Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

City of Gurdon Could Suspend Animal Control

Animal control will again be a problem for Gurdon.

In the Gurdon City Council meeting Monday, Nov. 13, Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith said the city received a letter from Arkadelphia stating it would no longer accept dogs from Gurdon.

This will go into effect Jan. 1, 2001.

The problem, Smith said, is Arkadelphia's dog pound is full and there is a shortage of the serum used to euthanize animals.

What this means, he told the council, is Gurdon must look into building a pound of its own, and soon. "We have no choice."

The city has two possible sites for a dog pound, one near Lowe Field and the other near the city's sewer station on Smithton Road. But, he said, there is another piece of property the city may need to consider.

"We can't pick dogs up without a place to put them," he said. "We can't take them to Arkadelphia because they can't put them to sleep. We'll have to quit picking them up, it'll be less dangerous."

Jane Henry, a local resident, was on hand to address the animal control situation.

Henry has a fence around her property to keep her dog in, yet, she said, a neighbor's Labrador has been coming into her yard and has destroyed a goldfish pond she has.

People, she said, are leaving their gates open and letting their dogs run all over the neighborhood, especially on the weekend.

Henry told the council she's called Smith and the Gurdon Police Department, telling them about the situation, and asking what she can do.

"I've been told by a council member to shoot the dogs," she said, "and I do with a BB gun."

Carroll Martin, Gurdon's Animal Control Officer, said he's been to the Henry home four or five times, but found no dogs.

Council member Mickey Jones asked if Martin could put a trap at the Henry property.

While Martin said he could, the problem remains on where the animals will be taken.

Smith said the animal control department may have to be shut down temporarily until this situation has been taken care of.

In other business, Smith told the council how many tickets had been written by law enforcement departments in the county this year.

The Gurdon Police Department has written 251, as of August, with Caddo Valley citing 818 motorists and Arkadelphia writing 921 tickets. The Clark County Sheriff's Office, he said, has written 3,098 tickets.

The fines outstanding from these tickets amount to $52,782 for the CCSO, $18,597 for Arkadelphia, $13,651 for Caddo Valley and $47,604 for Gurdon.

This, Smith said, looks out of proportion.

Gurdon City Marshal David Childres said a lot of the tickets written by the CCSO are for hot checks, while Caddo Valley gets most of its tickets written on people driving through.

For Gurdon, he said, most of the warrants written are on people who have moved and can't be served.

Others, he continued, would cost Gurdon $22.50 per day if they were placed in jail.

Some people, he said, owe more than $3,000 and will never be able to pay these fines. If they were to be put in jail, it would cost the city to keep them there and pay their medical and dental expenses. None, he added, are for serious offenses.

Smith said there is a problem with $47,000 being owed in unpaid fines.

One family in Gurdon, Childres said, owes about $10,000 in fines. "We serve the warrants we think need to be served. I'm not putting 50 people in jail a month, and a lot in Gurdon are repeat offenders."

The city, he said, can't afford the jail bill if those owing on tickets were arrested.

The municipal judge makes the decision on who gets arrested, Childres continued, saying the judge usually gives someone four or five chances before they're put in jail.

Smith challenged the council to talk with people in other cities and see what can be done to alleviate this problem.

Next up was a discussion about purchasing a new firetruck for the Gurdon Fire Department.

Fire Chief Jake McBride said the GFD has three trucks, two of them are old, with the newest being a 1995 model. One is a 1981 model and the other is an 87 model.

He said the older truck is getting to a point where it costs more to repair it than it's worth, and isn't safe to take to fires."We need to keep the half-cent sales tax," he said.

This, Smith said, couldn't be done without a vote of the people. The newest truck was purchased through a bond issue passed by Gurdon residents in 1993.

The money from the tax was to be used for capital improvements for the street and fire departments. The bond issue was set up to go off the books in 2006, but has brought in more money than originally anticipated and will be removed early next year.

With Amendment 1 passing in the General Election, Smith said, the city could buy a new firetruck without passing a new tax, but, to do this, he continued, the city would need its share of the county sales tax dedicated to paying the truck off in five years.

On the city getting its part of the county tax, Smith said a special election is needed and the council should pass an ordinance on how this money would be used.

Gurdon would receive about $250,000 as its share of the tax, should such a measure be approved.

Smith suggested dedicating most of the funds to the street department for capital improvements. A portion, he said, could go to the fire department and be used to buy a new truck. The GPD could use a portion to have dispatching done locally 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. The rest would go to the city's general fund with the council deciding how it should be spent, such as for a retirement plan for city employees.

Turning to the street department, Smith said the city has been given until Dec. 31 to either purchase the site the city shop is currently on, or leave.

The city, he said, owns neither the building nor the property, even though the city built the shop.

Street Superintendent Jim Caldwell said the current location is too small and not worth the $15,000 being asked by the owner.

The city is having two parcels of property appraised. Both locations have been deemed suitable for use by the street department.

Caldwell said one would require a lot of work, while the other one is mostly ready.

The council decided the city should first look into a lease-purchase agreement with the owners, as no real decision could be made as to buying one or the other without appraisals being done.

Smith will negotiate with the two owners on a lease with an option to buy the land, bringing the results to the council at its December meeting.

The council was informed there is $13,000 in a recycling account in a Hot Springs bank.

The funds belong to Gurdon, Clark County and Arkadelphia. Originally, the money came from a $30,000 grant, with Arkadelphia getting most of the money.

Gurdon received enough to purchase the recycling trailer used to collect recyclable materials Saturdays.

The county gave its part away.

Smith will talk with Arkadelphia's city manager and see if Arkadelphia will give the rest of the money to Gurdon.

If Arkadelphia agrees, Smith said there is an area the city could fence for storing its recyclables.

In the mayor's report, Smith said there are four positions on the council still open.

Only two of the six council members filed petitions for reelection. One, Johnny McGuirt, has stated he no longer has time to be on the council.

The other three, Rev. Ronald Scott, Jones and Phillip Giles, have expressed an interest at remaining on the board.

However, anyone interested in replacing any of these four should let their intentions be known by contacting the mayor's office before the December meeting, which will be on Dec. 11.

Those who apply will be considered with a decision made at this meeting.

But, those who want to be on the council must live in the ward they are seeking a seat in.

As the meeting began winding down, the council approved Christmas bonuses of $100 for full-time employees and $50 for part-time workers.

The last order of business was a discussion on the 2001 budget. Smith said a committee was needed, and should begin meeting soon as a budget must be passed before the end of January.

Karen Parker was the only member of the council to volunteer to be on the budget committee. Wendy Maxwell, administrative assistant was placed on it, along with all department heads.