The Fayetteville City Council will consider amending a hazardous materials ordinance that charges property owners and residents for any costs incurred by the city for having to respond to a hazmat emergency.
The charges are not new.
People have been charged for hazmat response in the past, according to Fayetteville Fire Chief Mike Hill.
Hazardous materials are substances that could harm human health or the environment.
The proposed amendment to the ordinance is on the consent agenda for Monday night’s City Council meeting. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on the second floor of the FAST Transit building off Franklin Street.
The original hazardous materials ordinance, Hill said, was drafted in 1995.
According to the city, the council would amend various subsections of the ordinance.
“It changes the language in the collections and the appeals process to match the practices that the (city's) Finance Department is doing,” Hill said. “It doesn’t change anything within the content or spirit of the ordinance. It still pretty much aligns with the general statute.”
Hill said staff had recognized that the original ordinance was inconsistent with the city’s new financial system. “It just aligns with what current financial practice is,” he said. “I know it doesn’t match with what was in the older ordinance.”
The charges for hazardous materials emergency response on behalf of the city by the Fire Department and other city departments will be based on a schedule to be approved by the City Council and kept on file for public inspection in the fire chief’s office and in the director’s office of other city departments, the city said in the agenda materials.
Michael Futch covers Fayetteville and education for CityView TODAY. He can be reached at mfutch@cityviewnc.com. Have a news tip? Email news@CityViewTODAY.com.
