Unwanted animals in Nome can now be surrendered to Animal Control for the fee of $40, but only if certain stipulations are met.
During Monday night’s City Council meeting, the Nome code of ordinances was amended to allow for pet owners to bring their burdensome pets to the animal control office, where they will be put up for adoption if space is available.
According to the ordinance, surrendered animals must be more than ten weeks old, and the owner must have proof of all current vaccinations for the animal and provide an affidavit that the animal is neither aggressive nor has harmed anyone or any other animal.
Other business on the Council’s agenda included a resolution approving the first phase of Cordova Consulting’s development analysis for Nome’s Port and Harbor. The analysis was passed along with a resolution to contract with the Board of Trade for the furnishing of crushed road surface materials.
Councilman Louie Green, Sr., suggested that the City test the material before purchasing it:
“I’ve worked on jobs where we sent samples out, samples of concrete, samples of rock to some state-agency, and they come back with the hardness test and everything on it. And I think that’s what we should look at before we buy.”
City Manager Tom Moran assured the Council that the 3,000 tons of material had already been looked at by a civil engineering firm.
“So, we are at a point where we obviously need to start doing some road remediation. There is always a clause in these contracts for award that says the City may negotiate an extension for one year. I’m happy, if you give me direction, to not do that, if you do not want me to award the extension and you want me to go out to bid next year. But I mean, you know, the horse is out of the barn; we bid this, so I’d like you to award it if you could, and I’m happy to have it tested if we have to.”
Ultimately, Green voted “no,” while the rest of the councilmen voted in favor of the contract.
A resolution that failed last night before the Council involved contracting with the Board of Trade for delivering 1,500 tons of fill material to the City cemetery and parks. The B.O.T.’s total base bid was about $19,000; but according to Moran, the City did not have enough money set aside in the budget for that contract:
“We only have $10,000 in the budget allocated — $5,000 for parks and $5,000 for cemetery — (and) this bid came in at $18,950. Because we now know that is the level of pricing for this specific material, it falls under the procurement threshold where I believe I can negotiate a better price than this, if this resolution does not pass.”
Before adjourning the regular meeting, the Council entered into executive session to discuss a possible contract extension with City Manager Moran. No final decisions regarding his employment with the City were made last night.
The City Council will convene for its next scheduled meeting on July 24th at 7pm in Council chambers.
Image at top: file photo: Mayor Richard Beneville signs resolutions after a City Council meeting while City Clerk Bryant Hammond looks on. Photo: Margaret DeMaioribus/KNOM (2016).
