Council Okays Firearms Use Permit After Neighbors Agree

What could have been an on-going battle over a proposed firearms business in a City of Peshtigo neighborhood turned instead into a demonstration of what communication and cooperation can accomplish. Travis Schroeder had sought a conditional use permit to allow him to do gunsmithing and firearms sales from his home at 149 N. Wood Street, and he will be allowed to do that, but with some limitations.

After hearing about objections from a number of neighbors Schroeder modified his initial request and asked instead for a type 1permit that would allow a more restricted home occupation than the all-encompassing type 7 license he had initially sought.

Schroeder explained the change at a public hearing at the start of a special City Council meeting on Tuesday, July 19, after which aldermen voted unanimously to grant the modified permit. Schroeder and several of his neighbors were present for the meeting, and expressed approval of the decision.

Other business at the special meeting included hiring Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission at a cost of up to $5,000 to help with the bidding process for engineering services for the EMS Neighborhood Grant that will pay for remodeling the city's two fire stations and doing some other improvements at the downtown Municipal Building and authorizing Fire Chief Charles Gardon to hire Michael Charlesworth as a firefighter.

When the half-hour open session that started the meeting concluded Council went into closed executive session to confer with legal counsel over possible litigation in connection with storm water as well as the long disputed sanitary sewer crossing that involves BPM Inc. Tom Gryzwa, Fred Meintzand Dan Seyour, who are members of the Water and Sewer Committee, remained in the Council chambers for the closed meeting in addition to City Attorney David Spangenberg, Clerk/Treasurer Tammy Kasal, Mayor Cathi Malke, and Aldermen Debbie Sievert, Allen England, Brigitte Schmidt, Katie Berman, Chris Rohde and Keith Klimek.

Schroeder had initially sought a Conditional Use Permit for a home occupation with a Class 7 Federal firearms license, which would would have allowed weapons manufacture as well as the permit for gunsmithing, cerakoting, fire arms transfers and sales and would have allowed him to be a registered firearm dealer with the state he had explained the weapons would be stored in a safe in his house, and he would be doing the work , mainly cerakoting, in his garage. His house is secured by cameras and a fenced in yard. He had said from the start that he intended to keep working at his full time job, with the gun smithing to be very part time and more of a hobby than a business.

However, neighbors were concerned about explosives and about persons who might be attracted by the firearms business, and were raising objections. Accord had been reached before the Council meeting began.

When the public hearing opened Schroeder explained that Jim Albright, an area firearms dealer, had reached out to him after the Plan Commission refused his use permit and explained all the things he could do with a type 1 license, and he had found he could do without the type 7 license that neighbors objected to. "I can still break guns down, cerakote them and put them back together," Schroeder said, which is what he wanted to do in the first place. He had initially thought that was considered manufacture, which is why he had sought the type 7 license.

"If he's going for the type 1 license, we're all in favor of that," Angel Wink, one of the neighbors who had objected, said at the hearing, adding, "If he was going for the type 7 we'd all be against it."

Wayne Caebe, another neighbor, said if Schroeder talked to Jim Albright about his plans he had gotten good advice, and in view of the change in scope he and others who had objected to the conditional use permit agreed to back down. He added that if Schroeder ever wants to expand his weapons business, if he wants to go bigger and full time and add the manufacturing feature he would have to come back to City Council. Spangenberg said if Council approved the conditional use for a type 1 license Schroeder could not switch to a type 7 without going through a whole new conditional use permit process. He added if people have complaints they can come to City Council and if there are violations the use permit can be rescinded.

Caebe asked if there are any inspections involved with the type 1 license, and Chief Gardon said there are no routine inspections, but if there were complaints the Fire Department could do an inspection. Schroeder said in accord with the licensing, ATF can come in and inspect "whenever they feel like it."

Schroeder said the neighbors mainly objected to the idea of manufacturing firearms and ammunition, which would involve storing explosives on site, and he will not be doing that. He will buy and sell guns on a small scale, and disassemble and reassemble them.

Sievert commented that other people in the city have type 1 permits.

Berman asked if there would be test shooting, and Schroeder said it is illegal to shoot in the city, and the weapons he cerakotes will not need to be fired at all.

Berman asked if the neighbors were all satisfied, and Caebe said they had all agreed to it.

Schmidt expressed thanks to Caebe and others for all the research he and other neighbors had done, and that they all eventually came together. Caebe said the type 7 is the most powerful license you can get, and he had been told that if Council approved the use permit for it, ATF would have been obligated to issue the license.

