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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Bill 7.A 04/07/20034 CITY OF PETALUMA, CALIFORNIA AGENDA 'BILL A - 2003 Agenda Title Meeting Date: April 7, 2003 Discussion and Resolution Approving an Overview of Fireworks Sales and Enforcement Activities for 2003 Fourth of July. Meeting Time ❑ 3 :00 PM [7:00 PM Category (check one) ❑ Consent Calendar ❑ Public Hearing New Business ❑ Unfinished Busines s t` ion Department o Contact Person Phone Number Fire Department Chris Albertso Michael Ginn Albertson 778 -4390 Fire Chief Fire Marshal .'Ginn 778 -4468 Cost. of Proposal A total of $13,190.00 will be required to fund Account Number and Name of the education and enforcement program. The fireworks distributors Fund: and booth applicants have agreed to share the cost of funding the program. Various police and fire sections for Amount Budgeted This program is a cost recovery item. overtime and public education. Expenses incurred from, implementation of the Education, Engineering and Enforcement Plan will be captured by fees collected from fireworks booth applicants and distributors. Attachments to Agenda Packet Item 1. Agenda Report 2. Resolution authorizing implementation of the program 3. Budget detail for education and, enforcement campaign 4. Synopsis of fire and fireworks activity — 2002 Summary Statement The Council should consider, as it did last year, approval of the Fire Department's recommendation to pass a resolution recovering the cost for implementing the ,fireworks Education, Engineering and Enforcement Plan (The Plan). The main elements of The Plan accomplishment two broad priorities: • Continue to allow the sales and use of state approved fireworks that benefit non - profit organizations and several grand fathered, for profit operations. • . Secure aggressive enforcement to curtail the possession and use of illegal fireworks on the Fourth of July Implementation of the main elements of this year's Plan are unchanged from last year's proposals excepting procedural issues with respect to issuing citations, an increase in the number of enforcement teams during the Fourth of July holiday week, and a modest 12% increase in the fee paid by the fireworks representatives to cover the cost of the program. Recommended City Council Action /Suggested Motion Pass the resolution adopting the fireworks Education, Engineering and Enforcement Plan budget to recover to cost of implementing the program this Fourth of July season. Reviewed by Finance. Direetor: Revie ne : Appro Mana er: Date: ate'. Today's Date Revision # and Date. Revised: File Code: #1 3 IO�b �j mg/firework sreso approving enforcement fees 2003 4 CITY OF PETALUMA, CALIFORNIA APRIL 7, 2003 • AGENDA REPORT FOR Discussion and Resolution Approving an Overview of Fireworks Sales and Enforcement Activities for 2003 Fourth of July. 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Last year the Council approved the Fire Department's recommendation to pass a resolution funding a three- pronged approach to continue to permit the sales of state approved fireworks and provide enforcement for the possession and discharge of illegal, fireworks through an Education, Engineering and Enforcement Plan (The Plan). The three `B's" program has been successfully implemented in other jurisdictions in California facing the same problems. This proposal will accomplish two priorities: • Continue to allow the sales and use of safe and sane fireworks • Secure aggressive enforcement of the possession and use of illegal fireworks. Two recommended changes to implementation of The Plan from last year are a request to increase the number of enforcement teams and submit several amendments to the Municipal Fire Code to increase citation options for fire and police personnel. The code amendments are being heard under a separate • agenda item. The increase in the enforcement teams will be two fold. The first is to increase the number of teams patrolling the city on the night of the Fourth of July from ,4 to 6. These additions, while needed, are not the sufficient numbers required to successfully address the 103 calls for service received during a three - hour period the teams were patrolling on the evening of - the Fourth of July. Staffing this event with the 6 teams nearly maximizes the fire