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Myrtle Creek council updates public-peace code and renews telecom franchise
Summary
The Myrtle Creek City Council on July 15 approved consolidated updates to Title 9 of the municipal code addressing public peace and paraphernalia and granted a new telecom franchise agreement to maintain fiber in city right-of-way; both measures passed after staff explanation and brief council discussion.
The Myrtle Creek City Council voted July 15 to adopt an ordinance consolidating and updating several older provisions of Title 9 (public peace, morals and welfare), then approved a separate ordinance renewing a franchise for MCI (described in staff materials as the Verizon franchise) to maintain fiber optic cable in the city right-of-way.
Council members said the Title 9 update replaces dated ordinances and clarifies enforcement scope. During council review the police chief explained the practical limit of the paraphernalia language: “Paraphernalia is specifically designed for drug use or has drugs used through it,” and, he said, items that are designed and sold for tobacco use would not necessarily fall under the proposed definition unless they carried evidence of illegal drug residue.
The Title 9 ordinance was described by staff as a housekeeping consolidation that repeals and replaces older ordinances whose numbers were cited in the motion; council moved and carried the measure on a roll-call vote.
On the telecom item, staff said the draft ordinance (Ordinance 876) replaces a franchise that had run 30 years and would preserve annual franchise fees tied to linear feet of line in the right-of-way. Staff described the updated franchise as breaking the long term into 10-year segments and updating the per-foot rate (staff cited about $1.61 per foot as the base rate, with annual CPI adjustments). Council approved the ordinance after a brief first reading and roll-call vote.
Why it matters: The Title 9 update revises local enforcement tools related to public order and illegal drug-related paraphernalia; the telecom franchise preserves an ongoing revenue stream tied to buried fiber and clarifies term length and rates. Both votes set clear next steps: the Title 9 ordinance will be reflected in updated code language and the franchise agreement will be implemented under the terms approved by council.
What’s next: Ordinance texts will be finalized in the city record; administrative staff will carry out contractual steps for the franchise and implement the revised code language as directed by the council.
