Aurora Mayor, Council At Odds On 4-H Livestock Ordinance

By Mike Perleberg (Aurora, Ind.) – 4-H members in the City of Aurora may have to find a new place to raise their goats, chickens, bunnies and other small animals if city council doesn’t override a mayoral veto. Currently, the city prohibits livestock from being kept within 300 feet of a building or structure inside the city limits. A proposed ordinance would rewrite the city code to allow active 4-H participants to raise animals smaller than 90 pounds fully grown between March 1 and July 1 each year as long as that animal will be shown in a county or state 4-H fair. Aurora City Council passed the ordinance, proposed by councilman Joe Milish, at their March council meeting, says city attorney Jeff Stratman. Milish, who lives on Conwell Street, has children who participate in 4-H. SHOULD THE RAISING OF SMALL 4-H ANIMALS BE PERMITTED IN THE AURORA CITY LIMITS? TELL US WHAT YOU THINK ON EAGLE 99.3'S FACEBOOK PAGE. Mayor Donnie Hastings, Jr. did not attend the March Meeting when council passed the ordinance on a 3-1 vote, according to Stratman. Councilman John Borgman was also absent. But on passed ordinances, Hastings as mayor has the option to sign an ordinance into code or veto it with a signed statement. The mayor in this case chose the third option of allowing the ordinance to sit unsigned on his desk for 10 days, in effect vetoing the ordinance, Stratman says. Aurora City Council may still get its way, though it appears Borgman’s vote will be the decider. Council can override the veto, but only if at least four members of council vote to do so. Only three votes – even though that’s a majority – would not stop the veto. Stratman says the ordinance will be presented for a vote on Monday, April 7 at 5:50 p.m. at the second floor conference room of the Aurora City Building, 235 Main Street. The full language of the proposed 4-H animal ordinance is below: NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED AND ESTABLISHED BY THE CITY OF AURORA, INDIANA, BY ITS COMMON COUNCIL THAT THE FOLLOWING ORDINANCES BE ADDED AS FOLLOWS:§91.02.  4-H Participant Animals.  Notwithstanding §91.01 above, an active participant in 4-H activities may raise animals that weigh a maximum of 90 pounds per animal fully grown for the sole purpose of showing the animals in a county or State of Indiana 4-H fair.  Animals that are not shown in a county or state 4-H fair shall not be raised in any manner contrary to §91.01 above, or contrary to any other local ordinance for the City of Aurora.  The 4-H participant shall only have the animals within the city limits of Aurora for a period from March 1 to July 1 of each year.  Any such 4-H animals so kept, shall be kept in a manner and in a limited number such that the animals do not create any nuisance, including any nuisance of noise, smell or other obnoxious condition, to any adjacent or adjoining property owners or residents nearby the 4-H participant’s property.  In no event shall any 4-H participant harbor more than four (4) total animals under this provision.  This ordinance provision shall lapse and become void July 1, 2014, unless further action is taken by the legislative body to extend this ordinance beyond that date.ALL OF WHICH IS ORDAINED, ADOPTED AND PASSED ON THIS 17th DAY OF MARCH, 2014, IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE STATUTES BY THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AURORA, DEARBORN COUNTY, INDIANA, UPON THE VOTE AS FOLLOWS: