EUREKA SPRINGS -- It's not nice to fool Mother Nature -- or even live next door to her.

The destruction wrought throughout town by the remnants of Hurricane Ike brought citizen Kathy Hughes to Monday night's city council meeting to protest the heavy damage done her home during the Sept. 7 storm.

The storm toppled a more-than-a-century-old tree onto Hughe's home at 140 Spring St. The tree was growing in city greenspace adjoining her property.

'You're lucky we're not dead'

"You can't manage the greenspace you have," Hughes told council. "You're lucky we're not dead."

Hughes passed around photographs showing the extensive damage. "This is my back deck with your tree [on it]. That took us two years. It took out the back deck, two brand new air-conditioning units, 13 holes in the back wall of the house. I could go on and on. The top of that tree is still lying on my deck."

Hughes admonished council for its promotion of greenspace at the cost of endangering the lives of homeowners.

"This town's gotta decide who they love more," she said. "Trees or people."

Alderman Eric Scheunemann suggested Hughes might have applied for a tree cut permit if she had a problem with the presence of the tree previously.

50 hippies

"And I'd have had 50 hippies out there hugging that tree," Hughes replied. "I would not have been able to get that tree cut. You know that."

"But you didn't try," Scheunemann replied.

Hughes also pointed out the danger of fire if undergrowth is allowed to grow unchecked.

"A week ago I wanted that forest behind my house clearcut," Hughes said. "Now I just want it managed."

Alderman Rae Hahn pointed out there hadn't been a large scale fire in town since 1921 or 1922.

Alderman Joyce Zeller agreed with Hughes' concerns about fire, saying the area behind her house looks like a fire hazard. "We have a lot of junk and garbage trees, a lot of trees that need to be cut [to allow good trees room to grow.]"

Improved tree ordinance

Planning Commissioner Ken Pownall addressed the issue, saying the tree ordinance would be on Thursday's Planning commission agenda.

Pownall said the existing tree ordinance did not cover greenspace management, but the new version he'd been working on covered those issues.

Pownall invited the public to attend the meeting Thursday at 6 p.m.

Executive session

The public portion of the meeting was interrupted by a surprise request from Hahn that council go into executive session.

Executive session refers to a session of a legislative body that is closed to the public, for the exclusive purpose of discussing hiring, firing or reprimanding an employee.

Alderman Patrick Brammer asked if it wouldn't be more appropriate to put the request on the agenda for the next meeting.

Mayor Dani Joy responded to the request by saying, "If there is a problem with an employee, I'd think the legislative branch [the council] would have notified the executive branch [the mayor's office] so they could be prepared."

Zeller voted against the request, saying she was reluctant to vote yes when nobody knew what Hahn was talking about, but the rest of council voted yes and the session was held, in private.

Aud roof leaks being fixed

City Advertising and Promotion Commission Executive Director Jim Williams asked council for $1,500 to replace worn-out concrete board in the roof of the Auditorium.

He said the CAPC had already paid $600 to repair the leaks in the roof following the heavy spring rains, and that FEMA grants and state funds would cover gutter repair and paint damage inside due to leakage, totalling $1,900.

Council approved the funds.

Council also approved free one-hour holiday parking on Spring and Main Sts. from Nov. 10 to Dec. 31, Monday through Thursday, as has been done in the past.

Dog poop passed

Council approved, on first reading, a proposed addition to city code covering fines for inappropriate disposal of animal feces presented at council's request by City Attorney Tim Weaver.

The fine for allowing one's pet to defecate on either private or public property would be $25 for first offense and $50 for subsequent offenses within a year of a first offense.

"However," Weaver added, "I don't think you can criminalize it for someone to let their animals defecate on their own property, or if neighbors have given permission for their property to be used in that manner."

During agenda setting and aldermen comments, Hahn reiterated her request for an engineering study of Black Bass Dam.

Hahn said she felt the study fell within council's purview -- it had been suggested the issue fell to Planning -- and cited safety issues for her repeated requests.

She cited the dam's "high hazard rating" and the fact it had not been inspected since 1981.

Joy nominated Daniel Jackson for a seat on the Parks and Recreation Commission and council approved.

However, Hahn repeatedly disputed Joy's nomination of Mark Acuff for seat 3, the seat held currently de facto by Lany Ballance, whose term expired July 1, 2007.

Seats 2 and 7 remain vacant.

Hahn questioned Joy's choosing to nominate for seat 3 rather than 2 or 7.

"It was the first one on my list," Joy said. "Do I have to justify that to you?"

Hahn said she did not.

"I appreciate your concern," Joy said, "but I am nominating him for seat 3."

Fire chief nets city $27K

Joy thanked Fire Chief Eddie Davis and the other Fire and EMT personnel who traveled to Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav to help with evacuation.

She said Davis had been put in charge of four EMT teams, and had performed so well that within 48 hours of his return home, Louisiana authorities had called to ask him to return to help during Hurricane Ike and to help train their personnel.

She said the city's participation in the Gustave evacuation had netted it $27,000.