and police department's ability to provide this type of dedicated enforcement above and beyond the normal staffing patterns required for a night such as this. Future increases will be evaluated each year and recommendations made based on the success of their activities. . Last year, the teams only worked on the evening of the Fourth of July. This year, in response to many complaints received by citizens, we are recommending a single team being assigned designated fireworks enforcement duties on the evening of July 1, 2, 5 and 7. This single team will respond to any fireworks complaints received on the nights before and after the Fourth of July. No teams can be staffed on July 3 rd because of .the .police departments staffing needed for the city sponsored fireworks aerial display taking place on that night. Since several' members of the. Council are new and may , not know all of the details surrounding last year's approvat of The Plan, a copy of a memo synopsizing fireworks activity is enclosed. BACKGROUND Because of the dangerous nature of all fireworks and their potential to cause injury and property damage, the Fire Department would desire an outright, ban on all fireworks sales and use. A discussion regarding the feasibility of a ban on the sales and use of safe and sane fireworks sales should not be considered at this time,. primarily due to the timing of discussing- this issue with respect to the nearness of the Fourth of July. If the Council desires to discuss this in the- future, it should be agendized for a date later in the year. The development of The Plan and. its subsequent approval last year by the Council was a reasonable compromise to address the Fire Department's fireworks concern yet still allow non - profit (and several "grand fathered" for profit) organizations to benefit from the sales of fireworks in the city limits. 3. ALTERNATIVES 0 1. Not approving The Plan will limit the fire and police department's ability to legitimately handle the volume of calls for service without impacts to the General fund that is already stretched. 2. Ban safe and sane fireworks. This will require a public hearing and debate sometime this fall. It is too late in the year to consider this alternative for this Fourth of July. Additionally, banning state approved fireworks will not address the increase in illegal fireworks activity. 4. FINANCIAL IMPACTS Fees paid by fireworks manufacturers /distributors and each of the booth applicants underwrite the cost for funding the educational and enforcement elements of The Plan. The total budget required to fund the program is $13,190.00 (see budget detail attached). This amounts to a fee assessment of approximately $600.00 °per booth. A 12 % increase over last year's budget. The $600.00 will be equally split between the 22 fireworks booths and the manufacturers /distributors. The, total out of pocket expense to the non- profit organizations is $300.00 per booth. The fireworks distributors will front the total amount due to the Fire Marshal's Office at the time of permit application. 5. CONCLUSION Implementation of this proposal generates a win/win scenario for the community at large. It continues to permit non,,- profit organizations to sell fireworks, while at the same time providing a funding mechanism for the police and fire departments to launch an enforcement campaign to address illegal fireworks possession and discharge. 6. OUTCOMES OR PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENTS THAT WILL IDENTIFY'SUCCESS -OR COMPLETION: • Begin implementation of the Education campaign in late May early June • Send flyers and notices to target neighborhoods identified last year with illegal fireworks problems and put them on notice of the enforcement position. • After Dark, the enforcement teams to respond to calls for service specifically related to fireworks use • Track statistical data and report on the program's successes and failures in fall of'2002. 