By John Huxman
Freelance Reporter
Special to the Tribune

Roosters and ducks excluded

At a March 4 regular meeting, the Pratt City Commission revised its livestock ordinance to allow up to 5 backyard chickens. The new ordinance specifies that the chickens must be properly contained and cannot be closer than 5 feet from the property line or 20 feet from a neighboring house. Roosters continue to be prohibited due to noise.

The new rule makes Pratt’s livestock ordinance more similar to those of other Kansas municipalities such as Medicine Lodge, Hutchinson, Mulvane, and Derby. This also replaces the policy put in place in in 2008 and reaffirmed in 2019 that completely banned poultry on paper but which was intentionally, exclusively complaint driven so that residents could keep chickens as long as their neighbors approved. That policy was reapproved in a narrow 3 to 2 vote with much heated debate in 2019.

“It put law enforcement in a difficult position because then they’re trying to decide, ‘when do I enforce it?’ and ‘How do I enforce it?’” said City Manager Goff. “Instead of having ‘This is the law and we’re going to enforce the law.’ So [the revised ordinance] makes enforcement easier because it is very clear.”

The change to the ordinance was suggested by Mayor Kyle Farmer, who said that his only consideration was the rapidly rising price of eggs. With egg prices already several times higher than usual, and with USDA predictions stating that they will go up another 42% in the coming year, it is likely that an increasing number of Pratt residents will want to keep chickens.

“So I think—for something like this—that it will really benefit our citizens,” said Mayor Farmer. “Many residents already have chickens despite their illegality.”

The discussion about the poultry was livelier and took longer than most of the business that comes before the city, although Commissioner Doug Meyer remarked that it was not as controversial as the 2019 vote had been. In fact, the final ordinance passed by the city is not exactly what Farmer had first proposed. The number of birds was raised from 3 to 5, the words “a person may harbor” were changed to “a household may harbor,” and all references to waterfowl were ultimately struck.

“Ducks are nasty. And they’re noisy,” said one commissioner who remained unidentified.

In addition to Farmer’s desire to alleviate the burden of higher egg prices, commissioner Meyer said it was good for children to be able to have poultry projects.

“Your either for it or agin’ it. I used to be agin’ it, but now I’m for it,” Meyer said.

In other business, the city also:

*Approved the presence of alcohol (wine) at the 125th Anniversary of St. Paul Lutheran Church at the Municipal Building on September 21.

*Approved the use of Lemon Park for a Triathlon Fundraiser being organized by Kyra Kissinger to raise money for the Family Crisis Center. The triathlon will be on June 22.

*Approved the closure of Lemon Park on April 26 for the Kid’s Fair which is put on by the Alliance for Drug Endangered Children.

*Approved a bid of $196,399 from Murphy Tractor John Deere for the purchase of a new backhoe for the Water Department.

*Approved a bid of $38,240 for new stage curtains for the Municipal Building.

*Approved an agreement with KDOT for the resurfacing of Highway 54 through Pratt. The city will have to put up an initial $50,000 but the state will end up paying for the rest of the $588,000 project.

*Approved reappointments for Lori Jones, Toni Mantey, and Jan Meyer to the board of Greenlawn Cemetery.

*Appointed Linda Lanterman to the Economic Development Board.

*Appointed Regina Goff to the KMEA board.