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COW Minutes 1998 09-03-98
' n ` T � CITY OF YORKVILLE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE SEPTEMBER 3, 1998 MEMBERS PRESENT: Art Prochaska, Bob Johnson, Cindy Green, Lary Kot,Jeff Spang, Valerie Bund, Rose Ann Spears, Mike Anderson, Tom Sowinski, Tony Graff, Dan Kramer,J.T. Johnson, Joseph Wywrot. Guests: See attached Burning Ordinance Clarification-There was much discussion with regards to the burning ordinance within the City of Yorkville. Mrs. Nancy James read and submitted several pages of information she collected to the council. Discussion followed and remarks were made about clarifying the ordinance for open burning, rules for fire prevention, permanent ban on garbage burning, all fires to have a dug out area around the fire and the area to be inspected for safety. Sue Alderman also a resident of Yorkville,who lives in a heavily wooded area of a subdivision, complained about a neighbor that bums 7 days a week. Complained of smoke smell in the house and that she can't open her windows because of the smell. Both would like clarification as to when burning can be done and that there should be limits set. Mayor Johnson asked Chief Graff to review the standards to see what can be changed. He will ask the committee and also get recommendations from Public Safety. Alderman Kot suggested that maybe the ordinance language is not explicit enough to prevent something like this from happening, Appointment of Department Heads-Mayor will appoint department heads next week. This item to be placed on 9-10 council agenda. Part-time Police officer recommendation-Chief Graff recommended Thomas Grzywacz for part time employment to the Yorkville Police Department. Mr. Grzywacz is available to work any shift and his hours are not an addition to any current working man hours. His resume is attached. This item is to be placed on the 9-10 council agenda. Part-time Officer Pay Schedule-The Schedule for Part-time Police Officer Salary is attached. Officers that have been with the Yorkville Police Department are paid more for their extended service. This item to be placed on the 9-10 council agenda. Mobile Data Terminal Agreement-An agreement is being looked at to implement a Mobile Data System that would connect all local enforcement offices. This would be available to officers and would allow them to receive information more quickly. Chief Graff is hoping to have a unit available for display at the riverfront festival. This item to be placed on the 9-10 council agenda. The July Police report to be placed on the 9-10 council agenda for approval. Public Sidewalk, Bid-The concrete was done well, but the restoration around the concrete area was questionable. The resident cost is at 40%. The restoration would be done by the Public Works department so that it will be done appropriately. This item is to be placed on the 9-10 council agenda. Rehabilitation of Sanitary Sewers and Manholes, Bid-Hamilton Construct had the lowest bid. Deuchler recommends them as a company to use. There are some concerns with some problem areas. Deuchier has reviewed them with Hamilton to be sure that the problem areas were discovered and bid upon appropriately. � r Well#5-A resolution needs to be drawn up for driveway permits, This action would allow for the installation a driveway cut on Route 34. This item to be placed on 9-10 council meeting. A reminder in the change of COW meeting to September 16 and not the 17th. Additional Business: Hometown days is ready to go as of 5PM on Friday. A reminder to the public about leash laws for pets. At the Hometown days the public will be allowed to vote on the new design of stripe to be painted on the new squad cars. Respectfully submitted by Cindy Ketcham DATE: ` G RE: CO MENTS ON OPEN BURNING ORDIANANCE 96-10 (and Chapter 1 , section 4-1 -1 of Yorkvilles City Code ) PETITION TO COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE, UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE: First I would like to thank the Committee for allowing the people to speak at your committee table. I am here tonite to represent a petition for a change on Open Burning Ordinance number 96- 10 and the original Open Burning Ordinance it refers to from Chapter 1 , section 4-1 -1 of the Yorkville City Code. For a period of two months I spoke about Open Burning within the City Limits of Yorkville, with 125 residents south of the Fox River. I plotted on a map of Yorkville approximately where the people live who signed the petition. (see map attached to the record) . Out of the 125 residents who I spoke with 74 of them either have seen or realize the amount of smoke that comes from so many recreational fires can cause a problem for some of their neighbors, and a couple of them even have witnessed their own neighbor/s dangerously conducting so called "recreational campfires." Many of the 125 residents chose not to sign this petition, although they did contribute the annonymous comments section of my preliminary report which I passed out for the Public Safety Committees perusal on this past Monday nite. We challenge our leaders to work to truly clean up our environment and attempt to move in lockstep with the surrounding communities of Yorkville who have banned burning certain materials. These communities are: Oswego, Montgomery, Algonquin, Aurora, Batavia, Elgin, Geneva, N. Aurora, St. Charles and West Dundee. (see Kendall Record Article attached to the record ) At the last Public Safety Committee meeting movement has been made to review Open Burning Ordinance 9610 and Chapter 1 , section 4-1 -1 ; the original Open Burning Ordinance which is referred to as still in effect accoding to Ordinance 96-10 . We applaud your efforts and attention to this important matter. As the members of the City Council review this ordinance, the responsible recreational campfire burners and others on this petition who believe that responsible recreational campfire burning should be allowed within the City Limits of Yorkville request the following: 1 . That the Open Burning Ordinance which is the City Code by which our fine Police Officers enforce, be unambiguous in meaning and clear in its' intent. 2 . If rules for fire prevention are adopted into the Ordinance that they be specific and clear with general wording omitted, so that interpretation by all parties involved may be the same. 3 . A permit system with the intent of lowering the volume of smoke at one time from campfire emissions, and to keep track of those who carry out campfires dangerously or abuse the true traditional recreational campfire clause by burning garbage and other banned materials. (these people should r be apprehended and not allowed to receive further permits to burn within the Yorkville City Limits) . And if they continue to burn they should be apprehended continuously and and dealt with appropriately. We also would like to add for safety reasons that if the accepted container for a recreational campfire should be "the ground dug out" to contain the fire, we would strongly request that the Committee consider requiring the residents who would do this to prove that they have notified JULIE (a company that works with Commonwealth Edison to locate lines) . For instance, before a fence can be installed in Yorkville it is a Building Code requirement that JULIE be notified. A fire that is near any kind of lines (be it water, gas , conduit containing wire, ect. ) that have not been located by someone knowledgable about lines on a residents' property can be disasterous to the City of Yorkville and its' residents. We would also like to add that "the ground dug out" to contain a fire can also serve as a more viable vehicle (or loophole) for the "true garbage burners" of Yorkville to conceal their operations beneath a pile of wood. Mr. Mayor and Committee members, the responsible recreational campfire burners of Yorkville and others on this petition pledge to you that "we can change" . And, we would like to ask our officials to help us lower the volume of our smoke, and weed out the real garbage burners of our City who contribute the highest risk to the residents of Yorkville. In doing so we may help you to help us preserve the true tradition of the recreational campfire in a cleaner and safer environment. Therefore, since we all agree on safety and a cleaner environment, We the undersigned residents of the United City of Yorkville would like to request Federal BOCA Code or Federal BOCA-like Fire Prevention Code sections to be adopted into Open Burning Ordinance number 96-10, so that responsible Open Burning by our residents may be effectively enforced by our fine Police Department. I would like to request that tonites' statement along with the peoples' petition and the following extraneous materials which were used as a basis for the petition be included and attached to the minutes for tonites' meeting: 1 . A notarized petition with signatures of 74 residents 2. A general street map of Yorkville with plottings on it as to where the petitioners live. From Kendall Co. Map Office 3 . A Preliminary Survey and Report on Open Burning Ordinance 96-10 done by Nancy A. James July thru August 1998 (South of the Fox River in Yorkville) .BASIS IN FACT WHY REVIEW OF OPEN BURNING ORDINANCE 96-10 and Chapter 1 sec. 4-1 -1 IS NEEDED 4 . A final Survey and Report (also includes reasons for review)5 . One copy of the BOCA National Fire Prevention Code/1996 Edition; the section of Chapter 4 Open Flames or Burning 6 . One copy of Chapter 1 General Health and Safety Regulations, Section 4-1 -1 Open Burning; from the City of Yorkville Code Book 7 . One copy of Ordinance NO. 96-10 , an ordinance amending section 4-1 -1 of the United City of Yorkville City Code, regulating open burning. 