When it comes to col­lege par­ties, it’s a good idea to know what to do if law enforce­ment shows up and to be aware of the rules.

One thing to keep in mind: When there is a house party going on, there is a chance the police may come knock­ing on the door to break up the party, inves­ti­gate because of a noise com­plaint or for a vari­ety of rea­sons. It’s also cru­cial to keep the city ordi­nances in mind when it comes to par­ties and alco­hol use.

In accor­dance with the City of Big Rapids Ordinance No. 483−8−01, it is writ­ten as “An ordi­nance estab­lish­ing the pro­ce­dure and stan­dards by which spec­i­fied ille­gal inci­dents involv­ing the ille­gal use of drugs or alco­hol, or hold­ing or spon­sor­ing a nui­sance party, three or more times in any nine-month period at a par­tic­u­lar loca­tion con­sti­tute a pub­lic nui­sance, which may be sub­ject to abate­ment and pad­lock­ing of the premises by order of the City Commission, being an addi­tion to Title 9, Chapter 90, Sections 90.80−90.90, of the Big Rapids City Code.”

If the police show up at a party, it’s not always the best idea to lock the doors and run and hide in clos­ets and bath­tubs. If they knock on the door, answer it and say hello. Ask them what the prob­lem is. If they say it’s for a noise com­plaint, then turn down the music. If they heard there was a prob­lem with under­age drink­ing, tell the police to do what they need to do if you were not aware of any under­age drink­ing. It’s never a good idea to buy alco­hol for minors or allow under­age drink­ing if it is, in fact, your party.

If you were aware of any under­age drink­ing or allowed it, then you will face the con­se­quences. In the state of Michigan, some­one fur­nish­ing alco­hol to a minor is guilty of a mis­de­meanor pun­ish­able by a fine of (not more than) $1,000 and impris­on­ment for (not more than) 60 days for a first offense, a fine of (not more than) $2,500 and impris­on­ment for (not more than) 90 days for a sub­se­quent sec­ond offense along with the com­ple­tion of com­mu­nity service.

If the fur­nish­ing of alco­hol to a minor results in death or seri­ous injury caus­ing death, the indi­vid­ual who fur­nished the alco­hol is guilty of a felony, accord­ing to MCL 436.1701. In other words, it’s best to not fur­nish any alco­hol to any­one under the age of 21 and always coop­er­ate with local law enforcement.

When it comes to hold­ing open fires in the city of Big Rapids, a per­mit is required. It is stated in a doc­u­ment titled “Big Rapids–General Offenses” that “A per­son shall not kin­dle or main­tain any open fire or autho­rize any such fire to be kin­dled or main­tained on any premises with­out hav­ing obtained a per­mit or other autho­riza­tion from the Department of Public Safety.”

In the case of hav­ing a bon­fire, it is stated as, “Bonfires shall be lim­ited to cer­e­mo­nial occa­sions or rec­og­nized com­mu­nity orga­ni­za­tions. Fuel for open bon­fires shall con­sist of sea­soned dry wood and a small quan­tity of paper to ignite the fire. Bonfires shall not con­tain rub­bish, garbage, trash, rub­ber, plas­tic, leather, petroleum-based mate­ri­als, flam­ma­ble liq­uids, com­bustible liq­uids or any other mate­ri­als that pro­duce nox­ious fumes or odors when burned.”

Additionally, there is a “no burn zone” in the area one-block west of State Street to one-half block east of Warren Avenue from Linden Street, north to the river. The burn­ing of leaves is also prohibited

It’s always a good idea to have fun and enjoy col­lege, but be con­sci­en­tious and smart when doing so.

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