Boyceville Village holds ribbon cutting for Sykora Lane project, discuss dangerous dog in village

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By Renee Bettendorf

BOYCEVILLE — At their meeting on Monday evening the Boyceville village board held a ribbon cutting ceremony for Sykora Lane. The street is freshly paved, is connected to utilities and the lots are officially up for sale. The 17 building lots range in price from $54,900 to $90,000. 

“Sykora Lane is pretty much wrapped up,” said village engineer Eric Barclay.

Earlier in the meeting the board voted to allow the clerk’s office to sign land sales contracts for Sykora Lane and approved another payment to Albrightson Excavating for their work on the project at a cost of $100,673.14.

Dangerous Animal Designation

The board heard from village residents Joe and Paige Witter and police chief Greg Lamkin about an incident that happened in the village on July 27. A seven year old village resident who is a neighbor to the Witters was bitten by the Witters’ dog. The child was walking across the street to return a ball to the Witter residence when the dog broke free of its steel cable lead and attacked him. 

According to Lamkin the dog first bit the child’s arm then pinned him to the ground where the dog then proceeded to bite the child’s back. The parents of the child ended up taking him to urgent care the following day. The parents of the child told Lamkin that the dog has tried to attack members of the family several times but since they are friends with the Witters and so far no one had been hurt, they had not filed any complaints about the dog in the past. 

Lamkin said the dog owners did not have a dog license or proof of vaccination for the animal. As a result, he ordered the dog to be quarantined for 10 days per Wisconsin state law. Furthermore, because the incident involved an unprovoked attack, the dog has been deemed a dangerous animal and can no longer reside in the village per village ordinance.

The Witters spoke to the board in an effort to appeal the dangerous animal designation decision. Joe told the board that his family adopted the dog, which is a German shepherd named Cash, as a puppy in 2019 prior to moving to Boyceville in 2021. He described Cash as a protective dog and said they clearly communicated to their neighbors who have young children to avoid entering their yard when Cash is present.

After the biting incident, Cash went to the veterinary clinic in Glenwood City for a 10 day quarantine at a cost of about $900. He is now staying with another family member who does not live in the village. Cash, along with their two other dogs, is now registered and up to date on vaccinations. The Witters asked the board to remove the ban on Cash saying that they would put up a six foot fence, install a kennel and muzzle the dog whenever he is outdoors. Joe said they are committed to ensuring the safety of all parties involved and that Cash is “an integral part of our family”. 

“Please consider the solutions we are proposing for our pet’s return,” said Joe.

Board president Luke Montgomery asked if the attack happened on his property and Joe said that it had. Joe also said Cash has never shown aggression toward people or other dogs while on walks in the village and is just protective of the property.

Board trustee Jo Dormanen asked why the dog did not have a rabies vaccine. Joe said because Cash is an indoor dog they didn’t bother with vaccinations but now all three of their dogs are up to date. Montgomery said he has two protective dogs and five kids. He stated that if his dogs bit someone he would have a hard time not euthanizing them especially if a child was involved. Board trustee Jonathan Farrell pointed out that the dog continued to attack after the child was face down on the ground and no longer a threat.

After some further discussion about the dangerous dog ordinance and what would happen if the dog accidentally got out if they did allow it to return to the village, the board decided to table the matter and discuss it further at their next meeting. 

Reports

In his report to the board director of public works Craig Dotseth told the board that new parking signs have been installed in the village and next week his department will take down any outdated signage. He also ordered a replacement light pole for Main Street and was told the new pole will take 14 to 16 weeks to arrive. His department has been working to backfill a washout near the water tower using material from the construction of Sykora Lane and continue to remove rag clogs from lift station one on a nearly weekly basis.

Lamkin reported that there were 176 calls for service in the village last month and his department handled 156 of them and there were five citations, two arrests and three mutual aid requests. Lamkin said the department participated in the National Night Out event held in the village last week and are preparing for Pickle Fest. Lamkin also said the crossing guard situation has been reconfigured with the installation of automated crosswalk lights on highway 170.

Village clerk/treasurer Brittany Halvorson informed the board that a property transfer to the village from People’s State Bank has been completed and now the village officially owns the campground parking lot. She also reported that her office has been working with the village realtor on the listings for Sykora Lane lots. Additionally they are working with the village’s insurance company and the district attorney’s office in regards to a light pole that was damaged by a drunk driver. The pole will cost about $19,000 to replace but the village’s insurance company only paid out $10,000. Halvorson said she is working on finding a way to recoup the additional $9,000.  

In other business the Boyceville village board:

• Heard from library director Kallie Anderson that July was a big month for the library with good attendance at various summer reading program events and that so far 66 people have signed up for the Cucumber Run.