The Alexander City Council was able to agree to one reading of a proposed new animal control ordinance. Since the ordinance did not include an emergency clause, which would allow the ordinance to go into effect immediately, Council Member Juanita Wilson asked if the plan was to have the required three public readings at three separate meetings.
"And this is actually just the first reading, right?" Wilson asked.
"Depends on your motion,"
responded City Attorney Chris Madison.
"There's no
emergency clause in (ordinance), so it has to be the first (of) three
(readings)," Wilson said. "We'll have to bring them up the
next three months to get it done."
Under state law an ordinance is required to have three public readings at three public meetings before a vote to pass the ordinance can be taken. The law can be superseded by a two-thirds vote of the council, which would allow the vote to pass the ordinance all in one meeting.
In the past, ordinances have been approved by suspending the three-readings requirement, when a two-thirds vote is possible, then approving the emergency clause, which also requires a two-thirds vote. The assumption being if skipping the three-reading requirement is necessary then having the ordinance go into effect immediately is also necessary.
"The law does not require you to have an emergency clause to adopt it," Madison said. "If you have a true emergency where you need to get it done, you can suspend the rules, read up the title for the second, third time, and then adopt (the ordinance) and adopt the emergency clause."
Alexander's Code Enforcement/Animal Control Officer Daniel Wyatt wants to begin enforcing the new animal control requirements.
"And this will allow me to actually regulate the things that are happening," Wyatt said. "All of the things regarding the animal shelter, that will obviously take effect once we have the animal shelter. But at least for now, there are clear, cut, and defined regulations that I'll be able to enforce within the city."
Before votes were taken, there was a discussion concerning one of the proposed legal requirements when having a dog. The discussion was kicked-off by Council Member Joe Pollard.
"Did I hear you say you can't have a dog chained up?" Pollard asked. "Did I hear y 'all say that?"
Council Member Joy Gray said, "You can't just leave it on a chain and let it die, Joe."
Wyatt explained, "Well, if you're wanting to keep it confined, obviously it's an enclosure, a pen, or a yard, you can have it on a tether, instead of just, it can't be (tied to) a stationary object, is all it is."
City Recorder Sharon Bankhead jumped in, "If you're going to control it (dog), a lot of people do have the dogs tied up. (They) Try to control them from running loose."
To clarify the proposal Gray said, "So, just so everybody's clear, we wouldn't be suspending, we wouldn't be adding an emergency clause, we would just be suspending the rules and going ahead and getting three readings by title only done tonight."
Explaining what happens if the council suspends the three readings and then approves the ordinance without an emergency clause Madison said, "If you adopt the ordinance afterwards, then this ordinance would go into effect on the 31st day after (passage)."
Voting "Yes" to suspend the required three readings were Joy Gray, Angela Griffin, Joe Pollard, and Gina R Thomas-Littlejohn. Voting "No" was Juanita Wilson. Absent council members Mitchell W. Smith, Tony Staton and Harold Timmerman were also counted as "No" votes making the total votes four to four. If there had been five "Yes" votes Mayor Herrmann would have been able to cast the sixth vote to make the needed two-thirds.
A second motion for a single reading of the ordinance by title only, passed five to three. The only "No" votes were from the three absent council members. Only a simple majority was needed.
Other business at the July 15 meeting included:
New Stormwater Regulations
At the June 17 council meeting the proposed regulations were provided to council members. What was provided was a copy of the Hot Springs regulations with Hot Springs still in the document. Council members were not provided a corrected version for the July 15 meeting.
When approved the new regulations will replace the existing regulations approved in October, 2020. Alexander's Code Enforcement/Animal Control Officer Daniel Wyatt explained the main differences between the existing regulations and what's being proposed.
Wyatt began with, "[A]dding the permits and fee schedule," as the main key missing from the existing regulations. He expects the requirement of a permit, to replace a driveway culvert, will give the city the opportunity to provide the specifications to properly install a driveway culvert.
Wyatt also noted problems are caused when a property owner, "[D]idn't put a culvert in or they fill in a ditch. So now they're neighbors are flooding or their own property is flooding."
Council Member Juanita Wilson says she's getting questions from residents about the new regulations and wants to be more informed before approving the ordinance.
"[P]eople ask me questions and I want to be able to answer them," Wilson said.
Wilson made a motion to have a single reading at the July 15 meeting. No one seconded the motion.
There was then a motion and second to suspend the requirement to have three readings of the ordinance. That motion failed in a four to four vote. Voting "Yes" were Joy Gray, Angela Griffin, Joe Pollard, and Gina R Thomas-Littlejohn. Voting "No" was Juanita Wilson. Absent council members Mitchell W. Smith, Tony Staton and Harold Timmerman were also counted as "No" votes making the total votes four to four. The issue was then tabled until the August meeting.
Property owner not present
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Why dose the City need this property? If purchased what would it be used for?
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