Council honors three who saved drowning boy

Three people who were involved in saving a young boy from drowning at the Roosevelt Aquatic Center were honored with ?Lifesaving Heroism Awards? at Monday?s Fairfield City Council meeting.

The three who received the award were Riley Hammel and Paige Palmer, both lifeguards at the aquatic center and Fairfield High School students, and Dorothy Henson, a desk attendant at the aquatic center.

The incident for which the three won the award occurred April 28. Kate Pettit, who was swimming in the pool that afternoon at approximately 2:45, noticed a boy had swum to touch the bottom of the pool but had not come up for air in a long time. She helped alert the lifeguards on duty of the situation.

Hammel dived into the pool, pulled the boy to safety, and began performing CPR on him. Palmer ran to tell Henson about the incident. Henson dialed 911 while Palmer retrieved the automated external defibrillator, used to reestablish a heartbeat in a patient through electric shock. An ambulance arrived in time so the AED was not needed.

The boy was taken to the hospital and later released.

In other news, the council heard from a woman who was attacked by a bulldog April 30. Marilyn Deao said the city needs to implement better laws to prevent such things from happening again.

Bulldogs are not listed among the ?dangerous animals? in the city?s animal control ordinance. However, Fairfield Police Chief Julie Harvey said a dog is considered dangerous after it has attacked someone. She said the dog that attacked Deao has been removed from Fairfield and taken to Mount Pleasant.

Deao said the bulldog attacked her by knocking her down after she had gotten out of her car. She said the dog likely was interested in the meat she had just bought at the grocery store.

?If it was a child, it would have killed it,? Deao said about the attack. ?[The dog] took me down like a hot potato. I think there should be better laws about people who don?t register and take care of their dogs.?

Harvey said a neighbor of the dog?s owner was taking care of it the day the dog broke loose. She said the dog chewed through the screen on the trailer it was in, allowing it to break free.

Mayor Ed Malloy said the city needs to make a concerted effort to ensure all dogs in the city are registered.

The council was to vote on the second reading of an ordinance to rezone the former Nelson Nursing Home on West Taylor Avenue from R-2 to R-3. This would allow its developer, John Kuster, to turn it into an apartment complex capable of housing 19 units.

Instead of voting on the reading, the council decided to send the matter to the planning and zoning commission. Councilor Daryn Hamilton said this would allow all affected neighbors a chance to express their views.

Kuster took the podium and told the council he, too, wanted the matter to go to the planning and zoning commission.

Gary Askew lives east of the former nursing home and addressed the council Monday. He said nearly all of the neighbors are against rezoning the property. He said the neighbors are afraid the apartment complex will lower their property values by attracting low-income inhabitants.

?We?re not against low-income people, but the fact is that most people?s life saving is in their homes,? he said. ?If it was senior apartments or a nursing home, we?d have no problem.?

The council approved the third and final reading of an ordinance to ban deer feeding in the city limits. The vote was 5-2 in favor with councilors John Revolinski and Martha Rasmussen casting the two no votes.

Before the vote was taken, Boyer requested the ordinance be amended to read police ?shall? issue a written warning for the first offense instead of reading police ?may? issue a written warning. The amendment was adopted.