The Italy City Council spent a good deal of time Monday evening discussing three-way stop signs recently installed by the city at Seay Road and South Ward Street.

Ronald Janek, a farmer, told the council the city choked off farmers trying to get to FM 667 from South Ward Street. He said his equipment, which is up to 65’ wide, is unable to go down Harris Road or Stafford Road.

He said there is no way they can maneuver onto Seay Road from South Ward Street due to the new stop signs. “I urge you to remove the two signs on South Ward Street,” Janek added.

Janek indicated that these signs affect other farmers including Mackey Graves, Lee Harris, Curtis and Clint Riddle.

Janek questioned the need for the stop signs to begin with. He said that if was for speeders, then the law enforcement should run radar and issue citations.

The council recently installed the two additional stop signs on South Ward Street after receiving a petition from residents living and working in the area.

Council member John Droll suggested moving the stop signs as far off the road as possible and installing stop lines closer to the intersection.

Council member Mark Souder Sr. made a motion to let the police department and public works department work together making the signs legal and binding but relocating them in order for this equipment to make necessary turns.

In other business, Teri Murdock, city secretary/administrator, presented the council an ordinance establishing hours of operation for the George E. Scott Memorial Park on College Street.

She had originally scheduled hours from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the winter and from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. in the summer to run concurrent with daylight savings time. It would also prohibit dogs and cats from the park.

Council member Rodney Guthrie suggested changing the hours of operation from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. year round.

Souder said he had problems prohibiting animals from the park. He said there are leash laws and said he did not see a problem with animals in the park.

Mayor Frank Jackson said the public did not need to deal with animal waste. He said a pavilion and more tables will be added to the park and felt there would not be enough room for children and animals.

Guthrie said the park area would be pretty confining with the additional items and said it could get tight in there if you have several dogs in the park.

Droll questioned whether the city had the authority to set hours of operation for the park since the property belonged to the school district.

The council tabled the item until Murdock talked with the school district.

The council approved a resolution accepting the new sewer improvements, phase two, under the city’s locally funded project. The warranty period for Housley Communications was approved, effective Aug. 10, and expiring in one year.

The council directed Murdock to prepare the budget for the 2009 property tax rate to be set at $0.9348 per $100 valuation.

Jackson said the valuations are up somewhat this year and added that sales tax is up. He added, however, that the budget is going to take some fine-tuning. They set a budget workshop for Monday, Aug. 17, at 6:30 p.m.

The council approved consent items — including minutes July 13 meeting, approval of bills and earned compensatory time.

Lt. Tom Peyton presented the July reports from the police department, animal control and code enforcement.

The police department was called to service 72 times in July. They made one felony arrest, six misdemeanor arrests and nine traffic warrant arrests. The department, regular and reserve officers, worked 1,230 hours.

The animal control officer was called 10 times with two citations and one warning being issued.

The code enforcement officer received two complaints and found two violations. The officer found nine self-initiated violations and issued verbal warnings.

Brad Chambers, public works director, said the city lost a great deal of water when the ground shifted causing large leaks around the city last month.

The fire department was called out 45 times responding to 21 EMS calls, eight grass fires, a structure fire, three vehicle accidents, a vehicle fire, three false alarms and eight miscellaneous calls. Firefighters worked a total of 219 hours.

The municipal court filed 422 citations from the police department. There are approximately 850 citations pending from 2005 and back.

Murdock said she has been preparing the 2009-2010 budgets for the city and water departments. She reminded the council of the upcoming Economic Development Corporation joint meeting set for Aug. 20 at 6:30 p.m.