By Kevin Boneske
Staff Writer
ASHWAUBENON – Raking grass clippings, brush, garden waste and other similar yard waste into village streets or gutters is now explicitly prohibited under an ordinance amendment approved Tuesday, Oct. 22, by the Ashwaubenon village board.
Village Attorney Tony Wachewicz said the amendment was requested by public works staff to provide additional restrictions on people raking items into a street or gutter and creating issues with runoff and storm water.
“Really what this ordinance does is provide some additional clarification as far as what is prohibited and what is allowed as far as being raked into the parkway,” Wachewicz said.
The ordinance previously only mentioned leaves not being allowed to be placed or raked into a street or gutter when they should be raked to the parkway – the area between the curb and sidewalk line also known as the terrace.
The amended language added “grass clippings, brush, garden waste or other similar yard waste” among the items not allowed to be raked or placed into a street or gutter, while grass clippings are now included with leaves as items to rake to the parkway.
In the event someone would place those items now explicitly prohibited into a street, Wachewicz said that person could receive a citation.
Trustee Mark Williams asked whether violators would first receive warnings, because he said raking leaves into streets “is done by everyone.”
Wachewicz said it would be up to the discretion of public works staff as to whether to issue warnings or citations, being that property owners could receive a notice warning them they are in violation of the ordinance with subsequent violations resulting in a citation being issued.
Public Works Director Doug Martin said there would be warnings given upfront upon the ordinance amendment taking effect.
Martin said the ordinance stated in the past leaves couldn’t be raked into a street, “but at a few points in time over our history here, it’s been said at village board that you could, even though the village ordinance said you couldn’t.”
“So there’s some confusion that has happened over the years,” he said. “And I think some people see the village going out and raking, as the leaf vacuums are coming through, they see us raking it into the street as the trucks are picking it up and they think, ‘Well, the truck is doing that, we can, too.’ And that’s what we’ve been going through, or the crews have been going through, letting folks know that they can’t.”
Martin said he expects there will be a “learning curve” for people to know they are not supposed to rake leaves and other yard waste into a street because of the “misinformation over the years.”
“It’s going to take a little time to get people following it,” he said.
The ordinance amendment was recommended for approval by the village’s Public Works and Protection Committee.
Trustee Michael Malcheski, also a committee member, said people filling the gutters with leaves had been a pet peeve of former Village President Mike Aubinger.
“My comment at public works was people have to understand how many millions of dollars of tax base has gone into our storm water system,” Malcheski said. “And every time this stuff goes into the storm water system, it costs us a lot more money to clean the storage ponds, the pipes, all of that.”
Trustee Ken Bukowski, another committee member, said good records will need to be kept of people not complying with the ordinance.
“If someone does it, in violation of the ordinance, they ought to receive a warning,” Bukowski said. “The second time it happens at the same location, that’s perhaps the time to issue a citation, but then we have to back up the fact that ‘Hey, you did it once, we sent you a letter, and you did it again.’”
Bukowski said he expects board members will get “calls galore” on the amended yard waste ordinance being enforced.
Trustee Gary Paul questioned the same.
“If you create an ordinance, please sit and make sure it’s maintained,” he said. “Once people get the drift that ‘Hey, we mean what we’re talking about,’ I think it will take care of itself. But if you’re not going to police it, it’s no sense in even talking about this.”
Martin said Lee Van Den Elzen, the village’s street operations supervisor, asked for the language clarification in the ordinance because when he is out leading crews in areas of the village, he would like to able to talk the people not in compliance and show in writing what can and can’t be done.
“What Tony (Wachewicz) drafted makes it much more black and white, much more easy to follow, and then allows (Van Den Elzen) to talk to the folks and get the compliance,” he said.
Martin said the public works department has door tags it can use to warn people by explaining why they aren’t in compliance with the ordinance and subsequent non-compliance can result in a citation being issued.
Wachewicz said citations issued for violating the amended ordinance carry a fine of $187 for the first offense and $313 for subsequent offenses.