8. One copy of Ordinance NO. 1996-12, Ordinance Adopting 1996 BOCA and National Codes, 1995 CABO ONE AND TWO FAMILY DWELLING CODE, 1996 National ELECTRICAL CODE 9 . A copy of the garbage contract for the City of Yorkville 10 . Notation on waste removal services by Nancy A. James 11 . Argyle by Tony Scott of the Thursday Aug. 13th ,1998 issue of the Kendall Record newspaper, Alternatives to Leave Burning will be presented at meeting. 12 . A copy of an article in the Aurora edition of the Beacon News for Aug. 30th, 1998 Burning Debate: With autumn' s approach, Kendall defends leaf law. Article states that "Smoke containing carbon monoxide is generated by the burning of yard waste and can cause acute respiratory illness, particularly in young children and older adults, according to the American Lung Association of Illinois. Rather than work to change the burning ordinance, county officials discussed alternatives to burning leaves." Thankyou, Nancy A. James I,?,,Z" Registered Voter and resident of the United City of Yorkville, Ilinois, in the County of Kendall. PETITION We the undersigned residents of The United City of Yorkville would like to request Federal BOCA CODE or Federal BOCA-like Fire Prevention Code sections to be adopted into Open Burning Ordinance number 96-10 , so that responsible Open Burning by our residents may be effectively enforced by our fine Police Department. Petitioner Address 1 . 41, Sp 3 . W . 4 . 6 5. o `� 6. 7 . 1 utc 4 5er__,JA, �d t P-, 8. Z6 3_ G j�� 5' 9 . 11 . 9 S i 12 . _ &aLe— `7 A-� 13 . 1 0--L 30 O� 14 . � 4 15 . , 16 . ' e ! Cfj H4 18 . -7 19 . oLsoi 20 .� A q� n ?� Petition circulated in the County of Kenadall, in the United City of Yorkville1 �IN 7 S7A-r Or LIA15),r Preparer of Petition , `- Beginning date of pet! ' on it u ed ! End date of petition ci culated ENOTARY IAL SEAL ULCIGRAI <C LIC,STATE OF ILLIN OIS ION EXPIRES:00/13/9!1 •r.hlVi11 PETITION We the undersigned residents of The United City of Yorkville would like to request Federal BOCA CODE or Federal BOCA-like Fire Prevention Code sections to be adopted into Open Burning Ordinance number 96-10 , so that responsible Open Burning by our residents may be effectively enforced by our fine Police Department. Petitioner Address 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . �r ( S 5 A TdAJ 64L u l l Cc 7 . r 8 . 9 . 10 . di_t 15? A ld("�W_ _ U , J�Z,/�, / i J V� 14 . 70 15 . d v dJ 16 . b Co bS( b 17 . 1 (J 18 . 19 . 20 . PetitY6xVcir cu alt ed in he County of Ke all, in the United City of Yorkville a Z,y S,7,A TF OF L,� :r Preparer of Petition ZV7 I j ef,�V,(/l CIF Ybtr"<<PJ ,,Z(- Beginning date of petit/ion cArrculIa End date of petition c cula ed :Z FNOTAAIY L 7`�}- AI F ILLIN018 _� 08/13/88 PETITION We the undersigned residents of The United City of Yorkville would like to request Federal BOCA CODE or Federal BOCA-like Fire Prevention Code sections to be adopted into Open Burning Ordinance number 96-10, so that responsible Open Burning by our residents may be effectively enforced by our fine Police Department. Petitioner Address 1 . B 2. 3 . 4 . ` J O mv 5. q0 F 6J 6 . ,�1:a,a�, rtom© o rho�� Ada e k K V I L L 7 . L/Iuo 9 . 10 . Yea nL:l/ 145 1. 12 . �ta�►1 sit '`��S �A�lsa/� ''©R��•� Ile- 13 . Ems-� q,,G� 14 . �r 16 . 17 . 30 .E 19 . 20 . AA Q Pe n circ late n the Co ty of Kenodall, in the United City of Yorkvilles,ZN 7" .s'TATt ^OF GCiN�fS Preparer of Petition Beginning date of peti on rcul d - ,2 ilk End date of petition ci cu1 ted r " E AL SEAL LCIGRAI,STATE OF ILLINOIS N EXPIRES:Oal13/80 nsee• PETITION We the undersigned residents of The United City of Yorkville would like to request Federal BOCA CODE or Federal BOCA-like Fire Prevention Code sections to be adopted into Open Burning Ordinance number 96-10 , so that responsible Open Burning by our residents may be effectively enforced by our fine Police Department. /'�'• Petitioner Address 1 . 2 . 3 . � . 4 . MOM 5. 30 6 . 7 . 8. 9 . c4pX4 311 12 . 13 . 14 15. 16 . 17 . 18. 19 . 20 . Petition circulated in the County of KenKdall, in the United City of Yorkvillej�z/y T c rTh7E AF T«r'�-d's' Preparer of Petition fyo�l�v1715 . '(�, Beginning date of pet ' on it u d -4 &--4114V End date of petition c rculate EOFFICIAL SEAL ULCIGRAI a LIC,STATE OF ILLINOIS ION EXPIRES:06/13/99 !d kAA" ST NO �' V .4 e N ak2F �iCTO�X4 ,oP,°C£ TRFF �n, ►. 6-4& �. S7. R PARK ST SOMONAUK 5 T. h S�f9iNG i ST � RIVER RD. � CENTER ,ST 2 , MA/N RI kj-p L/C VCr - - �^ - / J _ o i h M,4pi �►' ST. h J t141V FU&aV R T D. ST �LZ" ►� �4/qGL- S7 h �v CEML'ON C1,9. 5S i` SN/iliGTgy ST. T PSNING �� U •s, V� � h X R DOL P/./ ST. q Ply 7-. ., FO ?0 09 � Ot SEN s T, o Fox - W Q ST • � I►'AL TER ST. 1026 Y �D fL/j,4BE7N ST. C Ol X:41- •ON ?Lottimis by NAkCY A r TAM6s L � � o � � 1 PRELIMINARY SURVEY AND REPORT ON OPEN BURNING ORDINANCE 96-10 Done from July thru August, 1998 (South of the Fox River in Yorkville) Research, preliminary survey and annonymous resident comments in regard to Open Burning Ordinance 96-10 and its' Issues, prepared by Nancy A. James /Based upon 125 Yorkville resident responses to issues regarding Open Burning in Yorkville. Registered Voter and Resident of The United City Of Yorkville, Illinois, in the County of Kendall e , a ` PRELIMINARY SURVEY REPORT WHAT IS THIS SURVEY REPORT FOR? FOR THE PERUSAL AND REFERRAL OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE OF THE UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE AS ONE AID OF REVIEWING ORDINANCE 96-10 OF THE UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE CITY CODE. WHAT IS IN THIS SURVEY REPORT? ANNONYMOUSLY LISTED IDEAS AND COMMENTS OF RESIDENTS ON OPEN BURNING AND RECREATIONAL BURNING WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS OF YORKVILLE WHAT IS THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS SURVEY REPORT? PRELIMINARY SURVEY AND REPORT BASED ON FINDINGS OF MOST FREQUENT RESPONSES FROM SEVERAL CITY OF YORKVILLE RESIDENTS ( WHO LIVE ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE FOX RIVER) CAN BE USED AS PART OF A GUIDE (along with qualified experts) FOR MEETING NEEDS OF UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE RESIDENTS TO HAVE A WORKING AND EFFECTIVE FIRE PREVENTION PROGRAM RELATED TO OPEN BURNING ADOPTED INTO YORKVILLE CITY COIE NUMBER 96-10 Research and preliminary survey report prepared and compiled by Nancy A. James Registered Voter and Resident of Yorkville, Illinois. July - August 1998 _ • 4 2 CONTENTS OF SURVEY REPORT My survey report consists of the following parts: Part I- survey which reveals residents of Yorkville confused as to what kind of open burning can be done Part II- Basis for Open Burning Ordinance Review by Officials essential per survey of comments volunteered by various residents that give reasons why the City of Yorkville may need to adopt Fire Prevention Rules into the Open Burning Ordinance 96-10 so there can be effective enforcement of responsible burning by residents. Part III- WORKING CROSS-REF PAGE FOR: What the new Open Burning Ordinance could include and what the Recreational Campfire Prevention Rules would look like tailored for the needs of all residents of The United City of Yorkville based upon comments from those who do recreational burning, those who do not, and those who are neutral on the subject. (Note: these are the rules that could be adopted into the new Open Burning Ordinance Paragraph A2 of amended Ordinace 96-10. • , PART I- SURVEY LEAF-BURNING ORDINANCE INTERPRETATION CONFUSION BY COMMUNITY IDENTIFIED BY ANSWERS FROM 125 RESIDENTS, (SOUTH OF THE FOX RIVER) BASED ON ONE QUESTION ASKED QUESTION: "Are you for recreational campfire burning