Loading...
City Council Minutes - 07/01/2021 q City oTgard City Council Special Meeting Minutes July 1, 2021 1. BUSINESS MEETING A. At 5:30 p.m. Mayor Snider called the Special Meeting to order. B. City Recorder Krager called the roll: Present Absent Councilor Goodhouse ✓ Councilor Newton ✓ Council President Lueb ✓ Councilor Shaw ✓ Mayor Snider ✓ Youth Councilor Nag ✓ Mayor Snider gave some opening remarks.The extreme hot and dry weather over the past few weeks has raised concerns from many community members about the upcoming Fourth of July and the country's usual practice of using large quantities of fireworks. He called this Special Meeting to recognize there is an emergency and the public is demanding that Council consider action that should be taken to protect our community given these conditions. 2. PUBLIC COMMENT Mayor Snider summarized the feedback received and said as of 3:00 p.m. today 152 different communications were received and 94%were in favor of banning fireworks and 6%were not supportive. Reasons people gave for a ban were the high fire risk, concerns that since other communities were already banning them people would bring them to Tigard to set off, and poor air quality. Reasons against a ban were that it would be an overreaction,was too late to implement, and people need freedom to celebrate. 3. CONSIDER RESOLUTION RATIFYING AN EMERGENCY DECLARATION RELATED TO MITIGATING THE RISKS OF FIRE DANGER Mayor Snider asked for the legal definition of a firework and City Attorney Rihala said the definition under ORS 480 is fireworks or other pyrotechnic devices that are capable of producing audible,visual,mechanical or thermal effects through combustion, deflagration or detonation. Mayor Snider said Council is seeking input,guidance and empirical evidence from the experts, TVF&R and Tigard Police. TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES -July 1, 2021 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 1 of 5 TVF&R Chief Hallman said with record breaking weather and drought conditions,Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue is urging people not to use fireworks this year. They recommend attending professional shows,watching them on TV or just celebrating without fireworks. Even without a drought,the Fourth of July is the busiest time for emergency services. The laws are complex and confusing but as a rule,TVF&R does not have the authority to ban the use of legal retail fireworks. They are not advocating a particular decision. Mayor Snider asked what Chief Hallman's recommendation was and he replied that they will support whatever Tigard decides to do. If Tigard has a ban, they will support it. They represent 11 cities and respect what each city's council decides to do. Mayor Snider asked if there were conditions where legal fireworks were safe to use, such as lighting them on impervious surfaces and having a hose handy. Chief Hallman said even in normal weather conditions there is still the potential for fires, and we have conditions now where if someone threw a lit cigarette out a window,it could cause a wildfire. He said science shows us we have a reason right now to be hypersensitive. In 2020, 18 fires were caused by fireworks. Mayor Snider asked if there was evidence that a ban on legal fireworks will result in fewer fires and Chief Hallman said that was unknown; this is new territory. They are seeing a reaction in that firework sales are falling, and some stores are removing them from their shelves because they are concerned about fires. Councilor Goodhouse asked of the 18 fires last year,how any were from legal vs illegal firework. Chief Hallman said their stats do not indicate that. Council President Lueb asked if the bans are something that spans just the holiday or the entire season. Chief Hallman said their message right now is just for the holiday. There is hope the weather pattern will change. He said he believes some cities banned just the 4th but others extended their ban beyond the holiday. Chief McAlpine said during a typical 4th of July the Police Department receives a lot of complaints. It is hard to make a dent in the number of calls received. Last year there were 47 calls,in 2019 there were 48 and 37 in 2018. Most calls come in around 9-10 p.m. Given that police are also responding to domestic violence and DUII calls, the fireworks are lower priority and she acknowledged that people are disappointed when there is not an immediate response.This year Tigard will bring in graveyard officers earlier and disperse them to handle fireworks complaints. A light duty officer will respond to calls and forward information to officers. They sent letters to addresses that were reported for fireworks calls last year to remind them that police will be out there responding to complaints. She noted that when it comes to fireworks,police are set up for failure. She came from a city that had zero fireworks allowed and spent $500,000 for enforcement but it still felt like a war zone. She said when a city bans them completely,people disregard it. Mayor Snider asked for her professional recommendation on an all-out ban and she responded that, "People are going to do what they want to do." We ban it this year,you might get a small percentage who do it because you said they couldn't.What percentage will do their part to keep the city safer? She supports it but wants to manage expectations. It is our community that decides whether