The Purdy City Council adopted two ordinances on disorderly conduct at its Oct. 8 meeting.

The first ordinance specified peace disturbance violations, citing five major violations stemming from: loud noise, offensive language, threats to commit felonious acts, fighting and creating a noxious and offensive odor.

Police Chief Jackie Lowe said the city code had lumped a wide range of offenses under Chapter 356, but no longer had a stand-alone ordinance on disorderly conduct. Lowe applied the disorderly conduct law in an incident on Aug. 22 where a subject created a disturbance in a confrontation.

The incident prompted City Attorney Toni Hendricks to take a second look at the city’s revised code book. Hendricks said she saw the incorporation of disorderly conduct in Chapter 356. She felt a separate ordinance, outlining issues defining a peace disturbance and repealing the old ordinance, would make prosecution easier.

She noted that in this case, Clifford Barker, whom Lowe said apologized for losing his temper with another man at Adelita’s restaurant, pleaded guilty in court to disorderly conduct. She commended Lowe for the way he handled the case.

A second ordinance on disorderly conduct spelled out 16 different types of disorderly conduct in detail. Among the list was “any person who shall collect in bodies or in crowds and engage or attempt to engage in gaming.” Another detailed engaging in “any fraudulent scheme, device, or trick to obtain any valuable thing in any place or from any person or attempts to do so,” or engaging in violence in an attempt to “interfere with another’s pursuit of a lawful occupation.”

Another more loosely translatable section addressed acting in a “tumultuous manner… whereby public property or property of another is placed in danger of being destroyed or damaged.”

In an effort to address a resident accused of blocking an alleyway, this ordinance categorized congregating in a public way “so as to halt the flow of vehicular or pedestrian traffic and refuse to clear such public way when ordered to do so by a police officer or other person having authority.” This directly was in direct response to a resident in the 300 block of Barry Avenue blocking the alley with vehicles, a complaint brought several times before the city council.

Council members found a typographical error in this ordinance. At Hendricks’ advice, they passed it as amended with the correction.

Lowe’s report included two items of interest for which Purdy has no defense – flooding. On Sept. 23, he noted, “Heavy rain caused water to go over the railroad tracks on North Commercial Street as well as over Fourth Street, and at two separate locations on Ninth Street.”

The following day, he helped people recover property washed away from property on Fourth Street, a residence that suffered “severe flooding, due to its low location.”

Lowe responded to three vehicle accidents during the month. An incident by the school stemmed from blinding sunlight at the time. Two resulted from vehicles driving into the path of another. The third, where a vehicle drove into a barbed wire fence, required Lowe to get an uncooperative driver to produce insurance information for the report or face a hindering an investigation charge.

Lowe reported eight more instances of dealing with loose dogs during the month.

Public Works Foreman Kevin Cook reported a water tower overflowed twice due to an electronic relay that failed to automatically turn off when the tower filled. He fixed the relay and credited that for dropping water efficiency for the month from 82 to 73 percent.

Clean-up week had gone well with favorable weather. Cook expected to fill up five dumpsters at least in the final days of collections. He and the council members discussed replacing trees in the city park after Joe’s Tree Service took out the dead tree on the southwest corner by the school parking lot. Cook noted two oak trees had a similar disease to the others that died in the park, creating more holes in the shade line. Council members urged him to contact the Arbor Day Foundation for replacement ideas, since the local agent for the Forestry Service appeared too busy to respond from his duties over three counties.

Cook made another run with the city’s fogger after the meeting to stop mosquitoes.

A meeting was scheduled on Oct. 30 between new clerk Sasha Gomez and attorney Hendricks to acquaint the clerk on how to handle the city code and retrieve information on request.

For Halloween, Lowe will be at City Hall handing out candy to children from 5 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 31, or until the candy runs out. The Fire District will be handing out candy at its main station on Washington Avenue.

Bills totaling $27,738.73 were approved for payment. The next council meeting was scheduled for Nov. 12.