It seems only fair that since we are allowed only 3 dogs and/or cats at a residence, that they should allow only 3 chickens per residence. Or is there some reason why that would be different? I'd sure like to have a new puppy, but we have the limit of 3 right now. Chickens do smell bad if you get a lot of them together. Thankfully no one in my neighborhood has any chickens, but I had a neighbor once who let his dogs' poop stack so high in it's cement cage that I couldn't even go outside. I think any animal that is a nuisance should be treated on an individual basis, depending on complaints. And roosters are just the spawn of the devil!
I agree that while having nice looking yards is a plus, the city should clean up it's own back yard before worrying about ours. I think if I got one of those notices it would just make me mad and I'd leave it that way out of spite.
SG wrote:It seems only fair that since we are allowed only 3 dogs and/or cats at a residence, that they should allow only 3 chickens per residence. Or is there some reason why that would be different? I'd sure like to have a new puppy, but we have the limit of 3 right now. Chickens do smell bad if you get a lot of them together. Thankfully no one in my neighborhood has any chickens, but I had a neighbor once who let his dogs' poop stack so high in it's cement cage that I couldn't even go outside. I think any animal that is a nuisance should be treated on an individual basis, depending on complaints. And roosters are just the spawn of the devil!
Three chicken per household could work, unless of course you have a hen that has chicks. Then when they are old enough to crow they are old enough to go in the stew pot. Chickens and dogs are a bit different. You can't eat a dog, unless we are talking hot dogs here. But to have a brooder house in town is not a good idea either. A few would be suffiecient. I totally agree. But there needs to be rules for dog kennels as well then, as far as the stink. And enforce it for everyone.......... And ahhhh bout those roosters being the spawn of the devil......might you have had an experience as a child with grandpa's old rooster?.....he he.....they are all not devil foul!
I agree that while having nice looking yards is a plus, the city should clean up it's own back yard before worrying about ours. I think if I got one of those notices it would just make me mad and I'd leave it that way out of spite.
I not only got those two notices, there were more. My son had a 72 Bronco that he drove, it was old and it didn't always run....kinda like the lawnmower. When it came time to renue the tag, sometimes it was on the bottom of the list to tag when the money was short, the yard nazi watched it like a hawk. We would have to go move it from time to time in the yard just so they didn't try to drag it off. He had to work on it somewhere. They just thought it would be easier for him to work on it somewhere besides home. They took four of his good 4x4 tires to the dump when they hauled off our stuff. That and several nice aluminum storm windows we had gotten to put on the house. Some plumbing pipe and some siding I had left over from trying to make the house look better. Of course I didn't get an atta girl for that one. Just notices when they thought it looked bad. Go figure.....I know I need to let it go, they don't do it to me any more, but when I read articles like the one above....I think...... same song different verse.....
There seems to be some confusion about the "yard nazi's". People are under the impression that the city has time to go out and look for problems. Until the middle of last year there was only 1 full time and 1 part time person in code enforcement to answer all of the complaints that were called in by YOUR/OUR neighbors. The complaints that could not be answered accumulated weekly. Then in the middle of last year the city was able to add a full time person. From then until now Code Enforcement has been able to catch up on complaints with only about a week or so delay.
Now we are back to 1 full time person again. There is no hope at present of even responding to all of the citizen complaints, let alone go looking for more problems. Hopefully we will be able to add a new Code Enforcement officer soon, but it will have to be through a normal hiring process.
If you have a need to find someone to blame or accuse you of not keeping up your yard, look to where the problem lies. The city has not had time to go looking for problems for several years. If the city has notified you of a problem you can be absolutely certain that your neighbors directed the city to you.
I get calls almost daily turning weeds, cars and other nuisances in. I can't think of a single one that didn't want to stay anonymous. I know that Code Enforcement gets many, many more calls than I do. I have no idea how many calls the other commissioners get. If you have a problem being turned in I recommend talking to your neighbors.
Patrick wrote:Response to mention of "yard Nazi's"
There seems to be some confusion about the "yard nazi's". People are under the impression that the city has time to go out and look for problems. Until the middle of last year there was only 1 full time and 1 part time person in code enforcement to answer all of the complaints that were called in by YOUR/OUR neighbors. The complaints that could not be answered accumulated weekly. Then in the middle of last year the city was able to add a full time person. From then until now Code Enforcement has been able to catch up on complaints with only about a week or so delay.
