Plains council discusses decay citations

The Plains Town Council meeting last week began with disputes over recent citations of the town's Decay Ordinance, but they came with an equal show of support for the law as people rose in defense of law enforcement's actions.

Much of the talk centered around the home of Archie Knerr, an elderly man who lives on Third Street and has piles of wood, steel, plastics and other materials surrounding his house. His name has come up numerous times since the ordinance was enacted in 2018.

"It's a danger to small children. If someone got hurt, some child, crawling around on all that sharp metal, someone's gonna get sued, and it could possibly be that the city would be named in that lawsuit for permitting this hazard to remain in the city limits," said Fay Weatherly, an 87-year-old widow who owns a duplex on F Lane that borders Knerr's property.

Knerr was one of about 20 residents who were cited for infractions of Ordinance No. 18-1 over the past few weeks. The Decay Ordinance was put on the town council agenda last Monday evening to give citation recipients the opportunity to speak to the matter, said Mayor Chris Allen. However, only one man, Pat Killgore, showed up to appeal the citation, though there were others who did repeal the citations.

"I think a property boundary is a sacrosanct. We have this ordinance that comes from someplace else," said Killgore, who lives a short distance away on the same street as Knerr. The 81-year-old Killgore said that it's no one else's business what a person has on his property, as long as it's no danger to somebody else. "I have somebody down the road that has a horrible mess. He's an older man, he works really hard. He has a mess and if he has it on his property I am standing right up for that man," said Killgore.

He admitted, however, that he needed to clean up the mess at his place. "Okay, I'm in the process of doing that. It says if I don't have it cleaned up within 30 days they can enter my property and do it themselves. There's no court order, there's no board, there's no nothing mentioned. It just says they can come onto my property and do that," he said.

Weatherly said that Knerr's "junkyard" extends beyond his property line and onto hers. In addition, Rachel Leggat, a property manager, has had to rent property in the vicinity for much less to get people interested in it. "I just put it up for rent and I lost three people just from looking at that area," she said, referring to Knerr's property. They specifically told her the area was not safe for their children because of the piles of metal and wood with nails in it.

"I'd like to see the city officials give this very serious consideration because it is a danger. And I feel he must be forced to build an eight-foot fence if he's going to operate a junk mill yard," Weatherly said.

"Granted, we have some people here with messy yards, but how far are you guys as the city council, our police chief, the fire chief, how far are you willing to go to get compliance on this?" asked Dave Wonder, the only other person to take the stand to question the ordinance.

"You gotta have court orders to go on private property, that's the law, that's the Constitution. We as Americans are to be free from intrusion on our private property and with our property," said Wonder. "Are you willing to kill somebody who ain't in compliance on this? How many of you are willing to see somebody shot in this community over that? It could happen here. I'm not saying it's going to happen, but I'm saying it could," said Wonder.

"I've been to auto dismantlers - junk yards - that are a lot cleaner than half of these certain homes in this town," said resident Robin Gonzalez. Joann Mathers didn't speak out against the ordinance, but had problems with the way it was handled. "None of us actually even were told specifically what our issue was," said Mathers, whose boyfriend, Joe Shepherd, was cited for an assortment of materials, including old vehicles. She said that the letter didn't specify what needed to be cleaned up and it didn't include the photographs that were supposed to accompany the citation.

Mathers said it's not their job to find out what needs to be cleaned up. "I need to know specifics, what it is they have a problem with," she said. Mathers said that she and Shepherd have several antique vehicles and she doesn't believe their vehicles are trash. She admitted they have some garbage and an old chair in the yard and they plan to take care of that, but she added that their vehicles are works in progress and it takes a long time and money to make them operational. "I don't think of the antique vehicles as being a nuisance. We have people that enjoy coming by to stop and talk to us about them. The old vehicles are not junk."

