Members of Poplar Bluff's residential housing advisory board asked Thursday, at their second meeting, why the city has more than 3,900 outstanding warrants on its books.
Some board members requested the city judge and city attorney attend an Aug. 9 meeting at the city council chambers to provide a better understanding of how the Municipal Court system operates.
The discussion included questions about how fines are determined for violations. Board members also addressed questions raised at their previous meeting concerning bulky trash collection, off-street parking and commercial vehicle parking in residential neighborhoods.
"The judge is the one fellow that makes the calls," said council member at-large Ron Black, who is the council representative to the board, adding, "We don't understand the system."
A list of outstanding warrants on the city's website is more than 60 pages long, said board member Greg West. Fines can vary for the same types of violations, and may not reach the maximum, even for repeat offenders, he said.
"I would like to know how we can have that many outstanding warrants," said board member Rhenda Hutchison.
The list West referred to contains misdemeanor violations, said code enforcement officer James Sisk. Many of the individuals may not live in the city any longer, he continued. Law enforcement outside the city would not arrest the individuals for these misdemeanor warrants, Sisk explained.
"These are municipal violations, not criminal violations. That's why (law enforcement) is not going to go out and hunt these people," Sisk said.
The individuals would be arrested if they came in contact with police in the city for another reason, including a traffic stop, he said.
The outstanding warrants include code violations, as well as other misdemeanor violations.
In a random search by a reporter, some of the individuals on the list include a woman with four outstanding warrants from 2004 for no vehicle insurance or driver's license, and fines totalling less than $400.
Another woman with fines of nearly $300 has similar charges from 2016.
A man with assault and exhibiting a weapon charges had warrants issued in 2011, with fines totaling just over $400.
Warrants for municipal violations would likely be issued for contempt of court, after someone failed to show up for court or failed to pay their fine, Sisk said.
West questioned how fines were assessed, using the example of an individual who appeared to rent one of West's properties.
The man had more than a dozen citations, according to the city court website, with two outstanding warrants. Of the violations, six were for unsheltered or abandoned vehicle. Fines were nearly $250 for a single 2018 violation, $1 for a 2017 violation and $40.50 for a 2016 violation.
The board sidetracked for 10-15 minutes while discussing what appeared to be an issue with one of West's rental properties. During this discussion, West asked why the individual had not been made to clean up the residence after eight months of citations.
Sisk questioned why West continued to rent to the individual.
"This is where we are not going to agree," Sisk said. "There is no easy way to make everyone happy."
Board members also had questions about the state's Senate Bill 5 and its updates. City manager Mark Massingham said these may be better answered by city attorney Mark Richardson, who was unable to attend Thursday.
The law has had changes since it was first passed, Massingham said. Many other cities have not updated municipal codes to reflect the change in state law, he said. Others are spending a great deal of money to make updates, or making simpler changes to definitions in the codes.
"We haven't done anything with our codes," Massingham said. "We have found very few cities that have done anything."
West said the board needs more explanation about how the state law applies to city operations.
Bulky trash
Discussion of bulky trash collection is expected to be presented in August to the city council.
The matter will not need to come before the housing board again, said Massingham. The council will need to decide how fees would be assessed, he explained.
The city is in the process of discussing logistics of how collection would be handled by the street department, said city planner Matt Winters, who is the board chairman.
"I think it's an exceptional idea, it's just a matter of working out the details," Winters said.
The suggestion of allowing residents to purchase a ticket to have large items, such as appliances and mattresses, removed by the city was made by West at the previous meeting.
Sisk agreed this would be greatly beneficial in cleaning up areas of the city.
"The ultimate goal is to clean it up, not to cause them a fine," Sisk said.
Off-street parking
A discussion of how the city could limit parking in residential yards or on unimproved surfaces was continued while officials look for similar ordinances in other municipalities.
The board would not be able to change city ordinances, but could make a recommendation to city council when the information is compiled.
Commercial vehicles
A complaint from a resident in June prompted the board to look at rules regarding commercial vehicle parking in residential neighborhoods.
The city already has an ordinance that limits this to two hours, with some exceptions, Winters said of the research.
Citations could be issued by code enforcement or a police officer, Sisk said.
Resident Ruth Ann Marler of Lakeside Drive also asked the board to consider looking at property codes for the city of Arnold, which she said were very stringent regarding the maintenance of property.