Friday, January 9, 2009

One Resident Reacts to Recent Council Actions

In watching the recent City Council meeting a couple of disturbing ordinances were approved. First, it is unlawful to discharge a gun in your house unless it is self-defense. What is this? We already have an ordinance that says we cannot discharge a gun within the city limits. Law abiding gun owners are not going to be discharging their guns in their homes unless it is self defense. Why should law abiding citizens be grouped in with a few criminals. No I say. It is an outright attack on the second amendment. Why have an added ordinance about discharging a gun in your house? Why??? Are they trying to pick away at our second amendment rights? Our own City? How ridiculous? Is this to protect them if they feel they need to enter your home and you refuse? What is their definition of self-defense?
Second, the other ordinance that they approved is that they can shut down your private well if there is a natural disaster. They claim they want to do this is so our wells don't contaminate their city well. What is their definition of a natural disaster? Is this a way to pressure people into thinking that their well could be shut down and that they would not have water at a time of a natural disaster and might go ahead now and agree to be hooked up to city water? Is this a scare tactic to get us to accept city water when our wells are fine? What if the city well is contaminated during a natural disaster and not the private wells. How can they claim that we could have contaminated their well. Do they test our water or just shut us down? This is unbelievable.
These two ordinances were passed at the same time. Do they go together? In other words, if they force their way into your home claiming they need to shut down your well because of a natural disaster and you disagree, then you cannot protect your home from this. Would they even test your well or just say we don't have time or even if it is not contaminated now, it could become contaminated, and, therefore, contaminate the city water? They would not consider this self-defense.
As far as we are concerned this is way out of line. We do not need these ordinances. First of all it is none of their business to tell us what to do in our own house when it comes to the second amendment and second they do not need to have an ordinance on the books ready to go regarding shutting down our wells at their whim and their definition of natural disaster.
Do the Centerville residents group still meet? This needs to be addressed immediately and try and overturn these ordinances. I think we could be looking at a real problem in the future if we do not hold their feet to fire on this.
In other Council action...
Amended Chapter 50 of the city Code to require connection to public water and sewer systems if private systems “fall into disrepair,” defined as when the cost of repair exceeds $500.
The Citizen