Boots & Sabers

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Tag: Hartford

Hartford to Reopen Despite Governor’s Unconstitutional Orders

Huzzah for the city leaders in Hartford and the Washington County Sheriff.

HARTFORD — In what Mayor Tim Michalak said could be the biggest decision ever made by the Common Council, aldermen on Tuesday night unanimously agreed to have city staff create a plan to reopen city buildings and services no later than Monday and try to gradually bring them back to normal levels.

“We want the local businesses to also know the police department will not be overtly enforcing the state ‘stay at home’ order,” Michalak said. “Our department will be enforcing criminal and traffic laws.”

City officials said local businesses could reopen after that date “at their own risk and after careful consideration and consultation with their insurance agent and with customers.” The decision comes despite Gov. Tony Evers’ recent announcement to extend the Safer at Home order and other state-imposed rules to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

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“It’s time we do something. We can’t let this go on another month without opening up.”

Michalak said the city is not telling businesses to open up, but city officials are not going to kick in their door if they decide to do it and Washington County Sheriff Martin Schulteis has backed the city up in this decision.

“When it comes to the different communities he said he is going to follow ‘home rule,’ which means if they have their own Police Department he will allow that department to enforce the rules and or take action,” Michalak said. ‘We are saying we’re not going to be the boot that’s on their neck.’

The mayor said he has received numerous phone calls and emails from business owners who said they are faced with possibly closing their doors for good if the state-imposed orders are allowed to continue.

“We’re going to open the library and we’re going to open the public buildings,” Michalak said. “If we don’t do something soon to help our local

businesses we could see another depression. We need to bring freedom back to Hartford.”

Harford Awards No Bid Contract for Airport Ordinance Work

For those of you in Hartford who are receiving your property tax bills in the next few days… take note.

“The state will pay 80 percent of the cost. The contract is for $53,952,” Drew said. “The city would be responsible for $10,790 of the cost.”

Some council members asked if the city was required to bid the project out.

Drew said the city was not required to and Mead and Hunt has been involved in the Hartford airport for decades. He said it made sense to use them again because of their familiarity with the past projects, including the one completed this year.

“I don’t believe this cost is extraordinary,” said City Administrator Steve Volkert. Volkert and Drew also suggested Mead and Hunt’s cost might even be lower than some other companies because of their familiarity with the Hartford airport.

“In fact we talked them down (in their price) by about $15,000,” Drew said.

It “might” be lower than other companies. It also might be higher. Or the same. We will never know. And even though the city taxpayers are only on the hook for 20% of the cost, the rest of the state’s taxpayers are picking up 80%. It would have been nice if they would have gone through the simple process of getting multiple bids.

Hartford Library Allows Concealed Carry

Good!

In a policy reversal, individuals with concealed carry permits are now allowed to carry weapons inside Hartford’s Jack Russell Memorial Library. At the Library Board’s July meeting, a motion to reverse the policy of banning weapons in the building was approved by a 3-2 vote.

Library director Jennifer Einwalter referred all questions on the change to Library Board President Shari Purman. Purman, who voted in favor of lifting the ban, said the Board reached the decision after a thorough discussion.

“It’s an emotional issue,” Purman said. “The concern was about allowing individuals to exercise their right to bear arms. The only governmental building in the city, other than schools, to ban concealed carry is the police department, though there are some limited restrictions at the Rec Center.”

Purman said it’s unfair for people who can legally carry to not be allowed to have their weapon in the library.

“We can’t afford metal detectors,” Purman said. “So how do we know that people without permits aren’t bringing weapons into the library now while people who were granted a permit after a long process were not allowed to carry in the library? We’ll revisit it in six months.”

Mayor Tim Michalak, who was not at the meeting, said Thursday he’s long supported concealed carry.

The West Bend Library allowed it some time ago without any issues – just like virtually everywhere else in the state that allows it.

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