Wisconsin Top Court Upholds Fines Against Scrap Yard

By a 6-0 vote, the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the $104,000 in fines the village of Trempealeau, Wis., obtained in circuit court against the owner of Ray’s Salvage and Repair, Trempealeua.

Four years ago the village issued close to two dozen citations against Ray’s for improper storage of scrap autos.

Mike Mikrut, owner of Ray's Salvage, appealed the village’s authority to fine him. In his defense Mikrut claimed that removing some of the vehicles made him in compliance with the ordinance.

Mikrut's attorney, Michael Christopher, of Madison, had contested the case claiming that the village hadn't "played by the rules" when it didn't adopt bond schedules and other requirements before fining Mikrut. Christopher's associate, Cari Anne Renlund, said the decision was "very disappointing," because it didn't address the merits of the case.

"If applied to other cases it will have wide-ranging public policy implications, because the village has not followed the rules and we believe that it's possible that other municipalities could be doing the same thing ... in how it chooses to enforce its rules," Renlund said.