings install lockboxes, based on provisions within state statutes.
