HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Public Safety (Committee) - 11/18/1997 V
- MINUTES FROM PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MINETING
NOVEMBER 18, 1997
PRESENT: Jim Bennett, Chair Roger Lubovich
Tim Clark
Connie Epperly
Meeting called to order by Chairman Bennett at 5:05 p.m.
Local Law Enforcement Block Grant for Domestic Violence
Roger Lubovich explained that the city's application for funding has bew approved through
the Bureau of Justice Local Law Enforcement Block Grant program in the amount $69,402.
Ten percent of the $69,000 would be city matching funds. The grantim been earmarked
for domestic violence response enhancement. It does not supplant any current program. It
is a two year grant and they intend to use half of it, approximately $35, ,000 with the
matching funds for the first year for a domestic violence advocate pooition to assist the
current domestic violence advocate. For the second year they would possibly continue with
the domestic violence advocate position and also look at police overtime for domestic
violence response. The temporary position has been requested in the budget, but it is a
condition of the grant itself. This has been discussed at previous Qpsrations Committee
meetings. Lubovich further explained that as one of the condition ofceptance of the
grant, they require that a public hearing be held on the dispersem& and use of the grant
money, which can be done at committee level. The public hearing I* belen advertised to
for today's meeting.
Chairman Bennett asked if there were any questions, and then opened the meeting for
public testimony.
Clark asked if there were any members of the public who wished to; tify on the issue of
the domestic violence grant monies. No comment from the audience was presented.
Tim Clark moved to close the hearing; motion seconded by Connie Opperly. Motion passed
unanimously (3-0). ;
Tim Clark moved to approve acceptance and dispersement of Local,il-aw',Enforcement
Block Grant funds as presented and requested the issue be placed,gn the December 9,
1997, City Council Consent Calendar for approval by full Council; rnptlon seconded by
Connie Epperly. Motion passed unanimously (3-0).
Tim Clark thanked Captain Jim Miller of the police department for th.9 work he did on the
grant application.
Qperation of Personal Watercraft Ordinance
Jim Bennett explained that a copy of the draft ordinance was sent out to those who signed
the mailing list at the last meeting. He was hoping that people got together after reviewing
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Minutes from Public Safety Committee Meeting
T November 18, 1997
Page 2 of 8
the draft ordinance, made any changes they would like to see and came to the meeting
today with those changes.
At Bennett's request, Roger Lubovich explained what the current lawn Js and what the
proposed ordinance does. Last May, City Council adopted an ordinance that restricts the
use of personal watercraft as follows: personal watercraft may be operated on the lake at
speeds up to and including 8 mph any day except during the hours of,darkness. Part two
covers high speed use. Personal watercraft may be operated on thelake in excess of 8
mph only as follows: between the hours of 12 noon and 6:00 p.m. oneven numbered days
of the calendar. Lubovich explained that at the last meeting there was discussion about
opening up high speed use on even numbered days, as it was durin%the summer. The
proposed ordinance would allow personal watercraft to be operated �n,the lake at speeds
in excess of 8 mph as follows: between the hours 12 noon and 6:00;p.m. on even
numbered days of the calendar throughout the year. This change would authorize high
speed use year round.
Chairman Bennett opened the meeting for public comment, asking that individuals come
forward and identify themselves:
Bill Turnbull, 13926 SE 256th; presented information he had researoso on a court case
that was heard in Illinois. His interpretation is that the court decisiceys it is illegal under
federal law, as well as permits issued by the Corps of Engineers, to iscriminate against
different types or different classes of personal watercraft, boats or vicles that are using
those waters. He feels the committee should carefully consider a resolution that would
treat all types of water craft equally, as the ordinance presented here today does not. He
feels that the information he has presented gives all the arguments that were used in the
court case and citations of federal law. He advised that there were two permits issued by
the Corps of Engineers for building the park at Lake Meridian and there may be restrictive
language in those permits also.
Roger Lubovich that he would have to look into the case, but felt them was probably a
different set of circumstances associated with it.