or against it?" ANSWERS: 1 . "What is recreational burning?" (Several people answered this) 2. "Is there a difference between that type of burning and other "Sure, of burning?" (Several people answered this way) 3 . Sure, I m for burning leaves." (at least 50% of the people gave this answer. ) 4 . "I am against burning being done by residents. " (About 15% of the people gave this answer." ) 5 . "I thought there was a leaf-burning ban in this city. " (Note: very few people gave this answer, i.e. , 2 elderly women residents in seperate houses and 1 middle-aged woman. " Also note that the middle-aged woman mentioned that a paper had been sent around to the residents that said that leaf-burning was banned, and that other types of burning was allowed; it told what kind of burning was allowed and how to do it. ) 6. "Sure, I'm for burning leaves even though I know there is a leaf-burning ban in this city, but so what everybody burns their leaves anyway. " (At least 40% of the people out of the 50% that said they are for burning leaves and fires gave this answer. ) 7 . "I am neutral on leaf-burning, it does not matter to me one way or the other if someone wants to burn their leaves." (Note: most people referred to burning leaves as the type of burning that they noted people doing, rarely did anybody who was questioned use the word recreational burning in their answers." ) ' PART II BASIS FOR OPEN BURNING ORDIANCE REVIEW BY OFFICIALS ESSENTIAL PER COMMENTS OFFERED BY RESIDENTS AND POTENTIAL RISKS TO YORKVILLE IDENTIFIED DURING OPEN BURNING DISCUSSION WITH EACH RESIDENT IN SURVEY: RESIDENTS COMMENTS AND POTENTIAL RISK TO YORKVILLE RESIDENTS IDENTIFIED: A. RESIDENTS COMMENT: 1 . "My neighbor was burning a pile of sawdust too close to his garage and it was a windy day. What happened was the embers from the fire blew into his garage and caught the garage on fire. a. POTENTIAL RISK TO YORKVILLE RESIDENTS IDENTIFIED: " (Note: When I asked this resident if this person or a neighbor called the Police or the Fire department this resident stated "Why should I do that? I burn fires myself and anything can happen to anybody." And when I asked this resident how the neighbors' fire was put out, the resident did not choose to say how. )Note: Unreporting of a potential fire or an actual fire poses a severe threat to the safety of residents of Yorkville if we have residents who are conducting fires in an unresponsible manner and are continuing to go undetected. b. WHAT THE CURRENT ORDINANCE ON OPEN BURNING SAYS: The current ordinance on Open Burning does not state specifically how many feet from any structure an open burning flame should be conducted, therefore without a guideline many people can misjudge. The current Open Burning Ordinance does not provide the Yorkville Police Officers to enforce specific fire prevention guidelines as adopted under the Building Code Fire Prevention Code of BOCA. This places all residents of Yorkville at a risk because the Fire Dept. does not engage in Fire Prevention (as researched) and the Building Dept. is not always open to report a potential fire hazard if it is closed on the weekend, not to mention the inefficiencey of only 2 people to handle a number of campfire checks on any given nite that 6,000 residents take the liberty to do open burning, and if the hazard has not turned into an event or incident yet then it would be inappropriate to call 911 . c. WHAT THE NEW ORDINANCE SHOULD PROVIDE: If the new Open Burning Ordinance could provide that the Yorkville Police Dept. could enforce responsible open burning of residents on residential property then the Police Officers should be provided with specific guidelines they can use to enforce responsible open burning of residents. Also, when guidelines are specific, like distance and temperatures and conditions of weather when open burning is not allowed it will not only help the officer be more exact in his enforcement of responsible open burning, and it will also prevent arguements with the residents on what the interpretation is on "warm weather" and "distance" . For instance, the current Open Burning Code in BOCA states in section F-403 .4 .3 that "the code official shall prohibit open burning that will be objectionable due to smoke or odor emissions when atmospheric conditions or local circumstances make such fires hazardous", "atmospheric conditions, local circumstances and a definition as to what is hazardous (such as distance and temperature ) should be stated in the new Open Burning Ordinance. When I spoke with different residents who do not have central air-conditioning; and many residents do not) as to what temperature they thought they could close their windows to avoid smoke from campfires near their homes, they said between 75 and 800 . "Atmospheric conditions" should also specifically state as "prohibiting burning during windy conditions and/or during a high ozone level." "Dryness of vegetation" should also be specified as to checking with the Forestry Dept. right outside our own city to determine if our residents should be allowed to do open burning. . . .My reference for this specification to be placed into the new Open Burning Ordinance is based on a comment: The Comment was by a resident who stated "When the forestry department outside our own city is issuing tickets to people who are conducting fires because it is too dry out to burn, Yorkville residents are still burning fires." This resident wanted to know the answer as to "Why?" The new Open Burning Ordinance should also probably include a specific distance (expressed in linear feet) from the open burning flame of a fire to the nearest adjacent structure including brush, trees, porches, decks, outbuildings, vehicles and housing structures to assure that embers from an open fire do not travel easily to spread, and that smoke from a fire is not able to accumulate and create a dangerous situation, The BOCA FEDERAL FIRE PREVENTION CODE reference for this is under Open Burning, Section F-403 .5 Location. Also, one resident noted that some campfire burners have been planting bushes and/or stacking the woodpile for campfire burning supplies right along the outer edges of the campfire site in order to keep smoke or their neighbor from noticing the campfire, it was suggested that people not do this because the wood and leaves from the bushes could catch embers from the campfire if its windy out. d. To remedy the unreporting of the fire, someone who is authorized by the City to detect fires should be the one to report the hazard or fire, because some residents choose not to get involved. To answer this need, we need to look at what is already in the City of Yorkville departments and Ordinances (Codes) . It has been researched that the City of Yorkville has only one provision listed in the Yorkville City Code for prevention of fire, and that provision falls beneath the auspices of the Yorkville Building Dept. and it provides the BOCA FEDERAL GUIDELINES FOR FIRE PREVENTION which the Building Inspector/s of Yorkville follow. A resident commented that they felt the need to report a fire hazard so they went to the Fire Dept. to do so, ( and had been told by Yorkville Fire Dept. Volunteer on Duty that the resident would have to wait to talk to Fire Chief and only leave a message on an answering machine, and he would only call back if he felt it was necessary)and was not allowed to report the fire hazard and was referred to the building Dept. on a weekend when the Building Dept. was closed, a reporting of what the resident felt would be a potential fire hazard to the resident was left unreported. The residents of Yorkville had been placed at risk, and also since the resident did not feel it was a 911 issue, (because the hazard was supposedly going to occur that evening when a neighbor was going to have what he/she stated was a recreational fire and the resident felt it would be too close to the complaining residents' garage) . Therefore, the case presented in the above comment actually shows us that fires conducted too close to garages can catch on fire, and even if a resident persues to prevent it there is no system in place for the resident to do that, effectively. B. RESIDENTS COMMENT: 1 . "There' s this that lives over there who has been burning riodica y, quiptment. Whenever does this t e air smells aw , garbage, and I have o use my inhaler in order to breathe Vi-d d out 6y nys((r- NANc�A ��,nts a. POTENTIAL RISK TO YORKVILLE RESIDENTS IDENTIFIED: Note also, consists of plastic syringes NAX4 ' and metal qne"dles;. I beleirve that residential burning of these 6 materials are prohibited and considered improper disposal of medical equiptment. )b. WHAT IS IN THE CURRENT ORDINANCE