Bob Long will remain St. Ignatius city attorney
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ST. IGNATIUS — Mayor Charles Gariepy announced that he has decided to keep city attorney Bob Long until the end of the year, although four people applied for the position.
Long’s contract as the city attorney was up a couple of years ago but has been renewed on an informal year-to-year basis since.
“We probably ought to call those four people. They’ve been waiting for four months,” said council member Marine Johnson.
There had been some discussion of finding a new city attorney, which fielded four interested applicants.
“I want an attorney that I can turn to, and I have never been able to get a hold of Bob Long,” said resident Bernie Lovell. “I think he should be here at council meetings if we pay him and he represents us.”
Gariepy said he would talk with Long and invite him to attend city council meetings.
The city water project is once again hitting a roadblock. Public works director Scott Morton said water project engineer Fred Phillips was supposed to send a contract amendment for the pump house buildings and construction services, but the documents had not arrived in time for last week’s meeting.
“We can’t put (the project) to bid until he gets it right,” Morton said.
Animal control officer Susan Dodson is not yet back to work. A fax received from St. Joseph Medical Center on April 9 states that Dodson cannot bend, lift or stoop for four weeks and suffers from vertigo as a result of falling on ice in January. Dodson did not appear for a bench trial April 16 for a dog citation she wrote in December.
“I’ve basically been citing (dog) owners,” said police chief Aaron Frank. “It’s not an enforcement issue. From my perspective, I haven’t seen as many dogs out.”
In other news, at the start of the meeting, guest speaker Terry Backs presented her views on Agenda 21, an action plan related for sustainable development, that she said is often attached to grant monies and takes away property owner rights.
“So many things are cloaked in a nice way,” Backs said. “It’s incumbent for you to look at the strings attached. It will take away so many of those property rights, and I hope you guys keep this in mind.”