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Steve Crowell, 26709 148 AV SE; advised that he had information t Ponflicted with the
information just presented. He had spent time looking through reso, that were
available over the internet. There was a lot of information about watercraft being
separated out from other types of boats and laws that were totally separate. He feels to
some extent that this situation is the fault of the city for the way that!fey have implemented
the jet ski laws and the way they have supported them. From the testimony that has been
presented, it is intuitively obvious that jet skis are somewhat more d gerous than boats
and they make lots more noise, but there has been no empirical prodf given. From the
information he gathered, Crowell presented the following statistics., i, tate of Pennsylvania -
of the registered boats, 5.5 % in 1996 were personal watercraft; of rrted boat accidents,
33% involved personal watercraft; injuries, 31%; and collisions, 61 Q Mate of Michigan
Department of Natural Resources -45% of the 689 boating incidents,[reported during 1995
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November 18, 1997
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season involved personal watercraft. Colorado State Parks - persona watercraft make up
less than 10% of the registered watercraft, but they account for 50% Of,the states boating
accidents. Collier County, Florida - in February they restricted the u$,e'of personal
watercraft, by name, to a minimum distance of 750 feet away from tha shore, reducing the
risk to bathers as well as noise. Fort Lauderdale, Florida - in Septetr they banned
personal watercraft from city waterways, residents have complained;Obout the noise and
the wake caused by the small craft and some say they also create a'danger to swimmers
and boat traffic. Federal National Parks - in September the Star Tribune in Minneapolis
reports that federal officials announced a moratorium will be imposeGl on the use of
personal watercraft in the National Park system, stating the moratorium is part a long
overdue review of boating and water recreation rules throughout the,,National Park system,
questioning whether personal watercraft are compatible with the rul of some parks. Lake
Tahoe - in June banned personal watercraft with two cycle carburetl engines, citing water
pollution and noise pollution. As you can see, personal watercraft aile not just another type
of watercraft, they are frequently separated out from common boats. A is not just some
effort by people on Lake Meridian to discriminate and oppress people who ride jet skis.
They are incredibly dangerous in comparison to regular boats, and thye,statistics are out
there.
The Personal Watercraft Industry Association (PWIA) has publishetiaftve point personal
watercraft platform. Crowell advised that they appear to be a very, onsible organization
and they have taken to self-governing, self-policing. PWIA memo a manufacturers of
jet skis. Number one in their five point plan is boater education. Th +have developed
classroom materials now used in more than 12 states and national organizations such as
the U.S. Coast Auxiliary, the U.S. Power Squadron, local boating enforcement agencies.
Residents along Lake Meridian encouraged from the start that there Oe an educational
program that required some sort of certification and proof that you haO, been trained in
order to be allowed to use a jet ski on than lake. The police departm tt advised they had
no resources to administer such a program. Point number two is noise reduction, an
admission that there is noise problem. PWIA endorses the use of so+called shoreline noise
measurement laws as contained in the National Marine Manufa A, Asociation. This
was another proposal from the Lake Meridian Community Ass the people
around the lake, but again were told the Kent does have the re ` 'f do that. Point
number three is a model PWC legislation, however, Crowell was n 10 get a copy in
time for the meeting. Point number four is strong, effective boating I rcement. The
original times and dates that,were put in were to restrict the use of p psortol watercraft on
that lake to coincide with times when there was adequate law enforconent on the lake.
The proposal presented is to put more jet skis out there when the "no.police coverage.
Point number five is balancing the rights to all parties. They talk abok�t everyone has to be
represented equally and about how situations have been resolved, Hp stated that what is
being proposed here is not in concert with what's been recommendoO by residents from
around the lake and is not in concert with what PWIA would advise you,to do.
Bennett clarified that the Committee is not making the proposal. Theo0r,,dtnance was made
up from input from the members around Lake Meridian and the court ttae is just passing
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November 18, 1997
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judgement on it. It was brought back today, hopefully, with some ne' ideas and some new
thoughts.
To follow up on the case submitted by the first speaker, Lubovich stated its not really based
on the same set of facts. The case has to do with a violation of a copOtion issued by the
Corps for the development of a boat launch and a permit violation i4ai he reason why it was
invalidated. It was a permit condition violation. The condition beinl cannot deny
access to this launch if we let you put it on the river. It was a permit,Wolation which is not
the same as a police power regulation. Turnbull argued that he bel*'►ves it does have to do
with a permit violation and does cite federal law that says you cannOt unfairly restrict or
discriminate against the various classes of watercraft. The two thingo that he was really
trying to address, one was the federal law that prohibits discrimination.and the other is the
possibility that in the two permits there may be language that is connon in the Corps of
Engineers which would prohibit discrimination.