Now we are back to 1 full time person again. There is no hope at present of even responding to all of the citizen complaints, let alone go looking for more problems. Hopefully we will be able to add a new Code Enforcement officer soon, but it will have to be through a normal hiring process.
They certianly found the time to do what ever they needed to do then, if you will read my post this was not this year, this was a few years ago. Yes, more than likely there was many complaints on my property, the lady that was doing it had asked me many times to buy the property but I wouldn't sell. My kids and I had to have someplace to live. Just so you know now, WE MOVED! I got so much C**P from the city that we moved. Now, the lady I suspected that was doing all this calling had weeds around her garage and in the alley behind her house and when the code enforcement people came out she was never cited. Just my property. To avoid problems in the future? I would say that all the properties in the block on both sides of the alley should be looked and and cited on issues that are out of code. That way one property owner isn't put over the fire. All up and down my block were issues that were not city code. I however didn't call them all in because most of them were not the one that was calling in on me. She got what she wanted!!! I sold out the property to her. I bet you don't get calls out there anymore. And the property doesn't look any better. The houses are vacant now.
If you have a need to find someone to blame or accuse you of not keeping up your yard, look to where the problem lies. The city has not had time to go looking for problems for several years. If the city has notified you of a problem you can be absolutely certain that your neighbors directed the city to you.
About blaming someone, Did I not say that the mower was not working? And did I not say that I worked hard at getting working to get the yard mowed? Yes I did, not all of us have been "highly educated business persons". Not all of us are able to just drop a mower off at a shop and pay the nice man to fix it. Trust me, that yard was better kept up and the property was in much better shape than before I bought it. It was vacant for many years before I bought it. We're not talkin Timerlanes here. I did improve the property. And if you will read my post it was several years ago. So they had PLENTY of time to hide in the bushes then. And yes you are right, it was the neighbors calling in,with a plan. Tell me that people aren't tattle tale with the city, that is why you get so many calls.
I get calls almost daily turning weeds, cars and other nuisances in. I can't think of a single one that didn't want to stay anonymous. I know that Code Enforcement gets many, many more calls than I do. I have no idea how many calls the other commissioners get. If you have a problem being turned in I recommend talking to your neighbors.
Rest assured I have no more problems with the city. I just have to let them know when the city is not up to code. Just a friendly reminder of days past. It is annoying, isn't it?
Patrick, I think you bring up a good point. I have a yard nazi on my block, too. However, I have made it a point to be a good neighbor and she leaves my family alone. If we have concerns, we talk about them! What a concept. I do have a family that moved in 2 houses down into a home which had sat empty for quite some time. Quite frankly, it looked better abandoned than it does with them in it. They have trash and junk everywhere! They also have 2 dogs which they let out several times a day to feed on the neighborhood trash and do their business in everyone else's yard. I have tried to talk to them about it, but they are not interested in being "neighbors". At this point, I have no choice but to go the the authorities. The dogs are costing my neighbors money by tearing up porch decorations, etc. Their trashy yard is bringing down my property value. I think everyone should make a point to get to know their neighbors and talk things out first. If this can not be done in a civil way, then you should turn them in. I do not believe in going right to the authorities. If you are being warned by the city, you should try to talk it out with their neighbors. You will find they are a lot more tolerant of people whom they know and respect.
Mother of 2 wrote:Patrick, I think you bring up a good point. I have a yard nazi on my block, too. However, I have made it a point to be a good neighbor and she leaves my family alone. If we have concerns, we talk about them! What a concept. I do have a family that moved in 2 houses down into a home which had sat empty for quite some time. Quite frankly, it looked better abandoned than it does with them in it. They have trash and junk everywhere! They also have 2 dogs which they let out several times a day to feed on the neighborhood trash and do their business in everyone else's yard. I have tried to talk to them about it, but they are not interested in being "neighbors". At this point, I have no choice but to go the the authorities. The dogs are costing my neighbors money by tearing up porch decorations, etc. Their trashy yard is bringing down my property value. I think everyone should make a point to get to know their neighbors and talk things out first. If this can not be done in a civil way, then you should turn them in. I do not believe in going right to the authorities. If you are being warned by the city, you should try to talk it out with their neighbors. You will find they are a lot more tolerant of people whom they know and respect.