The current Open Burning Ordinance provides that the burning of plastic is prohibited. The BOCA Ordinance also prohibits 0 4e.?Ii 7AD' AT 2 1j r L-corning of plastic and states it is "toxic" . But, there is no provision for how medical equiptment should be properly disposed of . c. WHAT THE NEW OPEN BURNING ORDINANCE SHOULD SAY: The New Open Burning Ordinance should definately be updated according to the needs for properly disposing of medical equiptment. Proper disposal of medical equiptment education should be distributed to residents so they understand that burning of plastic and needles is against the law and dangerous to other residents. And thirdly, information as to what the resident is supposed to do with the medical equiptment should be provided. C. RESIDENTS COMMENT: 1 . "I know there is a leaf-burning ban in this city, but it does not seem to mean anything because my neighbor said to me when I moved in there' s a leaf-burning ordinance in this city, that says all you have to do to get around the ordinance is make your burning area look like a campfire scene, put a marshmellow on a stick, lite the leaves and watch your recreational campfire glow, and nobody can bother you." (Note: Several residents who knew about the recreational fire clause in the Open Burning Ordinance revealed that they are burning their leaves in their recreational fire-pits. ) a. POTENTIAL RISK TO YORKVILLE RESIDENTS IDENTIFIED: Leafburning and so called "recreational burning" exists even though it has been declared a health risk by the City of Yorkville officials in the Open Burning Code of Yorkville number 96-10. b. WHAT THE CURRENT OPEN BURNING ORDINANCE SAYS: The Open Burning Ordinance does not actually state that leaf-burning is prohibited. Chapter I, section 4-1 -1 -A-1 (which is currently in effect as referred in the latest Ordinance of 96-10 ) states wood burning is only permitted during daylite hours only and section 4-1 -1 -A-2 states that smoke from wood and leaves as provided above (when leaves are not provided in the above statement)and further state are "considered air pollution and a nuisance. " At the same time, Paragraph A2 of the ammended Ordinance states that almost anybody can burn a reacreational fire, (note: are not recreational fires conducted with wood? and are not these materials only supposed to be burned during the day only?) Conclusion: Ordinance contradicts itself in the above respects and thus causes confusion in everyone that has to interpret it. Clarity is needed. Also, Ordinance 96-10 or the Yorkville City Code states that leafburning is considered hazardous to ones health, but same is not stated as being prohibited. Is that not contradictory to leafburning r being allowed during daylite hours as stated in Chapter I, section 4-1 -1 -A1 ? c. WHAT THE NEW ORDINANCE SHOULD SAY It should state that Open Burning of Leaves is prohibited and and a predictable system of risk management should be in place to monitor the days that any type of burning should be done. D. RESIDENTS COMMENTS: 1 . "My husband was coming home from work at 8:30 PM going North down Mill Street near the Circle Center School. The smoke from the campfires that were burning in the area accumulated across Mill Street and over the school. It was so thick my husband said he had to stop driving because he could not see where he was going•"SS 'hiV UAAt we WAPt fii It OVA dl ldrW Attu sdu i w1w-je Peoie A`(4 idled r ANOTHER SMOKE RELATED COMMENT FROM A RESIDENT: 6 40,N accord of t+ DrO.`bvrv)l PAyUt6e 2. "I went out one warm summer everning and since I did not Navies•0jVL �- have central air-conditioning in my house, I left my windows /v� open. When I got home my whole house was filled with smoke that was comming from my neighbors' campfire. When my teenage son had to go to bed, he complained that he had to go to sleep breathing smoke in his room like a campfire was in it. He became disturbed and was afraid to go to sleep." ANOTHER SMOKE RELATED COMMENT FROM RESIDENT: 3. "I have a young son who has recurring upper respiratory infections, that get worse after a nite when several campfires have been burning in our area. Many times after nites like that I have had to rush my son to the doctor for medication to help him breathe. " ANOTHER SMOKE RELATED COMMENT FROM RESIDENT: 4. "I get a severe headache from breathing the smoke that comes frequently across from my neighbors' yard. Sometimes I am in bed for two days after each of her recreational campfires." a. RISK TO YORKVILLE RESIDENTS OF SMOKE RELATED COMPLAINTS ABOVE: If a person cannot see while driving then chances are that some- one in the opposite direction may not see either but may continue to drive fast as some people do when then drive down Mill Street. Our fears are that children could get hit when there is smoke or accidents could happen because of poor visibility. b. COMMENT FROM A QUALIFIED PERSON: Notation on Smoke: On 8-8-98 C-Span 2 a Mr. James Garner of the U.S. Dept. of Forestry was advising the U.S. House Resources Subcomittee in Washington D.C. on the burning of fires. He stated that "the burning of fires regarding the burning of wood as will burn in a forest fire is firstly, very dependent upon the weather conditions. He stated that burning in the Fall can be dangerous because the smoke can invert from the cool air and tend to stay near the ground, which is dangerous to breathe and can obstruct traffic on streets soas to cause severe accidents. He also stated that because of this the first consideration in doing a controlled burn of an area of property is to consider the weather conditions." c. WHAT CURRENT OPEN BURNING ORDINANCE SAYS: Smoke is declared a nuisance and a danger to health, but is not prohibited. d. WHAT THE NEW OPEN BURNING ORDINANCE SHOULD SAY: Rules that should be followed that pertain to protecting all residents from smoke from a recreational campfire should be as follows: 1 . ONE PREDICTABLE SYSTEM OF RISK MANAGEMENT: Only a certain number of residents to be allowed to burn a campfire on one nite. (by Police Dept. distribution of free permits; the idea of a free permit system is to be able to control how many permits can go out on one nite, and to be able to make sure that when the resident comes for a permit each time he /she wants to do burning, he will be given a set of rules that need to be followed when conducting a recreational campfire and to sign a sheet that he understands the rules. The sheet the resident signs also states that the Police Department reserves the right to discontinue the campfire if any of the rules are violated and/or if a resident complains that the effects of the campfire creates a nuisance to them. Also, the ordinance should probably state that if a permit is pulled due to a violation of the Fire Prevention Rules of the Ordinance that they will not be able to get another permit for at least a year, and the permit in violation will be kept on file at the Police Dept. until a year later. a. The campfire burner must inform the residents living nearest to him/her out of courtesy so neighbor/s can close their windows to keep smoke out of their house. b. Daylite campfire burning only c. The campfire burner must attend the campfire at all times, i.e. , and that watching a campfire from a porch, deck, garage, or from within a house is not accepted as attending to a fire. d. When the campfire meeting is considered over, it is the responsibility of the resident campfire burner to make sure the fire is completely extinguished. By completely extinguished means that smoke no longer comes from the campfire site. If a campfire is smoldering of smoke the resident must put water over the campfire until the smoke no longer comes from the site. e. Recreational Campfire Burning Permits should not be handed out if it is above 800 or if the Forest Preserve District outside the City of Yorkvilled is prohibiting campfire burning because of dry weather conditions which would cause , , ja,st spreading brush fires. f. GROUNDS FOR CITING A VIOLATION OF THE OPEN BURNING ORDINANCE: If the person conducts the campfire soas to create a nuisance for another resident and that resident complains and/or If a resident is found burning on burning ban days that resident shall be held in violation of the Open Burning Ordinaance and shall be warned. If resident is found violating the ban a second time that resident shall pay a fine, and fine to be doubled with each violation. 