Rock Falls' chicken ordinance fails to get council approval

ROCK FALLS – The Rock Falls City Council on a split vote Tuesday night failed to approve an ordinance that would allow residents to keep chickens in the city.

That ordinance was up for a second reading and adoption during Tuesday night’s meeting. The first round of discussions at the last meeting seemed to show that it was going to be a close vote.

In his opening statements, Mayor Rod Kleckler asked aldermen to vote no, with his concerns centered on the recent outbreak of bird flu and the huge burden that it would have on the city to have staff regulate the ordinance.

Fourth Ward Alderman Violet Sobottka disagreed, saying that the number of families who participate – an estimated 10 to 15 – isn’t a lot, and the city should be able to handle it.

When the votes were cast, the aldermen were split at four votes each way. Kleckler was the tie-breaking vote and stood by his word against the ordinance. City Administrator Robbin Blackert knew that it would be close and that the matter probably will come up again in the summer.

Blackert said if this request comes up for another vote in the future, there are a lot of requirements to comply with the law.

In other news:

• Nathan Stahr was sworn in as the new 3rd Ward alderman.
• The Illinois Department of Transportation had requested minor modifications to the plat of survey for the Love’s Rock Falls subdivision and, as a result, it was brought up and unanimously ratified by the council.
• Fire Chief Ken Wolf gave the department’s annual report and shared that there were 1,271 calls for service in 2024. The department is fully staffed at 13 firefighters for the first time in many years.