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FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MEETING -3- March 12, 2003 Approval of the Memorandum of Agreement with the Capitol Region Watershed District (continued) Lamb moved approval of the Memorandum of Agreement with the Capitol Region Watershed District and authorization for the Mayor and City Administrator to sign the agreement on behalf of the City of Falcon Heights. The motion was unanimously approved. Consideration of an Ordinance Amending Chapter 5 of the Falcon Heights City Code Concerning the Indoor Display of Fireworks and Use of Pyrotechnic Equipment and Materials Administrator Worthington said that because of the recent nightclub fire in Rhode Island, staff asked the city attorney, Roger Knutson, to draft an ordinance that would address the issue of pyrotechnic use in unsprinklered buildings. Current State fire codes require the issuance of a permit by the Fire Chief of the city in these cases; however, this may not be adequate due to the burden of proof being on the business owner, and not on the city. In order to ensure that the city has adequate safeguards in place, it is prudent to have an ordinance that specifically disallows the use of pyrotechnics or indoor fireworks in buildings that are not equipped with an automatic fire suppression system. The State Legislature is considering legislation that would ban the display of indoor fireworks or other pyrotechnics. The status of this bill is unclear at the moment, and it may be advisable for the city to act independently in order to ensure that this potential problem is addressed now, rather than later in the year. This ordinance does not address the use of outdoor fireworks, which are already regulated by State law. This ordinance would not impact too many businesses in Falcon Heights. Consultations were held with Tom Brace, the State Fire Marshal, the City's Building Official/Fire Inspector, and the City's Fire Chief. All three think it is a good idea to bring this forward at this time. Council member Lindstrom said that initially he wanted to wait until the Legislature completes its work in this area, but he is open to moving forward on this tonight and revisiting it again, if necessary, after the Legislature is done. He reviewed the proposed ordinance amendment and recommended the following changes: Keep Subsection E. 1-Indoor use limited, but change the last sentence of that section to read: as defined by State law; eliminate Subsection E. 2-Definition; eliminate Subsection E. 3-Permit Required; and eliminate Subsection E. 4-Permit Fee. Current State law says that a person has to get a permit. There is a lot of discretion as to whether the Fire Chief will recommend granting a permit or not. State law gives a lot of • discretion on what to do. This would eliminate discretion. This is more restrictive than current State law.