Call Kurtis: Homeowner Says Fire Prevention Goats Caused Dangerous Situation by Her Home

A number of local municipalities use herds of goats to eat away brush and cut down on fire danger. But Lincoln homeowner, Shalon Smith called Kurtis, saying the goats caused a dangerous situation near her home. It was more than a year ago, and she wants the city to fix the damage.

"That's a huge liability to me as a landlord," said Smith.

Instead of just eating the grass, she blames the goats for eroding the land right up to her fence and exposing one of the fence posts. Now she's concerned her tenants' kids could slip below the fence getting hurt. She's also concerned about her property.

"If this keeps going. My concrete's going to slip, my pool's going to slip," said Smith.

She showed us pictures from March 2011, when the city brought the goats into the ravine behind her house. They show how far the land used to reach, past her fence.

"When we bought the property we had about a three to four foot distance from the fence, out to the ravine," said Smith.

She says the City of Lincoln has promised a fix for more than a year, but nothing's been done. When CBS13 contacted the city, they told us it's not that severe of a problem.

"The priority is of course, public health and safety, which this is not. This is a maintenance issue," said Mark Miller, Director of Public Works.

However, Miller says the city is working with a contractor to stabilize the land with new plants. We got him to nail down a timeline.

"We'd like to get the work done before the rainy season begins. So, before October, I expect we'll be finished," said Miller.

Smith says she's waited more than a year to hear that, "It will feel great. Peace of mind that my tenant's family is taken care of."

One of the other issues that held things up here is the area is protected wetlands. The city tells us they have to work with state and federal regulations in making the repairs.