Monday night’s Nome City Council meeting agenda was short, but a majority of the meeting was spent discussing a proposed ordinance banning trash burning within city limits.
During the citizens’ comments period, two citizens with opposing viewpoints on the ordinance shared their concerns before its first reading. Nome citizen Tom Okleasik started things off by listing negative effects of burning trash.
“It would ruin your food in the smokehouse, it would ruin the atmosphere of a fire pit, or release toxins into home and air. Burn barrels stink; the expression of putting another log on the fire doesn’t work with a burn barrel. I encourage the Council to adopt an ordinance to ban the use of burn barrels within the city limits. It’s common sense, and it will improve the air quality of Nome for everyone,” stated Okleasik.
On the other side of the issue, Scott Kent doesn’t see trash burning as a “pervasive” problem in Nome. As a concerned citizen — and biologist — Kent is in favor of no rules regarding burning trash within city limits.
He argued, “I wouldn’t be in favor of an ordinance, and I know the public isn’t. That’s another thing, I’ve got a petition circulating around kind of with some language I hope to help guide you guys when you make your final vote at the upcoming meeting, but I’ve got 40 signatures in support, and I haven’t even tried.”
Ultimately, both Councilmen Culley and Green voted no. The motion failed with only four members voting yes out of the 6 members present. Afterwards, Okleasik expressed his disappointment by questioning the message the Council was sending with their decision.
“It says why people burn their trash, normally because they live in an area where they can’t get good trash haul. Do we have a good trash haul system here in Nome, do we have receptacles provided to each household? Is burning trash necessary? Is it better to have public health?” questioned Okleasik.
Councilman Culley responded directly to Okleasik, explaining his vote.
Culley said, “I voted no to this because it’s not enforceable, what you’ve got is you got something that the chief said, and I’ve talked to other people about it, it’s not enforceable. And I’m tired of laws in books that aren’t enforceable.”
Councilman Green reasoned there wasn’t enough time for the public to look at the ordinance.
“It should be put out to the public so they can look at it ahead of time, we’re going into what I think is too quick to vote on an ordinance. It hadn’t been made good and clear to the public,” said the Councilman.
Now that the proposed ordinance has been voted down, City Manager Tom Moran says it will take major changes in a redraft to make it legal for the Council to revote on the ordinance.
“That’s a double edged sword, because ordinances that have failed cannot be brought back to life. There is no such thing as a vampire ordinance,” Moran said.
But, Moran says the city is still willing to work with Tom Okleasik on a new ordinance related to trash burning. The remaining pieces of business on the docket passed Monday night, including a resolution to reallocate funds from a port and harbor development grant towards the development of Thornbush Subdivision.
$850,000 is the funding that remains from a General Obligation Bond designated by the Department of Community, Commerce, and Economic Development. The motion carried Monday night, making that money eligible to be used for laydown space at Tract A of the Thornbush Subdivision, as per the Port Commission’s recommendation.
City Manager Tom Moran urged the council to take advantage of the available resources while they can.
Moran stated, “And as we know, we get our hands slapped when we spend money that we don’t have, so we can afford to do this project with the money we have, and we need to spend this money.”
The third and final item on the agenda passed in City Council chambers regarding the ability to hold elected or appointed office while employed by the City. In the words of Councilman Stan Anderson, allowing a person to work on the Utilities Board and for the Council is like “putting the fox in the chicken house.”
However, City Manager Tom Moran says it’s worth the risk in order to get this policy on the books now.
“We think the pros outweigh the cons, and at some point in the near future, you’ll see an amendment to this ordinance that discusses health insurance, for example. If you’re a city employee, you get a benefits package, and if you’re on the Utilities board or City Council or vice versa, you get a benefits package,” stated Moran.
The next City Council Meeting will be on August 22nd following the Crystal Serenity’s visit to Nome.
