City Council Addresses Numerous Concerns

The Glasgow City Council held their bi-monthly meeting on April 4, which included discussions regarding the nuisance of pigeons in Glasgow, the trees in the Highland Cemetery that are causing issues with power lines, an update from the Glasgow compliance officer regarding the removal of abandoned and vacant buildings within the city, as well as a reminder to clean up after pets when enjoying walks and city parks.

Kyle Gibson, of Precision Varmint Control, addressed the council stating he has had a couple of people ask him to take care of the pigeons around their properties. “One of the biggest things you have to do is get rid of the roosting areas where they roost at. Under the bridge is one of the biggest areas they are roosting at….Then the other one is these abandoned granaries that are in town,” he explained. Even though he has the permission from the land owners, he wanted the blessing of the city council before moving forward with taking care of the sites where they are roosting. “I would count that [the underpass] as part of what I’m doing to try and figure out if there was other places that need to be done,” explained Gibson.

He stated he would utilize precision air guns, and as an example if he would take care of the problem at the underpass, it would be under red light and within an hour and a half, most of it would be cleaned up. After three or four visits, they stop roosting there. “They realize that’s not a good place to be and they move on to other places most of the time. We take care of most of the problem in one visit,” Gibson further explained to the Council. He also stated he would dispose of the carcasses appropriately and that he has some falconers that use the meat that can be saved. After going to a vote, the City Council was all in favor of him trying to take care of the nuisance pigeons.

Another concern that was brought up at the Council meeting was the trees in the Highland Cemetery that are causing issues with power lines. Amadeo Lanphier, a representative from Northwestern Energy, proposed clearing out the Siberian ohms and then Northwestern Energy would pay up to $5,000 to plant new trees or just have them continue to come through and cut them out of the way of the powerlines. “I remember the last time this happened and there was no public talk, it just kind of happened and people were not happy. So I said to come and make you spiel so that we can go from there,” explained Mayor Rod Karst. After discussing the different options in full, it was decided Northwestern Energy will work with Cemetery Supervisor Dan Miller, along with the residents of Aberdeen Street to develop a plan on what would work best. The conversation will continue at the next City Council meeting, which is scheduled for April 18.

During the course of the meeting, Glasgow Compliance Officer Rod Dees also updated the council and the public regarding Ordinance 977, which was passed by the Glasgow City Council in August, 2021. The council has been receiving complaints regarding the large number of abandoned and vacant buildings within city limits. The ordinance gives the city the authority to take action on abandoned and vacant buildings.

“I know everyone’s concerned about all of the houses on the south side and throughout. We have been dealing with all the abandoned houses out there,” stated Dees. “Anna [Sullivan, City Attorney] and I are working together and we’re getting letters ready to go out. These people will have official letters sent out to them.”

According to the ordinance, if the owner decides to fix up the property they have 50 calendar days to start and then 120 days to finish from the date of the letter that is mailed to them. If they decide to demolish the building, they have to start within 90 calendar days and have 180 calendar days to finish.

“If they don’t comply with what is being told to them, it will be a $500 fine and then it will be a different occurrence every day. It will be $500 a day until it’s done,” explained Dees. “If they’re causing the other people’s property values to come down because of the way they’re looking, they need to be dealt with.”

During the mayor’s report part of the meeting, Mayor Karst wanted to remind the public to clean up after their pets, especially with the Easter holiday coming up and the annual Easter egg hunt at Hoyt Park. “We’ve got a number of people that think it’s okay, just let the animals run and do their job and of course, the animals don’t clean up after themselves,” he stated.

The Glasgow Code of Ordinance, Chapter 5, section 5-7, it states “the owner of any animal shall be responsible for the immediate removal of any excreta deposited by his animal on any public walk, street, alley, public property or private property.”

“Sometimes when Easter falls early and we’re out here in the park, doing the Easter egg hunt and you got little kids running around, picking up Easter eggs, there’s all sorts of other little treasures out there. It’s not so cool,” Mayor Karst explained.

The next Glasgow City Council meeting will be held Monday, April 18, in the Council Chambers, inside of the Glasgow Civic Center.