STAFF REPORT
DATE: October 12, 2021
TO: Justin Hess, City Manager
FROM: Dawn Roth Lindell, General Manager, Burbank Water and Power BY: Lyndsey Kramer, Executive Assistant
Tiffany Titus, Legislative Analyst
SUBJECT: Introduction of an Ordinance Prohibiting the Sale of Mylar Balloons in the City of Burbank
RECOMMENDATION
Introduce AN ORDINANCE (ATTACHMENT 1) OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BURBANK AMENDING THE BURBANK MUNICIPAL CODE (BMC), ARTICLE 9, SECTION 4 -1-901 BY ADDING ARTICLE 9, SECTION 4 -1-902 RELATING TO THE
PROHIBITION OF THE SALE OF METALLIC OR MYLAR BALLOONS , MADE OF
ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE MATERIALS FILLED WITH HELIUM OR GAS WHICH IS LIGHTER THAN AIR WITHIN THE CITY OF BURBANK.
BACKGROUND
At the January 12, 2021 City Council Meeting, at the request of Council Member Anthony, Burbank Water and Power (BWP) staff presented a report on the efforts to mitigate outages caused by Mylar balloons within the City of Burbank . Delivering reliable, affordable, and sustainable service to the community is a top priority for BWP. Mylar balloons impact reliability and remain one of the top causes of power outages leading to interruption of electric service. When the conductive material of the Mylar balloon comes into contact with a power line it can cause outages, explosions, downed power lines, and damaged infrastructure. Balloons stuck in power lines can harm energy company workers tasked with removing the balloons from the power lines and lead to fires . Since 2000, Mylar balloons have been the number one cause of outages in Burbank resulting in 212 outages (15% of total outages), equating to 201 hours of customer interruption. Since staff last presented to City Council on this issue in January, there have been 6 outages caused by Mylar balloons. The City Council directed staff to move forward with options
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to consider the adoption of an ordinance regarding Mylar balloon regulations and to advocate with state and neighboring cities to adopt the same.
DISCUSSION
As directed by City Council to continue our advocacy work and collaborate with our neighboring cities on Mylar balloon policy, on January 21, 2021, BWP met with legislative affairs staff from the cities of Glendale and Los Angeles, and the Government Affairs Director at Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA) to discuss legislative activity and local bans related to Mylar balloons. SCPPA indicated that they would support members with state advocacy and networking with investor- owned utilities for Mylar balloon legislation. Currently the City of Glendale is the only neighboring city to move forward with an ordinance. The City of Pasadena and Los A ngeles Department of Water and Power have not taken any action. However, many other California cities have taken action including the City of Lompoc and the City of Encinitas. The beach cities of Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Redondo Beach located in Southern California Edison (SCE) territory have cited environmental concerns in support of passing ordinances related to Mylar balloons as part of their ban on single-use plastic products.
On February 19, 2021, Vice Mayor Talamantes and Council Member Schultz along with the City Manager, City Attorney, B WP General Manager and staff met with representatives from the Balloon Council , an organization made up of retailers, distributers, and manufacturers that are dedicated to educating others about balloons, to discuss the potential options for an ordinance prohibiting the sale of Mylar balloons within Burbank to be presented to Council for consideration . Concerns voiced by the Balloon Council related to the potential impact a ban may have on local businesses, especially on small businesses due to the possible decrease or loss in revenue from Mylar balloon sales.
During this legislative session, BWP was monitoring an assembly bill (AB) that San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) sponsored, AB 847 (Quirk) Electrically Conductive Balloons, to set up a state approved r egulatory office and regulations for testing of celebratory foil balloons. SDG&E claims they have worked with a leading U.S. balloon manufacturer to develop and test a balloon that was electrically non- conductive. This balloon has been claimed to be successfully tested in conditions common to SDG&E, SCE, and Pacific Gas & Electric's (PG&E) electrical d istribution configurations. AB 847 aimed at allowing non- conductive celebratory foil balloons to be regulated by the state. However, SDG&E and Assembly Member Quirk were not successful in passing this legislation. AB 847 failed to pass a legislative deadline and is now a two-year bill. The legislature may work on it again in January 2022.
The City Council may adopt the proposed ordinance (Attachment 1), similar to the City of Glendale’s ordinance that was passed by the City of Glendale on October 13, 2020, which ATTACHMENT 3
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prohibits the sale of Mylar balloons, or metallic balloons made of electrically conductive materials filled with helium or gas which is lighter than air, within the City of Glendale. The ordinance allows the sale of Mylar balloons filled with air only and attached or mounted to a post or decorative structure at the point of sale. Any violations of the ordinance would be enforced pursuant to Article 1, Chapter 1 of Title 1 in the Burbank Municipal Code and the penalties and fines set forth therein.
FISCAL IMPACT
Should the City Council adopt the proposed ordinance prohibiting the sale of Mylar balloons, there will be various costs associated with implementing and enforcing the ordinance.
Additional costs incurred include staff time from both BWP and the Community Development Department to educate and notify the public and affected businesses of the new ordinance. Staff estimates costs of up to $25,000 associated with creating and distributing educational and marketing materials, as well as notifications. Should the City Council approve the proposed ordinance, staff will distribute a letter to all affected businesses providing education on the new ordinance. Enforcing the ordinance would create additional workload for City code enforcement to respond to potential violations and issue citations to businesses who are failing to comply with the new ordinance. The fines associated with ordinance violations can be found in Article 1, Chapter 1 of Title 1 in the Burbank Municipal Code.
On the other hand, an ordinance that prohibits the sale of Mylar balloons filled with helium requiring that the balloons be attached to a decorative post or structure at the time of sale, may have a positive financial impact on the City. Regulating the sale of Mylar balloons may decrease the potential for Mylar balloons to come into contact with power lines , mitigating the risk of safety hazards and interruptions to electric service. This would save staff time and would also mitigate additional stress to the electric system, further enhancing reliability.
CONCLUSION
To continue providing reliable electric service to the Burbank community and to mitigate the risks associated with Mylar balloons, staff recommends that the City Council consider adopting an ordinance prohibiting the sale of Mylar balloons as described in Attachment
1. ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 – Proposed Ordinance Prohibiting the Sale of Metallic or Mylar Balloons Attachment 2 – Staff Report Regarding an Update on Efforts to Mitigate Outages Caused by Mylar Balloons dated January 12, 2021
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