ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The Liberal City Commission made an easy time of its agenda at its most recent meeting Tuesday evening.
Before the agenda’s new business, the commission heard from a pair of concerned citizens regarding animal control.
“I’m here to ask the commission for an issue I and my neighborhood have been dealing with for quite a while,” local citizen Raeanne Williams said. “Harvard Avenue, which is where I live, is approximately three blocks from Harrison Circle Park, so we’re really close to be able to go walk our dogs and have other family fun. My husband and I have lived in that neighborhood for roughly two years now, and the area is great. We have a particular issue with an animal I have called in before, and my neighbors have also done so. We are to the point where we can’t get into our houses, we can’t walk the block. I have had two neighbors tell me their children have gotten bit, and nothing has been done. From my understanding, the owner might have received citations, but the dog is still running without a leash all around the neighborhood. He’s still – dare I say – terrorizing the people of the neighborhood. We are trying to do the right thing in the right ways before the dog is no longer an issue by somebody’s hands. I personally have called dispatch once with a complaint, and I have also spoken with an Animal Control officer on a personal conversation. I have videos, my neighbors have videos, and we have pictures, so we have proof to back us up in this matter with this dog. One family that’s particularly close to my heart has a wheelchair-bound mother and wife, and their children are still young enough to want to ride their bicycles around the neighborhood and there was one instance where the husband had to decide whether to stand guard in front of his wife or his children. Last summer, the children of the neighborhood would be zipping up and down the sidewalks on their bicycles and scooters and all of that, and this summer, all of that has come to a halt. I have asked, and the neighbors all say a big reason why that is, is because of this dog. We are standing in front of you asking for ideas to help.”
Fellow local citizen Tina Ibarra then spoke to the commission.
“I’ve lived in that neighborhood for 18 years, and yes, we’re dealing with this dog right now, but it’s been for 18 years and with different dogs,” Ibarra said. “We trained our dog not to leave our curb. My dog would be outside, and this neighbor’s five dogs would just immediately descend. This neighbor currently has five dogs including two older dogs and one younger dog, and this is right across the street from me. I can’t even let my little dog outside because she’ll get ganged up on. Earlier this week, when my sons were leaving, and this pair of dogs immediately came over, which startled my sons, and this neighbor yelled out ‘Those are MY dogs.’ Well, it doesn’t matter whose dogs they are, they shouldn’t be allowed to be aggressive with people. I’ve seen it multiple times with multiple people. I love animals, but with these dogs, if they were actually under control, there wouldn’t be an issue. When this neighbor first got this dog, it had just had puppies, and it was nice, but throughout the years, it’s just become way too aggressive. I don’t want to see any animals get hurt or put down, but there comes a point when you have to protect yourself.”
Liberal Mayor Jose Lara then spoke.
“With our new ordinance coming in, which is a revision of the one we currently have, we’re going to be working way more on enforcement of those situations,” Lara said. “Having an animal outside without a leash will be a violation, so if they are coming out, as you said, there will be consequences.”
Liberal City Manager Rusty Varnado then gave a quick version of the floodplain update.
“There was a miscommunication, so Benesch was unable to attend the meeting, but all the information is available in your agenda packet,” Varnado said. “We did get some good news from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and I have to give a big thank you to Watkins Public Strategies for reaching out to Sen. Roger Marshall’s chief of staff and engaging FEMA for us to move this project along. We are still waiting for a big answer on whether or not we have to wait an additional year for the Kansas Department of Agriculture to do the entire county and include the work we’ve done in that, but right now, we’re just waiting on that answer. If we get the answer we want, at the next meeting is when we’ll get the scope of work to finish the project. If we get an answer we don’t want, we have to do some additional work to try and get the answer we do want. There’s a lot of really good work, we have usable maps that identify the areas no longer in floodplains. They’re not official since FEMA hasn’t signed off on them yet, but we can use them for construction and marketing purposes. But they are bona fide maps, they’re just not official in the database yet. We’ll reach out to Benesch and make sure we have them at the next meeting.”
“That’ll be really good, because I was saying before the meeting how I’d started wading into that report and got about four or five pages into it before quitting because there was just so much that was going over my head,” Liberal Vice Mayor Jeff Parsons said. “Some explanations and clarifications would certainly be helpful.”
In other new business, the commission awarded a bid from Diamond Roofing in the amount of $173,000 and warranty of $968 for roof work on the Recreation Center and approved a bid award for improvements to the Ortuño Addition.
The commission also voted to allow an agreement with to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for aircraft rescue and firefighting safety equipment, and approved the submission of a Federal Funds Exchange reimbursement request in the amount of $246,858.75. To conclude the meeting, the commission approved the purchase of a Hustler mower from Keating Tractor in the amount of $13,200 for the Wastewater Treatment Plant and the appointment of Ruben Cano to the Liberal Memorial Library Board for a four-year term.
