County considers animals-at-large ordinance

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

An attempt to deal with livestock owners who fail to keep their animals on their property led to a wide-ranging discussion at the Floyd County Board of Supervisors workshop meeting Monday morning.

A proposed ordinance drafted by Assistant County Attorney Randall Tilton included possible fines for owners who let their animals off their property, and covered livestock and other animals including dogs and cats.

The ordinance also included the ability for county law officers to seize and impound animals, except for livestock, which are controlled by other state laws.

The ordinance would allow for a $65 to $650 fine for a citation as a simple misdemeanor, or up to $1,000 maximum fine if charged as a county infraction for multiple offenses.

“I thought it read pretty well,” said Sheriff Jeff Crooks. “It gives us a tool to use when we’re out on the roadway.”

But supervisors questioned why small animals were added to the proposed ordinance, and whether the county had any facilities to hold animals that were seized.

“This is a lot larger than our original discussion,” said Supervisor Linda Tjaden, referring to a problem with a livestock owner who frequently had cattle wander off his property that prompted the talk of an ordinance.

“I just want to make sure that we’re not making this more than we want,” she said.

Tilton said he added the language about small animals to give the Sheriff’s Department more options.

“The only option for the sheriff now is to shoot a dog or not” if a dog is on another person’s property and causing a hazard, he said.

“They can’t take possession, can’t issue a citation. It’s shoot or not shoot,” Tilton said.

Crooks said including small animals in the ordinance would give him more options, but he was also OK with just covering livestock, if that’s what the supervisors wanted. He said his department had few rural dog-at-large complaints.

The ordinance is on the supervisors’ regular meeting agenda for Tuesday, where they could set a time for a public hearing on the proposal, but Supervisor Mark Kuhn said he wasn’t ready to set a hearing date.

“We haven’t heard from the livestock community that raises livestock responsibly,” he said, adding that this was the first time the proposed ordinance had been discussed.

Supervisor Doug Kamm said the board would table action on the ordinance Tuesday and have Tilton rewrite it to just cover livestock at large.

Supervisors can discuss topics at workshop meetings but can’t take official action. The regular board meeting will begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the supervisors board room.

Also at the workshop meeting Monday, the supervisors:

• Discussed passing a county RAGBRAI ordinance, similar to one passed by Charles City, which would require a permit for persons, groups or businesses selling food or beverages on July 26-27 when the cross-state bicycle ride stops overnight in Charles City. The proposed resolution would cover unincorporated county property within five miles of the Charles City limits.

Supervisor Kuhn noted that the proposed resolution says fees for permits would be divided among the city and the county, but did not give any specifics.

The supervisors called Charles City Clerk Trudy O’Donnell for clarification, but she said she wasn’t sure, either. She said she would contact RAGBRAI organizers in Des Moines to see if there were recommendations or examples of how other communities handled it.

• Discussed county ordinance changes regarding fireworks because of the new state law allowing consumer fireworks sales and use around Independence Day and New Year’s Day.

Currently the county requires a permit for fireworks displays in rural areas, and Assistant County Attorney Tilton said the county could still require a permit for display fireworks, which are classified as artillery shells greater than 2 inches.

The supervisors did not discuss any specific ordinance changes.

• Discussed nuisance issues concerning several properties in the county. County Environmental Health Administrator Jeff Sherman said as long as progress was being made cleaning up two properties of concern he was OK with that. For a third property the supervisors considered whether to direct county Treasurer Frank Rottinghaus to issue a tax sale deed so the county could take possession.