7. RECOMMENDATION The Council,approve the resolution authorizing the implementation of the fireworks Plan supporting implementation of the program and the fee increase to fund the program. gAbrms /2003 agenda bill • Resolution No. 01 -034 N.C& of the City of Petaluma, California 0 1 FIREWORKS EDUCATION AND ENFORCEMENT 2 RESOLUTION 3 4 Resolution No. N.C.S. 5 of the City of Petaluma, California 8 WHERE/ ° the City of Petaluma currently is one of over 228 communities throughout 9 California, and one of 5 cities in Sonoma County (Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Petaluma, Sebastopol 10 and Cloverdale), that pen the sale, possession and use of State Fire Marshal- approved fireworks 1 > (statutorily known as Safe & Sane fireworks) each 4 of July; and 12 1 3 WHEREAS, the Office of the California State Fire Marshal has indicated that formal and 14 informal incident reports from local fire departments throughout the state, and the anecdotal.reports 15 of elected representatives of local. government throughout California, indicate that most California 16 communities are encountering not only an increase in the amount of dangerous, illegal fireworks 17 being sold and use in their communities, but these illegal devices appear to be more sophisticated and 18 potentially more dangerous that items that have been seen in years past; and 19 20 WHEREAS, now, unlike in years past, some less than reputable, out -of -state companies are selling fireworks over the internet to California residents and oftentimes, these out -of -state companies are shipping consumer firework devices that are legal in other states, but are illegal herein California; 23 and 24 25 WHEREAS, the Office of the California State Fire Marshal is currently contemplating 26 reactivating that office's Interstate. Illegal Fireworks Task Force to help identify the sources of these 27 illegal fireworks, track - their chain of commerce here in California and arrest and prosecute the 28 violators; and 29 30 WHEREAS, a number of communities throughout California have adopted "Zero Tolerance" 31 enforcement and public education programs to deal with the growing use of illegal fireworks in their 32 communities; and 33 34 WHEREAS, the track record of these "Zero Tolerance" enforcement and public education 35 programs demonstrates that there has been a dramatic decrease in the total number of fires and losses 36 caused by dan- croLis, illegal' fireworks and without exception, both police and fire departments in 37 these communities feel that it was not only the right direction, but the only direction to go; and 38 39 WHEREAS, these "Zero Tolerance enforcement and public education programs have many 40 consistent compone»ts, including dedicated patrols of police and /or fire department personnel 41 exclusively assigned to seek out, cite and, if necessary, arrest those dealing in the sale and/or use of �42 dangerous, illegal fireworks within their community; and 4 WHERE ,YS, 2002 marks the 2" ear of this highly successful cooperative Y g Y p ative program; and 45 46 WHERE.A S, representatives of the fire and police departments in the 5 cities in Sonoma 47 County that peri3iit the sale and use of state- approved fireworks each 4 of July (including Resolution No. 01 -034 N.C.S. of the City of Petaluma, California 48 representatives Frog» the Petaluma Fire Department) have met and concluded that they are beginning 49 to see an unfortunate increase in the use and dangerous severity of the illegal fireworks in their 50 communities; and 51 52 WHEREAS, these same public safety officials have concluded that a "Zero Tolerance" 53 enforcement and I:,ublic education program must be consistently implemented in as many of these 5 54 communities as, is 1:easibly and financially possible; and 55 56 WHEREAS, tlel City Council of the City of Petaluma has considered these factors and the 52 recornmeridations of their public safety personnel and have determined that it is in the best interest of 58 the citizens of the City of Petaluma to institute such a "Zero Tolerance enforcement and public 59 education program; and 60 61 WHEREAS, such a "Zero Tolerance" enforcement and public education program is not 62 expected, to conripietely eliminate the public safety- issues arising from illegal fireworks usage, the 63 program is expected -to greatly ,improve the public health and safety and make enforcement of 64 fireworks laws snore effective; and 65 66 67 WHEREAS, the fireworks wholesalers have agreed to advance the necessary funds, on behalf 68 of both themselves and the non- profit groups at the time of application for the booth °permits; 69 70 NOW, TH EREp'ORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City,of Petaluma 71 does hereby authorize the Petaluma Fire Department and Police Department to conduct enforcement 72 patrols on or around the 4t of July and to enact a "Zero Tolerance" enforcement and public education 73 effort in the City cif Petaluma as it relates to the possession, use and sale of illegal.fireworks and 74 explosives and the misuse of state- approved fireworks within the City of Petaluma. 