2 . THE EASIEST AND MOST PREDICTABLE SYSTEM OF RISK MANAGEMENT: Another system for controlling burning is to have designated Open Burning days, where leaf-burning would not be prohibited on those days, and to include recreational burning also on those designated days (reason for both types of burning on the same day is to make sure that leafburning will no longer be done in the recreational fire-pits-----thus closing the loophole for residents to burn leaves even though it is banned. That means all types of burning would be completely banned on any other days that are not designated leaf-burning days, which would protect the residents much better, simply because if someone is burning on a banned day then it is a violation, instead of trying to figure out who is burning leaves in their recreational campfire site. Permits for designated leafburning days would be regualated exactly as explained above. This system gives those who need to burn leaves because they cannont afford to pay for several bags to put out to the garbage and it also would warn those who cannot tolerate the smoke from leafburning to leave the city that day or arrange to be somewhere else if they choose to, so they will not be affected by the smoke ect. 3. THE BEST PREDICTABLE SYSTEM OF RISK MANAGEMENT: A complete ban on all open burning except the use of grills for the consumption of food, and if people want recreational campfires they can go right outside our city to the Forest Preserve District where they can burn campfires when the weather conditions allow it. Thus, all risk to Yorkville residents and stress on an already hardworking Police Dept, is relieved to spend its ' time on other important matters. Notation: See Kendall Record that states all surrounding areas of Yorkville have banned leafburning. Maybe Yorkville should consider stepping up with the times and do the same. ry A006NOUM TO PART II MORE COMMENTS FROM RESIDENTS OF THE CITY OF YORKVILLE REGARDING OPEN BURNING WITHIN YORKVILLE CITY LIMITS: E. I have a neighbor who I saw took a large barrel and filled it with garbage and burned the barrel of garbage in his garage. I thought he would burn the garage down." (2 residents near this resident who burned the garbage in a barrel in his garage stated this, and the 2 residents lived in separate houses ) . When I asked each of the residents if they called the Police or the Fire Department they each said they could not because this was a neighbor and did not want neighbor problems. POTENTIAL RISK TO CITY OF YORKVILLE RESIDENTS: Unreported fire could get out of control and present a safety hazard to other residents . WHAT THE PRESENT OPEN BURNING ORDINANCE 96-10 SAYS: It does not provide for Police Officers to apprehend a visible fire in process if the officer decides the hazard does not exist even though it may according to Fire Prevention Rules as laid out under the Federal Fire Prevention Code of BOCA which is under the auspices of the City of Yorkville Building Code. WHAT THE NEW OPEN BURNING ORDINANCE CHANGES COULD SAY: Rules for preventing a fire from spreading which include distance requirements and container requirements would give the Police Officer the authority to put out the fire that is hazardous in the name of the City. Also, the new ordinance could serve as a vehicle for residents to be able to file a formal complaint of a fire hazard and expect a reasonable remedy of the hazard in a reasonable period of time. F. "We have a neighbor who has a recreational campfire site. He placed his recreational campfire site 50 feet from his own house and only a couple of feet near his other neighbors ' garage. Not only is it a fire hazard, but the smoke from his campfire goes right into our houses. We do not know where to report this, because there hasn' t been a fire. " POTENTIAL RISK TO CITY OF YORKVILLE RESIDENTS : Unreported fire hazard that could get out of control under the right conditions. WHAT PRESENT ORDINANCE 96-10 SAYS : Does not provide a vehicle for remedy of fire hazards if the officer decides the complaint is not a hazard. No rules on the distance a fire must be from adjacent structures, ect. r r+ WHAT THE NEW ORDINANCE ON OPEN BURNING COULD SAY: It could provide the Police officer the authority to put a fire out if the recreational campfire does not fit within the require- ments of Fire Prevention Rules. There should be a rule on how far a fire must be from adjacent structures, ect. G. " Before an appearant leafburning ban my husband placed too many leaves onto a fire that was too close to our backporch deck and the deck caught on fire." The resident did not state how the fire was put out, but the resident also stated that neither the Police nor the Fire Dept. were called. RISK TO THE RESIDENTS OF YORKVILLE: Unreported fire could have gotten out of control and spread to other residents" houses, ect. Leaf burning can cause huge amounts of smoke which can cause problems for other residents who have physical problems with respiration. WHAT ORDINANCE 96-10 SAYS: NO authority for Police Dept. to remedy a fire hazard if the hazard to the officer does not exist. The ordinance does not state that leafburning is prohibited. WHAT THE NEW OPEN BURNING ORDINANCE COULD SAY: Rules would determine if a resident is burning against ordinance. The New ordinance on Open Burning could state that Leaf burning is prohibited. H. Several residents complained of the following: " I saw my neighbor lite a campfire at nite and when I checked later I noticed nobody was attending the fire. Sometimes the resident stated there were people on a deck fairly far from the fire and not paying attention to it and/or there would be a lot of people around the fire in the beginning of the evening but then they would leave the campsite and the fire would be burning overnite, and still found to be smoldering smoke in the morning." RISK TO YORKVILLE RESIDENTS IDENTIFIED: An unattended fire could spread to other homes ect. Many fires have been known to start from fires that have not been completely extinguished. Very high risk fire hazard. WHAT ORDINANCE 96-10 SAYS : It does not state that leaving the scene of a burning campfire is an offense. Presently, there are no rules for attendance to the fire nor are there any rules about how a fire must be extinguished. WHAT THE NEW OPEN BURNING ORDINANCE COULD SAY: That it is a violation for a resident who is conducting a `tecreational fire or an open burn to be absent from attending it at any time. There should be rules about how a fire should be extinguished and the definition of extinguished to mean when no more smoke is seen coming from the campfire, it is then considered to be fully extinguished. I . "My neighbors campfire site has only about 10-12 feet of space around it and is near a tree where the tree branches hang down low nearby. The site is only about 10 feet from a wooden fence that has heavy brush planted in front of it, and it belongs to my neighbor. The campsite is probably 15 feet from my neighbors back porch deck. When this neighbor has a party and fires his campfire, usually starting after 10PM at nite, it frightens my family to have to go to sleep fearing that if the conditions are right, our house could catch on fire from the neighbors ' campfire that is not too far below the large tree with branches hanging over the fire, and we also find it frightening to go to sleep having to breathe the smoke from their campfire, because we have an older home and the windows are not as tight as newer homes, so the smoke comes right thru. RISK TO YORKVILLE RESIDENTS: Distance from campfire to nearby hanging tree branches to fire below and from adjacent structures of house, fence and porchdeck is a fire hazard. Also, the campfire area is confined by a garage on one side, another garage on the other side, a fence on another side and a deck, so smoke accumulates under the tree in this area and is forced to move into the nearby structures, one of which is the neighbors ' house. Therefore, the neighbor of the campfire burner has to breathe smoke which comes thru the loose fitting windows of the older home and can be dangerous if too much smoke came in their house while sleeping. WHAT THE PRESENT ORDINANCE SAYS: The present open burning ordinance 96-10 does not have what a safe distance from the campfire to adjacent structures is. WHAT THE NEW ORDINANCE COULD SAY: It should state what a safe distance from the campfire to adjacent structures should be, so there is no disagreement between all parties as to what is or is not a hazard to the other residents of Yorkville. J. "I don' t like recreational campfire burning because a lot of smoke comes from it and goes into my house. But when the "supposed ban on leaf-burning started, my neighbor bought an above the ground recreational burner that has a lid on it to ' control the smoke. Now when they have a recreational campfire they do not bother me with their smoke. " RISK TO RESIDENT: Almost none, because smoke and fire contained in