By Dave Fidlin
CORRESPONDENT
Village of Waterford officials are dusting off an issue that received a hearty dose of scrutiny seven years ago.
Unlike many of its neighboring municipalities, the village does not have an ordinance on its books on where registered offenders can live within the community and under what circumstances an offender is allowed residency.
State statutes have language that place parameters around sex offender residency, but municipalities have frequently adopted their own ordinances to customize provisions and sync up to Wisconsin laws.
In 2009, village officials had discussed adoption of a sex offender ordinance. At the time, however, members of the Village Board nixed the idea, citing the geography and density of the village’s 2.9 square miles.
Ruling out schools, parks and other areas frequented out by minors meant registered offenders could only live in a small area of the village, which raised concerns at the time.
But resident Eileen Diekow has renewed an effort to bring the issue back into the forefront of the community’s conscience. In early June, she wrote a letter to village officials and implored them to re-open the issue. She spoke publicly of her concerns at a Village Board meeting July 11.
“I’m worried that Waterford is going to be a dumping ground,” said Diekow, who noted the number of registered offenders within the village has increased in recent years. “I don’t want Waterford to become a dumping ground. If it does, I’m getting out of here.”
Enacting an ordinance has the backing of at least one top official: Police Chief Tom Ditscheit. He was unable to attend this week’s Village Board meeting, but in correspondence cited the reasons he believed it would be a prudent move.
Ditscheit’s employer, the Town of Waterford, does have an ordinance on its books.
“Over the years, I have received calls from offenders who have never lived in either the Town of Village of Waterford, requesting information on our ordinances and about specific residences,” Ditscheit wrote in his memo. “I have observed that these calls have increased exponentially as more communities in Southeastern Wisconsin enact ordinances.”
As a first step toward revisiting the issue, the Village Board directed Village Attorney Marcy Hasenstab to draft an ordinance for the village. She will look at similar ordinances in other communities, namely the Village of Union Grove.
“I think we should review other ordinances, rather than reinvent the wheel,” Trustee Don Houston said.
While there has been conceptual support toward enacting the ordinance, some of the concerns that cropped up seven years ago were repeated at Monday’s meeting. Trustee Andrew Ewert said he feared residents in one area, the Fairview Estates subdivision, could be impacted since it is a section of the village that is not in the immediate proximity of venues frequented by youth.
Hasenstab will likely report back to the board at its Aug. 8 meeting with a draft ordinance. From there, revisions could be made.
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