Ligertown Cleanup Deadline Set

Sun., Feb. 18, 1996

Associated Press

Ligertown operators have 90 days to make their mobile home and the animal cages surrounding it comply with building codes or the ramshackle compound near Lava Hot Springs will be demolished.

Robert Fieber and Dotti Martin declined comment about the possible action. They were at the Bannock County Courthouse on Friday negotiating charges filed against them after 19 lions were shot as a result of some of the big cats escaping last September.

A county board of appeals decided on Friday that Ligertown is dangerous because its wiring, sanitation and structures fail to comply with building codes. The board denied an appeal of the condemnation from Fieber and Martin.

“I totally concur with the board’s decision,” Commissioner Tom Katsilometes said. “I’m glad to see the process move forward to a conclusion.”

If the couple fails to bring Ligertown up to code, the county will consult with the health department in deciding how to clean it up, Katsilometes said. The county will bill Fieber and Martin to pay for the cleanup. If they fail to pay, the cost will be assessed as a property tax.

A jury trial for the Ligertown operators before Magistrate Mark Beebe is scheduled to begin March 11. A six-member jury will be selected from Cassia County, but the trial will be in Pocatello.

Martin and Fieber, both 57, face 54 misdemeanor charges including cruelty to animals and zoning violations. The number of misdemeanor charges has been reduced from the original 107 counts, including 16 public nuisance charges that were combined into one charge.

Lions and wolf hybrids at Ligertown were removed and are being cared for at refuges.

Fieber and Martin have been living in McCammon since the lions escaped.

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