CHAPTER VII. FIRECHAPTER VII. FIRE\ARTICLE 3. FIRE PREVENTION

There is hereby adopted by the City of Minneapolis for the purpose of prescribing regulations governing conditions hazardous to life and property from fire or explosion, that certain code known as the Fire Prevention Code recommended by the American Insurance Association, being particularly the 1965 edition thereof and the whole thereof, save and except such portions as are hereinafter deleted, modified or amended, of which code not less than three (3) copies have been and now are filed in the office of the city clerk and the same are hereby adopted and incorporated as fully as if set out at length herein, and from the date on which this article shall take effect.

The fire prevention code shall be enforced by the chief of the fire department of the City of Minneapolis. A report of the chief of the fire department shall be made annually and transmitted to the mayor; it shall contain all proceedings under this code, with such statistics as the chief of the fire department may wish to include therein; the chief of the fire department shall also recommend any amendments to the code which, in his judgment, shall be desirable.

(a)   Wherever the word “Municipality” is used in the fire prevention code, it shall be held to mean the City of Minneapolis. (b) Wherever the term “Corporation Counsel” is used in the fire prevention code, it shall be held to mean the city attorney.

The chief of the fire department shall have power to modify any of the provisions of the fire prevention code upon application in writing by the owner or lessee, or his duly authorized agent, when there are practical difficulties in the way of carrying out the strict letter of the code, provided that the spirit of the code shall be observed, public safety secured, and substantial justice done. The particulars of such modification when granted or allowed and the decision of the chief of the fire department thereon shall be entered upon the records of the department and a signed copy shall be furnished the applicant.

Whenever the chief of the fire department shall disapprove an application or refuse to grant a permit applied for, or when it is claimed that the provisions of the code do not apply or that the true intent and meaning of the code have been misconstrued or wrongly interpreted, the applicant may appeal from the decision of the chief of the fire department to city council within thirty (30) days from the date of the decision appealed.

The mayor of the City of Minneapolis, Kansas, is hereby authorized during periods of continued drought threatening the water supply and shortage thereof to declare an emergency.

Upon declaring an emergency, the mayor of the City of Minneapolis, Kansas shall cause to be published in the official city paper notice thereof, and the provisions of this article shall be enforced from the date of publication of such notice declaring an emergency until such time as the conditions giving rise to such emergency shall abate, at which time the said mayor shall cause notice of the expiration of such emergency to be published in like fashion in the official city newspaper.

In the event a declaration of emergency is issued, water usage shall be restricted or prohibited first for uses of the following priority:

(a)   Water lawns, gardens, trees, shrubs, plants and watering outside dwellings for such purposes as cars, boats, or trailer washing or washing exteriors of dwellings;

(b)   Industrial uses of water;

(c)   Business uses other than industrial;

(d)   Home uses other than those set forth in subsection (a).

Any person, firm or corporation violating any of the provisions of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined in any sum not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100.00), or be imprisoned for not to exceed thirty (30) days, or be both so fined and imprisoned.

(a)   The owner or manager or operator of each proposed fireworks stand shall make an application for a license to operate a stand within the city.

(b)   The city shall establish regulations covering safety procedures in the operation of fireworks stands.

(c)   The city clerk shall examine each application, which is due in the Clerk’s office by June 15th of each year. Any application received after June 15th will be denied..

(d)   There shall be an annual license fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00).

(e)   The license shall expire at midnight on July 4th of each year.

(f)   This section is to be construed to be in compliance with K.S.A. 31-133 and those regulations promulgated in compliance therewith.

(Ord. 1717)

It shall be unlawful for any person to sell any fireworks within the city limits before 8:00 o’clock a.m. on the twenty-seventh (27th) day of June and after midnight on the fourth (4th) day of July of any year. It shall also be unlawful for any person to sell any fireworks without first obtaining a license to do so from the city clerk.

(Ord. 1717)

It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to discharge or cause to be discharged within this city, any fireworks, defined by this article any combustible or explosive composition, or any substance or combination of substances, or article prepared for the purpose of producing a visible or an audible effect by combustion, explosion, deflagration or detonation, except after the hour of six (6) o’clock p.m. on July 3 and before the hour of twelve (12) o’clock midnight on July 4 of any year: Provided, that no fireworks shall be fired or discharged within the fire limits of the city at any time.

(a)   It shall be unlawful for any person to set off, discharge or explode, or to knowingly permit any other person to discharge or explode any fireworks at the fairgrounds or ballparks; provided, however, that upon approval of the governing body for the City of Minneapolis, fireworks to be used for exhibition purposes or celebrations may be discharged or exploded provided the individuals in charge of the same are experienced in the handling of fireworks and the public attending such exhibition or celebration is kept at a safe distance.

(b)   A violation of this section shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500) or by imprisonment for a period not exceeding six (6) months.

(Ord. 1717)

When in the opinion of the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners there exists a condition of extreme fire danger and the board has passed a resolution banning any type of open burning, the City of Minneapolis shall automatically recognize that burn ban and shall follow the procedures as outlined in the “Standard Operating Procedures for Imposing and Lifting Ottawa County Burning Ban” as promulgated by the Ottawa County Emergency Management Director.