All due respect, I did know my neighbors very well. However, apparently they found it easier to call the city in stealth to get what they wanted. As far as respect from these people. This property sat vacant for many years and this particular neighbor used the property as if it were theirs during this time. Then when I moved in, I fenced in part of it for my dog. Being a good neighbor, I left the part they parked on empty and free of fence to allow them to continue parking on it. I was a very good neighbor and we didn't have trash or refuse all over. My dog was always kept contained. I was guilty of having a teenaged son that worked on his vehicle. I was guilty of having a mower that was not reliable at times. What I did do, was paint and clean up the property, side one of the really bad looking houses with new siding. Remodel the inside and make them livible. They asked me many times to sell the property, I said no. There were other violations on the block but only mine were turned in. And only mine were addressed by the city. I didn't want to be ugly and start turning in every one within eyesite because one determined neighbor turned me in. Maybe I should have. It just goes against what I believe. There was never a cross word between me and the neighbor that wanted the property. In the end they got what they wanted. I left. And the property doesn't look any different than when I owned it. Only the houses are empty. And the old neighbor is happy once again.
Redd Rover, I made my post before yours appeared on this page. I would say your situation is an exception. It sounds like your neighbors used the system to their advantage. Any time laws enable someone to run you out of your home, something is wrong! If you had the funds available, you should have sued these people! Unfortunately, not everyone has that luxury. Myself being without that kind of $, I probably would have confronted my neighbors head on. Did you?
Motherof2, Unfortunatly I had other things going on in my life at the time with job and family that was stressful as well and this was just one more thing on the list. I did however come across a home bigger and with more land at the time and just decided to get away from that property. I didn't sell it right away, I rented it for a short time. But when the letters kept coming a finally decieded to sell. The one good thing that came from it is I made a profit from the sale of this property. Life is too short to live it with constant aggrivation. With a job change and a change in environment things got better. In the long run it was best I left there, the city can say that they were just enforcing the law but, what they were enforcing was the law in someplaces and not others. When I threatened to take photos of the properties around my home within a block or two and take them to a commission meeting, the code enforcers told me that they would excuse my fees for hauling off my belongings, although I had to go find what they hauled off and I never did find all of it. I truly believe if they had a case they wouldn't have done that. I know that this is all in the past Motherof2, but when I see the possibility that they may be doing this to others, it makes me cringe. One angry neighbor can make life miserable for a person and the city doesn't have to help them. All I am asking is that IF the city does get these calls, that they make sure that all the properties within a solid block (both side of the alley) is in compliance as well. And I don't mean just the house the the call was about. The call came in about my items behind my shed. But they should have paid attention to the tall grass and the falling down buildings and all the other building materials on the block. The house directly behind me had old trailers in the yard with at least two bathtubs and some building materials. This house was only used for storage for one of the local residents. He was not the one turning me in so I didn't feel the need to turn him in, but on the same line he was not turned in. But they didn't make him clean up as well. It is too easy to get the city to do the dirty work for a citizen with a grudge. The calls may slow down if they did a sweep of the area and not just a pin point policing. So if the city wants to make some of the negative feelings that are around go away, they need to be more broad in the areas they police and not just on the property that is pin pointed. How could I have gotten upset if there were five or six letters that went out at the same time as mine? But that didn't happen. I suppose all this is about trying to get the city to look at the way they are addressing these issues and showing them that it can be improved on. One thing is to start making sure that all city property is in compliance before fussing at the citizens. How can it be right to enforce the law when they aren't in compliance?
I agree with ReddRover's point. When code enforcement gets a complaint about a specific property they should be taking a look at all the other properties along that block. I hope the city can get the open position in that office filled soon. The spotty enforcement does create resentment.
There seems to be some confusion about the "yard nazi's". People are under the impression that the city has time to go out and look for problems. Until the middle of last year there was only 1 full time and 1 part time person in code enforcement to answer all of the complaints that were called in by YOUR/OUR neighbors. The complaints that could not be answered accumulated weekly. Then in the middle of last year the city was able to add a full time person. From then until now Code Enforcement has been able to catch up on complaints with only about a week or so delay.
Patrick you are a great defender for the city, I wonder if you were like that before you got into the commission. I also wonder if they were to come down to your place of business for code violations like handicapp accessabilty. or electrical wiring or fire safety would you say the same, since in reason the city is everyones neighbor. I wish the city would address issue's from citizen's with the same deliverance for correcting others issue's. I am not trying to aim at you it just seems that most of the time our city officials take up for the city and hide their on grievance's like they like or approve of everthing the council or code say.
