05-16-90 Safety Comm MinutesSAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING
•A Safety Committee Meeting was held on May 16, 1990 commencing at
approximately 5:00 P.M. In attendance at the committee meeting were
Councilmen Lauren Granmo, Duane Larson, Fred Buck, and Mayor Roger
Hopkins. Staff in attendance included Glen Neier and Addison Clark.
The first item considered on the agenda was a request by Roger Pales
residing at 375 7th Avenue West North, concerning a parking problem
along 7th Avenue West North during the period of the Northwest Montana
County Fair. Mr. Pales indicated that during fair time persons
attending fair functions park on both sides of 7th Avenue West North
thereby hindering two way traffic on said street and often parking
upon the private property of residents along 7th Avenue West North.
The area that concerned Mr. Pales specifically is that portion of 7th
Avenue West North between West Idaho and West California. After a
discussion on the matter it was determined that the committee would
recommend drafting of an ordinance prohibiting parking along 7th
Avenue West North between West Idaho and West California for the two
week period of the Northwest Montana County Fair. If said ordinance
is enacted, the area where parking is prohibited will be signed and
barricaded and individuals parking in the area so signed will be
ticketed and/or towed.
The second item on the agenda was the proposed obscenity ordinance.
The committee discussed the pros and cons of enacting a pornography
ordinance including the problem of enforcement. The committee was
informed that the ordinance proposed would not be a ban on pornography
•but would define certain activities and/or material as being obscene
and those engaging in said activities or distributing for consideration
certain materials would be charged with ,the offense of dissemination
of obscene material. The committee also discussed whether or not the
ordinance should be enacted as an emergency ordinance and it was
determined that the City Attorney should draft for the meeting on May
21st two ordinances, one being a regular ordinance requiring two
readings and a 30-day effective date. The committee directed that
the City Attorney also draft another ordinance, which would not be
recommended by committee, which would be of an emergency nature.
The third item discussed on the agenda was the skateboard ordinance
and the committee directed the Chief of Police to re -describe the
boundaries of the skateboard prohibition and return said description
to the committee for consideration.
Finally, the committee discussed the proposal to appoint an assistant
city attorney or special prosecutor to assist the City Attorney's
office in criminal prosecutions in City Court. Prior to this meeting
David Ortley, Attorney at Law, had appeared before the committee and
made a proposal to handle the City Court criminal cases on a contract
basis. The Mayor informed the committee that the City Attorney's
office and the Mayor's office had consulted with the University of
Montana, School of Law and had arranged to have a placement announcement
posted at the Law School. The idea behind the posting was to obtain
• a summer intern to handle City Court prosecutions on an interim basis
during the summer. There is no money in the budget to cover the cost
of that person, but the Mayor felt that certain monies could be made
available to at least fund one month of the intern's salary with the
other funding coming with the new fiscal year in July. The Mayor
indicated that the City was not obligated by the announcement to hire
anyone from the School of Law and would be returning to the committee
once it was determined if there was any interest in the program at
the Law School and what the qualifications of the applicants were.
Meeting adjourned at approximately 7:00 P.M.
sh
0