recreational burner that is above the ground and lid controls considerable amount of smoke emmissions. WHAT THE PRESENT OPEN BURNING ORDAINANCE 96-10 SAYS: It does not provide the type of container that should contain the fire, so the residents can burn their recreational fire in anything or nothing. Therefore, risk to resident is high that a fire can spread if conditions are right and container is wrong. WHAT IMPROVED OPEN BURNING ORDINANCE COULD SAY: What type of container the recreational campfire should be in, or if there is no container, the ordinance should state what the distance to adjacent structures should be; which includes trees, porches, decks, hanging tree branches, garages, other outbuildings and houses . K. "There' s 3 neighbors behind me who burn their garbage late at night. It smells awful. I don' t want to report them because they are my neighbors and I don' t want trouble, but I know it' s not healthy for my family to breathe that air. " RISK TO RESIDENTS IDENTIFIED: Breathing air from garbage can be toxic, depending what is in the garbage. High risk environmental hazard. WHAT THE PRESENT ORDINANCE 96-10 SAYS: Ordinance Chapter 1 section 4-1 -1 -A-1 which is the original Ordinance that Ordinance 96-10 refers to as still in effect states that the burning of plastic-coated materials is prohibited. (most garbage has platic wraps, ect in, so it is quite likely that people who are burning garbage are producing toxic fumes ) . WHAT AN IMPROVED ORDINANCE COULD SAY: That garbage burning is prohibited. L. "Since the supposed "burning ban" there' s this high pile . •,', =of compost that my neighbor has piled up along his property line and right next to my garage. I have two small children and an allergy to grasses. Why do I have to live next to this? Who do I report this fire hazard and nuisance to? When it' s real hot out I make my children stay away from that side of the garage, and I am afraid that the heat will build up and cause a fire that will spread to my house and my garage." RISK TO RESIDENTS IDENTIFIED: Fire hazard, health risks and danger to children and affects of improper yard waste and brush disposal. High risk for fire. WHAT PRESENT ORDINANCE 96-10 SAYS : You can burn wood. It does not state that Leaf-burning is prohibited. WHAT IMPROVED ORDINANCE CAN SAY: Wood and leaf-burning is prohibied. Unless you enter provisions for how and when and rules for burning those materials and enforceable fire prevention measures for ensuring responsible fire burning; and enforcers to protect the Public;And /or Education of Public needed on alternatives to disposing yard waste without burning. PATLJ� ' + WORKING CROSS-REFERENCE PAGE or suggestions for new Open Burning Ordinance based upon my research and comments from Yorkville residents; Notation: Specific wording verses general wording avoids problems in interpretation of ordinance between residents and the code enforcer. A. Suggestions: 1 . Specifically state in Ordinance that All Open Burning (including recreational burning) is prohibited within the City Limits of the United City of Yorkville on all days of the year except for those days that are designated by the City Council as being Open Burning Days. Notation: By classifying open burning as the same as recreational burning both types of burning can occur simultaneously as it is already occurring. So, if people should choose to use their recreational burning campfire sites to burn their leaves they legally can do so on "Designated Open Burning Days. " 2. Require all residents to obtain a free open burning permit from the Police Dept. for each time they would like to do open burning. The purpose of the permit is to distribute to the resident the open burning Rules that must be followed in conducting an open burn, to have the resident sign, address and date a sheet stating that the understand the rules, to let the resident also know on the statement that the Police Dept. reserves the right to extinguish a fire and pull a permit from a resident who violates the rules of fire prevention that was given to the resident. And if the permit was pulled after a first warning, then on the second warning the resident will have to wait one year to get a permit to conduct another fire. This is why a permit should be addressed and dated for when the open burn can take place. The address of the place where the burn will occur will help the Police keep a list of where the campfires or open leaf burning will occur. The dating of the burn is to help the Police Dept. have of list of when (if burn is not on a designated day) . Another pupose of permit to burn is is to control how many permits can be given out to the Public for any one given date, which would help to keep residents from having to breathe large amounts of smoke in one day. 2. The rules which the resident would sign would be Fire Prevention Rules made up from the comments that the residents gave and the BOCA Federal Fire Prevention Rules 1996 Edition. It is suggested that the rules include: a. Specific reference to open burning not allowed when it is windy, or when the temperature is above 80° .� o►" O Z oNe or if the Forestry Dept. outside Yorkville is not 4- 6 UJ4 allowing open Campfire burning when the weather is to dry. b. The actual distance between the campfire site and any adjacent structure, brush and trees should be specified in number of feet. Any distance less than this specification should be considered in violation of the Fire Prevention Rules. c. A resident who open burns must tell the neighbors on any side of their resident that they are going to conduct an open burn and when, so the neighbors may close their windows or go to another place for the day. If a neighbor complains of smoke in their house because a burning neighbor did not inform them of their campfire, that would be a basis for declaring them in violation of the rules and the Police Dept. could extinguish their fire and pull their permit (after second warning) . d. Materials that can be burned in a legally permitted local burn should be listed; including leaves, branches and wood, food for human consumption. e. Materials that are prohibited from a legal open burn are; include a list that also includes plastic, bio-medical waste and syringes, needles and other biomedical equiptment. If any of these materials are being done by a resident with an open burning permit the Police Dept. reserves the right to ex- tinguish the fire on the spot and pull the permit of the resident to burn for 1 year. (on the first warning. (because this activity can be extremely dangerous for the surrounding population) . f. The time of day that someone can burn between should also be specified; for instance, based upon resident comments a compromising time would be between the hours of 3PM and 7PM during daylite hours only all times of the year. (0 � � � ^�� ,�� � � , ��� ��^JV � y �' ���\ �� c� Y ' SURVEY AND REPORT SURVEY AND REPORT OF MOST FREQUENT RESPONSES OF 125 RESIDENTS WHO LIVE SOUTH OF THE FOX RIVER IN YORKVILLE, ILL. ON THE ISSUE OF THE OPEN BURNING ORDINANCE 96-10 ; A BASIS FOR CHANGE--- FROM THE RESIDENTS' PERSPECTIVE Research, Survey and Report prepared and compiled by Nancy A. James Registered Voter of The United City of Yorkville July - August 1998 INTRODUCTION TO REPORT Part I- Survey which reveals residents of Yorkville confused as to what kind of open burning can be done Part II- Paraphrased Comments and Suggestions volunteered by Yorkville residents that give reasons why City of Yorkville needs to adopt a Fire Prevention Rules into Open Burning Ordinance 96-10; so there can be effective enforcement of Fire Prevention to protect all residents • » •> . PART I- SURVEY LEAF-BURNING ORDINANCE INTERPRETATION CONFUSION BY COMMUNITY IDENTIFIED BY ANSWERS FROM 125 RESIDENTS, (SOUTH OF THE FOX RIVER) BASED ON ONE QUESTION ASKED QUESTION: "Are you for recreational campfire burning or against it?" ANSWERS: 1 . "What is recreational burning?" (Several people answered this) 2. "Is there a difference between that type of burning and other kinds of burning?" (Several people answered this way) 3 . "Sure, I'm for burning leaves." (at least 50% of the people gave this answer. ) 4. "I am against burning being done by residents." (About 15% of the people gave this answer." ) 5. "I thought there was a leaf-burning ban in this city. " (Note: very few people gave this answer, i.e. , 2 elderly women residents in seperate houses and 1 middle-aged woman." Also note that the middle-aged woman mentioned that a paper had been sent around to the residents that said that leaf-burning was banned, and that other types of burning was allowed; it told what kind of burning was allowed and how to do it. ) 