FERRIDAY — The Ferriday Board of Aldermen chose to table a controversial decision regarding the future of the town’s recreation director until a specially called meeting Monday morning.

Recreation Director McKinley D. Bates III was arrested March 3, on charges of felony possession of marijuana with intent, carrying of weapons and possession of controlled dangerous substance.

Bates’ arrest came with 30 others who were arrested after a yearlong joint investigation among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies that targeted narcotics sales in the Ferriday area.

The board discussed a notice listed in the recreation manual that states the director must be given a 30-day notice before being terminated.

Mayor Glen McGlothin said he thought the situation opted for emergency action and was important enough to justify breaking the 30-day notice policy.

“He was arrested in a major drug bust with quite a bit of marijuana in his house, and I thought it might not look good if he continued to work with the kids,” McGlothin said. “I never said he was guilty, that’s not for me to decide, but we need to do something.”

Bates was released from the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office on $45,000 bond March 5 and was at the board meeting Tuesday night.

Several aldermen said that since Bates was not given any prior notice of his possible termination that he should be given an opportunity to present his case to the board before any decision was made.

Town Attorney Anna Ferguson said the matter could be discussed in executive session as a personnel matter or, if Bates chose to, it could be discussed in an open meeting.

The board agreed to meet at 10 a.m. Monday to discuss the issue.

“He’s going to present his case and I’m going to listen to him,” McGlothin said. “I don’t have a problem with that. Nobody likes that man more than me, trust me that’s why I hired him. I just felt like this was an emergency situation and something needed to be done.”

In other news from the board meeting:

-While no action was taken, the board discussed the town’s leash law and the consequences of revamping it in spite of recent dog attacks.

In February, a Ferriday woman was attacked by two pit bulls on Carolina Avenue.

The dogs were picked up and euthanized the following week.

McGlothin said that the leash law ordinance needed to be updated to include specific breeds of dogs that are more prone to attack.

Ferguson said Louisiana has vicious animal laws in place and that the town should start enforcing those more diligently instead of creating new ones, which could cause legal issues.

“If we enforce a specific breed, how are you going to prove it’s that specific breed?” Ferguson said. “The only way is if that person has a title and that dog is registered, and I seriously doubt that a lot of these dogs wandering on the streets are registered.”

McGlothin agreed with the legal reasoning, but said something needed to be done about the amount of dog attacks in Ferriday.

“I hate to say this, but it’s going to take someone getting killed for that that to happen,” McGlothin said. “We have to do something about the dogs. Period.”

-McGlothin requested board approval for the city to begin applying for a USDA grant for work on the sewer lines throughout the whole city.

McGlothin said exact details are unknown at this point, but he wanted to get the application process started to have all paperwork ready.