Smelterville institutes municipal ordinances

SMELTERVILLE — The city of Smelterville, in accordance with the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office, released a letter on Wednesday to their residents and homeowners stating that they will begin to utilize municipal ordinances in an effort to get the city cleaned up.

It read:

This letter is to make sure that the residence of Smelterville are aware of the new municipal citations ordinance #255, dog licensing, house numbers and spring cleanup.

The mayor and City Council of the City of Smelterville have adopted the use of municipal citations as a means of enforcing ordinances of the city of Smelterville. Municipal citations may be issued charging violations of City of Smelterville ordinances by any police officer authorized by the City of Smelterville. Your city council wants you to be aware that there are fines associated with receiving a municipal citation. Feel free to pick up a copy of the municipal citation ordinance at Smelterville City Hall during office hours.

We also want you to be aware that there is a fine for not licensing your dogs. The fee to license a spayed or neutered dog is just $7.50 a year. The fee for licensing a dog that is not spayed or neutered is $25 a year. We will need proof of rabies vaccination at the time the license is issued. You can purchase a dog tag at the City Hall from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

Smelterville has several homes without visible house numbers. We are asking every homeowner to make sure that your house number is visible from the street. This is very important in emergency situations.

We also want to let you know that the City of Smelterville will once again be having a spring cleanup. We will have dumpsters available from April 15, 2018, to May 15, 2018. Please do what you can to clean up your property and see if your neighbors need help also.

If you are a homeowner and do not reside in Smelterville, please make sure this information is shared with those residing in Smelterville.

Sincerely,

City of Smelterville

Mayor and City Council

These municipal ordinances have been in the works for some time. The Smelterville City Council and mayor Tom Benson have been looking for ways to get residents to take care of their homes and property since last year.

By working with city attorney and Shoshone County prosecutor Keisha Oxendine, the city has come up with these ordinances to get the ball rolling on revitalizing Smelterville and give law enforcement another tool to get the city back some of its former glory.

“This is something the city has been wanting to accomplish for some time now. We understand this is an issue with many small communities,” Benson said. “However, we realize that blight, crime and other illegal activities go hand in hand. The sheriff understands this and we are all working together to accomplish this. It is going to be a long process. It will also be costly to the city, but it will be worth it as time goes on. We are first working on properties that are health hazards. After those are taken care of, we will address the worst offenders and work our way down.”