Loren Fitzpatrick, the town's attorney, also addressed the ordinance and answered questions. "The town has the right to do this. We have to balance a public safety concern with someone's expectation of privacy," said Fitzpatrick, who was hired last November. He held up photos of some of the properties in violation of the ordinance and passed them around to the more than 30 people in attendance. "When you live within a city limits you have notices and ordinances with council members with the responsibility of making sure residents are safe," he said. He also noted that property rights are different in a town than in the county. Fitzpatrick did, however, agree that photos should have accompanied the citations.

Allen said that the community elects council people to make laws and ordinances for the better good and harmony of all in the community. He said that the town lawyer has told him that for law abiding citizens refusal to clean up their property is not an option. "You can appeal the decision to council, abate the infraction, build a proper shielding fence or move out of town where no ordinances exist," said Allen.

Although the Decay Ordinance had been passed nearly five years ago, it had not been enforced until recently.

"We should not be speaking as if we're going to take guns out over garbage bags out here," said Fitzpatrick. The attorney noted that an owner has 30 days to correct the issue and seven days to appeal the citation and added that if a person feels he or she has been wronged, they can take it to the council. "But we're not going to sit here and argue like this isn't a law and it isn't something I have to abide by. This is an ordinance, you have to abide by it," he told the crowd. "If you don't want to clean up your mess, you can shield it. You can build a fence around it." Fitzpatrick said he appreciated those at the meeting that were engaging in the conversation. "The people that want to just come in here and argue and not follow the law, I'm more concerned with them," he said, adding that if people don't like the ordinance they need to change it. Plains resident Sandy Thompson spoke up saying she believes the mayor and the chief of police, Brian Josephson, are doing a great job and deserve an applause.

The ordinance matter went on for just over an hour before the council went on to other business. Representing the Plains Pickleball Association, Shauna Firestone requested council approval of phase two of the association's plans to build a pickleball court where the tennis courts used to be at the E.L. Johnson Memorial Park. The association wanted to have six courts instead of four and two would be inside an enclosed building for winter play. Dave Knudsen, the association's building committee chairman, said the building would be 70 feet long, 64 feet wide with 18-foot high walls peaking at 20 feet.

The council unanimously voted to table the vote on phase two until the town attorney completes a memorandum of understanding between the association and town. Meanwhile, the association can start construction of phase one. Firestone said they couldn't apply for grants until the entire project is approved, though they are working on fundraisers.

The council approved the purchase of a used vac trailer for $80,000, which will be used by public works on manholes, meter pits and potholes. The equipment comes with a warranty and will be a time saving device for the staff and eliminate physical wear and tear on workers. Funds to purchase the vac trailer will come from town water, sewer, street, and general budget.

The mayor reported that the town pumped 3,093,000 gallons of water last month and sold 2,544,100 gallons for an 18% loss, which is better than the last month's 24% loss. However, Allen said the loss will likely be higher next month because on Tuesday night someone ran into a hydrant on the corner of Willis and Meany streets, spilling thousands of gallons of water. The driver departed the scene and did not report the accident until the next day. The damage will likely cost the town over $1,000 and hours of labor to repair. It took Greg Dicken about two hours to get the water shut off, said Allen.

The council might be looking into the possibility of raising the no u-turn fines along Railroad Street, which are presently $25. The council will be looking into established fines for the no thru truck traffic area. The council tabled a motion to have the town's weight limits be the same as the county because Councilman Joel Banham said they wanted to have further discussion in the public works committee.

The mayor reported that First Street is being torn up to replace a water main service line but said that when finished there will be a "nice coat of asphalt on it" and good drainage to protect the road. He said the work will continue for the next few weeks. He also said they're trying to coordinate removal of old lagoon sludge by the middle of the month. The operation was held up last fall because winter arrived too soon and the ground froze. They are waiting on the contractor's trucks. Plans are for it to be utilized on a crop field, but it has to be timed to where it's after planting but before it's too hot.

Allen also said they will be hiring a new police officer after the resignation of Officer Jared Hutchings. Josephson reported that two of the town reserve officers have completed the Montana Law Enforcement Academy's 40-hour field sobriety training course.

The next council meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 5, at 7 p.m. at City Hall.