City Council Okays Chickens, KO’s Logo

The Lamar City Council approved an ordinance on first reading, to allow city residents to keep no more than ten hen chickens on their personal property. The action during their September 23^rd meeting is a follow-up to a request made to the council this past August by Katie and Kaylee Kurtz to alter the current ordinance to let families have chickens for those children in 4H and FFA projects and for the fresh eggs.   Roosters will not be allowed.

Lamar City Clerk, Linda Williams, said a public hearing will be held October 14^th for community discussion.  If passed, the ordinance will allow the raising of up to ten hen chickens in residential, open estate and agricultural areas in the city.  Attorney Garth Neischburg said the city currently has zones to allow agriculture, education-agriculture and open estate activities.

The council offered some changes to the initial ordinance which will be applied to the one to be presented for later discussion. A special exception use permit will cost $50 to establish, after which, a $25 annual renewal fee will be imposed.  The need for written permission from the owners of adjoining city lots was removed after some discussion.

Properties, such as rental complexes containing more than one family per plot will not be allowed to maintain a coop. Persons living on a rental property must provide written permission from a landlord before obtaining a permit.

The council stipulated the coops must not exceed 200 square feet and be at least six feet tall and constructed of materials complementary to existing structures on the lot and be predator-resistant with proper ventilation and designed for easy access, cleaning and maintenance. Feed for chickens must be secure from wildlife, pets or other animals and all manure and waste products must be regularly collected and disposed of at least once a week.  Keeping the chickens as a home occupation or commercial purpose is not allowed.

Proposed Logo

A proposed logo for the City of Lamar is going back to the drawing board after the council decided the one they viewed didn’t come close to what Lamar represented to the general public. The logo, presented by Angie Cue and Martha Alvarez from the Community Development Office, will be a portion of the updated city website, expected to be completed by the end of the year.  The project is being funded from a DoLA mini-grant to help with developing a new design, replacing the current one which depicts a black and white train engine, windmill and wind turbines.  Cue explained the new color logo represented the land, sky, fields and river as interpreted by the designer, Ben Muldrow, who assisted with Lamar Partnership Incorporated’s re-brand project.  Councilman, Oscar Riley, said, “I have shown this logo to several people and they didn’t feel this represented Lamar or any other place.  It looks like it could work for California just as easily.”  The general assessment from the council indicated they’d like to view some of the other suggestions presented before committing to any one logo to represent the city for years to come.

By Russ Baldwin