Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Tax Considered For Dogs, Cops And Sirens

A member of the Gurdon City Council offered to pay postage for a survey out of her own pocket.

The survey would be to find out what residents think about animal control, an emergency siren system and more funds for the Gurdon Police Department, and the possible ways to pay for funding these ideas.

Micki Jones, during the regular meeting of the council Monday night, offered to pay the postage for the survey letters because of the city's severe problem with dogs running loose.

She read a statute which gives the city the right to destroy any dog running at large after giving the owner of the animal five days notice if the dog had a collar.

Abandoned dogs, she said, are a menace to residents and should be destroyed.

She also told the council she was considering starting a newsletter for those in her district so she could get feedback on their wishes.

Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith lauded Jones' willingness to pay for the postage and start a newsletter, but said the survey letter would be a better place to start as every registered voter within the city limits would receive a copy of the survey and could respond.

However, the survey letter would contain questions on more than animal control.

It would also have questions about an emergency siren system. Smith told the council he had been in contact with Coast to Coast Communications of Oklahoma concerning getting sirens in Gurdon.

He was told by representatives the city would need two sirens, one near the Gurdon Primary School and the other in the area where South Street crosses the railroad tracks.

Smith said the sirens would be operated from three-phase motors and would be set off by means of encoded radio signals from either the city or the Clark County Sheriff's Office.

The sirens, the council was informed, will cost about $8,900 each, with the poles, installation and utility service not included. The overall costs, Smith said, would be about $20,000.

In discussing the animal control problem further, Smith agreed the city has the right to remove animals, but its problem is how to fund such an operation.

He said the council would need to figure out who would be the animal control officer, how this person would be paid, how the animals would be picked up, where they would be taken and in what vehicle.

Smith told the council he had hoped to have some of those questions answered, but had been unable to work with the Arkadelphia City Manager on the problem and couldn't get in touch with a veterinarian.

Under law, he said, when a person comes to claim an animal that has been picked up they must show proof the animal has had its rabies vaccination, pay a fine and have the animal neutered. All this must be done before the animal in question is released to them.

The council would have to look into passing a leash law and finding an animal control officer to do the job. Smith said this would not be a job a person could feed a family on, and a multi-purpose employee would be needed.

Gurdon City Marshal David Childres had suggested, in prior discussions on the topic, putting the cost of animal control and warning sirens onto residents' water bill.

There is about 1,000 customers on the Gurdon Water and Sewer system, Smith said. A $2 fee would bring in $2,000 per month, while a $3 fee would bring in $3,000 monthly.

Another option, he told the council, is sales tax. A quarter cent sales tax would bring in about $2,039 per month, while a half-cent tax would generate around $5,878 monthly.

The half-cent tax, he said, would fund all three projects, and the tax would keep pace with inflation.

As it stands, Smith said, the GPD is funded from the city's general fund. The general fund receives money from state turnback, which is based on population, and franchise taxes. These areas, he said, never increase.

The council could dedicate the tax monies to be spent in any proportion it wanted to fund the projects.

Smith said the Gurdon Fire Department has money in its capital improvement fund which could be used to purchase and install the emergency siren system, but these funds would need to be paid back.

While the city couldn't float a loan from a bank, he said, it can borrow money from itself.

Harold Hurst, manager of the Gurdon Water and Sewer Department, told the council of a grant he had heard of.

The grant, he said, was for $15,000 for cities with populations of 3,000 or less. The water department had been approached for filing for the grant, but Hurst said his department could forego filing at this time if the city wanted to apply for it for the siren system.

In addition, he said, this is not a matching grant and the city wouldn't be required to put up any money.

Jim Caldwell, street department manager, pointed out this is severe weather season in Arkansas and the sooner a siren system could be installed the better it would be.

Talking about the GPD, Smith said, with costs rising constantly, and no new money coming into the city's general fund, the decisions are getting slim on what can be done.

With a half-cent tax, he said, part can be applied to the GPD to help keep the department solvent and operational. Otherwise, he said, the police department will either have to decrease the services it offers or possibly lay more officers off.

The council agreed to go ahead with the survey, so long as the letter explains the projects and gives details on the options available.

Depending on the results of the survey, a possible special election could be held later this year.

In other business, Hurst said the president of the Water Commission's term had expired and the rest of the board had appointed Bill Dulin to serve another term.

However, the council's approval was needed, and granted, so he could continue serving.

And, the council also approved Danny Paul to serve out the remainder of an unexpired term from former water commissioner Bob Turner. Paul will serve until Jan. 1, 1999.

Hurst said everything is in readiness for construction on the Gurdon Rural Water project to actually begin.

The contract, he said, will expire Nov. 10, but if the weather cooperates, the project should be completed by then.

Hurst also explained why residents lost water pressure Saturday, April 12.

He said the well system is on timers which come on at different times. The airport well has a pressure reducing system which didn't come on as it should have, which resulted in the well shutting down. In turn, this caused the water pressure to drop.

The person on call for the weekend also had beeper problems and couldn't be reached. Hurst said he has since called the beeper company and was told it has been having problems with its paging system.

"It was a freak thing to happen," he said. But, Hurst's wife was able to locate someone who got the problem taken care of.

Childres