Mountain Home city officials receive a check from state officials for the matching grant funds to build an ADA trail and four piers around the pond at McCabe Park.
The Mountain Home City Council spent a majority of their meeting Thursday night discussing a proposed new animal control ordinance that was first brought up two weeks ago. The ordinance would abolish several older ordinances.
The biggest change is the repealing of the ban on Pit Bull Terriers. The new ordinance would replace the ban with a vicious dog revision which would leave the decision up to the animal control officer. If a pet owner is ticketed for having a vicious dog, they will have to appear in court.
Another change is the number of fowl a city resident can have of their property. Currently there is no limit to the number of fowl a resident may possess. The new ordinance says a “reasonable number” which is up to the animal control officer. A previous proposal to the new ordinance did suggest a limit of 12 birds, but that had since been changed to a “reasonable number”. The limit will be based on housing and containment area available.
Licensing fees will remain $5 per dog or cat over the age of six months which are payable at city hall.
Council members expressed worries over people calling in complaints about other citizens they were mad at if they knew they were over the limit of three dogs or cats. Police Chief Eddie Griffin said most of their calls were complaint driven when it comes to animals. Councilmen Bob Van Haaren and Nick Reed discussed doing away with a limit, but City Attorney Roger Morgan told the council he would be reluctant to not have a set number because that could cause issues for law enforcement.
After the discussion, it was decided to have Animal Control Officer James Tilley take the council’s concerns into account and look at possible revisions to the ordinance.
Mayor Hillrey Adams informed the council the city was awarded a check Thursday from the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism for $108,607 to build an Americans With Disabilities accessible trail and four accessible fishing piers around the pond at McCabe Park. The check is part of a 50/50 matching grant the city applied for last August.
Also Thursday night, the Mountain Home City Council approved the preparation and issuance of $10 million in bonds to finance water and sewer projects in 2025.
The council approved the annexation of property off of County Road 27 into the city and zoned it as commercial C-2.
The council approved an ordinance to amend an ordinance from 1998 that had an error in it to clarify zoning classifications on land along U.S. Highway 62 West where Harp’s and Anstaff bank are located. Part of the property had erroneously been zoned R1 instead of C2 which was corrected Thursday night.
The council also heard the first readings of two housekeeping matters to get rid of some old code in the city books.
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