The Whitewater Common Council met this past Tuesday and discussed topics events coming up this coming spring. The main discussion for this meeting was the event of the annual Spring Splash in April.

Spring Splash is end of the year party for college students that is held with the city limits of Whitewater. It has been around since 2013 and has no major issues until this past April of 2016. That was the main cause of the discussion at this meeting about what was going to happen this year. Spring Splash is not run through the University, because it happens on private properties such as; bars, houses and apartments.

This year Wisconsin Red has pulled out of sponsoring this event because of how out of control it was last April. Also the event was sponsored on social media, so people from Madison came down and things got out of hand. When people found out Wisconsin Red pulled out of the event, most people thought the council told them to leave, and that the event was cancelled.

Council president, Patrick Singer said, “We didn’t tell Wisconsin Red to leave”.

City Manager Cameron Clapper stated than him and Police Chief Lisa Otterbacher and city attorney Wallace McDonell, attended a meeting with Wisconsin Red Steve Farina, who said “they wanted to leave because they didn’t want to be associated with what happened”.

Council member Stephanie Goettl said “If anyone thinks Spring Splash is cancelled, that is the funniest thing I ever heard. As soon as people heard on the rumor mill that Spring Splash was cancelled, they started planning other large scale parties. We have discussed this in the past, and Wisconsin Red’s party was not the problem; it was well-controlled, they cleaned-up when they were done. I was under the impression that the city was not going to talk Wisconsin Red out of having a party. I was under the impression that after last year, this year would have a better controlled event because we would be better prepared for it.”

The council members went back forth with each other about how “crazy” Spring Splash and how even if Wisconsin Red pulled out, it wasn’t going to cancel the event. City attorney, Wallace McDonell asked Wisconsin Red to consider pulling out because of how crazy he saw everything, and how he saw people of urinating in the grass.

Council member James Langnes III states, “I agree with what Stephanie said, the party will still happen. I think Wisconsin Red was our only control point in this ordeal. I know this is a bad equation, but, we all remember in the Iraq war, when we pulled out, a vacuum was created. That is what I am concerned about.”

The discussion with Spring Splash lasted for over an hour and did not really get anywhere because they all realized at the end that this event will happen with or without Wisconsin Red.

Another big issue that was mentioned, was the selling of Whitewater police dog, Boomer. His handler, Joseph Matteson worked with the Whitewater police force and decided to leave but wanted Boomer to come with him.  Boomer was a drug detection animal with the Whitewater police department.

Boomer, is property of the City of Whitewater and costs $3500 and has to be paid within five days of signing an agreement. The council discussed how Boomer, belonged to the city and was paid for by the city and should stay. The Police Chief, Lisa Otterbacher, said “It is hard for a dog to be trained to a different handler and sometimes it doesn’t work” She also mentioned that, “Boomer will be a family dog”.

The council talked and mentioned that this should have been mentioned earlier and that this should have been handled better. They want to make sure next time, if they have to sell a dog, the agreement is better and more in depth than it was this time. They know the community will be upset but next time they will be more prepared for the community.

Council member Langnes mentions that “The train is leaving the station”.

The council deliberated and came to agreement that Boomer could be sold to Joseph Matteson if he pays within the five day period.  The next Whitewater meeting will be February 21, 2017.

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