Now we are back to 1 full time person again. There is no hope at present of even responding to all of the citizen complaints, let alone go looking for more problems. Hopefully we will be able to add a new Code Enforcement officer soon, but it will have to be through a normal hiring process.
If you have a need to find someone to blame or accuse you of not keeping up your yard, look to where the problem lies. The city has not had time to go looking for problems for several years. If the city has notified you of a problem you can be absolutely certain that your neighbors directed the city to you.
I get calls almost daily turning weeds, cars and other nuisances in. I can't think of a single one that didn't want to stay anonymous. I know that Code Enforcement gets many, many more calls than I do. I have no idea how many calls the other commissioners get. If you have a problem being turned in I recommend talking to your neighbors.
It would seem that the city would not just take a complaint without knowing from which part of town that person live , so they could try to build bonds between neighbors and not have someone who is not directly affected make an anonymous complaint . It' hard to think about it but we do have some trouble makers in this town who will use the city for their own agenda. And when the complaint is made why not ask all the people in that particular neighborhood if they have a problem with anything. We have our entry points for this town and then we have neighborhoods with real people with real problems.
Some very good points here! I believe if a complaint is made, the city should take a look at the whole neighborhood. Make sure all are in compliance and make an effort to speak with neighbors on their opinions. This will keep certain homes from being "picked" on and may even open up lines of communications with the community. Perhaps some people are handicapped and/or are not capable of cleaning up their yards. Perhaps the city could encourage the neighborhood to reach out their hands and help someone in need instead of just complaining.
Some very good points here! I believe if a complaint is made, the city should take a look at the whole neighborhood. Make sure all are in compliance and make an effort to speak with neighbors on their opinions. This will keep certain homes from being "picked" on and may even open up lines of communications with the community. Perhaps some people are handicapped and/or are not capable of cleaning up their yards. Perhaps the city could encourage the neighborhood to reach out their hands and help someone in need instead of just complaining.
Thankyou for your support on this problem with the city codes. I believe if the city takes some of this information and uses it for the better, things could change however small. I do believe that this forum can do wonders for the community, if, those who make the codes and rules, and enforce them, listen to the people. Instead of denying that there is a problem, or blaming it all on the taxpayer. I would like to think that this is not just a profitable endeavor on the city's part. After reading this stats on last years mowing,cleanings, and tearing downs, it sure appears that way.
This is a story I read in the Oct 3 paper, I contemplated writing on it, then decieded to go for it.
Neighbors complain about chickens
By JAMES JORDAN Traveler Editor
Is there a problem with chickens in Arkansas City? City commissioners are not sure, but they did hear some complaints Tuesday at their regular meeting.
Several people who live in the area complained about chickens at 1426 South A St., saying that the animals make too much noise and are creating a nuisance. Commissioners set the public hearing after hearing complaints earlier.Dale Williams also talked about fighting chickens at another location, not related to the other complaints.
Granted chickens are somewhat noisy but so are dogs and children.....do we voice complaints about getting rid of them too? Sheesh.....let me see what else can we pick on our neighbor over?
These are on South First and Second streets.
People complaining about the chickens at 1426 South A said the chickens are attracting flies and mosquitoes, and there is the potential of spreading disease.
They also said the smell is bad and it makes it hard to be outside in their own yards.
They said they had talked with the owner, who told them he does not see the chickens as a problem.
The owner was not at the meeting.After the meeting, Mayor Dotty Smith said she would look further into the matter.
Do chickens stink? Not unless they are confined in huge numbers in a small space. I can see regulating the amount of chickens per area but to cut them out altogether? Heck no!....Talkin about nay sayers......And about the fighting chickens.....are they being fought? If not there is no law that says you can't have them. Just because they aren't pretty, gives you the right to build a privacy fence. Right? And every one knows that chickens eat flys and ticks and misquitos too. Is that a huge problem? My neighbors chickens are always in my yard and that is not a huge problem for me. Fewer bugs.........and these chickens must be mute as they are not very vocal....Only the roosters are vocal.....
Commissioner Patrick McDonald said he appreciated people getting involved and presenting their concerns in an orderly and well thought-out manner .
Some commissioners wondered if the matter could be handled under the nuisance ordinance.
City Manager Doug Russell said he thought it would be too hard to prove what constitutes a nuisance in this case.
Good thinking Doug, someone has their thinking cap on. You may get this city turned around yet! They are just a few chickens, AND if they are dead set against chickens, limit the amout of them that you can have. And make sure they are contained. Don't take away their right to have them.