they will celebrate in a risky way or maybe understand the risk and agree to celebrate a little differently this year. Tigard Police will be visible, but it also depends on what other calls we get. TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES -July 1, 2021 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 2 of 5 In response to a question on whether the city can ban sales of fireworks, City Attorney Rihala said cities can ban sales,but this would be a longer-term discussion. Due to the late date, this might be a subject for next year. Council President Lueb and Youth Councilor Nag supported a ban. Youth Councilor Nag had scanned her social media for peer opinions on this and they were overwhelmingly in support of a ban and are willing to celebrate differently this year. Councilor Goodhouse said he looks at the two sides. We are in an extremely dry situation,but it depends on how we handle them. He said he is against banning the sale of fireworks since non- profit organizations use their sales to fundraise. Yet if we ban their use,it is almost impossible to enforce. He noted that some people just want to know what the fine is. He added that if Tigard bans through July 9, as Tualatin did, there will be "Fourth of July" on July 10th. Mayor Snider asked the TVF&R Chief if there would be any value to thinking about setting up a safe space where there is an engine ready to douse anything out of control, such as at Washington Square or Cook Park. Chief Hallman said unfortunately their resources are already stretched thin as they lost some resources to help with the wildfires happening in The Dalles.There are two professional shows that TVF&R must attach resources to in North Plains and West Linn. He said they could talk about this for next year but cannot support it this year. Councilor Goodhouse asked if Tigard could make a fine for illegal fireworks. City Attorney Rihala said we cannot make a criminal statute but could raise our violation fine which is currently$250 minimum. She said there is the ability to increase it up to $1,000 per offense. She clarified that each day is a separate offense, not each item. In response to a question from Mayor Snider, City Attorney Rihala noted that with two councilors absent,it would take three votes for anything to pass. Councilor Goodhouse suggested having a ban until July 9 and asking the governor to do a statewide ban until September 1. City Attorney Rihala said the Governor's office has been asked to consider a ban, but the State does not have authority to ban fireworks, nor does Washington County. Due to home rule authority, it is only the cities that can ban them within their boundaries. Council President Lueb expressed concern that if Tigard does not enact a ban,it invites people to come into our city limits to use their fireworks. Mayor Snider commented that the hospital system has been taxed as never before. Hospitals are fuller now than they were during COVID peaks. It is not the time to drive more emergency calls is his point. Youth Councilor Nag had an idea to incentivize people to turn in fireworks for raffle tickets. Mayor Snider asked if the city should offer to buy remaining inventory from vendors at wholesale prices and use them in the fall when safer to do so. Mayor Snider asked City Manager Rymer if staff could come up with ideas to incentivize people not to use their already purchased fireworks. Mr. Rymer said staff would need to spend time discussing how to safely collect them or what could be done financially. TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES -July 1, 2021 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 3 of 5 Councilor Goodhouse moved to approve Resolution No. 21-26 and ban all fireworks in the City of Tigard through July 9th and to increase the fine for illegal fireworks to $1,000 through September 1. Council President Lueb seconded the motion. City Recorder Krager read the number and title of the resolution and conducted a roll call vote: Resolution No. 21-26 -A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF TIGARD RATIFYING AN EMERGENCY DECLARATION TO TAKE STEPS DEEMED APPROPRIATE BY THE TIGARD CITY COUNCIL TO MITIGATE THE RISK OF FIRE DANGER, as amended Yes No Councilor Goodhouse ✓ Councilor Newton (absent) Council President Lueb ✓ Councilor Shaw (absent) Mayor Snider ✓ City Manager Rymer added that TVF&R already has a program in place to safely accept and dispose of fireworks and we will get this word out to the community. Mayor Snider advised that staff should be prepared to get the message out on the ban and fine right away and City Manager Rymer said that was the intent. 4. NON-AGENDA ITEMS None. 5. EXECUTIVE SESSION None scheduled. 6. ADJOURNMENT At 6:34 p.m. Councilor Goodhouse moved for adjournment. Council President Lueb seconded the motion. City Recorder Krager conducted a roll call vote. Yes No Councilor Goodhouse ✓ Councilor Newton (absent) Council President Lueb ✓ Councilor Shaw (absent) Mayor Snider ✓ Mayor Snider announced that the motion passes 3-0. Mayor Snider announced that the meeting was adjourned. TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES -July 1, 2021 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 4 of 5 Carol A.Krager,City Recordeff Attest: Jason B.Snider,Mayor Date: December 14, 2021 TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES-July 1, 2021 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 5 of 5