Plains council hears form candidates

Mayor Joel Banham has spent the last week going through files and familiarizing himself with his newly appointed duties. He's no stranger to the workings of council, since he'd been a council member of Ward 2 for seven years, but he said he was nervous with his first council meeting in the executive position. "But that comes with any new responsibility. Just taking things one day at a time and learning as I go," he said later.

Nearly 20 people attended the council meeting, including former Mayor Chris Allen. "You can't abandon us and come back as a visitor," said Cathy Emmett to Allen before the meeting began. Banham said he was still getting acclimated and appreciated the support by the community and their patience. "It makes me appreciate how much Chris has done and Dan before him. I appreciate more and more what you've done."

The monthly meeting ran less than an hour and all six items, old and new business, were tabled until the council meeting on Feb. 5. The council heard from four candidates who applied for the two positions on the council left open by Banham and Garrett Boon, who decided not to run for another term. The candidates included Lana Dicken and Tim Kinsinger for Ward 1 and J.D. Crabb and David Costner for Ward 2.

Dicken was out of town and couldn't be present, but Banham read a statement from her on why she wanted to be a part of council. Each additional candidate gave the council his reasons for wanting to join the council. Councilman Chad Cantrell made a motion that the council should have a special meeting to decide which candidates to select for the positions. The council unanimously voted to hold a special meeting on Monday, Jan. 22, at 7 p.m. at City Hall. Banham said he was looking forward to filling the council seats.

The Plains Police Department and town council were both called on the carpet by resident Matthew Jaramillo, who complained about a loose dog problem in Plains, saying nothing was being done by police and that the council is not following its own dog ordinance.

"I would like to request the dog ordinance be reviewed in the future. There's a lot of confusion on the line. It was publicly announced that chickens and goats need to be registered and according to your ordinance that is not so. It is just dogs only," said Jaramillo during the open comment period of the meeting. "And in order to be registered you have to have a rabies shot and you can't do that with chickens. They don't get rabies, so I think that needs to be updated a little bit," he added.

Jaramillo was clearly unhappy with the way the police department handles at-large dog situations, including one that he has specifically complained about to the police department. Chief Brian Josephson said the owner of that dog has been cited several times. The town keeps captured dogs in a heated structure at the former sewage treatment site, but presently has none there. Josephson said that he doesn't have the manpower to babysit dogs and doesn't have space in his patrol car for a dog cage.

"I'm not saying we can't do anything but our hands are tied," the chief said, adding that 90% of the dogs they try to catch run from them. "And we're only going to chase them so far," he said. Jaramillo also pointed out that in the ordinance the town must have a contract with a licensed veterinarian or kennel operator to confine impounded dogs. "You have an ordinance here that you're not even enforcing for yourselves, but you're trying to enforce on residents," he said.

"I think one of the problems that I see is there are so many people in town who don't take care of their animals and they just let them run loose," said Councilwoman Connie Foust. She said it's time that owners take responsibility for their animals by keeping them on a leash, keeping them inside, building a fence, or not having animals. "I do not understand the lack of personal responsibility from the citizens of the community who do not take care of their animals. It's cruel. If you can't take care of your animals, you shouldn't have them," she said.

The council briefly discussed the lack of house numbers on homes in Plains. "It's really for the protection of the people living here," said Bruce Newton, a staff member of the Public Works Department, who has also had trouble with identifying the correct meter with a home because there was no visible number. Not having a house number is also a problem for emergency services people responding to a call, said Banham. Foust asked Fire Chief Anthony Young if his crew would be willing to help with getting numbers on houses and he said he would. Banham said it would be a good project for the fire department and ambulance service to do together. The mayor noted that he had noticed problems locating a correct house as a volunteer with the ambulance service.

A town ordinance mandates that a house has a visible house number. According to the ordinance, the numbers need to be a minimum of four inches high, placed six feet from the ground on the structure, face the street in front of the building, and be clearly visible from the street. Newton said that 20-25% of the homes in town do not have an address on them. He said it's an ordinance that doesn't have any sting to it. The house number problem was unanimously tabled for the February meeting.

Also tabled from the new business category was the town's FOIA - Freedom of Information Act - policy to provide a form for people who request information. The town attorney is working on it.

The council once again tabled the unfinished items - the road district, the purchasing of a new lawn mower for public works, and an ordinance on the parking of motor vehicles, which is being headed by Councilman John Roesler. Roesler said he found a similar ordinance from a Montana community of around 3,200 and with some modifications it could be used for Plains.

Plains librarian Cindy Thomas was not on the agenda, but addressed the council again about placing signage on town property to guide people to the library, which would be designated as visitor information center for Plains. She is looking to get a cost share grant but needs to be able to place signs up directing visitors to the library. She had planned to erect one at the old log schoolhouse, which is town property, and another at the east end of town. Because the site she had in mind is private property, she asked about putting a sign on the greenway, which is owned by the railroad and leased to the town. Council will add Thomas to the February agenda.