Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Council Cooks Burning Ordinance

A proposed burning ordinance was placed before Gurdon's City Council Monday night.

This was to have been the second reading of the ordinance, but it was killed when two of the four council members present voted against having it read.

The ordinance was approved on its first reading in April, but the issue was not brought before the city's governing body in May.

Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith said there is already a burning ordinance on the books, but the new one would have modified it somewhat, clearing up some ambiguous language.

In 1982, the Gurdon City Council passed an ordinance prohibiting burning. Section II reads, "It shall be unlawful to burn rubbish of any kind, other than papers, paper goods, cardboard, limbs or leaves anywhere in the City, except in a stove, furnace, or incinerator inside a building."

This wording leaves it unclear as to the legality of burning inside the city limits.

Under Section VIII fire zones are designated. It states, "It shall be unlawful, within the designated fire zone of the City to light or maintain any fires except under the following conditions:

"(a) In an incinerator located on a surface of gravel, cinders, cement or other incombustible material and this surface shall extend at least five feet on each side of such stove or incinerator;

"(b) The incinerator shall be constructed of twelve-gauge steel or firebrick. The outlet shall be equipped with a spark arrestor having openings of not more than 3/4 inch."

Permissible fires were covered in Section V. Fires, it stated, would be allowed on still days, with an adult in constant attendance and not within 25 feet of any building or structure.

Section IV gave the Gurdon Fire Chief the authority to designate, by publication, days when leaves or pine straw could be burned.

Section VII conflicted with Section II by stating it is illegal to burn paper goods or leaves in the city except during daylight hours.

The old ordinance also carried a fine of no less than $100 nor more than $500 for violators.

Under the proposed new ordinance, it would be lawful to burn any item within the city limits except as provided by the ordinance.

It would also be a violation of the ordinance to "initiate or maintain within the city limits of the City of Gurdon which has as its fuel source garbage or paper goods, except for paper used as kindling within a fireplace located within a business or place of abode."

The new ordinance also considered it a violation to burn vegetation of any type, living or dead, when such a fire would violate the provisions of the ordinance.

Primarily, the two ordinances are similar. Each tells when fires could be started and when it would be illegal to have an outside fire inside the city limits. Both also had penalties for breaking the laws of $100 to $500.

One major difference, however, is the new ordinance considered it a violation if a fire was in a drainage ditch and caused the water flow to be impeded.

Regardless, the issue was defeated as Quinney and Gene Flowers cast their votes against it, while Pledger and Edna Cooper were in favor of the second reading. Councilman David Williams was not present at the meeting.

In other business, Smith updated the council on the progress of a proposed annexation. There are four tracts of land needing to be annexed into the city limits, including the new Gurdon High School.

Smith said research has been done on the issue to find out the best way to annex property into the city, without having to include large plots of timberland.

He said the city could follow an already defined property line along Highway 67, picking up homes between the city and school on both sides of the road. This issue, Smith continued, could the be placed on the Nov. 5 General Election ballot locally for city residents to vote on.

The other three tracts of land, he said, are important, but not as critical as getting the new GHS into the city limits. These, Smith added, can be done by petition of the residents living in the affected area.

According to Smith, there may be special council meetings held to fine tune the annexation issue.

The final item of business discussed, though not the one of least importance, was concerning personnel policy.

Smith said he and City Attorney Eric Hughes will be working on changes to the city's personnel handbook and get them to the city's personnel committee.

Once the committee approves a draft, it will be brought before the entire council for debate, changes and ultimately, approval.

Pledger said the policies should be for all who are hired as well as including provisions for drug testing.

Smith said drug testing is done at random by an independent lab. The city is notified to send specific employees to be tested on short notice.

He further said the department managers need to sit down with new employees, go over the manual with them page by page and have the workers sign off on it.

The council also approved Jerry Johnson as a new member of the Airport Commission.