City council defeats animal-at-large proposal

The Green River City Council defeated proposed changes to the city's animal-at-large rules after a second reading of the proposal.

The ordinance proposed was aimed to clear up the city's animal-at-large ordinance in Sections 6-1 and 6-2 in the city's code of ordinances. Councilman Gary Killpack spoke against the ordinance amendments, saying the city's current ordinances already address how a pet owner should legally keep control of their animals.

"My position is that's already in the ordinance. We don't need to change the ordinance," Killpack said.

Acting Chief of Police Shaun Sturlaugson said the proposed ordinance won't change anything with how the law is enforced as it only clarifies language.

Killpack said he doesn't see a value in adopting the proposed ordinance as rules related to animals being restrained are already in the current ordinance.

Councilman George Jost said he received a memo Animal Control Officer Tracy Wyant initially wrote to the city's police chief and Parks and Recreation director, saying residents could report what they see to Animal Control. He said information including a description of the animal or people with the animal as well as their location could go a long way in helping animal control officers address potential issues.

"People don't report the problem," Jost said.

Killpack also said there should also be places recognized as off-leash areas where pet owners can walk animals without leashes. The proposed ordinance would have allowed the city administrator the ability to designate areas in Green River as off-leash zones.

Residents speaking about the proposed ordinance spoke to the pet owner's responsibility to train and keep their animals under control if they're in public places. The ordinance proposal was defeated by the Council.

The Council also voted to approve a lot line adjustment Tuesday evening, correcting a surveying error that had occurred.

The adjustment affects a portion of the Lynn Subdivision, which was initially known as Tract A of the Lincoln School Addition. Lots on the north side of the subdivision were reduced up to 5.5 feet from dimensions originally recorded and resulted in set-back obstacles for those lots.

The action conveys a 5.5-foot strip of land to each of the property owners impacted by the error.

The land granted to the property owners was already removed from the sale of Lincoln Tracts B and C. Amy Cox, an employee in the city's planning and zoning office, said the process to correct the error had taken years to complete, saying the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the land transfer.

The Council voted to move meetings in June and July as well. The Council meeting initially set for June 6 will now take place June 5 due to a Wyoming Association of Municipalities meeting, while the meeting that would have taken place on July 4 was moved to July 5 to accommodate for the Independence Day holiday.