A public hearing was held by the Board of Aldermen of the Town of Prentiss Sept. 3 to hear public opinion regarding three items of business. 

First was amending the ordinance to increase the fine for discharging a firearm within the corporate limits of the Town of Prentiss.

The ordinance states it shall be unlawful for any person or persons to shoot, discharge or cause to be discharged, any gun, pistol or other deadly weapon within the city limits. The original fine for doing so was $25. Mayor Charley Dumas opened the floor to hear opposition to raising the fine to $250. There were no oppositions.

A request was made last month from a resident in Jefferson Heights for the board to allow homeowners in town to have chickens on their property. The ordinance states there shall be no farm animals within the city limits of the Town of Prentiss.

After the floor was open, residents in favor of and against the change pled their case. Concerns from the board of aldermen were cleanliness, enforcement of the ordinance and abuse of the ordinance.

The third item was cleaning up the unkempt property at 1655 Magnolia Drive in Prentiss. The property owner was not present at the meeting.

The public hearing was closed, and the regularly scheduled board meeting was called to order.

The board voted in favor of amending the ordinance and increasing the fine for discharging a firearm in the city limits to $250.

The board then voted against allowing chickens within the city limits of the Town of Prentiss. 

The board voted in favor of cleaning the property at 1655 Magnolia Drive.

The law states that if the property owners do not show at the public hearing, municipal employees can then clean land by cutting grass and weeds, removing rubbish, removing abandoned or dilapidated fences, draining cesspools and clearing standing water.

The landowner is then charged 50% of the actual cleaning cost. The amount is added to their city taxes.

Authorities can’t go on the same property but six times in a 12-month period.

If property owners do show up at the public hearing, they are given 30 days to get the property cleaned up.

“It is better for the landowner to handle it, so the cost won’t be added to their taxes,” said Town Clerk Missy Jones.” We want people to take pride in their property.”

The aldermen also want to urge owners to remove standing dead trees from their property. The town is not allowed to remove dead trees from private property unless it is in an alley.

As far as grass that needs mowing next to the roadway, the ordinance states there are different right of ways for each road.

“On some roads, we only have authority for maintenance on the pavement itself,” said Public Works Director Don Jones. “Some property owners are responsible for the grass right up to the road, even on the outside of the sidewalk or fence,” he added.

Jones would also like the public to be aware of where they place limbs and debris for town pick-up. Some residents place these items under power and service lines which puts municipal employees in danger during the loading process. Town employees cannot pick up trees that citizens hired someone else to cut down. The town does not have the proper equipment to handle that type of removal.