Bay County is the nest for a wide variety of chickens.
A great majority of us are just getting by, one paycheck away from the frying pan, while others have seen their careers take flight thanks to hard work and good luck.
Some of us can remember when the nest was first being built and Bay County’s tourism and military industries were in their infancy and, on top of whatever day job they could find, our grandparents had farms and animals.
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These items were not hobbies; they were walls that were built to keep starvation at bay if a job was lost or the economy turned dire as it tends to do from time to time.
As we moved forward, many Bay County residents turned in chicken coops and replaced them with college degrees. The county’s economic engines began running on tourism, the military bases and the education industry instead of agriculture. And that brings us, we think, to the unusual situation of Callaway’s mayor defending the right of a resident to raise chickens.
“I don’t believe in government putting a stop on the way people live their lives. We can find a way to eliminate the problem without eliminating the way of people’s lives,” Mayor Thomas Abbott said during last week’s city commission meeting. “I think this is a death knell. I think it’s overkill.”
Abbott opposed and the commission ultimately rejected a proposal that would limit residents to six chickens per property and would also require them to register the chickens at $5 per chicken.
We’re guessing no egg gets counted until it is hatched.
The issue came up because of a dispute between two residents, one of whom has a lot of chickens, and the other who lives nearby and is opposed to the noise. The chicken owner got rid of their roosters — they were good eating we bet —to placate their neighbors.
But that wasn’t enough and this situation ended up in front of the Callaway commission.
The $5 chicken ordinance apparently originated in Lynn Haven, where it passed despite some dissension from some of the flock.
It’s hard to pick a side in this clucking battle. After all, anyone who moves into a residential neighborhood expects a certain level of like-mindedness when it comes to their neighbors. Dogs may bark, cats may prowl and children might fill the streets, but fowl, bovine and swine are usually not welcomed into suburban society.
However, it’s understandable when someone wants to preserve a certain way of life for their own children and grandchildren. It’s not just about free eggs and the frying pan; it’s also about tradition and education.
And more and more, we are finding, it is a relaxing pastime taken up by those reaching retirement.
The disagreement appears to be anything but over easy and now that the city has declined to create a new ordinance on the matter it seems possible that these hens are headed to court.
One way or the other, the issue will get scrambled there for sure.
A whale of a water bill
While some of us may cheer the Callaway commission’s position on chickens, their position on water bills is mildly concerning.
The city billed Callaway resident Chris Coffey $1,974 and alleged that he somehow used 454,830 gallons — which is more than most of us use in a year — in a single month. Coffey balked but the city has only budged slightly. City officials say they believe the meter is accurate and the water ran through an irrigation system on Coffey’s property.
Coffey, a renter, said he never used the system. Also, it doesn’t appear that the irrigation system or any other part of Coffey’s water system is leaking. Another problem with the city’s story is that officials were not able to pinpoint a spike in the amount of water used or money charged from Bay County, the area’s water wholesaler.
Commissioners say that if Coffey used the water he should pay the bill but have, so far, put the onus on city staff members to prove what happened.
Under normal circumstances, if the meter checks out, then a resident should pay what he owes. However, these are not normal circumstances and Coffey should be considered innocent until proven guilty.