ROSEVILLE, Calif. — The Roseville City Council voted Wednesday to adopt an urgency ordinance to regulate any syringe exchange programs the state implements in Roseville.
Rather than passing a ban on these programs like the Placer County Board of Supervisors and other cities in the county, Roseville decided to introduce for a first reading a non-urgency ordinance regulating any programs if they are implemented in Roseville.
"I want to make sure that we're in a position that we're protecting our community and I see this is the way to do it," District 2 councilmember Pauline Roccucci said at the meeting.
Roseville Police Chief Troy Bergstrom said the police department was notified in August about an application for a needle exchange program in Roseville.
At the end of July, an organization running a hypodermic needle distribution in Sacramento applied to extend to Placer County. Safer Alternatives thru Networking and Education (SANE), applied for a program meant to help stop the spread of infectious diseases from sharing needles.
SANE estimates it could distribute 200,000 syringes annually to the southwest parts of Placer County including Lincoln, Auburn, Loomis, Rocklin and Roseville.
Bergstrom said he had several concerns about the application including the lack of specificity about "home delivery and pickup" as well as accountability for the collection of used and potentially contaminated syringes and waste.
Bergstrom also said he is confident none of the community outreach listed in the application actually happened.
"We had quite a concern with what this application was," Bergstrom said.
Bergstrom said the city drafted a letter objecting the program be implemented in Roseville, which was sent to the CDPH on Sept. 4. CDPH got the letter, but hasn't clarified any of the city's concerns.
Roseville's Deputy City Attorney Travis Cochran said he, Bergstrom and city staff are strongly opposed to these types of programs coming to the community.
The county and cities have adopted outright bans, but Cochran said he doesn't believe those bans are actually enforceable. He said adopting regulations for a possible program would be a way to have a local voice if the program was approved in the city.
"This is not to allow them to come to Roseville, again we're not condoning it, we're not welcoming them here. This item is to regulate these types of programs and minimize the negative impacts in the event that the state forces them upon us, and that's despite our objections," Cochran said.
Some of the regulations include prohibiting all syringe programs except those approved by CDPH, prohibiting the programs from operating within 600 feet of schools, daycares and more, and requiring each syringe be properly disposed of, among other regulations.
Cochran said CDPH could implement a syringe exchange program despite local objections.
"This is a way to actually have a local voice and a local impact on that because CDPH can require us to allow these programs to operate here," Cochran said. "These bans that we are hearing about, put simply, they may not be enforceable, but this is a legally defensible way to make sure that the impact to our community, which we understand is likely a negative impact, that we can minimize that and offset it to the degree that we can."
Bergstrom said he will continue objecting to SANE's application when CDPH responds to the objection letter.
Some people during public comment said they wanted the city council to follow the Placer County Board of Supervisors' direction and pass an outright ban on these types of syringe exchange programs.
The Placer County Board of Supervisors, Auburn City Council, Rocklin City Council and Loomis City Council approved urgency ordinances to ban syringe exchange programs in its jurisdictions. The Lincoln City Council discussed having a special meeting to approve an urgency ordinance to ban syringe exchange programs at a city council meeting Sept. 12.
Public comment is still open until midnight Sept. 21 and a comment form with the Department of Public Health is still available for residents to give their opinion.
Watch more on ABC10: Proposed needle exchange program could be met with ban in Placer County
