At Tuesday night's meeting of the Pineville Board of Aldermen, Bev Bartley, of I'm Your Huckleberry Rescue, spoke concerning a possible location for office space for the nonprofit.
Bartley explained that the nonprofit has been operating in McDonald County for three years; and, since there is no animal control in the county, the organization seems to have taken on that role. It takes in dogs that have been abandoned and holds them for a five-day period, during which it vaccinates, spays or neuters, and microchips them. Then it puts the animals up for adoption.
I'm Your Huckleberry Rescue has 30 dogs in foster homes now and has adopted out 525 dogs from the vicinity, she said. The nonprofit has three intake places and is looking to consolidate. She told the board about a location in Pineville that has been offered to the rescue organization for use rent-free. She asked the council for permission to use it for office space and to house dogs.
Mayor Gregg Sweeten said the building in question is in a floodplain and, while it has never flooded as far as he knows, the organization would have to pay flood insurance unless it could get the building mapped as outside the floodplain.
City attorney Kirk Wattman said the organization's use of the building would run afoul of several city ordinances since there is an adoption fee charged and money changes hands. He said it would be considered a kennel, which would be a problem under current city ordinances.
Sweeten told Bartley the board could not make a decision Tuesday night but would be in touch with her.
David Arnold of Fayetteville attended the meeting to praise the efforts of city departments following an accident he and his wife had near the city.
He reported speaking to several city employees at different times while making his accident report and afterward and said everyone was friendly and positive. He said he wanted to come to the meeting to let the board know what a good job its employees were doing.
"They've got good attitudes and they're smart. They're worth investing in," he said.
Connor Wolff, whose company has been mowing for the city this summer, came to the meeting to ask the board to renew his contract for 2021. Upon checking with Wattman, the board realized it could not renew the contract without taking bids again. Board members did agree, however, to move up the bidding process.
Sweeten announced the annual Fall Festival will be Oct. 10. There will not be bounce houses this year, but there will be games for the kids, he said.
"People are looking for stuff to do," he said.
The board discussed the Mountain Ridge water system. Public Works Superintendent Chris Tinsley said that "whether the city was going to build a water tower, or whatever, the next step was, they needed to hire an engineer."
After some discussion, the board voted to seek qualifications for an engineer.
City Clerk Melissa Ziemianin told the board that, while she agreed it needed to be done, there was no money in the budget to pay for an engineer, and it was going to have to come out of savings. The city's budget is down by 35 percent, she said.
Tinsley said the city stands a good chance of getting a 75/25 grant to pay for improvements to the water system.
In other business, the board:
• Voted to move its regular meetings back to the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month.
• Voted to pay bills in the amount of $48,888.