Police report outlines speed study, equipment needs and flags chicken-ordinance review

President Robert McLimans presented a written police report from Chief Small at the Oct. 6 Village Board meeting, saying the department conducted a junk cleanup (one citation issued) and logged several investigations including three fraud reports.

McLimans relayed that the speed-trailer motherboard needs replacement and that staff built a temporary trailer to run a speed study on Mill Street; data will be presented at the November meeting. He also relayed Chief Small's request to use the department phone number 563-341-7699 when sharing a contact with residents to keep his personal number private. "Junk cleanup went fairly well, with one citation issued for storage of a junk vehicle on Congress Street," McLimans said while presenting the report.

The board discussed adding a chicken-ownership ordinance topic to the November agenda. McLimans said he had information from the Village of Montfort limiting chickens to hens with an annual license and an application requirement, and the board agreed to revisit whether a local ordinance should be adopted. The report also referenced three fraud reports in September (unauthorized bank transactions, altered checks and an attempted phone fraud) and a complaint about a camper behind Oates Hatchery that appears used by a worker rather than as a full-time residence.

Why it matters: the police report sets enforcement and equipment priorities the board must fund or authorize, and the planned speed-study results will inform whether additional traffic-calming action is needed.

Next step: Mill Street speed data is expected at the November meeting and the chicken-ordinance topic will be discussed under the police report then.