Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
The Sweet Home City Council will decide on numerous updates to city ordinances in October.
The council held the first readings of those ordinance updates at its regular meeting on Sept. 23.
The city is in the process of putting city codes on its Web site, City Manager Craig Martin said. People will be able to search and download the ordinances.
During the process, the city is “comprehensively reviewing all of the city ordinances and checking for conflicts with other ordinances,” he said. The city hired American Legal Publishing, a service of the League of Oregon Cities, to conduct the review, Martin said.
Ordinances often reference each other, and sometimes those references conflict. Sometimes a reference from one section to another no longer exists.
The review also is looking at how city ordinances interact with state and federal law, Martin said. A city ordinance can be inconsistent with those laws too.
The ordinance may reference a section of state law, for example, Martin said. After the ordinance is passed, the Oregon Legislature may change the law or repeal it, leaving the ordinance out of date.
One ordinance that is being deleted gives authority over misdemeanor crimes to the city’s Municipal Court, Martin said. Since that ordinance was created, the state passed a law that gives that authority to those courts. The ordinance is no longer required.
The changes are primarily corrections, elimination of inconsistencies or clarifications, he said.
One change eliminates the “fire department” from the ordinance. Since the formation of the Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District, the ordinance governing the fire department no longer applies.
Other changes update the vernacular in the ordinance, Martin said. Many of the ordinances were written decades ago, and the language is just out of date.
References to Jake brakes are changing to engine brakes, Martin said, because Jake brakes refer to a specific brand. The ordinance will begin using state law to deal with abandoned and junk vehicles. The noise ordinance technically requires “residents,” in the plural, to complain before the city can do something about a noise complaint. The ordinance will change to allow the city to respond to a single resident’s complainant.
One existing ordinance requires peddlers to get a license, Martin said. As part of that, sales representatives have to provide evidence of their good character by providing references from at least two Linn County residents. The new ordinance will simply require them to provide federal or state identification to police, so they can be tracked down later if necessary.
Some of the inconsistencies are amusing, Martin said. Among them is an ordinance about placing poison out for animals. The ordinance prohibits placing the poison where certain animals might get to it. Among those animals are dogs and cows. The problem is that the ordinance uses the term “cattle,” which means that the ordinance does not apply in the case of one “cow,” based on legal definition.
Building code ordinances also are being updated, primarily to reflect changes in state law, Community Development Director Carol Lewis said.
“Other than that it’s just basically for ease of reading, at least from our perspective,” Lewis said.
The ordinances require two more readings by the City Council.
Present at the council meeting were Jim Bean, Mayor Craig Fentiman, Jim Gourley, Greg Mahler, Eric Markell and Rich Rowley. Scott McKee Jr. was absent.
In other business, the council:
– Passed a resolution to lien several properties for the cost of mowing. City code allows the city to mow tall grass and weeds at the property owners’ expense. The city imposed $1,264.25 in liens.
– Appointed Julia Bosso, at large; Britney Price, high school at large; and Elric Benson, eighth grade, to the Youth Advisory Council. Five positions remain open, including freshman, seventh grade, one at large and two for ages 12 to 19. Call 367-8969 for more information.