Burning Ordinance Raises Discussion

Following a lengthy discussion about an ordinance regulating outdoor burning, the city tabled action on adopting permit fees and the revised draft presented during Monday’s meeting.

Canton Fire Chief Charles Bazhaw presented a draft of Ordinance 2008-11 regulating outdoor burning within the city of Canton.

"We have an ordinance right now that actually prohibits burning within the city limits," Bazhaw said.

"This ordinance also prohibits and makes allowances if someone wants to burn some things in their yard and it outlines that," he continued in presenting a newly drafted ordinance.

A $10 non-refundable permit fee for residences and a $200 non-refundable permit fee for commercial burning schedule was presented in the ordinance.

Bazhaw also pointed out other factors that play into approval of the permit which would be temperature, humidity and wind speed. The fire must be maintained at all times, it can’t be within 50-feet of a structure, and the fire department must come out to inspect the burn area prior to burning.

"One of the things we see in this city more than anything is the burning of leaves, does this allow for that?" mayor Rusty Wilson asked.

Bazhaw said the ordinance does allow for leaf burning, but if it becomes a nuisance, it makes provisions for that as well.

A $200 fine would also be issued for those not following the ordinance.

Wilson asked if the 50 feet from a structure requirement was a "hard and fast" figure or if it could be modified depending on the situation.

"To me it is black and white. If we need to address that then we need to build that into the ordinance," Bazhaw said; adding if the 50 feet was a problem then the ordinance needs to be re-written. "…I just don’t want to go there where you are granting this for this person, and this for this person. I would rather it stay just the way it is stated."

Bazhaw further stated that the ordinance was drafted by Canton Code Enforcement Officer Coy Prather, and upon the council recommendation Bazhaw agreed to look into other ordinances and redraft the ordinance to present to the council at a later date.

-took no action on amending the animal control ordinance 2008-06.

Last month a resident requested the council reconsider the tethering ordinance because his dog regularly escaped from the back yard and had to be on a leash to keep from getting out.

"I think we might want to look at this and try to find some kind of middle ground on the dog run, or dog trolley, and not necessarily have it where it has a collar, but the animal is actually in a harness and it is not around their neck," Wilson said. "At least the dog is not subject to chocking itself to death or something like that. In a harness it will still be able to run up and down, and get some exercise and not be out there jumping fences and get hung up."

Council member Jim Fuller said he would not change his mind on the original "no tethering" clause in the ordinance.

"My theory is, that if the dog is on a 50-foot chain running between two trees, he is still tied," Fuller said. "…That is what I object to."

"The more things you put in there (the ordinance), the more loop holes you give…I guess we can do it like we have been doing it and don’t enforce what we’ve got and everything is cool," Fuller continued. "I thought it (the ordinance) was two dogs and two cats, and I know several people who have got six or seven dogs…"

"That is the only animal in the world that we tie up by the neck and we keep him all the time and I just object to it," he said. "I’m sorry I just object to it."

-approved an amendment to organization structure which was changed earlier in the year when the parks department was organized.

"This past year we enlarged the parks department and took some of the First Monday crew and put with the parks department when we took over the CYRA ballpark," city manager Andy McCuistion said. "When I split the First Monday crew and put them with the parks crew, it really wasn’t working out well for us."

McCuistion said he plans to move the parks crew under First Monday Director Lonny Cluck who will now oversee the work crews on maintenance of the First Monday park, CYRA and all park works in the city.

McCuistion noted that later the city may need to have to ask for additional seasonal help at the park.

-took no action on the council’s goals and objectives for the fiscal year 2008/2009 budget.

McCuistion said when a new edc/Main Street director is in place, instead of that person being over administration those duties would be distributed within the city.

-during the mayor’s report Wilson appointed council committees as follows:

Jim Fuller and Clay Nicklas will serve on the First Monday Committee.

Ross Maris and Ron Sanford will serve on the Public Safety Committee.

Charles Huddle and Jim Fuller will serve on the Public Works Committee.

-approved a five year contract on top of a 10 year contract for a total of 17 years left on the lease agreement with Billy Jack Deen for the RV park site at the Canton Civic Center.

-during the city manager’s report McCuistion informed the council that First National Bank of Canton had the lowest interest rate on a loan for the TxDOT property on State Highway 64 that was obtained by the city for the new police department site. The interest rate was 4.35 percent for five years and then reevaluated at that time, McCuistion said.

He further noted the city has an opportunity to refund some 1995 series COs and save $100,000.

McCuistion also informed the council that he met with the builder and financer for the proposed expo center.

"What they ended up with was a 250,000 square foot facility and all of the amenities in it that had been requested," he said. "When they laid that out in front of us and told us what the costs were, it would have been a $10 million facility and we can’t build a $10 million facility. We were stretching it to get a $6 million facility."

After trying to scale the project down, McCuistion said they took out half of the seating, took out half the stalls and the banquet room, and "it was still an $8 million."

"It left us with a higher cost project than we felt like we could come back and recommend to the council," he said. "At this point it is unlikely that the city will be able to fund that comfortably, but it may be possible that there are some private investors out there that still may want to pursue it. We still think very highly of this project…but for a small town we think this project has outgrown us."

"My recommendation is to shelf it right now," he added.

-Mayor Rusty Wilson presented two college scholarships in the amount of $1,000 each for four years to Canton High School seniors Brandi Everitt and Craig Walters.

Everitt, daughter of Ken and Holly Everitt, was awarded the Rayford Hutcherson Memorial Scholarship.

She plans to attend Texas A&M University at Commerce and major in mathematics. She is seeking a master’s degree and teacher’s certification.

Walters, son of Mark and Cindy Walters, was awarded the City of Canton First Monday Scholarship.

He plans to attend Texas A&M University at College Station to pursue a degree in finance.

"It is always good when you are able to give back to the youth of the community," he said. "I have actually seen some of the applications and…they were very, very good. It was a hard decision to make."

-heard from Ron Perkins during the citizens forum.

"I see our town in more of a financial crunch more so probably than Tyler or Dallas," Perkins said. "..We are transporting a lot of people back and forth to those cities, with gas becoming more of an issue."

He pointed out the need for medical transportation providers, school transportation and carpooling as local options.

"I think we need to make a decision on the positive side to be proactive in trying to provide something for the students to allow them to get to school," he said. "…to pull a resource and even set it up on a transit basis."

Then heard from citizen Virginia Jones about her concerns of mowing and clean up along Old Kaufman Road.

-approved minutes from the May 13 and May 20 meetings.

-approved the May 2008 financial statements.

"While we are talking about financials I would be very hesitant about increasing our sales tax revenue this next year," Wilson told McCuistion about his plans in working on the new budget. "I realize you were probably going to budget for a three to five percent increase, which we have always had in the past, but with the way the economy is right now I don’t know if we will actually see that number. So I would be real cautious about showing that as an increase in revenue."

-approved awarding contract for grant administration of Texas Community Development Block Grant (CDBG).

McCuistion explained this grant is for the Wynne Road water project.

-tabled a presentation by Conway Company, CPAs regarding 2006/2007 fiscal year audit, and tabled the acceptance of the fiscal year audit.

-tabled the appointment to fill a vacancy on the planning and zoning commission.

-tabled appointment to economic development corporation.

The council will meet again in a special meeting on June 30 at 5:30 p.m.