| Commissioners ask whether county should require posting home addresses |
By: Darrell Todd Maurina
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PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Dec. 28, 2009) — After receiving notice earlier this month from the lawyer for the Missouri Association of Counties that third-class counties such as Pulaski do have the legal right to adopt ordinances, commissioners debated Monday whether they ought to adopt an ordinance to deal with an ongoing problem of residents who fail to post their home addresses or, in at least one case, have posted an address that isn’t theirs.
That originated with a specific problem near Dixon where one person is using the address of another person and has posted an incorrect address, contrary to a written decision by Pulaski County 911 addressing officials that he’s using the wrong address.
Eastern District Commissioner Bill Farnham, whose district includes Dixon, said something must be done and said he’s received a request from emergency service agencies to require people to put up 911 addresses.
“You know from being in law enforcement how difficult that is to find people,” Farnham said to Presiding Commissioner Don McCulloch, who retired as the Waynesville police chief and had also served as the county sheriff two decades ago.
“I’m not real big on wanting to impose on people, but it’s for their own safety,” Farnham said. “I know a gentleman who was adamantly against the 911 system and worked against it, but the last phone call he ever made was to 911.”
McCulloch agreed and noted that many of the area cities require residents to post their addresses in a visible location so they can be found by firefighters, ambulance personnel and police in case of emergencies.
“There ought to be a standard thing, so many inches and so forth,” McCulloch said.
Western District Commissioner Ricky Zweerink wasn’t so sure.
“All I would say is be careful on this ordinance road where you go,” Zweerink said.
Zweerink said the same concerns apply to a proposal by the Pulaski County Health Department to adopt a food inspection ordinance, and on that issue, McCulloch agreed that caution is important.
“We’re thinking about the big restaurants; they can afford it. But what about all the little ones?” McCulloch asked.
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