Aragon keeps busy with burn permits, paving list
Aragon’s City Council took up several motions during their latest session to improve the city in coming years, from making a new hire to determining what to do with future paving of city streets.
While the group was quick to approve the purchasing of 76 missing street signs and accepting Joseph Montgomery into public works, the mayor and two remaining council members thought long and hard about ordinances involving burn permits and tethering animals.
First on the council’s list during their September session was an ongoing problem regarding citizen’s limited access to burn permits.
The Volunteer Fire Department was dissolved several years ago, but the town-folk continued to request the right to burn. The city assigned The Georgia Forestry Commission to issue burn permits, but requests have been met with resistance.
“Apparently, it is a legal issue of some sort,” Mayor Garry Baldwin said. “You can’t get a burn permit in Aragon right now. There’s no way.”
The proposed solution took the form of an ordinance amendment, and the Sept. 21 meeting served as one of the two mandatory readings the document must undergo.
“The issuance of burn permits should be the job of our Director of Solid waste,” Baldwin suggested. “We should limit the issuance to very limited circumstances due to the close proximity of houses within the city.”
Should the changes become law, citizens will once again be permitted to burn vegetative matter, trash or rubbish, open metal drums, burn barrels, burn pits, and more.
Permits are not required during emergencies when fire is necessary to render one’s property safe, fires designed to train fire-fighters, recreational purposes such as cooking food, operating devices that use flames such as blow torches or kettles, or performing agricultural procedures.
The council approved the purchasing of 76 street name signs to be paid for out of SPLOST 2014, and Public Works officer Daniel Johnson recommended vendor Georgia Vinyl and Thread.
“We can get them for around $ 14 a sign with them compared to the $25 to $30 from our usual vendor,” Johnson said.
Ordering all the signs, poles, and toppers necessary for the job is predicted to cost $1,200.
“We’ve got new police officers, new medics, new EMTs, and they’re looking for the street signs we don’t have. It would benefit us and the citizens to go ahead and work towards getting these replaced,” Johnson said.
The council also made sure the products were reflective for safety and not made of metal.
“They’re up to compliance and they’re not made of metal so no one will scrap them,” Johnson assured.
Aragon’s council presented a list of 42 streets that were candidates for future repairs and paving. The list organizes roads based on their problem and need for attention.
East Second Street is listed as the top priority because of numerous potholes and cracks, and Brumbelow Street is also second on the priority list because of similar but less extreme problems. Regardless of the number, the city hopes to see each street receive maintenance.
“This might not be for a few years,” Baldwin said. “In 3 or 4 years when the roads start deteriorating, we better hope we get some grant to help cover this.”
A tethering ordinance was originally on the agenda for the commissioners, but the group’s work session led to dissent and the item was tabled.
“What if I want to tie my dog up during the day and bring him in at night?” Mayor Pro-Tem Hunter Spinks asked. “I’m a good, upstanding citizen not running dog fights or anything.”
The council decided to discuss and reword the ordinance.
Other locations in Polk prohibit the tethering of animals unless the owner is present, and tethering equipment must be attached to a collar or harness — not around the pet’s neck. Any tethered animal must have access to food, shelter, and water, and any excrement or waste created must be removed and disposed of. Spinks showed disapproval towards tethering being temporary, and potential changes are likely to be based around the limits of tethering.