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The Town of Plains might become a "Tree City" and get an Arbor Day Grant to financially help with the removal of the aging trees around town.

It was Jonalie Comeau, the deputy town clerk, who brought the arbor program to the attention of the mayor and town council in an effort to save the town money when dealing with trees. Mayor Chris Allen said the town has spent more than $8,000 on tree removal this year alone. "Unfortunately, we've got a lot of old problem trees," he said, adding that becoming an Arbor Day Foundation member will help save the town money.

Comeau told the council about the requirements to become a Tree City, which would enable the town to get a grant worth $850. She said part of the requirements is to have an Arbor Day Proclamation. The Arbor Day Foundation's Tree City program began in 1976 and now has 3,559 cities participating. The town must also have a tree care ordinance. Comeau received a sample tree ordinance from another town, which could be used as a template. In addition, she said the town could apply for an Urban Forestry Grant for $5,000. To become a member, the town must have some type of committee or group in charge of a tree board. She said Cascade's town council serves as their tree board.

John and Kelly Dossett, members of the town's Parks and Recreation Committee, volunteered to look into the Arbor Day Foundation program. Councilwoman Connie Foust volunteered to help the committee on the project.

The council passed the second read on Ordinance 23-3 - "Camping in Dedicated Parks," but not before they excluded a portion about private property. Councilman Garrett Boon stated his concern over the part that referred to private parking lots, which was something that was brought up during the first read but left in. Boon said he doesn't believe the town has jurisdiction over private property and any problems there should be left to an owner. Councilman Joel Banham agreed and said it was an "overreach" on council's part to have any jurisdiction on anything except public property. Council member John Roesler joined the sentiment.

Councilman Chad Cantrell moved to accept the ordinance, but modified it to exclude that portion and the ordinance was accepted unanimously. The new ordinance goes into effect 30 days from last Monday - Sept. 6.

The town's Decay Ordinance was revived again, but this time with regards to fines attached to those who violate the law. The ordinance had been passed into law in 2018, but it had no fines attached. In late April and early May, several residents received ordinance violation letters and copies of the ordinance. Even though it was misreported to be citations, Chief of Police Brian Josephson said none were issued.

Council members agreed that the language for the fine procedures was vague and needed clarification. Some thought the fines were too high, but Cantrell said high fines could be a motivator for offenders to fix the problem themselves. Some thought that a high fine could back a person who was unable to pay into a corner. It was brought up that some might not be capable of fixing the problem, but Allen said the purpose of the town cleanup is to help those people. He said that law enforcement has been willing to be lenient if offenders are making some progress.

"We want them to have their civil liberties, however, their civil liberties should not surpass their neighbor's civil liberties," said Foust. "We were hoping the letters would encourage people to begin clean up," said Josephson, who added that many of them took care of their violations after receiving their letter, but he added that some did nothing. He also said that once council finalizes the ordinance with the fines, the police department will be moving forward with new photos and new letters that will be hand delivered to those still in violation of the ordinance. He said they plan to go to each one face to face with the letter and photos and explain the ordinance violation.

Foust said that when she first moved to Plains five years ago she had complained about her neighbor's high grass. She was concerned that if it caught fire that her house would also catch fire and she would sue the town. Plains resident Mary Helliwell asked about the town's responsibility if the ordinance wasn't followed and someone was injured. She wondered if that injured person could then go to the town with the hospital bills.

Allen said he's had complaints from a person saying that a neighbor's yard was overflowing with trash around her duplex and it has impacted her property values and her ability to rent her property. "It's frustrating when you have the ordinance, but it's not stated in a way that can be moved forward like we'd like to see it done," said Allen.

Pat Killgore spoke against the ordinance, as he has done in the past, and said that he has a lot of "stuff" and if people don't get onto his stuff, they're safe. "It's my stuff. It's not pretty. I have done some cleanup. If somebody stays off of somebody else's property, they have a lot less worry about being hurt," he said.

The council voted to send the ordinance back to the town attorney, Loren Fitzpatrick, and will look at it again at the Sept. 5 council meeting. One thing most members agreed on was that instead of a $500 fine, it should state that it could be a maximum of $500. "We do need to put teeth to the ordinance, I understand that," said Banham, who believes the fines are too high.

The council also discussed other activities, such as the water project near the Town Pump starting soon. The town is working on the sprinkler system at Fred Young Park and repaired the electrical problem at the park. Allen stated that the town pumped 10,789,000 gallons of water last month and sold 8,709,400 gallons for a 19% loss, which was lower than the previous month that had a 21% loss. The mayor said that the fall cleanup date is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 16. Boon is one of the coordinators and said they'll be looking for volunteers and people to sign up for needed work. "It's a great community effort for people to get together and do something for their community and help people out," said Allen. He also asked the council if they could come up with verbiage or a slogan for an awareness banner in support of Veteran Suicide Prevention Month in September, a project that Navy veteran Ed Foste has been doing for the last five years.

The council also unanimously approved to have the easement of a tract of town property next to the old lagoon re-surveyed to clearly show the easement. The 27.35-acre property is presently listed for $212,000 with a minimum of $190,000, but Allen said there was some question on the easement by the neighboring property owner. Helliwell, the realtor agent, said they've had 22 people interested in the property, which is unique because it is in the floodplain and floodway

The wading pool was closed after the only two lifeguards left. One quit, leaving one to do the job, but then he left with his family on vacation. Allen said the pool pump also broke, but it was replaced. With regard to the E.L. Johnson Memorial Pool, Amy McGraw Carey blasted the town with claims of abuse of power, nepotism, incompetence and discrimination, including the belief that her son, Drew Carey, who was applying for a lifeguard position, was mistreated.

The community pool could not be opened this year because the town could not find anyone to certify its lifeguards. McGraw Carey spent more than five minutes in the public comment time to let people know that she felt the town could have had the pool open had it set up the certification class before May. She said Drew, who had worked at the pool the previous two years, had asked the clerk in March about the training, but she said he was "brushed off." "He went back in April and was given the same treatment," said McGraw Carey, who added that it was her son who rounded up enough lifeguards for this season.

Allen said they couldn't reserve the class until they knew how many lifeguards they had. In addition, he said they've always set up the class at the same time every year and never had a problem. She added that when she addressed the situation with the mayor, he told her she didn't have the full picture.

"There seems to have been the perfect storm of poor decisions that have led us to a situation where we don't have a valued public recreational facility. To me, it is most important that the pool be managed better next year. The issues with my son are second to that," said McGraw Carey, who blamed the lack of planning on "ineptitude and incompetence."

Allen said that the town did plan, but by the time they had the full complement of lifeguards the only class to get them certified was in late July near the end of the season. The mayor said that a man and a woman are willing to get their training credentials so they are available to train lifeguards next year so that it "doesn't fall through the cracks" next season.