The Douglas City Council moved closer to resolution of two issues that have confounded them for the last several months – the city pet ordinance and location of the new Port of Entry expansion – but are still faced with questions concerning the future of the Douglas Golf Course restaurant and bar.

After months of discussion and a second ordinance, the City Council officially approved the new pet ordinance concerning care of animals and what to do with vicious dogs.

Again, the city placed no limit on the number of pets a resident can have and the only major change involved the increasing of fines for vicious dogs from a minimum of $150 to $500, to $500 to $1,000.

The city has been struggling the last several months to ensure that the expansion of the Douglas Port remains on schedule.

That may now be a strong possibility following a report by Vice Mayor Bob Fernandez.

In his regular report, Fernandez stated that Mexico will not be looking at additional sites, and a Tuesday meeting was scheduled to further discuss the matter.

The city has been waiting for Mexico to make a determination on where they wanted the port expansion so the process could move forward. There had been discussion concerning the purchase of additional land out near Kings Highway.

During the meeting, Mayor Dr. Michael Gomez also thanked Fernandez for his assistance and leadership on these  and other matters.

The council spent more than a half hour wrestling on what to do concerning the restaurant and bar contract at the Douglas Golf Course.

The concession went to bid several weeks ago following continuing problems with its current tenant, Carlos Ortiz and Antonio’s Bar and Grill.

The city received three bids—from Sergio and Clarissa Arellano of Tucson, Robert and Raquel Lopez of Douglas and Ortiz. 

Ortiz did not meet the bid specifications and was disqualified from the bid process.

The city staff selected Arellano. The dollar amounts were equal, but Arellano had more experience in food service.

The council was concerned about several issues including what type of food will be served, management and plan for success of the facility.

Arellano was not present at the meeting to discuss his plans for the facility, and the council agreed to table the issues until Arellano could be available to meet the city council.

In other action, the council:

• Discussed proposed changes to vendors license fees at the County Fairgrounds and related Chapter 5 Business License provisions.

• Discussed a possible amendment to the City of Douglas Municipal Zoning Code pertaining to the size of political signs and banners on mobile vehicles and to restrict the posting of banners. After discussing the matter for  about 10 minutes, the council decided to allow the code to remain as it is “It it isn’t broke, don fix it,” said one council member. The code limits signs to no more than 16 square feet. There was concerns about the new signs on vehicles and timely removal of political signs following the election.

• Approved the third reading of an ordinance establishing a new rate schedule for wastewater fees and repealing all user fee schedules in previous ordinances, effective January 1, 2010.

• Approved a resolution authorizing the City of Douglas Public Housing Authority  to submit an application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the 2009 Family Unification Program funding. The city council also approved a resolution authorizing the Public Housing Authority to entered into a  memorandum of understanding with the Public Welfare Agency in the implementation of the Family Unification Program.

• Approved a resolution authorizing the sale of all  City of Douglas Community Corporation GNMA Securities, securing the Multifamily Housing Revenue Bonds Series 2000A used for the Rancho La Perilla Apartments project. Also, use of the proceeds from the sale to redeem all bonds and to pay transaction costs related and request the City of Douglas Public Housing Corporation take all such action as necessary to consummate the transactions  contemplated by the resolution. This move is expected to make the city a minimum of $30,000 to maximum of $100,000.

Approved a resolution authorizing submission of an Energy Efficient and Conservation Block Grant application to the State of Arizona Department  of Commerce and to the U.S. Department of Energy. A portion of these funds will be used for a city energy audit to see what the city can save additional energy in its facilities.