Thursday, Hampton Postmaster Mike Arndorfer spoke to the Hampton City Council during public comment regarding an incident where a dog bit one of his mail carriers while on route. The incident took place Wednesday afternoon at 702 7th Avenue SW. Arndorfer explained to the council the property had a camper in the front yard, and as a result the mail carrier could not see the dog and had little time to react when it attacked.
“It was pretty severe. He got 10 stitches, three different puncture wounds. The issue is at the residence, there’s a big camper parked in the front yard. And my understanding of the city rules is that is a no-go. Campers are not to be parked on a yard. The whole situation, in my opinion, could have been avoided if the city would have done the proper steps to remove that camper. From my understanding, from my carrier, it’s been there several weeks now. And my question is, ‘why?’ ‘Why is it still there?’ When my grass gets too long, I get a notice in the mail that my yard needs to be mowed. And I do it the very next day. So my question is, ‘why are we letting that go three, four weeks before we have that resident move their camper out of their front yard?'”
During his staff report, police chief Mark Morrison told the council they have served notices to the property owner regarding the camper in the yard. Some council members stated they would like to be notified of dog bite incidents as soon as possible as this was the first time they had heard about the incident at 702 7th Ave SW. The Hampton City Council will hold a vicious dog hearing Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. as a result of this matter.
In other business Thursday, the Hampton City Council approved an amendment to the residency requirement in the employee handbook, adding that the “city manager is authorized to make exceptions to the requirement based on individual circumstances and personnel needs.”
Full minutes from the meeting below;
