The Globe City Council dealt with rabbits and heard about dogs on Tuesday.

The ordinance allowing up to four rabbits (not for breeding purposes) in the city passed and a citizen of Globe, Charles Beck, addressed the council concerning his negative experiences with barking dogs, loose dogs and the lack of response from the police and animal control officers.

He did praise Michelle Yerkovich for her timely and effective response to his complaint about dogs barking all night.

Police Chief Dale Walters delegated an officer to confer with Beck outside council chambers in order to educate him as to his options and concerns.  Mayor Al Gameros expressed interest in following up on possible problems and city staff will report to the council as an item in a council agenda sometime this summer.

City Librarian Adrea Ricke presented plans for a summer reading program and the USDA summer kids lunch program, and Linda Oddonetto briefed the council on the upcoming revitalization of the Michaelson building on Broad Street for use as a business incubator.

Councilman Fernando Shipley obtained council approval for subleasing the building he is using for the Cobre Valley Boys and Girls Club to Salvage Youth, a ministry to community teens and tweens.

Brad Johnson, the U.S. Forest Service zone fire management officer for Tonto Basin and Globe, and Mary Lata brought their presentation about wildland fire response to the council, the seventh time his group had given it to local stake holders in the county.

The gist was that the Forest Service had investigated all of the PODS (or areas with natural fire-stopping boundaries in and near the Tonto National Forest) and had put in place guidelines to determine whether and how a fire in a certain location should be allowed to burn.

More than a century of putting out all fires had allowed the fuel to build up, allowing catastrophic fires. Johnson cited the Pinal fire as a successful example of letting a fire burn and controlling for damage while it burned.  Since the fire started high on the slope and generally worked its way downward, flames did not become high enough or intense enough to threaten the big trees.

Had the fire started low in the canyons threatening to rush up to the ridges with huge flames, a completely different response would have occurred. The fire managers would have acted to put it out before it threatened structures, towers and mature trees in the Pinals.

Johnson also cited a recent small fire in the area of Pioneer Pass that could have been allowed to burn. It was the right time of year in a good place, but enough fire fighting assets were not on duty, so the fire was extinguished while still small.

According to Johnson, fire is only one tool in forest maintenance, mechanical methods such as thinning and brush crushing with a masticator can also be used in appropriate locations.

Council members and Jepson discussed investigating how volunteers might be used to help city departments, and Jepson said he would come back with a presentation for a future agenda item.

The council adjourned at 8 p.m. without going into executive session.