The Jefferson City Council met Tuesday night in regular session.

The meeting started with a resident addressing the Council in open forum. Allison Drury asked the Council to get her dog out of quarantine and remove the “vicious animal” label. She believed her dog was wrongfully identified with an incident of a dog bite in Russell Park last Friday. Drury lives at 201 West Madison Street and also on that day, her dog got loose when she opened the gate of a fence because she was carrying water jugs. She said it was minutes when she got her car keys and retrieved her dog that was one block away. Following Drury’s statement, Police Chief Mark Clouse, who was also at the meeting, said to call him to talk further about it.

Another resident, Gary Turner said the neighbor across the street from him at 406 West Head Street keeps junk vehicles on his property and invited the Council to drive past it and consider living next to an unsightly property.

The Council then approved the third and final reading to amend an ordinance to increase yard waste collection fees to $3 and yard waste stickers to $2, the second reading to amend another ordinance for building permit fees to adjust with any changes the International Residential Code updates their information, and the first reading to amend an ordinance to reduce the speed limit on Westwood Drive from Linwood to Grimmell Road from 35 to 25 miles per hour. This change was recommended by the street committee and Chief Clouse, due to the increased amount of children walking to school because of the reduced number of bus stops. The Council approved waiving the second and third readings for final adoption. 

The Council also approved hiring Zach Barden for a police officer with a salary of $55,220 and would start this Friday. Chief Clouse said Barden would attend the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy for the full program to become a certified officer. Additionally, the Council also approved the third change order for the Wastewater Treatment Plant improvement project of $117,000 and installing a street light at the south end of Riverside Drive. They also approved the quarterly funding request for Greene County Development Corporation. 

A motion failed to get approval to establish a fee to access the dog park at the Greene County Animal Shelter. The fee would be $35 and the owner would have to show that the animal was licensed with the city and provide current rabies vaccination records. The Council voted 2-2, with Council member Pat Zmolek absent. The yes votes were Council members Darren Jackson and Harry Ahrenholtz.