WILSON — Newlyelected members of the Wilson City Council started the year by taking the oath of office and then tackling a familiar issue — housing chickens within the city limits.

Wilson resident Jack Holloway voiced concerns about 25 chickens being kept at 516 23rd St.

“It’s not a very good looking site out there in front of the house,” Holloway said.“If you’re going to keep animals like that out in the open, maybe they ought to get somebody to come in and reappraise the houses because they’re certainly going to be worth less money if they’re going to have something like that going on.”

“I did go look at it,” said Mike Peschka, Wilson’s newly-elected mayor.

“I’ve had numerous people express complaints to me about it in the last day-and-a-half,” said Wilson Police Chief Joshua Tipton.“I have had some individuals state to me that they’ve seen some of the chickens running loose around, but in all fairness they do scoop them up and put them back in.”

Tipton said his primary concern is whether the chickens getting out will be a frequent issue, because the owners aren’t always home.

Tipton said he understands the concerns, because he can see the chickens from his living room window.

“All I can go off of is an ordinance,” he said. “If we don’t have any guidelines that stipulate how these pens or coops are going to be set up, that really ties my hands.”

Tipton suggested the council establish guidelines.

Peschka said the ordinance in place is “pretty poor”.

“As the ordinance is currently written, I’m not sure where we can go with this,” he said.

Peschka said if the chickens are an issue with surrounding neighbors, he thinks they are a nuisance.

He said last year, the city had nine permits for keeping chickens and ducks in town.

“Most people are taking care of them,” Peschka added.“This one is sitting right out in the middle of a yard right next to a busy street.”

City clerk Susan Kriley said the owners have until Jan. 31 to renew their permit applications with the city.

“In everything I’m hearing tonight is that these animals are not kept in containment in an appropriate manner,” said Theresa Staudinger, city attorney.

Tipton said the city’s board of health could deny the application until the neighbors’ concerns have been addressed.

“Maybe short-term we address this as a board of health issue and then we need to better define those guidelines,” Peschka said.

Newly-elected council member David Criswell said he would like to see ordinances which have to do with potential nuisances be written clearly enough that city staff understand what is a violation and what isn’t.

“Our staff should have the authority to recognize a violation and they should, in my view, be able to address that violation without it becoming a political issue each time,” he said.

“I’d like to see it addressed by the board of health tomorrow,” Peschka said.“I think we need to tighten up the ordinances and make some clear understanding of what we want.”

Peschka said everyone living in the community has an obligation to their neighbors.

“I would direct the board of health to look into it tomorrow and report back,” he said.

Staudinger said the board of health would deny the application’s renewal and the applicant would have the opportunity to appeal it to the city council.

Tipton said he will talk to the owners of the chickens in question and explain to them the city has received numerous complaints and that they do not have a permit to keep the chickens at that address, but rather a previous address.

He will tell them they need to take the chickens back to the previous address listed on their original permit.

In other business:

• A list of appointments for the year was approved.

• Cindy Heinze was re-elected council president.

• Melinda Merrill of the Wilson Tourism Hub said the Wilson Senior Center has requested a sign be added to the sign post near Made From Scratch pointing drivers to the senior center. She said the tourism hub would take care of that request.

• Discussion on the purchase of an emergency backup generator for the water wells was tabled until more information is received.

• Approval was given to Brent Turner serving as a volunteer firefighter with a 90-day probation period.

• Peschka recognized Kriley for 20 years of service with the city.