By Staci Jones | The Selma Times-Journal

Selma City Councilman Michael Johnson will host a meeting to address complaints on issues caused by horses within his ward.

“Citizens are fed up with flies and mosquitoes,” Johnson said. “People have complained that they can’t sit on their front porch without gnats and the strong smell left from the horses.”

Johnson states that Ward 8 has been receiving complaints for over a year, and now is the time to do something about it. The city council has recently passed an ordinance to better regulate horses and provide their owners with the, “do’s and don’ts of what the horses can and cannot do,” Johnson said.

The new ordinance will include rules such as horses must wear bags to catch droppings, quarters that hold horses must be cleaned once a week and horses must stay at least 1,000 feet away from residents. If the rules are broken, a citation will be given.

The meeting will be Wednesday, June 17, 2015, at 5 p.m. in the Council Chamber on the second floor of City Hall.