Frank Waresak, who lives on North Eighth Street, said he keeps a few chickens and his son is learning from the experience. He said he wouldn't want to see chickens banned.
He suggested that if necessary, the city could require an ordinance or put a limit on how many chickens a person could have.
In other matters commissioners:
* Approved placing assessments on tax bills for people who have not paid for mowing weeds and removing other nuisances from their properties.
People who do not take care of their property are sent a letter and given a certain amount of time to take care of the problem, whether it be an excessive amount of weeds or a junked car.
If the problem is not paid for the city takes care of it, and then bills the person. If the bill is not paid the city then has the amount put on the person's tax bill.
There were 83 cases of weed mowing, which amounted to $22,450; nine cases of trash removal for a total of $1,800; seven vehicle-removal cases for a total of $900 and seven structure demolitions for $30,550.
This is yet a senario I can't bear to see. Not that keeping your yard neat and clean is not desirable, I do agree that this should be done. But to have the yard nazi's lurking in the bushs the day after the old car that you have in your yard's tag has expired, only to send you a notice in the mail the next few days to get rid of it is absurd. And to expect those in the city limits to keep their yards neat and cleaner than some city property is kept is another problem. I know we have been asured that this won't happen again and the city property is going to be maintained, but even though I am NOT from Missouri, I want you to show me. Show me that you can keep ALL city property within the same standards you hold the property owners at. And if you don't is there any concequences? I would have to say if there is going to be concequences for the regular citizen, then the same should apply for the city. Tell me I am wrong. No excuses. That is what the city has said to property owners in the past. No excuses. I know that things have been changing in the area of city code and I am waiting to see if those codes and the code enforcers use the same guidlines that the old enforcers did. When the city came to mow my yard many years ago, it didn't matter that as a single mother of two children, and the owner of a small amount of land and a house that a struggling mother attempting to maintain a decent life for her children had to worry about the yard nazi. We had a mower but it was not working when the notice came in the mail. We scrambled to get the yard mowed and did, only to find that after we did the city came in and ran over the top of the already mowed yard and charged us for the mowing. The city worker was not capible of calling back to the office and reporting he had been sent out on an already mowed yard. Maybe he didn't get the memo about being able to think for himself. None the less we got charged for the mowing and when I refuse to pay, they held me hostage at tax time. This was not the only time incidents like this happened. We also had some of our property hauled off by the city as they saw it as an eyesore. Funny thing though. they only hauled part of it to the dump. The rest went to the city shop. Who knows where it would have gone if I hadn't have tracked in down before someone took it home. By the way, I didn't have to pay the fees that time. Once I pointed out that the notice was sent to the wrong address even after they were told what the right one was. They said it was something about the right hand not knowing what the left hand was doing.
So in the future, if the truth were known, most of these fees paid, were by those who don't really have much anyway. And to charge them the money on thier taxes will only take away the property they own evenutally. Truthfully, do you think if most could afford to take care of the probem they wouldn't have? There may be a few of those who are just stubborn, but for the most part the ones that you are charging your fees too are those who have very little. And from the looks of things that this is quite profitable for the city. Too bad those crews couldn't have been mowing the city's property and keep themselves within code this summer.
* Approved allowing the Cherokee Strip Land Rush Museum to use money it had been given from the Dreher Estate for special shelving to store artifacts. The cost of the winning bid was $9,138.
The vote was 4-1 with Mel Kuhn voting against approval.
* Suspended Jump Start's beer license due to the sale of alcohol to underaged persons for the week of Oct. 8-13.
This is their second offense in a three-year period, so they will have their license suspended for a week and will have to pay $200 to get their license restored.Store officials appeared at the work session Monday, and said they were trying to comply with the law and apologized. They said a worker made a mistake and was fired.
The worker that made the mistake lost alot losing his or her minumum wage job. Sheesh, they will just hire another one to take his/her place and ACPD will swoop in again on the next big event we have in our city. We have guys and gals that are extreme threats to our community and we are slapping around convienience store clerks for doing the unthinkable. True minors need not be able to buy beer, but some don't have too, they get it at home. Where is the justice?
* Designated October as Spinal Health Care Month in Arkansas City.
Ohdamoney wrote: You are not very informed about anything, for someone who has alot of opions.
Enlighten us o wise one.......give us your "opions". Inform us of what we don't know and understand!!!! Don't knock it because some has one different than that of yours!
