Dierks City Attorney Faces Busy Agenda Following City Council Meeting

Dierks City Attorney Dustin Bissell is going to be busy following Monday’s Dierks City Council meeting.

Bissell was asked to get some clarification from the state auditors concerning a monetary donation of $400 that the city was ‘dinged’ on during their latest audit. A member of the Dierks Cemetery Association, Dr. Robert Gunter wanted to know why the city could no longer make a yearly donation to the cemetery association.

Gunter also wanted to know ‘exactly’ what the city was willing and able to do to help with the maintenance of the cemetery. He stated the land that the cemetery was on, belonged to the city of Dierks and he felt the city should be able to give money and use city equipment to help maintain the cemetery.

Gunter explained the cemetery association sends out letters to families that have loved ones buried in the cemetery, but donations from family members had declined over time.

Bissell will also be drawing up a revised vicious dog ordinance for the the council to consider after Police Chief John McKee reported the city’s current ordinance does not have enough bite to be effective.

McKee reported there was a recent incident with a pit bull dog and a child within the city limits and he wanted to put more ‘teeth’ into a new ordinance that included wolf hybrid breeds and other vicious dogs.

Currently, the ordinance for banned dogs in Dierks includes a $100 fine per incident. McKee asked for that amount to be increased to a $600 fine for the first offense and the owner must sign an affidavit stating they will remove the dog from the city limits of Dierks, however, on the second offense the fine would be increased to $1,000 and the dog would be destroyed.

Bissell was also asked to prepare an ordinance concerning the use of camper trailers as a residence within the city of Dierks.

Mayor Ronnie Cogburn informed the council members that the generator at the water plant had quit working. Cogburn stated he had contacted the city’s engineer to discuss the possibility of replacing the water plant generator with a portable generator that the city owned. He stated he was waiting to hear back of A.L. Franks Engineering Firm in Texarkana.

Cogburn also reported a new sewer pump quit working after about 4-hours. He said the pump was under warranty and they were waiting for a new pump to be delivered.