75 76 IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED, that the fire department and police department for the City 77 of Petaluma sha]I cooperate with the four other jurisdictions in Sonoma County (Rohnert Park, Santa 78 Rosa, Sebastopol and Cloverdale) who permit the sale and use of state - approved fireworks in a 79 coordinated "Zero Tolerance" enforcement and public education program within Sonoma County; 80 and 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 U l er the power and conferred upon this Council by the, Charter of said, I hereby certify the foregoing Resolution was introduced and adopted' Council of the City of Petaluma at a Regular meeting on , h; the following vote: the Approved' as to form: City Attorney C7 • - • Resolution No. 01 -034 N.C.S. of the City of Petaluma, California l 5: AYES: 96 NOES: 97 ABSENT: 98 99 ATTEST: 100 101 102 103 104 105 City Clerk Mayor Resolution No. NCS • Public Education, Enforcement /Materials: $3612.00 ❑ Includes educational banners ($1800.00) to be hung at strategic intersections and over the downtown business district — this is a. one time cost, they can be re -used every year ❑ Printed messages on fire engine hose covers ($200.00) ❑ Public Service Announcements on Radio and Newspaper ❑ Public Education materials from the fireworks distributors ❑ Fireworks flyers to be distributed via water. bills in June and target neighborhoods, where known fireworks problems have previously existed ❑ Fireworks public education signs on city busses ($500:00) ❑ Postage for fireworks enforcement letters (2125 for VFHSZ, 880 for enforcement letters) ($1,112) Non - Combustible Storage Locker (three month rental): $850.00 o For confiscated fireworks storage before disposal ($350.00) ❑ Disposal of confiscated fireworks ($500:00) Personnel Costs for Fireworks Enforcement Teams: ❑ Five (5) enforcement teams of two persons each and one supervisors (1) team. o 5 - 6 hours (from 7:3.0 pm to midnight or 1 am) $5040.00 ❑ Work order rates @ overtime w /salaries and benefits o 4 hours each night for one team to conduct enforcement on 7/1, 7/2, 7/5, 7/6 $1996.00 ❑ Hire back two Public Safety Dispatchers to handle call volume $552.00 ❑ Overtime costs for court appearances of officers (20 hours) $1140.00 Total $13,190.00 With 22 fireworks booths — Average cost per booth $600,.00 This amounts 'to'$300.00 each as a shared cost - paid by both-the non- profit organizations and the fireworks manufacturers. �j �i City of Petaluma, California MEMORANDUM Fire Marshal 11 English Street, Petaluma, CA 94952 (707) 778 -4389, Fax (707) 778 -4498 DATE: September 16, 2002 TO: Chris Albertson, Fire Chief FROM: Michael A. Ginn, Fire Marshal SUBJECT: SYNOPSIS OF FIRE AND FIREWORKS ACTIVITY — 2002 This memo represents my annual report to you synopsizing fire incidents related to fireworks activity from June 16 through July 17, 2000: The City sponsored aerial fireworks show was held at the fairgrounds and was executed without any problems for the Fire Department. • Twenty -one (21) fireworks booth permits were issued this year. A total of 22 permits are allowed to be issued as established in the, Petaluma Municipal Fire Code; based on a population ratio of one booth per 2500 persons. Permit applications were thoroughly reviewed and compliance inspections conducted of each of the booth locations prior to issuance of a permit to operate. During the sales period for state approved fireworks; the Fire Marshal's Office spot- checked the booth operations and sales. No violations of state and local regulations were observed. In an effort to curtail the possession and discharge of illegal fireworks, an education, engineering and enforcement plan (known as the 3 "E's ") was prepared and presented before the City Council in April 2002. The primary focus of the, plan was to educate the public on the fireworks issues and revise the Petaluma Municipal Fire Code (PMFC) sections relating