After being assured that neighbors were all okay with Schroeder's modified request, vote in favor of granting the conditional use permit "subject to all other necessary permits, registrations and licenses," was unanimous.

"Commend you for getting together and working it out so everybody is happy with the decision," Malke declared. After the use approval she congratulated Schroeder on his new venture.

The meeting then turned to a request from Malke to hire BLRPC to help prepare the bid documents for the fire station expansion project.

In an e-mail to Malke, Sydney Swan, Economic Development Planner with BLRPC, had said as a preliminary commitment, they would perform up to $5,000 in work for project administration services that would include assisting with the pre-award documentation and contract preparation; procurement of an engineer or final drawings and budget, including drafting the request for qualifications and evaluation; assist with financial management and reporting and assist with overall grant agreement compliance.

Malke said the federal grant required doing the biding documents in specific ways, and she was uncertain what had to be included. She had reached out to BLRPC. "They can do the work for $5,000 or less," Malke said, "...but to me, this work is priceless because that's one thing I do not know how to do."

Schmidt asked what costs the city would pay in connection with the grant project, and Malke said none. The city's contribution is all in-kind, and mainly involves having Public Works personnel take down some trees and take out the blacktop at the two fire stations.

Council was advised that the Water and Sewer Committee had voted to replace the water, sewer and storm lines as needed in the alley between S. Ellis Ave. and S. Emery Ave. when the parking lot at City Hall is torn up for the fire station expansion project. That utility work is not covered by the grant, but committee comments were that the lines are all old would need to be replaced in the not too distant future in any case.

Final item during the open portion of the Council meeting was approval of a resolution declaring the city's intent to reimburse city accounts for money spent, up to $2 million, to initially pay for storm water collection system improvements being done in connection with the Clean Water Fund program and then reimburse those expenditures after long term municipal bonds are issued after the work is done and actual costs are known.

The open session portion of the meeting was completed shortly before 6:30 p.m. and the closed session to confer with legal council on water and sewer issues legal issues began. After about half an hour the closed session ended and the meeting was adjourned with no further action and no public information on what the closed-door discussion included.

