City mulls legal action over dog kennels

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The McCook City Council will consider authorizing legal action Monday evening against property owners on Road 385 who are believed to be operating their dog kennel business with an excessive number of animals, among other alleged violations.

The dog kennel, located at 71363 Road 385 on property owned by Daniel and Lizann Miller, has faced resistance from City Council in the past and was at the heart of a 2008 legal battle which ended with a local judge overturning a council ruling.

Neighbors complained to council members in January about the noise and smell created by the operation, saying it has been an ongoing issue for many years, and asking council to take action.

The operation originally was turned down for a special exception by City Council in 2007, a denial that was overturned by Red Willow County District Court Judge David Urbom a year later. Urbom ruled the denial "was not supported by evidence and was therefore arbitrary and clearly wrong."

City staff now claim the number of dogs kenneled at the operation exceed what was requested and represented by the owners to the city, when the original application for the special exception was made.

In addition to exceeding the number of allowable animals, testimony provided by the Millers indicated the dogs would be housed in an enclosed structure. According to Monday's meeting agenda, city staff said the operation now has numerous open aired dog runs and kennels, "which were not previously presented to the city during the original application and hearing process."

Other items on Monday's agenda, 7:30 p.m. at the Municipal Center:

* Council will coordinate a public hearing to discuss the One and Six Year Street Improvement Plan and consider a resolution adopting the plan afterwards.

* BSB Construction will be considered to be awarded the bid for the next phase of the city walking trail. BSB produced the lowest bid for the approximately 1,198 ft. phase, coming in at $93,627 with a projected completion date of Aug. 31, 2014. The next phase begins on the south side of East H Street, west of East 11th Street, running in a southeasterly direction to East 11th Street.

The project was predicted to have a cost of $135,462 and received bids from BSB and Cement Products, Inc. Cement Products bid came in at $110,272.

* Council members will consider recommending to the Department of Transportation to accept Great Lakes Aviation's proposal to continue 12 non-stop round trips per week from McCook Ben Nelson Regional Airport to Denver International Airport. Both city staff and the Airport Advisory Commission have recommended Great Lakes receive approval to continue as the airport's commercial air service provider.

* Eric Helleigel with Miller and Associates is scheduled to provide City Council with an update on the progress of the downtown revitalization grant.

* Utility Director Jesse Dutcher will provide City Council with an update pertaining to the new 16" water transmission main being constructed for the city by Myers Construction of Broken Bow, Nebraska. Dutcher will also provide an update pertaining to the construction of cation waste disposal lagoons west of the Waste Water Treatment Plant, also a Myers Construction project.