Burke Lowrey, United States Power Sauadrol3s; Presented a video$aped called "Jet
Smart". He proposed to the committee that one of the problems they are having throughout
the State of Washington and throughout the country in general is tho fact that there are a
lot of people competing for a lot of public resources and they are tr*9 to get people to
start taking some classes. He would also like to connect with somekalers and possibly
get a course like this sold through the dealerships when the wat are sold so people
who are buying can be aware of rules and regulations that pertain:,. ,'appears there is a lot
of the equipment being sold without a real understanding of how fay the equipment is and
the rules, regulations and responsibilities that accompany the purchoise of that vessel.
And, these are vessels, they have registration numbers and according to the Coast Guard,
these people are supposed to follow the same rules and regulation*as everybody else.
Following a question from the audience as to information on the nul' ber of 911 calls,
Connie Epperly asked how many accidents had occurred on the lall Bennett advised
that he knew of one boating violation, but it didn't identify what the t c a Lion was or what
type of boat it was.
Pat Meldv, 26718 13 P8 L SE; Advised that she knew for a fact ya ei were quite a few
calls made to 911 and they were on days when the police boat wa Patrolling the lake.
The personal watercraft were in clear violation of the ordinance aril a of times as soon
as they saw the patrol officer going to the boat after several calls , made, they would
get off the watercraft and depart. They knew when the police offs a,were around. A lot of
times personal boaters tried to go around and tell others that they,metre violating the law
and if the police department came out they would be cited. On thei, $ions when she
herself called because there was a violation of ordinance, even wi . her sliding glass doors
shut, all the windows and doors shut, and the comment of the 911 ator was "Oh my
god, what's that noise." It was the jet ski. She stated that she knc+ its supposed to be a
safety factor, not a noise factor, but when she can't leave windows; doors open because
of the noise, and can't hear people talking on the telephone, she fi;� it a violation of her
rights. In addition, right now during the winter months when the water table of the lake has
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November 18, 1997
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risen, people are losing their beach front. One resident has lost fouret of his beach front
property due to the erosion of the soil because of the watercraft. Last year when this
ordinance came out, although the jet skis make a lot of noise, resideop were willing to live
with it because it was only every other day. That was acceptable.
To have to put up with it everyday just because there shouldn't be a aration of one type
from another is not. People who live on that lake are taxpayers too apd their property taxes
are a lot higher they can't enjoy their own property. There are times,When the wave action
is so bad on that lake that if you even want to have your children in iW*r tubes out trying to
swim, they better have dramamine because the wave action is that �.
Jack Wolinski. 13835 SE 260th; Courtesy of Kent Kawasaki, he was;Able to get some
printed materials on the issues. There is literature that is available t everybody, 20 Ways
to Protect our Environment is a good flyer and is produced by the R X There is also a
book called the Guide to Multiple Use Waterway Management, Cr a Safer Waterway,
which contains the five points talked about earlier. He stated that th*re are some statistics
that need to be pointed out that he finds really alarming. Why are pepple calling 911 when
its supposed to be an emergency phone number. (Members of audi" interrupted that
they were told to call 911.) Wolinski stated he had the floor and it wosmt open for
discussion. He too lives on the lake and he pays taxes just like ev else here is
sharing, but why people call 911 when there could be a life thr situation out there
on the lake or maybe within the community and people are callir Ot a personal
watercraft or boat doing something. This is not what it was desig and stated it his
personal opinion that it should stop. He stated a couple other thingsiithat needed to be
brought up are, taken from the same personal watercraft industry co4ncil statistics, the
average personal watercraft owner is 37 years old. A lot of the arguents that are being
discussed here all state the same thing, supervision on the lake. M; White
campaigned, there were 954 hours out there being patrolled on the 1 ' ` , He personally did
not see it all, but he wasn't home all day long. But the average inco i�i;of' personal
watercraft owner is about $95,000 and that's per capita of combined, Me throughout.
Whether its the parents or uncles or grandparents who let their; daughters and
grandchildren use them unsupervised, that's a problem that th Is need to take
care of. The safety issue is again bound to the owner. He nee what he's going
to do and how he's going to do it. There's also various programs s safety
programs and video tapes that come from the manufacturers. What1 ' ` to be done is
figure out a way where everyone can get together on this program=t ako it happen. The
whole object is to get this ordinance so that its fair to both sides only 13 violations
this year out of the 954 hours that were spent on the, he stated he fo# it was a pretty
successful summer. Regarding the problem with soil erosion, there the same problem
with a boat that displaces 3,000 pound of water versus a craft that 500 pounds. If its
doing it for one type then its doing it for the other. People need to. +4en minded on both
ends. The enforcement is there, but he thinks a lot of the problem ";fie confusion over
the ordinance. He thinks a solution can be put together that is fair t ' I.
Baay Cade. 20318121 CT SE: He is an avid windsurfer and he goe ''sailing down at the
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November 18, 1997
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Hood River down at the Gorge. There is a lot of windsurFer traffic these and there's a big
effort by some of the areas to close windsurfing, citing basically the same reasons. They
are trying to protect us from ourselves, but its not their responsibility,�, He stated he doesn't
need somebody else to protect him from himself. More than anything else, however, noise
seems to be the biggest issue here. He lives in Kent Eastridge, pretty much directly in the
flight path where the Boeing jets come in to Boeing field. And if this group is going to be
protected from the NOISE on a public lake, he feels that he should protected from the
noise from the jets that are flying over the top of his house, which ara lot louder than any
jet ski. What's fair for one is fair for all. His proposal would be to shot down the lake to
everyone, where nobody uses the lake for motor watercraft, or open;#up so its fair for
everyone else to use because it is a public lake.
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Dr. Sam Robottom; expressed his concern about the impact of the n as on the wildlife.
When he moved on the lake 50 years ago there were quite a few e;Bel3, but they have all
but disappeared. There are a couple still there, but he feels the noiI does bother them.
And, if they are still considered an endangered species, we shouldn' ;bm having the noise
out there.
Tom Brotherton, 26805 148 AV SE; explained that the ordinance we,ip have was derived
over along period of time by a large number of people trying to solviis problem. They
were trying to reach a compromise for people who use the jet skis. yi, ; r those who are
disturbed by the noise. Its hard to find a compromise that makes e $ happy. Jet skis
are a pretty recent phenomenon and a lot of jurisdictions are stn� g;rarith how to live with
jet skis close to people, taking into consideration safety and noise isles mainly, and
pollution to some degree. The ordinance we have is pretty good. the people he's
talked to around the lake have thought that its a partial solution. Its riat a total solution. if
you own a jet ski you want to run it more time. If you don't own a jet '; you don't want
them anywhere near you. It not like we're saying you can't use it, Its, t that we want
freedom from annoyance for all the people part of the time. The see'" ; lity was chosen
for that freedom from noise for people and also because there aren't"
�jet skiers who
actually try to use the lake in cold weather. The majority of the rea ,Was the police boat.
The police boat is put in the water in the middle of May and taken o io, the middle of
September. When the police boat is on the lake everyone acts a lots, They were
much more safe, they stayed further away from other people, and obeyed the laws.
Brotherton recommends that the ordinance be left the way it is -- me look for other
things to adjust in the ordinance, but seasonality is one of the key fa+ s that let people live
with the opposing camp. Does not like the draft ordinance as pre se", , recommends to
stay with it the way it read over the summer.
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GAY Stewart. 26620 127 AV SE; stated his concern was the wordi f the ordinance
under Section I, A and B. He owns a watercraft that has an air coo ,engine, but he
cannot use it on the lake because its a 40 horsepower and they limit it to 10
horsepower because its an air cooled engine. He doesn't see why have differentiate
between the way engines are cooled.
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November 18, 1997 �
Page 7 of 8
Lubovich advised that he had already been approached concerning particular section.
He believes the section was taken from the old King County Code a niv,its not very clear.
He has looked at and doesn't know why its even needed, unless ther4o is some benefit in
making it easier to enforce. It is outdated and probably needs to beaked at for
modification or to be removed.
Scott McGill, 13709 SE 255 PL; lives a couple blocks off the lake. Hop owns neither a jet ski
or a boat. He just moved into the Lake Meridian area within the last year. He does have
friends who have jet skis and friends who do have boats. He has nod;l,attended previous
meetings, but stated it appears the biggest issue here is noise. Lak ,f,Meridian is a small
lake. From the experience he had on the lake over the summer, he Ind more noise
generated from the larger craft than he did from any of the wet bikesirr jet skis, etc. From
where they sat on the beach, however, most of the time he could h", lawn mowers over
the jet skis. Stated he feels this discussion about noise is getting ri lows. Noise is
noise, whether its a lawn mower, a jet ski, an outboard motor, peopl the beach, people
having a party, whatever. He stated that personally he does not fi he noise of a jet ski
obnoxious, he finds outboard motor noise louder and more obnoxiou$. The second thing
he saw are the amount of vessels on the lake, there were just too marl I of�them. There has
to be a way to limit the amount of vessels. Also, he has found that.tl ,pperators of the jet
skis are more responsible that a lot of the boaters, stating he didn'tA�On want to talk about
the issue of alcohol and boaters. ,'
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Epperly asked if the lake could possibly be closed to residents only. ,! r, it is not an option.
Ralph Gerber; has lived on the lake 41 years. He stated he has never seen people out
there on the jet skis who have followed the rules. Its no fun if they dop'l zig and zag around
the lake and jump it up out of the water. With their muffler out of the ter, it just roars.
They cannot use their own beach on the weekends at all, the waves, too high and their
little grandkids can't swim in it. The silt is coming off the bottom of - *q. Gerber stated
they first got permission to waterski on Lake Meridian, after King Co„ did their studies
and said there's no way you can go fast on that lake and not stir up *aliment on the
bottom and destroy the lake. They limited the speed to 28 mph, but somebody in the
City of Kent has raised it to 35 mph. But those boats don't go 35, t ,goli 50 to 60 mph.
Gerber stated their taxes are twice as high as the people across the ,' d,ithey are paying
for the beauty of that lake. The few outboard motors that he sees srr (usually trolling,
fishing. You don't very often see an outboard skiing. They can't Igo fast enough. He
stated he feels they are entitled to have it quiet. The jet skis drive crazy. You feel
like taking a gun out there. Gerber said the police department is doi I :a good job, but they
are not issuing tickets for speeding, they are warning people, trying# slow them down.
When the county bought the picnic area, residents said it would be 1 as long as they
didn't put in a boat launch. Well, first thing they did was put up a b launch sign. After
complaining to the county, the were told the couldn't go by what emp,
ees told them, they
had to go by what the general public wants. Gerber stated he feels ething is very
wrong.
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November 18, 1997
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Marilyn Gibbs, 14661 SE 267; lives on Lake Meridian. Circulated a Iq tter that she and her
husband wrote. She stated that she doesn't feel its the noise on theoke that has impacted
the eagles, its the insecticides. She has seen the eagles are out th"when the boats and
the jet skis are there and when they are not. Feels the ordinance that was proposed last
spring is not the ordinance that was enacted. The ordinance was wr tan with Mr.
Brotherton in attendance and she feels it is biased and changed. This was evident at the
last meeting when people were very confused about the sunset claw and exactly what
happened on September 15th. Most were lead to believe that it woul go back to the way it
was before. She feels the people who are really against this are thelaple that don't use
the lake. She does not want to see her use of the lake taken away, Gating she feels very
strongly about it.
HEARING CLOSED by Chairman Bennett.
Milli
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Bennett stated the issue would be moved to the December 9th Courl meeting, under
"Other Business" and it will be up to the Mayor to decide how much i'put is to be given at
that time. Usually holds his speakers to three minutes. Bennett furthw stated the he hoped
the neighbors do not divide themselves as a result of this.
Following discussion between committee members on moving the ism out of committee,
Tim Clark moved to have all items presented to the committee at, ' �rting entered as
part of the public record; motion seconded Connie Epperly. Mo" q unanimously
(3-0).
Tim Clark moved to send this issue forward to full Council for discus on under "Other
Business" without committee recommendation; motion seconded by, onnie Epperly.
Motion passed unanimously (3-0). u
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Meeting adjourned at 6:15 p.m. by Chairman Bennett.
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