Recent stories, opinions and photos

Issue Date	Department	Headline
08-10-2022	Obituaries	Roger J. Balthazor
08-10-2022	Obituaries	Marion  E. Carvenough
08-10-2022	Obituaries	James D. Chevalier
08-10-2022	Obituaries	William Frederiksen
08-10-2022	Obituaries	Jerry Koester
08-10-2022	Obituaries	Art LeSage
08-10-2022	Obituaries	Katie N. Luna
08-10-2022	Obituaries	Robert Murphy
08-10-2022	Obituaries	Fred E. Ott
08-10-2022	Obituaries	Mark A. Paris
08-10-2022	Obituaries	Ronald Paulsen
08-10-2022	Obituaries	Duane W. Schwendner
08-10-2022	Obituaries	Gerald Severin
08-10-2022	Obituaries	Alice L. Shaver
08-10-2022	Obituaries	Keith E. Van Eyck
08-10-2022	Obituaries	Cheri L. Vermeulen
08-10-2022	Obituaries	Gerald "Jerry" Wojcik
08-10-2022	Obituaries	Anthony G. Wontor
08-10-2022	Front Page	Charges Filed In Fatal Crash Aug. 3 On Oconto Falls Hwy. I
08-10-2022	Front Page	Shortage Of Jailers Remains Major Problem For County
08-10-2022	Front Page	Peshtigo School Board Discuss Building Options
08-10-2022	Front Page	Marinette County Voters Elected Miller Sheriff, Brazeau Court Clerk
08-10-2022	Front Page	Emergency Rescue Squad, Inc. To Celebrate 75 Years of Service
08-10-2022	Perspectives	Ken Stodola's Letter to the Editor
08-10-2022	Perspectives	Judy Alwin's Letter to the Editor
08-10-2022	Perspectives	Linda Gould's Letter to the Editor
08-10-2022	Perspectives	Give Them a Break - From My window for 8/10/22
08-10-2022	Perspectives	Country Cousin 8/10/22
08-10-2022	Community - Wausaukee	Payant Family Held 75th Reunion July 31
08-10-2022	Community - Wausaukee	Lakes Country Library Expansion Gets $25,000 Grant from WPS Foundation
08-10-2022	Community - Wausaukee	Port of Valhalla Grand Opening Scheduled for Sat., August 27th
08-10-2022	Sports	WIAA's KAGE RETIRES, BRITZ HIRED AS ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
08-10-2022	Sports	Cougars Look to Reload to Defend Title
08-10-2022	Community - Crivitz	Operation Bandshell Fundraiser Aug. 13th
08-10-2022	Community - Crivitz	Crivitz Legion Post #413 Sells Flags
08-10-2022	Community - Crivitz	Town Of Stephenson Board to Meet Aug. 10
08-10-2022	Community - Crivitz	Fire Department Equipment Plan On Agenda For Crivitz Committee
08-10-2022	Community - Coleman	Pound Town Board To Consider Hired Clerk, Treasurer Positions
08-10-2022	Community - Coleman	Neil Diamond and Elvis Tribute at Equity
08-10-2022	Community - Coleman	Coleman Has Music in the Park Aug. 11
08-10-2022	Community - Coleman	Coleman Class of 1971 Reunion August 20th
08-08-2022	Community - Wausaukee	Magdalen Deschane on UM Twin Cities Dean's List
08-08-2022	Community - Wausaukee	First Annual Classic Car Show Saturday, Aug. 6th
08-08-2022	Community - Wausaukee	Goodman Historical Craft, Bake Sale Sept. 17
08-08-2022	Community - Wausaukee	Christian Music Duo, Blake & Jenna Bolerjack at Athelstane
08-08-2022	Community - Crivitz	Town Of Stephenson Board To Meet Aug. 10
08-08-2022	Community - Crivitz	Loomis Legion Auxiliary Brat Fray Sunday, Aug. 14
08-08-2022	Community - Crivitz	Crivitz Ski Cats 60th Anniversary Alumni Show on Saturday Aug. 6
08-08-2022	Community - Crivitz	Crivitz Board Okays Plan To Add K-9 Police Officer
08-08-2022	Community - Crivitz	Crivitz Am. Legion Post to Celebrate US Coast Guard
08-08-2022	Community - Crivitz	American Legion Annual Open House Aug. 17th
08-08-2022	Perspectives	"Gathering Wild Roses" by Roger Lanich
08-08-2022	Perspectives	Judy Reid's Letter to the Editor
08-08-2022	Perspectives	Pete Pfankuch's Letter to the Editor
08-08-2022	Perspectives	Derrick J. McGee's Letter to the Editor
08-08-2022	Perspectives	David Johnson's Letter to the Editor
08-08-2022	Perspectives	Engaged in Battles - From My Window 8/3/22
08-08-2022	Perspectives	Country Cousin 8/3/22
08-08-2022	Obituaries	Douglas R. Aagaard
08-08-2022	Obituaries	Bernadine F. Brown
08-08-2022	Obituaries	Steven J. Delfosse
08-08-2022	Obituaries	Albert W. Ewaldt
08-08-2022	Obituaries	Virginia Ferdon-Shallow
08-08-2022	Obituaries	George Hoffman
08-08-2022	Obituaries	Louise Kawa
08-08-2022	Obituaries	Mary J. Kleinke
08-08-2022	Obituaries	Jean La May
08-08-2022	Obituaries	Darrell R. Laylin
08-08-2022	Obituaries	Scott P. Piantek
08-08-2022	Obituaries	Ronald J. Renk
08-08-2022	Obituaries	Karrie A. Sadowski
08-08-2022	Obituaries	Gary L. Seidl
08-08-2022	Obituaries	Eunice M. Schultz
08-08-2022	Obituaries	Ronald M. Shearer, Sr.
