MIDDLETON, Wis. -- The Middleton City Council on Wednesday declared the Scatz Sports Bar & Nightclub a chronic nuisance premise.

The six members present made the decision on the popular Middleton bar unanimously, and it allows the cost of police calls to be billed to the business.

The City Council also decided that once Scatz reaches its fourth police call in a month, it will have to pay the city for the cost of police services for that call -- and every call thereafter.

With a capacity of 764, the nightclub on Demming Way is Dane County's largest. Scatz will also have to pay some $1,800 plus for 44 calls for service dating back to March of this year.

The measures are being implemented under the city of Middleton's chronic nuisance ordinance, which allows the city to charge premises deemed nuisances for officer time.

Under the ordinance, a business can be deemed a nuisance if three police calls are received within a 30-day period.

Caroline Clanton, Scatz general manager, said it's a tough situation.

"In a club that size, people are going to misbehave, and we have to feel comfortable being able to call the police, and I think we're still going to have to. But it's going to be challenging," Clanton said.

This is the first time the city has declared any of its businesses a chronic nuisance.

Scatz said that it has already spent thousands of dollars on acoustic engineering to try to stop the noise causing many of the complaint calls from a nearby hotel, and it said it will continue to do so.

As for fights and other issues, Scatz said that the siutation is getting better under new management.