The Prescott City Council approved a first reading of an ordinance that provides guidelines of when recreational fires are allowed, with one revision. The ordinances will move to a second reading at the next meeting with the provision that fires have to be extinguished by 11 p.m. removed.

Debate at last Monday night's meeting between three council members was lively, causing Mayor David Hovel to step in and move the matter to a vote.

The 'Open Burning' ordinance would require fires to be in a fire pit more than three feet in diameter, contained to the pit and not be more than three-feet high. Fires must be 15 feet from a structure unless in an appliance. No rubbish, hard waste or treated wood can be burned, and there must be someone 16 years or older supervising the fire.

The time element was stricken from the proposed ordinance after debate.

Regarding the time, council member Rob Daugherty said, 'Let's say you work second shift, and you come home from work and want to sit out by your fire with your buddies and drink a few beers until 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning. What's wrong with that?'

City Administrator Jayne Brand replied, 'We're in a city.'

Daugherty replied, 'What's the difference between having one (a fire) at 7 p.m. or midnight when you come home. What's the difference?'

Council member Thomas Oss brought up personal experiences he's had.

'I can make a comment on that, because a block away, I had a group of people that love to stay up all night, having fires and drinking beer,' he said. 'I'm telling you, first of all, I had to shut my window because the smoke would come into my house. Second of all, I could hear them laughing, yakking all night long. And it was really, really irritating. It comes down to what Jayne says, we live in a city.'

'It's not annoying before 11 p.m.?' alderperson Josh Gergen asked.

'It's more annoying after 11 p.m.,' said Dar Hintz.

Oss said, 'It's the noise factor.'

Daugherty and Gergen pointed out that the noise would be a different matter not covered by the burning ordinance.

'My neighbors, the ones that were doing this last summer and the year before and the year before, they came up after bar closing every night, started a fire and started drinking again,' said Oss. 'And it would end at about 4:30 in the morning. It was all weekend, every weekend.'

'OK, so you're talking about something totally different and has nothing to do with open burning. You're talking about nuisance and people making it. Then, you need to call the police and that's a nuisance and has nothing to do with burning,' said Daugherty.

'Well they were having a fire too,' said Oss.

Hintz chairs the Ordinance Committee. In support of keeping the time cut-off, she said, 'I just think that no good happens after 11 o'clock sometimes, and then you throw fire into it.'

'You're on your own property,' said Daugherty. 'You're not going to be able to do anything here pretty soon.'

Oss said Daugherty and Gergen were being 'ridiculous,' and they said he was the one being 'ridiculous.'

Alderperson Maureen Otwell made a motion to approve the first reading of the ordinance with the time restriction removed.

The measure passed 4-2, with Oss and Gergen in opposition for, as Oss put it, 'two different reasons.'

Oss wanted the time restriction, and Gergen said: 'I just don't like the ordinance at all.'

The council also approved an ordinance on accessory structures. The ordinance states:

•A building permit is required.

•Structures must meet zoning requirements.

•No more than two accessory buildings and one children's play structure may be placed on a lot in a residential district.

•Garages and other building must be 15 feet or less in height if detached and can't occupy more than 30 percent of the required rear yard.

Downtown Parking

Hovel said that the city public works department is putting together a plan to develop a new parking lot east of the Holiday gas station downtown. He said the city workers could do most of the job, such as excavating and a retaining wall. Cost estimates are forthcoming.