North Judson Clerk-Treasurer Andrew Rowe brought an amended fee schedule before the town council for their consideration Tuesday night.
The fee schedule was adjusted to include a gas-line inspection fee of $50, at the request of Building Inspector Jeff Abrams.
While reviewing the document, Town Superintendent Marshall Horstmann noted a few other recommended changes.
He stated that the utility crew’s fees haven’t been updated in some time and suggested adjusting the fee for labor hours from $30 to $50 and the rate for after-hours labor from $75 to $100. Clerk-Treasurer Rowe said those changes could be made.
Additionally, Councilman Josh Brown mentioned that he recently spoke to Code Enforcement Officer Joe Leszek and Leszek suggested making some adjustments to the charges for ordinance violations in order to make them more effective.
Town Attorney Justin Schramm informed the council that if they want to make any changes to the charges for ordinance violations, they’ll need to take a few additional steps.
Schramm explained, “You can’t just amend the fee schedule without amending the original ordinance first to set that fee forth and then you’re going to have to publish notice since it’s prescribing a penalty provision.”
Councilman James Young said they should definitely take that route to make those changes and Councilman Brown agreed. Town Council President Wendy Hoppe suggested coordinating with Leszek and Town Marshal Kelly Fisher to adjust the consequences that people will face for multiple violations.
Aside from code-enforcement related changes that will require a bit more research and coordination, all the other suggested amendments will be added to an adjusted fee schedule that will be presented at the first meeting in July.
