TRACY HARRIS
Staff Writer
The Meeting of the Cornersville Board of Mayor and Aldermen took place Oct. 6 at Town Hall. In September, the first reading of Ordinance 23-296 drew a large crowd concerning livestock in town limits, the permit process, and a possible $25 permit fee. The ordinance was amended before it was brought back for the second reading. The main change according to City Attorney Billy Ostermann was that section 3 was removed and the section numbers in the document changed as a result.
It originally had the following for section 3: Keeping near a residence or business restricted. No person shall keep or allow any other animal or fowl enumerated in the preceding section to come within one thousand (1,000) feet of any residence or place of business without a permit from the Town Administrator or his authorized representative. The Town Administrator, or his authorized representative, shall issue a permit only after payment of the related permit application fee which shall be set by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and when in his sound judgment the keeping of such an animal in a yard or building under the circumstances as set forth in the application for the permit will not injuriously affect the public health.
Mayor John Luna and the board spoke on the matter. The two aldermen present, Sherry McClintock and Doris Arthur, had opposing views on whether or not a citizen should have to sign the complaint. Luna said, “I’d much rather you just go to your neighbor if you got a problem with ‘em and say something first. If you can’t even do that then sign your name if you cant even talk to ‘em.”
Ostermann explained that wording was also changed regarding the Town Administrator. It previously read: section 7 Inspections of premises. For the purpose of making inspections to ensure compliance with the provisions of this Ordinance, the Town Administrator, or his authorized representative, shall be authorized to enter, at any reasonable time, any premises where he has reasonable cause to believe an animal or fowl is being kept in violation of this Ordinance.
The wording essentially changed to reflect that investigations will only come from signed complaints or things the Town Administrator observes in conducting their normal duties. The motion passed and will go into effect 30 days after the second and final reading. As of this printing, the final ordinance was not posted to the public.
