An attempt to establish an ordinance pertaining to barking and mistreated dogs in the county failed again at the Estill County Fiscal Court meeting Monday night.
James Mullins was present at the meeting to ask the court to pass the ordinance.
“I was here in October and asked the fiscal court to pass an ordinance that would pertain to barking dogs,” he said. “I was told the sheriff’s department
did not have the resources to enforce such an ordinance.”
Mullins came this time with what he considered to be a solution to the lack of resources.
“KRS (Kentucky Revised Statute) says that animal control officers have the right to write citations for ordinances pertaining to barking dogs,” he said. “Right now citizens have to go through a lawyer to get anything done. I wonder if the fiscal court has made any progress on the proposed noise ordinance discussed in October?”
Judge-Executive Wallace Taylor said he refuses to consider such an ordinance because he would rather utilize the deputies to protect the people of Estill County.
“I live in the country and I choose to live there,” he said. “That means I deal with coyotes, mooing cows, barking dogs and neighbors driving by. I’ll be on this bench for at least 16 or 17 more months. As long as I’m here, I won’t entertain the idea of a dog ordinance in the county.”
The magistrates can vote in an ordinance despite Taylor’s recommendation, but chose not to.
“I just don’t see that there’s any way to enforce it,” District 3 Magistrate Darrell Johnson said.
Taylor said even if an ordinance was passed, it would be unlikely anything could be done to stop the dogs from barking.
“We can put any ordinance on the books,” Taylor said. “But that doesn’t mean we can easily enforce it.”
The court also heard requests from people wanting to have their roads added to the county maintained roads list.
Homeowners from Dancing Fawn Road have been to consecutive council meetings seeking help maintaining the road, which frequently floods due to run off from Sunrise Valley Road.
The other homeowners live on Shallow Creek Road, in the same area. They said there are currently five homes on the road that were built in the last year or so and the homeowners are paying for the maintenance themselves.
The court agreed to have the road crew look at the locations and make recommendations about what would bring the roads up to standard in order to be adopted.
In other business, the fiscal court:
•Approved a memorandum agreement with the water district, allowing a tower to be built on Racetrack Road.
•Hired six part-time 911 dispatchers.
•Gave permission for Fred Rogers to advertise for a CSEPP Hazard Analyst.
•Gave permisson to accept bids for an animal shelter trailer, microwave links for radio towers and replacement repeater radios.
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Fiscal Court says ‘no’ to dog ordinance, again
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