DAYTON COUNCIL COVER JULY 4 FIREWORKS, DOG, AND ZONING

DAYTON – The Dayton City Council met at 6 p.m. on August 12, 2025. Mayor Roger Trump and council members James Su’euga, Michael Smith, Glenn Hagfeldt, Laura Aukerman, Kyle Anderson, Shannon McMillen, and Joann Patras were in attendance.

During public comment, one resident said they were concerned about two properties they felt were fire hazards due to tall, dry, overgrown weeds.

Another citizen called the city’s water bills an obscenity and asked for city assistance to find landscaping alternatives to dead grass. He said, in relationship to fireworks, that the Fourth of July is one day, not five. He ended by advocating for a city-wide clean-up.

Another resident, for neighbors living north of the sheriff’s office, spoke against “big boom” fireworks, citing their deleterious effects on dogs and veterans with PTSD.

Other public comments included concerns about barking and menacing dogs, as well as a dog being treated cruelly by being tied up outside without access to shade.

Ryan Paulson, Public Works Director, said he had issued citations in the past, and the dog owners generally do not appear for their court dates, and the cases fail to move forward. Aukerman said these issues would be a good thing to talk about at the next council workshop.

The council agreed to discuss public nuisance issues concerning fireworks and dogs at the workshop on August 19, 2025, at 3 p.m.

Sheriff Helm presented statistics on the number of calls his department had responded to. He spoke about firework use on July 4 and said there had been no fireworks-related fires. Helm said there had not been any illegal fireworks use found by deputies responding to complaints.

Helm said the sheriff’s office had not received complaints about any fireworks used outside the legal period of 9 a.m. to midnight on July 4. Helm said mortars are loud, but legal. He said that anyone with illegal fireworks would have been fined, and the fireworks confiscated.

Helms concluded his report by saying porta-potties would be provided during the National Night Out event next year.

County Commissioner Ryan Rundell gave statistics on emergency calls and highlighted open jobs available with the county. He encouraged people to check the county’s employment website at https://columbiaco.com/jobs.aspx.

Rundell said the county is looking at possible repairs to the east grandstand at the fairgrounds. He also said the county’s former planning and building department building would be auctioned online.

In Paulson’s department report, he said he found a grant that might allow the city to pave the levee trail and replace the gravel with asphalt from the sports complex to the North Touchet River. The council approved applying for the grant.

Building Official Clark Posey said there are people living in several commercial buildings on Main Street, but there is no commercial or retail business being conducted. Under the city’s central commercial zoning law, at least 45% of the main floor adjacent to the street front of the building must be used for commercial use. Only the remaining 55% of the main floor and all other floors can be used for residential purposes.

Posey said notices were sent in the last week to the two properties mentioned as fire hazards in earlier public comments. He also said the city issued a demolition permit for the Ray’s Drive-In building. He said Dollar General submitted a building permit application on the property and expected it to be issued soon.

The council discussed a request from a citizen to display American flags on Main Street for Juneteenth as the city does for other Federal holidays. Aukerman asked, “Where do you stop? The next thing you know, we’ll have to put a flag up for dog month or something else.”

Su’euga suggested private groups could set up displays for holidays or events as they wish. The took no action.

The meeting moved to executive session. The regular meeting resumed without action. Hagfeldt gave kudos to the owners of The Scotsman, a wedding and community events center that held its grand opening on August 2.

The next city council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 9, 2025, at 6 p.m.