[media-credit name=’JEFF SCHORFHEIDE/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]The Madison City Council passed an ordinance Tuesday night exempting police officers from picking up animal feces while on patrol.

The council — which erupted in laughter during the discussion — also agreed police officers would no longer be under the same guidelines required of all other pet owners in the city when it comes to picking up animal droppings outside of the parameters of their yard.

Alds. Judy Compton, District 16, and Lauren Cnare, District 3, co-sponsored the ordinance because they believed it would enable officers to patrol events such as UW football games without stopping to pick up after their horses or dogs.

A spokesperson for the Madison Police Department said 99 percent of the time police officers will be picking up the droppings of their animals, and that this ordinance is only necessary when they are engaged in an assignment and cannot take the time to stop and clean up.

Despite support from the police department, Ald. Brenda Konkel, District 2, said she opposed the idea because police will send a message that the public does not have to obey this rule.

The council heard all opinions, and Ald. Marsha Rummel, District 6, even suggested horse diapers, but Compton worried inebriated citizens might pull at the diapers and a dangerous situation might ensue.

Nevertheless, the council passed the ordinance exempting officers from removing their animals’ droppings in situations where safety or professional duties would be comprised.

Additionally, the council was scheduled to vote early Wednesday morning on whether to create a Regional Transportation Authority, but as of press time, no decision had been made.

The RTA enables the expansion of multi-modal public transit in the Madison metropolitan area, which would move to the state level and lead to the formation of a series of Regional Transportation Authorities in Wisconsin.

According to the ordinance, the goal of the RTA is to better serve the transit needs of the area and will include participation by the city of Madison, Dane County and other local municipalities and community partners, including the University of Wisconsin and the Madison Area Metropolitan Planning Organization.

The Board of Directors from Downtown Madison, Inc. expressed support of transportation improvements in the Madison area in a letter to mayor Dave Cieslewicz, Common Council President Mike Verveer, Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk and Dane County Board Chair Scott McDonnell this past summer.

"We understand that the next step toward that goal is to form a Regional Transit Authority that would include the County, the City of Madison, UW- Madison, and other surrounding municipalities," the DMI board of directors wrote. "We also understand that there is a window of opportunity to seek state enabling legislation for that purpose in the current state budget cycle, but that window is closing fast.”