to state approved fireworks sales and use. Lastly, the adoption of a zero tolerance policy for illegal fireworks uses and provide increased enforcement capabilities to deal with this issue. The education :element included broadening the awareness of the community on proper use of state approved fireworks "and a newly. adopted "zero tolerance" policy. Many forms of media contact were used to deliver this message. It appears to have been successful but as with any plan it will require fine - tuning in future years to more effectively deliver the message to the public. The engineering portion .. introduced ordinance changes to the PMFC to further regulate the sales and discharge of state approved fireworks. Several of the major modifications included clearly identifying sales days and hours, limiting the discharge of state approved fireworks to similar day and hour restrictions, requiring adult supervision of all state approved fireworks use and prohibit all fireworks discharge in the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (VHFHSZ) located on the western fringes of the city. The enforcement segment utilized the deployment of additional public safety teams of police officers and fire personnel to focus on fireworks violations. The teams issued citations for and confiscated al illegal fireworks. possession. Captain Shirley Miller (PPD) commented that it might take several years of concentrated enforcement to stem the tide of illegal fireworks use. Full _ funding for the teams was generated from an education and enforcement fee levied on each of the booth operators and fireworks distributors. In 2001, illegal fireworks activity in the City of Petaluma was higher than pervious years and this year was no exception. There was a proliferation of illegal fireworks use. From Tune 29 to July 4 2002 complaints were received by our dispatch center, with 103 occurring on July 4 •alone.. Additionally, the Fire Marshal's Office received 23 complaints regarding fireworks use. Most of the complaints were associated With. fireworks and loud explosions. Clearly, all of these types of activity would be classified as "illegal." The west side of the city, which also included the VHFHSZ was quiet in comparison. to the east side. Few, if any violations of either state approve or illegal use were observed in the VHFHSZ. The east side of the city seemed particularly inundated with illegal fireworks. Interestingly' neighborhoods identified in 2001 as having high illegal fireworks use were sent notices this year explaining the zero tolerance enforcement program. Over 1,100 notices were mailed_ to approximately 11 geographic areas. Generally, these areas showed improvement over the previous year. Conversely, other neighborhoods in the city produced illegal aerial fireworks displays. In some instances, illegal aerial fireworks. competed with the City sponsored aerial display. The four enforcement teams were overwhelmed and could not kee PP ace with the volume of calls for• service. To provide perspective of just how overwhelming the evening was, the -team I was assigned to spent a good deal of our time on just three streets, traveling length of the street issuing citations and confiscating fireworks. The other teams experienced similar situations. Plans for the 2003 enforcement actions must include the recommendation to increase the number of teams to sufficiently handle, the volume of calls for service. Funding for the additional teams can come from raising the enforcement fee the fireworks booths operators and distributors. They currently pay .of.$532.00 per booth (divided between the booth operators and the fireworks distributors). However there may be a limit to the fees the state approved retailers can be assessed to support enforcement activities for illegal fireworks use. A total of 27 Citations for possession and /or discharge of illegal fireworks were issued by the .teams on the evening of July 4 In some cases, because of the shear volume of violations, some of the teams opted to .simply confiscate, warn the parties involved and move on. This action may not have produced the. most beneficial outcome. Before next spring, I will meet with the police department and review several options for increasing the effectiveness of the teams and improving their visibility. As noted earlier in this