Ritzville City Council discusses Well No. 9, animal control issues

The Ritzville City Council met for their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. with a 15-minute executive session with Milton Rowland who represents the City for the ongoing Well No. 9 project.

The meeting began with the approval of Resolution 2016-01, which outlines the specific uses of the consent agenda procedure.

This resolution was brought to the council’s attention in the prior meeting in order to assist with the flow of the meeting. All items on the agenda in which a motion and no discussion is needed will be placed in the consent agenda so only one vote will need to take place to approve all of the items.

After brief clarifying questions the council approved this resolution and it will be put to use at the next meeting.

The next item discussed was Ordinance 2093, which would amending Chapter 5.20 of the Ritzville City Code. This Ordinance is in regards to the animal control portion of the city code.

The proposal is to allow the classification of a misdemeanor for a repeat offender of the animal rules. These can be anything from a dog on the loose to a showing of aggression from an animal.

Discussion in the previous meeting centered on the language within the ordinance. City Attorney Mark DeWulf worked on the language of the document and provided wording, which better suited the legal side of the ordinance.

This meeting the need to choose the number of offenses one must commit prior to a misdemeanor became the topic of discussion.

The council decided on the third offense the offender could be cited a misdemeanor. Ritzville Police Chief Dave McCormick spoke about how few cases he has seen, which would require this next step but in those few cases this will assist the department greatly.

Councilperson Dennis Chamberlain spoke about his concerns with the potential for someone to go to jail for dog infractions and how he saw this to be fundamentally harsh.

McCormick stated the issues the police department has had with select offenders who simply take the $50 or $150 ticket and continue with their offenses.

Councilperson Dede Rawlings stated she sees the extra level of ticketing as a way for the police to better enforce laws upon a nuisance person within the community.

After further discussion a motion was made and the council agreed to pass the ordinance save for Chamberlain.

The fee schedule for the year also had to be changed to include the third violation of the dog ordinance to be listed as a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $1,000. This once again passed with Chamberlain opposed.

There was then a break for an executive session with Rowland. After the audience was invited back into the council chambers Rowland explained the Ohio Surety Company sent notice on Feb. 10 that found the contractor was not in default of his contract with the City of Ritzville.

Rowland was requesting from the council permission to move forward with the assistance of DeWulf to move towards possible litigation after first ensuring a valid claim.

The council approved to allow Rowland to move forward with the steps he sees as necessary for the City.

Clerk/Treasurer Kris Robbins presented information on an income survey to be distributed to members within the service area of the City.

The survey is needed to show the communities percentage of income. This will be used to apply for a grant for money to help with sewer projects.

The survey is anonymous and will include information on the grant so as it help inform citizens of the projects to improve the city.

The grant application is due June 1 and the surveys will need to be returned by March 15 in order to compile the data.

The Finance Committee presented a request from McCormick for a new police vehicle. Vehicles are normally replaced in the department after 10 or 11 years in service or 100,000 miles.

One of their vehicles is currently at 150,000 miles and they have the opportunity to purchase a 2014 vehicle for $20,000.

After close examination of the budget the council determined there was no room to pull the funds from the current expense fund. They also determined there was roughly $18,000 in the Equipment Repair and Replacement (ERR) fund, which is set aside to purchase new equipment each year.

There was also discussion on the use of a portion of funds from the utility portion of the budget. Robbins stated there is about $170,000 included in this fund over the course of a fiscal year. $100,000 of this is used to repair roads.

The council agreed to use the funds from the ERR fund and supplement the cost with funds from the Utility fund to purchase the vehicle.

The council then approved the claims in the amount of $61,171.52.