Ritzville Council approves amended marijuana ordinance

The Ritzville City Council approved Ordinance 2105 regarding regulations on marijuana production, processing and retail sales within the city limits.

Clerk-Treasurer Kris Robbins first presented the ordinance to the Council on Feb. 7, where they held a public forum prior to the meeting to discuss possible changes to the document and approve a 60-day extension to the existing moratorium on marijuana sales and production.

After reviewing recommendations made by City Attorney Mark DeWulf and the Ritzville Planning Commission, the Council decided to include verbiage to match state laws and update the distance marijuana retailers and processors are required to be from residential and public areas.

The ordinance states medical marijuana cooperatives must be 1,000 feet from other medical marijuana cooperatives, public areas and schools. It also includes a 500 foot buffer for marijuana producers, processors and retailers from residential zones, public parks, recreation centers, libraries, child care centers, game arcades and 100 feet from public transit centers.

DeWulf recommended the city make amendments to the violation and penalties section of the ordinance to match the state law, which were included in the approved document. The ordinance states violation of the provisions of the ordinance will result in a civil infraction with a fine of $250 and each day’s violation is a separate offense.

The Council motioned to approve the ordinance.

Mayor Gary Cook then presented the contract amendment for PumpTech, which is the contracting company the city has hired to repair the Well 9 pump.

DeWulf said after reviewing the contract with the city’s insurance carrier, they decided to amend the $2 million per occurrence of bodily injury and property damage verbiage to $1 million.

He also contacted the contractor’s agent about including insurance coverage in the case of collapse as well as underground coverage. DeWulf recommended the Council allow Cook to execute the contract amendment, subject to the attorney’s review.

Cook said due to the fact the Council approved him to authorize decisions on the contract, they decided to discuss the amendments administratively at a later date.

He then stated the decision to increase the tipping fee at the transfer station 10 percent was approved at the previous Solid Waste Advisory Committee meeting, which raised the fee from $70 to $77. The change will affect the budget and possibly require a budget amendment, he explained.

DeWulf said after reviewing the draft for the false alarm ordinance, he recommended the city require businesses to provide a person of contact for emergencies. He said Ritzville Fire Chief Bill Banner suggested businesses complete an alarm registry, which will require them to list a contact in the case of an incident or false alarm.

During the committee reports, councilmember Scott Yaeger said he would provide a design plan for the Council to approve at the next meeting on March 7 from the Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) for the First Avenue project.

TIB is funding 95 percent of the project with a design cost limit of $45,000 and any additional costs will be the responsibility of the city, he explained. After the document is approved, the next step will be for the Council to sign the contingent agreement, he added.

Yaeger said two of the city’s bridges will need to be load rated to meet the new state requirements. The bridges on Division Street and Chelan Street are required to be load rated to a single haul vehicle load rate by 2021, he explained.

The cost of the construction will cost $1,013 for the Division Street bridge and $1,400 for the Chelan Street bridge.

With consultant fee increases about three percent each year, he said they plan on starting the project soon and will complete the construction over the course of the next four years.

The Council suggested Yaeger present the projects to the Finance Committee to review possible funds to complete the load rating.