Politics & Government

Fireworks, Farmer's Market on Tonight's City Council Agenda

The Dixon City Council will discuss many things including a fireworks ordinance, Dixon Fire Department Annual Report and a Farmer's Market grant at tonight's meeting

The Dixon City Council will have no shortage of interesting things to discuss at tonight’s city council meeting.

Tonight, the city council is expected to review an ordinance that will govern the way that are sold and used within the city; approve or deny a grant of $2,500 for the that will be used for this year’s Farmer's Market; and listen to the 2010 Annual Report.

Back in February, the city council voted to lift a ban on Safe-and-Sane fireworks –instituted during the ‘70s – that was designed to curb the risk of fires and property damage around the Fourth of July.

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At tonight’s meeting the council will hear the details of a two-year pilot program that aims to regulate the sale and use of fireworks in Dixon. For several weeks, the Dixon Fire Department has met with several non-profit agencies, representatives from the fireworks industry such as Phantom Fireworks and TNT Fireworks, as well as members of the community to gather information that they used to craft the ordinance.

In addition Dixon Fire officials researched ordinances in the city of Winters, Woodland and West Sacramento. On March 10, the department held an informational meeting at the City Council chambers that outlined a possible ordinance. Many no-profit agencies were at this meeting and the fire department called those who could not be in attendance.

Find out what's happening in Dixonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Major aspects of the two-year pilot ordinance include:

  • Booths will be determined according to Dixon’s population, which was recently counted as 18,351. The ordinance calls for one booth per 5,000 (or fraction thereof) residents, which amounts to four booths in Dixon.
  • Non-profit groups allowed to sell the fireworks will be chosen by lottery. The groups must meet a multi-pronged test in order to apply.
  • Operation of the fireworks booths are limited to individuals who are 18 years or age or older. The same age restriction applies to purchasers. In addition, the ordinance has guidelines for safe operation of the booths.
  • Each non-profit group must prepare a financial report to the city that outlines the revenue generated by the firework sales; the city police and fire departments will also provide an after-action report to the city for evaluation.

Under the ordinance the city will collect application and permit fees, but only enough to cover the cost of enforcement over the holiday weekend. Aside from the fireworks ordinance, the Dixon Fire Department will also present its 2010 Annual Report to the city council.

Last year, Dixon firefighters responded to 1,834 emergency incidents, which amounts to an average of 5.03 per day according to a staff report.

“We continue to see significant numbers of simultaneous incidents, 163 in 2010” read the report. “The Department continues to strive to meet the accepted industry standard of having the first unit on the scene of an emergency in less than five minutes from time of dispatch 90 percent of the time, and on scene in less than eight minutes 100 percent of the time.”

According to the report, in 2010 the response times in the city increased slightly.  Responses within five minutes, for the first arriving unit, increased from 78 percent in 2009, to 83.5 percent in 2010.

The report also outlines several aspects of the department – everything from the training the firefighters do to specialized programs.

Tonight, the city council is also expected to decide if they will provide a grant fund of $2,500 for the 2011 Dixon Farmer’s Market. Last year, the Dixon Redevelopment Agency approved a grant of $10,000 for Downtown Dixon Business Association to be able to put on the market.

But since Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget called for the , the Dixon City Council acting as the Redevelopment Agency voted to dedicate its existing funds to Core Area Drainage Project.

The move essentially cut out the $41,000 dedicated to nine community events such as the Dixon May Fair Parade and the Farmer’s Market for fiscal year 2010-2011. In response the reduced the amount of money they asked for to $2,500.

Should the council vote to approve the grant, the funds would be paid from the city’s General Fund Reserve. The council could vote to deny the grant or reduce further the amount of $2,500.

The Dixon City Council meets at 7 p.m., inside its chambers on 600 East A St. Anyone who cannot attend the meeting, can view it online at the city’s web site by clicking here.


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