Wednesday, July 21, 2004

A limit on how many pets city residents can have, tightened nuisance standards and classifying animal breeders as kennel businesses are possible changes to Bowling Greens animal control ordinances being considered by the Bowling Green city commission.

City Animal Control Officer Dale Blair and Lori Hare, director of the Bowling Green-Warren County Humane Society, presented a list of ideas for new regulations to city commissioners Tuesday night. Blair, Hare and others have been working on the list for more than a month, comparing local standards with those of other cities and states.

People who keep lots of animals mostly dogs in and around residences, and let them breed, account for a host of problems, including foul odors and noise, Blair said.

Ninety-nine percent of the places Ive seen already, the conditions are not suitable, said Blair, who took over animal enforcement for the city July 1.

Under the ordinance proposal, many of those would be classified as kennels, and made to get a business license, he said.

Were talking about redefining what a kennel is, Blair said.

The proposed changes would limit city residents to no more than six dogs and six cats per household.

Theres a lot of great pet owners out there who have six dogs, or seven dogs, Hare said. But when you live in the city, how many do you say is too much?

The enforcement process would be driven by complaints, so if a resident owned more than the limit but cared for them well enough not to draw neighbors complaints, that wouldnt become an issue, she said.

The city doesnt require owners to license their cats, but Blair gets as many calls about feral cats as he does about dogs, he said.

By proposed licensing for cats, we would make someone responsible for those animals, Blair said.

Owners of snakes, reptiles and other exotic or wild animals would have to get a permit, with an inspection to make sure their homes are safe and comfortable, he said.

Warren County doesnt have a licensing law, Hare said. And compared to other cities, Bowling Greens license charges are much too low, she said.

The city now charges $10 for dogs and cats that havent been spayed or neutered. She suggests raising that to $40, and hiking the $5 charge for altered dogs and cats to $10.

We alter animals for less than $40, cats and dogs, Hare said.

Another proposed change would require at least a 10-foot tether for dogs tied in yards, on a sliding trolley, and mandate collars instead of just chains around their necks.

The committee suggests making most animal-control violations civil charges, rather than criminal. But animal-cruelty charges would remain criminal, carrying fines or imprisonment.

A revised ordinance will probably be back for a vote at the next commission meeting in two weeks, City Manager Chuck Coates said.

Water plant bonds

Bowling Green Municipal Utilities will get the rest of the money it needs to expand its water treatment plant from being able to handle 22.5 million gallons per day to 30 million gallons.

Commissioners approved $9.7 million in bonds for the utility, the last portion of the $13.3 million project. Since Bowling Green owns the utility, bonds must be issued in the citys name, city Chief Financial Officer Davis Cooper said. But the bonds can only be paid out of BGMU revenue, not city funds, he said.

Two-thirds of the bonds will be paid by Warren County Water District, which buys water from BGMU, said Diana McQuady, BGMUs chief financial officer.

The work is already 60 percent complete, and will be complete in May, she said.

Answering a question from Mayor Sandy Jones, McQuady said the utility has no plans to expand the plant over the site of the former Quonset Auditorium, bought by BGMU and demolished last year.

Garbage lease

A plan to offset the impending loss of the citys garbage transfer station by re-bidding its lease at a higher price was tabled last night after protests from Shirley Flener, general manager of Monarch Environmental, which holds the current lease.

We would like to see the city look at it as a price increase, rather than re-bidding it out, he said.

The $90,000 per year that the lease brings in pays for mandatory monitoring and testing at the citys three former landfills. But BGMU plans to expand its adjacent Wastewater Treatment Plant onto the site in the next three years, so the city seeks to get as much money as possible out of the transfer station while its open, Coates said. The city must monitor the closed landfills for years to come, for a total cost of about $1 million, he said. So re-bidding the lease would allow the city to save part of the needed money.

But commissioners, after hearing from Flener, decided to think about it, delaying a decision for at least two weeks.

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