At Mayor Jon Nehring’s Coffee Klatch Thursday, some attendees wanted to know when the city was going to announce a ban on fireworks. The topic has been under discussion since last July 4, and a committee is looking into the issue.

An online survey has had more than 800 responses. Nehring said the city has been promoting the poll because it wants “as many people as possible” to voice their opinions. Nehring said the responses run the gamut, with some people saying the city can’t take away its right as a citizen to others saying they can’t watch another animal suffer.

“The intensity of the responses surprised everybody,” Community Development Director Gloria Hirashima said. She added the city is watching the legislature, too, because of a bill regarding fireworks bans.

Another hot topic at the meeting was code enforcement.

Ralph Wilson of Rolling Greens Estates said he filed a complaint more than a year ago about some homes in his neighborhood. He said nothing has been done, and there was a fire there Feb. 23. He wondered if more staffing was needed, calling it “preventative medicine.”  He said values of houses go down when those eyesores are allowed to stay.

“I’m a hawk” when it comes to code enforcement, Nehring said. “A few people can mess it up for the rest of their neighbors.”

The mayor said voluntary compliance works best, but if someone “digs in their heels it’s tough for us to win that battle.”

The reason, he said, is judges are reluctant to put somebody in jail for such offenses.

Jean Hageman, who lives in the same area as Wilson, said there are four drug houses in the development, and in the common area where children play there are addicts and drug buys going on.

“It’s only going to be worse this summer, and I don’t want to live in a slum,” she said.

Cmdr. Jeff Goldman of the Marysville Police Department said he understands her pain.

“We don’t have domes over our houses just because we’re cops,” he said, adding police will target that area and get swift results.

Wilson, who is president of the homeowners association there, said he is trying to get the neighborhood more involved in helping itself, such as with a Neighborhood Crime Watch program.

Hageman complained about all the parked cars.

Hirashima said city laws don’t allow cars to be parked all over front yards, so some people “stack them up like a cord of wood” in back.

Hageman said some cities use eminent domain to buy nuisance properties, but Nehring said he didn’t want to get into that.

“We’d be buying up a lot of property,” he said to laughter of the group of about 20 people. “We don’t want our government in the housing business.”

Also at the meeting:

• Nehring said he plans to run for re-election. He said he lives to work, and he’s “blessed to have a position where I can affect the community.”

• The increase in property taxes also was brought up. Nehring said the city portion actually went down. However, the school portion went up because of a court ruling that businesses on tribal lands don’t have to pay property taxes. So the property owners in the rest of the district have to make up the difference.

• Also, it is almost time for the yard waste bins to start being collected. The mayor was asked why food waste can’t be part of that collection, and also why the bins can’t be collected in winter, too.  Nehring said those are items that can be discussed further if there is enough interest.

• The mayor was asked about train safety. He said that is a topic of concern for state and federal lawmakers. He said local police and fire are trained in disaster preparedness, and reverse 9-1-1 would alert residents if an evacuation was needed. As an example, he talked about a shooting a few months ago in Granite Falls, Lake Stevens and Marysville when the suspect was caught here. “Lives were saved that night,” Nehring said.