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ATTENTION! Your local Government wants to make you safer!
Berrien County Board of Commissioners
Notice of a Public Hearing on the
Proposed Pier Diving or Jumping Ordinance No. 25
St. Joseph Police Chief Mark Clapp said the ordinance would provide a tool, a way for officers to make contact with people who are doing something dangerous. If nothing else it would make them aware of the dan­gers that go along with pier jumping, Clapp said. (H-P, 2008)
The Berrien County Commissioners will be meeting at 10:45 am, Thursday, January 9, 2014 at the Berrien County Administrative Center, 701 Main St., Saint Joseph in the County Commissions meeting chamber.
When they originally tried to enact a similar ordinance in 2008, the draft ordinance was much too broad in scope, especially since it gave no exceptions to individuals using the pier as an entry point for scuba diving, surfboard and kite boarding entry and use.
As written, the ordinance would administratively inhibit people from jumping or diving off the piers upon threat of being cited and fined. There was no provision to allow people using the pier to enter the water in good weather with calm waves when there is no more danger to them than those a hundred feet away on the beach swimming.
Would the new ordinance better define what constitutes people doing something dangerous?
For those deciding to use the pier when the lake has kicked up, rip currents are active and waves are over running the piers, will a ban really deter them?
If you have an opinion, make sure you attend the meeting or send one of the following Berrien County Commissioners an email.
Chair: Jon Hinkelman (2nd District Commissioner) - jdhinkelman@qtm.net
ViceChair: Marletta Seats (3rd District Commissioner) - marletta@ameritech.net
Jeanette Leahey (6th District Commissioner) - jeanetteleahey@hotmail.com
Debra Panozzo (7th District Commissioner) - debpanozzo@gmail.com
Director of Public Safety Department Mark Clapp - clapp@sjcity.comMark
http://berriencounty.org/BoardofCommissioners/MeetYourCommissioners