6. "Sure, I'm for burning leaves even though I know there is a leaf-burning ban in this city, but so what everybody burns their leaves anyway." (At least 40% of the people out of the 50% that said they are for burning leaves and fires gave this answer. ) 7 . "I am neutral on leaf-burning, it does not matter to me one way or the other if someone wants to burn their leaves." (Note: most people referred to burning leaves as the type of burning that they noted people doing, rarely did anybody who was questioned use the word recreational burning in their answers." ) Part II- RESIDENT COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS: COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS BY RESIDENTS AS A BASIS FOR YORKVILLE OFFICIALS TO REVIEW THEIR NEEDS AND CONSIDER A WORKING AND EFFECTIVE FIRE PREVENTION PROGRAM WITHIN THE UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE CITY LIMITS RESIDENTS COMMENTS: A. Anonymously, many residents stated that many people are burning their campfires too close to either their garages, houses, brush from nearby trees, decks and other structures. In some instances the residents stated that there were fires but that the fires were put out. Most of the residents did not state how the fires were put out, but they did admit to not reporting them because it was their neighbor who conducted the fires, and they stated they did not want trouble from them. Residents also complained that people were burning all kinds of things late at nite in their recreational campfire sites; things such as garbage, leaves, brush and even the possibility that some residents may be burning bio- medical waste, such as plastic devices used for chronic medical care and syringes with needles attached. Several residents also stated that they have seen fires in the City of Yorkville with nobody attending to them. POTENTIAL RISK IDENTIFIED 1 . Unreporting of a potential fire or an actual fire poses a severe threat to all the residents of Yorkville if it gets out of hand. Non-attendance to a fire is also a high risk. WHAT THE CURRENT ORDINANCE ON OPEN BURNING SAYS: 2 . The current ordinance on Open Burning number 96-10 does not state specifically how many feet from any structure an open burning flame should be conducted, therefore without a guideline many people can misjudge. WHEN A RESIDENT TRIES TO REPORT A COMPLAINT 3 . Even if a resident wants to report a fire hazard complaint, the Police can look at it but Open Burning Ordinance 96-10, paragraph A2 does not contain wording which could enable a Police Officer to enforce responsible campfire activities by the resident who is conducting the fire, except for the general wording of fires being conducted in such a manner so as not to constitute a hazard or nuisance to persons or property." So, the question of whether a fire is being safely conducted is left open to the interpretation of all people involved in the complaint, which causes friction between the parties complaining of the hazard and the Police Officer. Thus, if the Police Officer perceives there is no fire hazard threat, this may cause what a resident feels is a real fire hazard threat to continue, leaving the resident feeling unsafe and frustrated. SUGGESTION FOR AN IMPROVED OPEN BURNING ORDINANCE: 4 . It is suggested that the Open Burning Ordinance provide the Yorkville Police Department the authority to enforce responsible Open Burning by all residents anywhere within the United City of Yorkville City limits, using specific guidelines which are adopted into Open Burning Ordinance number 96-10 , so when a resident is engaging in irresponsible burning activities the Officer can cite them specifically the section within the ordinance that the resident is violating. Use of sections already adopted by the City of Yorkville under the auspices of the Building Department Code is suggested. The code referred to here is the Federal BOCA Code for National Fire Prevention the 1996 edition. It is suggested that a combination of wording from the BOCA Code and needs based on comments from the residents make up the rules or guidelines by which an Officer will be given the authority to enforce responsible campfire burning. One question is: "Why should a Police Officer of Yorkville be the one to enforce Fire Prevention Rules? Because residents who have an immeadiate fire hazard complaint have nowhere to go to file a formal complaint seek to immeadiately or shortly thereafter a remedy it. For instance; One day a resident wanted to file a fire hazard complaint with the Fire Department of Yorkville and a Fire Department Volunteer stated that the resident would have to leave a message on a telephone message machine to report the complaint to the Fire Chief and the Fire Chief would be back if he felt it was important. When the resident stated that the fire hazard was of a neighbor who was shortly going to have a recreational fire in an area where the complaintant felt was too close to their garage, the Fire Department Volunteer said he had no way to allow the resident to file a formal complaint except to call and leave a message for the Fire Chief because it was the weekend. The Volunteer then called a couple of people to find out where the resident could report the fire hazard complaint. The Volunteer Fireman finally found out that the resident could file the complaint with the Building Department of Yorkville during business hours the following week. This to the resident appeared to be a very inefficient system to be able to file a fire hazard that could possibly happen later that nite. This also could cause severe friction between neighbors which could cause even further problems. The resident felt that calling 911 for an incident that did not occur yet was not justified and calling the Police for something that has not occurred yet was also unjustified, so the fire hazard went unreported during that weekend. When the resident finally was able to report the fire hazard to the Building Department of the City of Yorkville, nobody was available in the office, and since the Building person is known to do a lot of field work during the day, the resident was told the Building Inspector would possibly be in another day and was given his office phone number. To sum it up, the , #-„ yresident wanted to fill out a formal fire hazard complaint for that day, on paper, but the Fire Dept. nor the City was available for that resident to do that. It is suggested that no resident should have to go through all this to formally report a fire hazard complaint to the City and then get no results to remedy the matter in a reasonable and timely manner. It has been suggested at the last Public Safety Committee Meeting that a Zoning person maybe should be hired to take on the responsibility of the fire prevention and fire hazard complaints of residents. With all due respect, I am here to tell the Committee that it will not work, and I use this residents' example to show you that one or two Building Department employees could never keep up with all the fire hazard complaints from a population of over 6,000 people in addition to all the other duties these employees have to perform in one day, whereas, Police Officers who are already on the street 24 hours, can better respond and within a reasonable amount of time ( depending on their workload) to those residents who are being irresponsibly dangerous to other residents in their open burning or recreational campfire burning activities, and residents will know where they can file potential fire hazard complaints in an efficient manner. Such a system could also be more cost efficient for the City. 5. WHAT THE CURRENT OPEN BURNING ORDINANCE SAYS ABOUT LEAFBURNING Open Burning Ordinance 96-10 does not actually state that leaf-burning within the United City of Yorkville City Limits is prohibited, although it strongly acknowledges that the burning of leaves and other materials is bad for your health. Chapter I, section 4-1 -1 -A (which is currently in effect as referred in the latest Ordinance of 96-10) states woodburning is permitted during "daylite hours only” and section 4-1 -1 -A-2 states that smoke from wood and leaves as provided above (when leaves are not provided in the above statement) and further state "are considered air pollution and a nuisance) ." At the same time paragraph A2 of the amended Ordinance states that almost anybody can burn a recreational fire, ( note: are not recreational fires conducted with wood? and are not these materials supposed to be burned during the daylite hours only?) Conclusion: Ordinance 96-10 contradicts itself and thus causes confusion in everyone who has to interpret it. Because of all of the above it is requested that Ordinance 96-10 be reamended to adopt correction, changes and or additions to meet the needs of all the residents of Yorkville. It is suggested that Ordinance 96-10 be clear and specific in its intent, and it is also suggested that if open burning of any kind is permitted that it be specific and clear in the form of rules and/or code section regulations including the following: 1 . Specifics on how the amount of smoke will be controlled if 6000 residents will have the permission to burn. An effective fool-proof permit system that is recorded and followed by our fine Police Dept. And determination of when the permits should be allowed based on weather conditions and the advice of the Forestry Dept. outside the City of Yorkville. 