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Bronaugh board hears heated discussion over dangerous building ordinance
Nevada Daily Mail
Tuesday evening's public hearing had been called to get input on a proposed ordinance on dangerous buildings but it sometimes got intense.
One of the eight residents on hand stated that in his view, the ordinance should be limited to unoccupied buildings.
Immediately, another resident, eight feet away loudly said, "Forget defending that disaster you call your house. Just remove your f------ yard junk!"
Some were shocked at the language. The room grew tense.
The first person ignored the profanity.
"I can't afford a really big dumpster," said the first.
"Well, ..." said the second.
After the meeting, some reflected on this moment and said they were fearful of whether the response would be more profanity or if it would escalate and become violent.
And that's when the true nature of the dispute was revealed.
The second continued. "... You can stop renting the container you've got, save $20 a month and put your stuff in my dumpster. Don't overfill mine. But just get all that junk out of your yard."
Like a married couple that can only express their love for one another through yelling, the strong words and even stronger emotions of these two and others on hand were actually an expression of love.
Yes, there was a lively discussion about what any ordinance concerning dangerous buildings should contain.
Yes, there were comments about the decrease of good housing stock and the increase of abandoned buildings as well as areas that have been cleared but look so empty.
And yes, there were questions and plenty of comments about water quality, water projects and water rates.
But what was really going on was nothing less than an expression of true love. It is love for the place they call home, Bronaugh.
It is as city treasurer, Ann Loudermilk commented after the meeting, "When folks complain about one thing you figure that's what's bothering them. But when it's first one thing and another and another then you need to hunt for the real root of their unhappiness."
While its current estimated population of 249 is only 36 off its 1920 high water mark of 285, the citizens of Bronaugh are clearly bothered by the basic conditions of their community and were venting them.
It was the consensus of everyone present that the proposed ordinance should be limited to unoccupied buildings, including unattached sheds.
It was further agreed that the city aldermen would appoint a person to the unpaid position of building inspector. Owners of structures that need attention will receive written notice and have 30 days in which to respond and/or take remedial action.
Due to the drama and resolving catharsis, the 30-minute hearing passed by quickly and closed with Mayor Sherry Brown saying, "We, as a council, are glad you are here and grateful for your input. We want to represent all of you and help this town go forward together."
A resident stated he had other concerns to which Brown said, "All of you are welcome to stay for our regular board of aldermen meeting and after our usual minutes and reports, you or anyone else can bring up what you want."
The public hearing was adjourned and the board meeting was convened.
Beyond review and approval of the monthly bills and fund balances, Ann Loudermilk, city treasurer noted, "The city carries a heavy debt load from our one sewer and two water projects. We are making a little extra in the way of payments and so we're heading in the right direction but it'll be awhile."
A resident who had stayed out of the ordinance discussions spoke up rather insistently.
"Preparing the monthly water and sewer bills by hand is unprofessional, costly, time-consuming and dangerous."
"Dangerous?" responded alderman Harry Pitts. "What's dangerous about the way she does things?"
"Because there's no back-up in case your written records get damaged, either at your house or the old ones being stored here at city hall," said the insistent resident. "You need to get a good tower or laptop, buy Excel 365, put in the formulas, create a master customer list and buy a printer."
City clerk, Lori Conner responded, motioning to alderman Rachel Jones sitting next to her.
"Rachel and I use Excel daily in our jobs," said Conner. "Saving things to the cloud is no guarantee it can never be hacked or lost. Besides, if it's saving money you're concerned about, what Ann's doing saves the city a lot of money."
The meeting moved on to the monthly report by Gary Loudermilk, the city director of water and sewer.
"I've got some good news and some possible not so good news," began Loudermilk.
"The good news is that the long awaited aerator was installed on June 30," said Loudermilk. "And you may remember that the clear well had been put in over a month before that."
As a storage tank, the clear well holds water, allowing time for the high level of minerals to settle out and for the chlorine to complete disinfection.
The city's new well has naturally high levels of sulfur; the aerator was purchased to dissipate this.
"On July 21, KCP&L will set the power lines and on July 28 at 9 a.m., we should have the start up of the new system," said Brown.
"That's if the Department of Natural Resources signs off on it," added Gary Loudermilk.
"My bad news is that our water system license expires Sept. 31, and while I'm pretty sure we'll get a new one, it's likely it'll require us to do more testing," explained Loudermilk.
"If that's the case, our cost of testing will go from $438 a month to about $600 a month," Loudermilk warned.
At this point the insistent resident started to criticize the city for being too costly.
The city treasurer had had enough. She turned around, faced the individual, pointed to her husband, Gary, and said, "If you want to talk about saving money then you be nice to that man."
"He's fully licensed but only gets paid $500 for maintaining our water system, $450 for sewer without a raise in 17 years," said Ann Loudermilk. "When he retires, it will cost the city three times that amount each month. That man's saving all of us a ton of money."