MILLS, Wyo. — By unanimous vote on Tuesday, the Mills City Council added two laws to city code.
An ordinance regulating alcohol use during events in public places and an ordinance making it illegal to leave inoperable vehicles on public property were passed on third and final reading April 9.
Councilors passed the ordinance on first and second readings March 12 and March 26.
The ordinance regarding inoperable vehicles will help law enforcement remove nonworking vehicles from city streets and other public property and rights of way.
Before the final vote April 9, Councilor Tim Sutherland objected to the proposed ordinance, believing it prohibited Mills residents from keeping inoperable vehicles on private property.
Sutherland said he has a nonworking 1930s truck parked in his driveway as he tracks down old brands to put on the vehicle.
“I do not think [code enforcers] should be able to tell me whether I can keep that vehicle there or whether I couldn’t,” Sutherland said.
Prior to the newly adopted ordinance, City of Mills code addressed abandoned vehicles, but not inoperable vehicles left on public property, including streets and alleys, for prolonged periods of time. According to the now-adopted inoperable vehicle ordinance, the situation “constitutes a hazard and an attractive nuisance in the city” and the code addresses “public health, safety and welfare issues.”
At a March 12 council work session, Police Chief Bryon Preciado said the city has many issues concerning inoperable vehicles left on the streets, and police had “no teeth” to make people move them.
At the April 9 regular council meeting, Mills resident Scott Clamp said he keeps a Farmall tractor and Ford Model T at a shop on commercial land.
“They are a family heirloom of ours,” Clamp said.
Councilor Brad Neumiller said the ordinance is not about vehicles on private property.
City Attorney Pat Holscher also said the ordinance as proposed only addresses vehicles left on streets and those left in alleys. “If you have a vehicle on your own property, whether inoperable or not, this does not apply,” Holscher said.
Sutherland said he was cited for the vehicle parked in his driveway. In addition, his nephew had been cited for barking dogs inside his house and was tagged for a newly obtained washer and dryer sitting in front of the house. He called the police action “overstepping.”
Holscher said any violation would have been cited under an existing law, while Preciado said if police receive a complaint, they “have every right to walk up to the door.”
While the police chief was not familiar with the particular citation Sutherland had referenced, he said it wouldn’t have been for an inoperable vehicle, referring to the fact the law was not yet adopted.
The city does have a junk ordinance, though, Preciado said.
After discussion, Sutherland voted in favor of passing the inoperable vehicle ordinance on final reading alongside Mayor Leah Juarez and the three other councilors.
The ordinance regulating alcohol use during events in public places, meanwhile, added the city’s permit requirement to the city’s liquor license law. The requirement was inadvertently left out when the City Council recently updated its liquor license ordinance.
Copies of the approved ordinances are below: