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Kenai city council considers ban on pallet burning on Kenai beaches

Campers on the city of Kenai’s beaches will have to be more careful about their bonfires in the future.

At its meeting this week, the Kenai city council discussed a new ordinance that would ban burning pallets and other materials that have nails, screws and other fasteners. City manager Paul Ostrander told the council the new rules would be applicable year round, though they’re geared mostly toward the dipnet fishery.

“The main thing that we’ve heard is consistent complaints about all the metal that’s left on the beaches and causing people to blow tires and (it’s) a public safety hazard. Even if we extend the (grace) period to a year I think we’re still headed in the right direction and it’s going to take some time to get compliance anyway.”

There was some concern on the council about putting new rules and penalties in place for activities people have been carrying out on the beaches for years. And also the question of enforcement. Council member Henry Knackstedt posited a hypothetical to city attorney Scott Bloom.

 

“A group of people are having a fire and a policeman sees a pallet on the top. Who gets the fine?”

 

“We discussed that internally and that is an issue," Bloom said. "I think our biggest goal isn’t to issue citations but to have the authority to say you can’t do this and, again, hopefully get the majority of compliance through signage and public notice that this is prohibited whereas now it’s not. Certainly, if you have 50 teenagers standing around a fire, to get one to confess it was their pallet could be an issue. But at least at this point it gives us the authority to tell them to put the fire out and take the material home.”

Those fines would be dependent on the situation, but could go as high as $500. Council member Tim Navarre saw no rush to start ticketing people. He said he’d like to see some sort of grace period during which warnings are issued and the city gets some signs up to inform beach goers of the new rules.

“I’m sort of leaning in that direction because so often we just pass the law and don’t give anyone (notice). And yet you give law enforcement the ability to just fine somebody if they want to.”

And that was enough for the council to table the ordinance until its next meeting in October.