The hard way : The Rogers City Council passed a solicitation law.
Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2008
ROGERS - A lawsuit against the city forced the City Council to decide between two amendments to its legislation on street-side solicitation. The decision did not come easy.
The judge in the case, as City Attorney Ben Lipscomb reminded the council Tuesday night, ordered Rogers to incorporate language that is equal for everyone. The existing ordinance had allowed only the Rogers Fire Department to collect money on street corners.
So Lipscomb prepared two ordinances. One banned all street-side solicitation within city limits, while the other allowed anyone to seek a permit to solicit, so long as there were no safety concerns.
Several community members asked the council to choose the permitting option. All who spoke referred to the Rogers Fire Department's "boot drive "that is used to raise money to fight muscular dystrophy.
Councilman Greg Hines, who chairs the Community Environment Committee, which first heard the pro- posed changes, championed the complete ban.
"If the issue is important enough to legislate, it's important enough to prohibit," Hines said," because the primary issue here is safety."
Hines was joined in his cause by Councilman Mark Kruger, who said the city could not administer exceptions, and Councilman Bob Goodwin, who encouraged the charitable organizations to find off-street areas to raise funds for their causes.
But when the vote was taken, Hines, Kruger and Councilman Gary Townzen voted for the ban, while Goodwin voted against it. Mayor Steve Womack halted the proceedings, calling for the council to reconsider the vote. Goodwin made the motion to reconsider and received a second, but the motion was denied in a 5-3 vote.
Had Goodwin voted in favor of the ban, as he had intended, the voting would have ended in a tie. Womack said he, as the tie-breaking vote, would have sided against the full ban, so the results would not have changed, leading the council in both cases to consider the permitting option.
Only Hines voted against the ordinance that allowed streetside solicitation by permit only as the council passed the ordinance 7-1. That version of the ordinance allows the fire chief to deny applications for permits only for safety considerations.
The permit-application process could still prevent panhandling by homeless men and women. Lipscomb previously said an address and phone number, along with other information, would be required to obtain a permit. Fire-station dilemma The City Council will be taking a little longer to decide the fate of Rogers Fire Station No. 5. After hearing from planning commissioner and architect Don Spann, the council voted to hold a Committee of the Whole meeting at the fire station at 4: 30 p.m. Friday.
Spann reiterated information from his inspection of the building last week, noting heavy water damage, corrosion and mold issues within much of the structure.
Spann also said there are drainage issues with the building that cannot be resolved without completely demolishing it and starting over.
And then he offered a second option.
"You can almost replace it with a new item cheaper than (demolishing ), restoring and putting it back," Spann said.
The committee would then recommend to the council a course of action, whether to rebuild part of the building or all of it. Womack said the council could wait until the Sept. 9 council meeting or schedule a special session to consider the solution.
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