Shelby in good shape financially as council members take oath, Fraser praised for bringing peace to dog park

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent

Shelby's City Council 12-01-2025.

Swearing in for the three newly elected, and all returning city council members was held Monday night during the City of Shelby’s City council meeting. The city financials were also reviewed for the fiscal year budget and an updated on the paw patrol at the city park was given by the city manager.

Violet Arth was sworn in first, joined by her children for her re-swearing in as council member for the city of Shelby. Charles Webber was sworn in next, followed by Emily Bullock. All three are previous council members who ran unopposed. Former council member David Causby’s seat still remains vacant.

Election of Mayor Pro Tem was held with nominations being made in favor for Violet Arth, by Council Member David White. White also motioned to close the nomination and she was elected by the council unanimously as new mayor pro tem.

The S. Lafayette water line project will begin soon, after being approved by council, to replace 2,600 linear feet on Morgan Street.

Outgoing City of Shelby Manager Rick Howell explained this is money already budgeted into the water project which is an extension of current water line project happening in Shelby.

It was noted that the old existing water pipes have had many waterline breaks and patched in that area.

That portion of Lafayette will be paved soon, and in order to get ahead of the paving the water line replacement needs to happen before then.  Ordinance 65-2025 was approved by the council Monday night. It passed unanimously.

It was noted in review of the city budget that Shelby was in good shape financially, with it being noted property tax revenue saw an increase in $673,000 revenue from the previous year, which equates to a 4.7% increase.

The General Fund summary showed a 5% increase to $1,500,000. Expenditure decreased $520,000. However, this number does not include transfers and capital finance.

Noncash restricted funds totaled 2.3 million in non-spending funds.

Overall, The City of Shelby is in great shape financially.

During the City of Shelby Manager’s report, Howell congratulated the newly sworn in council members, “You are all fine council members, and you will continue to do well, and you have all been good to me,” he said.

He lauded the city’s financial / accounting team for their dedicated hard work with the budget and protecting the residents’ tax money and public services. 

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“Kudos to the entire team,” said Howell. “The financial importance of the team reflects well across the staff; thank you for the great job they do. I am certainly happy that we are in a strong financial position.”

In a more humorous moment, Howell mentioned the dog park, noting their needs to be less dog on dog conflict at the dog park. According to independent research by The Shelby Independent, most of the dog-on-dog conflicts arise from the Dachshund, Yorkie and Pomeranian gangs in the park.  

Howell hopes that all the dogs can get along, but praised the police for their highly trained paw patrol that helps during puppy gang violence to deescalate incidents. Howell praised Shelby Paw Patrol Chief Brad Fraser for his efforts to make it safe for all dogs to enjoy the Shelby Dog Park and then ride off into the sunset on his bicycle after bringing peace to the park. Howell noted how it’s a ruff job, but Chief Fraser can handle it.

Chief Fraser had no comment at the time of the meeting.

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Chuck Thompson is a reporter and columnist for The Shelby Independent.