Board hears concerns from community residents

What is a town council meeting without a little public comment? That is exactly what happened at the Bainbridge Town Council meeting on Wednesday.

Board members Mike Smith, Naomi Barker and Richard Cope heard from several members of the town who had come in for the meeting during the public comments. One homeowner, who owns three properties in Bainbridge, questioned how homeowners were informed if there was a weed problem on their property.

According to council attorney Lori Hardwick, the ordinance states homeowners will receive a written letter informing them of the complaint and they must cut the weeds down six inches within 10 days. If the homeowners do not comply within 10 days, the town could cut down the weeds themselves and charge the homeowner for the job.

This homeowner, however, was informed by a second party. The homeowner also asked about whether zoning applied or not. According to Hardwick zoning does not apply.

"Town is catching up with zoning," council member Smith said. "The town needs to be in compliance with the ordinance."

The homeowner also questioned about the hollow on SR 36. She informed the council that it was impossible to get down in the hollow and take care of the weeds. They had been spraying, but they have a hard time getting it down to the six inches the ordinance states it needs to be. She wanted to know if the board could change the ordinance that would help with this problem. Smith said the board would work on the ordinance and attempt to reword it.

Another homeowner questioned the handling of a dog problem. They said that town marshal Rodney Fenwick came to them and told them they had to get rid of their dog, which they have had for 13 years. Fenwick stated he never told the owners they had to get rid of their dog, but told them they needed to solve the problem by Friday, and if they could not, he would help them to come up with a solution.

The owners said they had been keeping the dog inside, but they did not like doing that.

"Go ahead and put your dog back outside," Smith said.

In other business, the board:

-- Voted on putting down new parking stripe paint on Main Street.

-- Noted it is waiting for engineers to get back to them on how to do deal with the water drainage issue near the baseball diamond.

But the board agreed to put up barricades around the water and the hole in the drainage tile.

-- Listened and received information about pandemic flu from Steve Walters of the Putnam County Health Department.

-- Voted on allowing Blast from the Past Park Fest to come back to Bainbridge as long as organizers remove "Park Fest" from the title due to some confusion by citizens on if it was a fundraiser for Bainbridge's new park.

The Bainbridge Town Council meets at 7 p.m. on the second Wednesday of the month in the town community center.