memo, we will also need to concurrently increase the public education campaign to the community at large extolling the enforcement plan. and encouraging voluntary compliance for the ban on the discharge of illegal fireworks. A total ban on state approved fireworks will likely reduce the use of illegal devices, as it will he clear that any person(s) possessing and using fireworks would be in violation. There are a myriad politica� and economic realities, however, that must be considered, not the least of which are alternative funding mechanisms for the non- profit organizations, and the loss of city revenue from the enforcement fee should state approved fireworks be banned. I •; Fire crews responded to a total of 18 vegetation fires compared 'with 24 the previous year, the same period. Fire losses were minimal with less than $100. per incident. A total of 11 dumpster /outside rubbish fires compared to S from the-previous year. Fire losses were negligible from these fire incidents. There were no fireworks related structure fire responses this year as compared to 3 minor structure fires and one shed fire (aggregate loss of all four fires = $2800) from last year. See the fireworks incidents synopsis log attached for specific details of the individual incidents from this year. On August 17, 2002 a juvenile male received injuries to his face from an explosion of a modified state approved firework. The device was a piccolo pete which is a slender firework approximately 1 /4 " in diameter by 5" to 6" long standing erect in a plastic base — when ignited, a shrilling whistle is produced for 5 to 1.0 seconds. A common practice of juveniles is to wrap tape around the length of the firework. This simple modification will cause the device to explode rather than whistle. The injured youth was taken to the hospital. His injuries were not life threatening but did cause damage to his lip, cheek and eye. C: Battalion Chiefs Fire Inspectors David Sears, Police Lieutenant Shirley Miller, Police Captain 7/4/02 #2387 Sonoma Mountain Pkwy -0- Unknown (grass 10' X 25' spot) s. FIRE INCIDENTS IN THE CITY OF PE'TALiJLMA • JUNE 16 THROUGH JULY 17 2001 For some of the fires listed, fire crews;could notdetermine a specific cause. These fires are included in the statistical total because they occurred during the time frame in which we track'this type of`fire activity in Petaluma. Date Incident`# Location Property Loss Cause 6/17/02 #2169 1107 F St. -0- Unknown Trash Can 6/18/02 42172 820 S. McDowell Blvd -0- Unknown Dumpster 6/19/02 #2195 333 Casa Grande Rd. -0- Bottle rocket small grass fire 6/24/02 #2258 1 Lakeville Cir. -0- Incendiary' Dumpster 6/26/02 #.2274 601 PBN -0- Cigarette Dumpster 6/27/02 #2286 100 Fairgrounds Dr. -0- Cigarette Trash/Rubbish 6/28/02 #2298 1125 `B" St. -0- Juvenile (1 acre grass fire) w /matches 6/28/02 #2310 Laurel @ Schuman Ln. -07 Unknown (small grass fire) 7/2/02 #2362 McGregor Ave. @ Park Ln. -0- Fireworks (trash can fire) Unknown type 7/3/02 #2363 2190 S. McDowell Blvd -0- Undetermined (grass 20' X 20' spot) 7/3/02 #2374 1571 Bungalow Ln $200.00 Fireworks (20' of juniper hedge) Unknown type 7/4/02 #2378 US 101 -0- Unattended (grass — homeless encampment) campfire 7/4/02 #2384 600 Blk Casa Grande Rd. -0- Vehicle Exhaust (grass 50' X 100' spot) • 7/4/02 #2387 Sonoma Mountain Pkwy -0- Unknown (grass 10' X 25' spot) 7%4/02 #2391 Holly Ln. @ Madison -0- Cigarette (grass — small spot) 7/4/02 #2392 E. Washington @ Copeland -0- Fireworks (grass - small spot) Unknown type 7/4/02 #2395 605 Sunnyslope Ave. $300.00 Placing Unk. type (Dumpster) fireworks in can 7/4/02 #2396 909 Martin Cir. -0- Fireworks (Dumpster) Unknown type 7/4/02 #2397 Shollengerger Park -0- Fireworks (grass 50' X 150') Safe and Sane 7/4/02 #2399 2404 Marylyn Cir. -0- Unknown (Dumpster) 7/5/02 42401 151 N McDowell Blvd. -0- Unknown (Dumpster) • 7/7/02 #2436 655 N. Fair St. -0- Juvenile (Grass - 1 /4 acre) w /lighter 7/8/02 #2443 1105 Sunnyslope Rd. -0- Unknown (bark fire) 7/8/02 #2444 312 Edith St. $200 Cigarette (grass — spot — fence damage) 7/8/02 92445 730 Webster St. -0- Unknown (bark fire) 7/9/02 #2464 281 N. McDowell -0- Cigarette (bark fire) 7/10/02 #2474 Water St. @ River -0- Unknown (RR trestle) 7/11/04 #2501 132 Keller St. -0- Unknown (Dumpster) - 7/15/02 42541 Casa Grande H.S. -0- Unknown • (grass — small spot)