Council Mulls Cats, Payments, and Development

The Jackson City Council met for nearly an hour and a half for its regular May meeting to discuss a wide range of issues.  

Early in the meeting, the Council discussed the issues of stray dogs and cats in the city.  Councilmember Tommy Noble said the problems were severe in the Frog Pond Section and South Jackson.  

“We have ten to fifteen dogs running loose,” Noble told the Council.  “We’ve got citizens that can’t set out on their porch or in their yard because they say the dogs come around and growl.”  Noble also described some instances where residents were scared of the dogs.

“Somebody is gonna get mauled,” Noble said.  “We don’t need that.  We need to take care of the problem.”

The Council discussed approaching the County Judge to discuss the problem and Breathitt County's involvement with the Kentucky River Animal Shelter in Hazard. 

During the review of the city’s financial reports, the Council had several questions about a $129,573.86 payment of a claim for work at the Jackson Water Plant.  A motion was made to pay the claim, but the motion lingered for some time without a second.  Noble reluctantly seconded the emotion but asked Mayor Laura Thomas, “Can they give us a total? That’s a lot of money.”

“Why sure it is,” Mayor Thomas said.  “It’s almost a three-million-dollar grant.  So that’s a big project.”  Thomas explained the payment and part of the project before inviting the Councilmembers to come to City Hall and look at the project files if they had any questions about the work being done at the water plant.

The motion was approved unanimously after Thomas’s explanation.

The Council unanimously approved naming two streets in the newly opened Samaritan Purse addition to the city.  The Council approved the motion to create Shepherd’s Lane and Samaritan Way, after the Samaritan's Purse organization deeded some undeveloped property and streets to the city.

Councilmembers also discussed alternatives to replacing flood-damaged fences at Douthitt Park after each flood and the duties of city-employed school resource officers.

The Council received a report from Calissa Pepper, a Master’s Degree Candidate from the University of Virginia, who presented a report recommending hiring a full-time economic and development director for the city and county, after a year of research in Breathitt County.  

“The most successful communities are the ones who have the highest capacity for change,” Pepper told the Council.  She discussed the importance of change and vision in developing a local plan for economic development.

The Council discussed without resolution the role of the city in the Julian Carroll Airport and the opportunities for summer youth work programs.

After several questions, Mayor Thomas discussed the properties purchased by the FEMA buyout program and the efforts to keep them mowed.  She told the Council that the City had permitted several neighbors to maintain some properties and had hired three contractors to mow some of the lots.  She noted that twenty-six lots had been purchased, two were pending, and four had not made a final decision about the process.

With five of the six members present, the Council approved the usual minutes, bill, and reports.