08-08-2022	Obituaries	Sandra L. Mayou
08-08-2022	Obituaries	Martin G. Wellner
08-08-2022	Community - Coleman	Pantry Continues Food Distribution Procedures
08-08-2022	Community - Coleman	Location Changed for Coleman FFA Alumni Annual Auction Aug. 6
08-08-2022	Front Page	Wes Olson Now Sexton For Riverside Cemetery
08-08-2022	Front Page	City Streets & Drainage Committee Okays Permits
08-08-2022	Front Page	Aug. 9 Primary Contests For Federal, State, County Offices
08-08-2022	Front Page	Chase Kuffel Hired As Peshtigo City Engineer
07-28-2022	Front Page	Trygve Rhude Sworn In As Marinette County Supervisor
07-27-2022	Community - Wausaukee	Wausaukee Students Win Poppy Poster Contest
07-27-2022	Community - Wausaukee	Wausaukee Back to School Program Now Registering
07-27-2022	Community - Wausaukee	Niagara Town Board May Stop Renting Town Hall
07-27-2022	Perspectives	Wanna Go Hunting? DNR to Host Intro To Hunting Webinar Beginning July 28th
07-27-2022	Perspectives	Gary B. Schahczenski's Letter to the Editor
07-27-2022	Perspectives	Michael Sievert's Letter to the Editor
07-27-2022	Perspectives	Gerry Schoenfeldt's Letter to the Editor
07-27-2022	Perspectives	Cathi Malke's Letter to the Editor
07-27-2022	Perspectives	Les Gertz's Letter to the Editor
07-27-2022	Perspectives	Jessica Olson's Letter to the Editor
07-27-2022	Perspectives	Ellen Hanneman's Letter to the Editor
07-27-2022	Perspectives	Amy Grandaw's Letter to the Editor
07-27-2022	Perspectives	Linda Gould's Letter to the Editor
07-27-2022	Perspectives	Bob Blackbourn's Letter to the Editor
07-27-2022	Perspectives	Bonnie C. Beamer's Letter to the Editor
07-27-2022	Perspectives	Jeff Jandrey's Letter to the Editor
07-27-2022	Perspectives	Family Matters - From My Window 7/27/22
07-27-2022	Perspectives	Country Cousin 7/27/22
07-27-2022	Obituaries	Arnold R. Belair
07-27-2022	Obituaries	Donald A. Bertrand
07-27-2022	Obituaries	James K. Beyer
07-27-2022	Obituaries	Carol J. Borths
07-27-2022	Obituaries	Michael J. Enstrom
07-27-2022	Obituaries	Ruth E. Karkkainen
07-27-2022	Obituaries	Judith A. Kirt
07-27-2022	Obituaries	Margie A. Jones
07-27-2022	Obituaries	Jacob J. Kaster
07-27-2022	Obituaries	Michael J. Mann, Jr.
07-27-2022	Obituaries	Marie Marquardt
07-27-2022	Obituaries	Jeffery L. Meyer
07-27-2022	Obituaries	Marcia A. Peters
07-27-2022	Obituaries	Jean Ann Schmidt
07-27-2022	Obituaries	Barbara A. Stoltenow
07-27-2022	Obituaries	George D. Witkoswki
07-27-2022	Community - Crivitz	Wisconsin Woodland Owners Assoc. Annual Picnic Aug. 13
07-27-2022	Community - Crivitz	Twin Bridge Ski Team Learn To Ski Day July 31
07-27-2022	Community - Crivitz	Middle Inlet Okays $5,000 For Fire Station Plan Specs
07-27-2022	Community - Crivitz	Crivitz VFW Gun Show Aug. 13th
07-27-2022	Community - Crivitz	Crivitz Library Bakeless Bake Sale Aug. 11th
07-27-2022	Community - Coleman	Location Changed for Coleman FFA Alumni Annual Auction Aug. 6
07-27-2022	Community - Coleman	Coleman Fire Department Announces Bike Winners
07-27-2022	Community - Coleman	August "Remember When" Storytelling Aug. 3 at Lena
07-27-2022	Front Page	MCIDC Discuss Loan Payments
07-27-2022	Front Page	Crivitz Ski Cats State Water Ski Champions
07-27-2022	Front Page	Athelstane Prohibits Nearly All Parking On Town Roads
07-20-2022	Community - Wausaukee	2022 Hot Rod and Classic Car, Motorcycle Show July 30
07-20-2022	Community - Wausaukee	Dunbar Board Tables Town Fee Schedule Until August
07-20-2022	Community - Wausaukee	Register for Wausaukee Back to School Program
07-20-2022	Perspectives	Stuart Millan's Letter to the Editor
07-20-2022	Perspectives	Marshall Lund's Letter to the Editor
07-20-2022	Perspectives	Kristen Edgar's Letter to the Editor
07-20-2022	Perspectives	Bill Blair's Letter to the Editor
07-20-2022	Perspectives	Who is Smarter? - From My Window 7/20/22
07-20-2022	Perspectives	Country Cousin 7/20/22
07-20-2022	Obituaries	Dorothy M. Benser
07-20-2022	Obituaries	Stephen K. Boehmke
07-20-2022	Obituaries	Dr. James A. Boren
07-20-2022	Obituaries	Scott C. Krueger
07-20-2022	Obituaries	Kris A. Miller
07-20-2022	Obituaries	Michael J. Mann Jr.
07-20-2022	Obituaries	Michael Oczus
07-20-2022	Obituaries	Dennis A. Schiefelbein
07-20-2022	Obituaries	Douglas E. Stacie
07-20-2022	Obituaries	Samuel J. Schwittay
07-20-2022	Obituaries	John E. Swanson
07-20-2022	Obituaries	Kenneth James Vieth
07-20-2022	Community - Crivitz	Town of Stephenson Airs Dog Complaints