2. The type of container ( specifically described ) that can be used in open burning 3 . Location. The distance expressed in linear feet as to how far from any structures a resident may conduct a campfire; including the distance from nearby hanging tree branches, other brush, houses, garages, decks, outbuildings and porches. 4 . Time of day. What time of day is burning allowed and how long burning can be done during one campfire session should be stated. 5 . Notification of your neighbors. A resident who is going to burn should notify their nearest adjacent neighbors so they can choose to close their windows while the burning is on, or leave the city for the day. This is also courteous to those who cannot physically tolerate smoke; such as those with chronic illnesses and allergies. 6 . Putting out the fire. It is the responsibility of a resident conducting an open burn or a recreational campfire to put a fire completely out when the event is over. By "out If means that smoke no longer is seen coming from the campfire site. 7 . Attendance to the campfire. A resident must be in attendance to the campfire at all times until it is completely out. Attending a campfire from a porch, a deck , a house or any other outbuilding is not considered as attending to the fire. Specific number of linear feet away should be considered as the accepted distance away for attending to an open burn or a reacreational campfire. 8. Prohibition of certain materials stated; It should specifically state that burning of garbage, construction materials and Bio-medical waste which includes plastic medical devices and needles are a grave violation of this open burning ordinance. And proper disposal of these items should be referred to in the Yorkvilles City Code Book. 9 . Weather conditions: If the weather is 800 or above open burning and or recreational burning will be prohibited. ( 80° was the average temperature that people said they could tolerate closing their windows if there were a neighbor who was conducting a campfire and they did not have central air-conditioning ) Open burning is prohibited when the ozone is high and creates difficulty for people with chronic illnesses and respiratory illnesses to breathe. An open burn and/or recreational fire is also prohibited if the weather has been so dry that most properties have burned-looking grass and brush from the heat or if a watering ban has been declared by the City of Yorkville. If the Forestry Dept. outside our city is prohibiting campfire burning because of dry conditions, then open burning within the city limits of Yorkville will also be prohibited or severely limited. 10 . Enforcement. The Ordinance should include a clear statement of Authority that a Police Officer of the City of Yorkville may have. When a resident signs the permit to burn, the permit should state that the resident understands the rules of open burning and that the Police Dept. of the City of Yorkville reserves the right to cite a resident in violation of the Open Burning Ordinance 96-10 and to be able accordingly to extinguish the campfire, or if a resident complains the open burning or recreational campfire is a nuisance to them the fire may also be extinguished by the Police Officer. The Officer should also be given the authority to extinguish a fire of a resident who has not been given a permit to burn. And on the second warning of anyone who violates the Open Burning Ordinance they should receive a fine, with the fine to be doubled on each subsequent offense. 11 . Definition of Recreational burning. A campfire to be only used only for the cooking of food for human consumption. Burning of other materials shall be in violation of the definition of recreational burning. 12 . Definition of Open Burning 13 . Who can conduct burning? The age of the person and who can burn is very important to include in the Ordinance because some residents feel that their children should be allowed to conduct campfires. As one resident said " My chidren can conduct a campfire anytime they want and they can burn whatever they want." I would like to leave the Committee with the following advice from a Mr. James Garner of the U.S. Dept. of Forestry who was speaking to the U.S. House Resources Subcommittee in Washington D.C. on Aug. 8, 1998, in regards to the burning of fires. He stated that "the burning of fires such as that of wood burning in the forest in the Fall can be dangerous because the smoke can invert from the cool air and tend to stay near the ground, which is dangerous to breathe and can obstruct traffic on streets which can cause severe accidents." He also stated that "the first consideration in doing a controlled burn of an area of property is to consider the weather conditions." I have been told by a very reliable source that it is a fact that during the Fall season last year several of our own Police Officers were absent from their duty because of smoke related illnesses after having patrolled our streets in the high volume of smoke from people doing open and recreational burning. On the • +r . residents' side, one resident told me he was coming home from work one day and the smoke was so thick over one of our Yorkville streets from people doing open and recreational burning, that he had to stop driving because he could not see where he was going; this area was very close to one of our Yorkville schools. Do we want our Officers in less than top shape to be able to protect our children and ourselves ? And do we want to increase the risk of serious accidents to either ourselves or our children because we cannot see where we are going? Tonite before I leave, I will provide the Public Safety Committee Members with my Preliminary Report and Survey of the annonymous comments and suggestions of 125 residents on open burning in Yorkville. This report contains many reasons why we feel Open Burning Ordinance 96-10 should be reviewed by our officials and re-amended to meet the needs of all the residents in Yorkville with the adoption of Fire Prevention Rules beneath paragraph A-2 . A first draft of this report has also been given to our fine Police Chief Anton Graff on 8-19-98 at 2:30 PM for his perusal. I also would urge the Committee to seek his opinion on some of the solutions for this ordinance; he has some good ideas for lessening the number of people who would be burning a recreational campfire in Yorkville at one time; i.e. , a type of schedule or free permit system. ( which would also be agreeable to those who presently complain of a lot of smoke from campfires, especially during seasons where brush and leaf disposal needs are high) . He also stated that he would be consulting with our Building Dept. to find out what the specifications would be for how the campfire site should be contained. I would also urge the Committee to compare the Federal Fire Prevention Code BOCA CODE ( as a guide, with the comments and suggestion section of my reports to help customize the rules, ( if you should choose to list them ) that could be adopted into Ordinance 96-10 . At the next C.O.W. Meeting I plan to speak about Recreational Burning in Yorkville. At that time several responsible recreational campfire burners of the City of Yorkville, and others interested in lowering campfire smoke emissions will be petitioning our officials to help them carry on this tradition in a cleaner environment. I would like to invite anyone who is interested in preserving the tradition of responsible campfire burning to come to the next C.O.W. meeting and represent your views. This is the end of my report to the Public Safety Committee of the City of Yorkville. I would like to thankyou for allowing me to speak at your committee table; I am going to leave a copy of my statement and would like to request that it be attached to the record of the minutes for tonites' meeting. Thankyoutis- Resident Nancy A. orkville �Q '. C � �: f CITY OF YORKVILLE COMMITTBE OF THE WHOLE Date Guests Present: (Please print) mn�cj 141,114wk- / C e Id er►m � wro