By JONATHAN SNYDER
A nuisance animal order for a dog on 1411 West Washington St. was continued by the Board of Public Works and Safety Tuesday.
Joshua and Hayley Durham’s dog had bitten their next door neighbor Rhonda Cunningham on July 20, while the Durhams were on vacation. Joshua stated that an electric fence set up on their property runs slightly into the neighbor’s property, due to technical problems when setting up the fence in other areas. Joshua and Cunningham both agreed that the fence and the dog could go into the Cunningham’s property line.
The original problem occurred when Cunningham was mowing that section of her property that the electric fence encroached on. Joshua stated their were multiple stressors for the dog in the situation, which caused the dogs to fight. Cunningham noted that after the bite happened, she retreated behind the electric fence line and the dog did not pursue her.
Cunningham agreed that other than this incident, she has never seen the dog be as aggressive as it was that day. Cunningham reported that she has seen the dog playing with a child in the backyard and saw no problems in the past. She only came up to the house to find out if the dog had his shots, which the Durham’s could not answer due to their absence. After no one answered the door, Cunningham called the report to the police.
Joshua noted that they are putting up a four-foot metal wire fence to avoid future issues, but still requested that the nuisance animal order be removed from the dog. While the board were sympathetic and felt that the dog would not cause further issues, they stated that they had to err on the side of caution. Both board members Scott Mentzer and Josh Hunt stated that the fence needs to be near 6 ft. in height, a warning sign of the dog needs to be installed, and that the dog can leave the property if it is muzzled.
Hunt stated that a heightened amount of bites and the fact that the board knows an issue is there requires that the board be diligent in protecting the public.
“It’s not something I want to do,” Hunt said. “It’s easy for me to say, ‘Yeah it’s fine,’ but if something happens, then we’re right back here. It’s not part of the job that we like … but we have a duty to make sure that we’re diligent.”
While the nuisance order will stay, Mentzer stated that if they wanted to reargue the issue when Mayor John Whicker returned, they would be allowed to speak on the matter.
Mick Cupp also came to the board to request a water adjustment for a leak at 328 West Central Ave. Cupp presented a copper pipe to the board that was the culprit behind the leak, which had a pinhole in the side of it that got worse over time. Cupp stated that the bill for that location is normally around $120, but from February to June the rate slowly increased and reached over $500 at one point.
The board decided, much like previous issues, to credit the sewer portion of the bill, and credit half of the excess water. Mentzer noted that none of the water went through the sewage treatment system.
Additionally, Fire Chief Don Craig requested permission from the board to look for sealed bids on two three-quarter ton 4X4 crew cab trucks. Craig said that he already talked to three local dealerships, but the process to replace their two command vehicles requires the bids being sealed. Mentzer stated that the funding would come from the fire territory account, but since the city is the providing entity for the territory, these type of purchases must pass their boards.
The board also paid an SRF Claim to VTF Excavating, totaling $180,000. Additionally, a request from Nathan Stauffer to block the sidewalk at 207 and 209 West Market St. to rework the masonry on those buildings was approved. Stauffer stated that the sidewalk would be closed approximately three to five days. Furthermore, the board approved a request to close Johnson Street from Walnut to Washington streets from Jon Baumgartner of The Hideaway to host a benefit ride on Aug. 10.
jonathan@news-banner.com
