A packed house at the Nevada City City Council meeting last night for an overview and discussion of PG and E smart meters…Some residents of the city want them banned and to have the ones that have been installed to be removed. The meters are used locally by Pacific gas and electric to collect and transmit electric and natural gas usage data. Smart meters transmit usage data to P-G-and-E’s central system via a two way wireless communication network using radio frequency transmission. Some people claim the radio transmission can cause medical issues and start fires. PG and E claims they are safe but people can “opt out’ and have their smart meters replaced with analog meters for a $75 fee. City council members took no action on banning smart meters but agreed to do more research and revisit the issue at a later date. There was also a big crowd at the meeting because of another issue. Something called ‘Air B-and-B’s’…

Listen to Mark Prestwich 1

City Manager Mark Prestwich says a group called ‘Nevada City Neighbors’ urged people to show up at the meeting, but the item was not on the agenda…

Listen to Mark Prestwich 2

Prestwich says they’ll have to come back either in late February or early March. Also last night, there was a ceremony for Nevada City Police Detective Chad Ellis, who has been promoted to sergeant, and the council approved the letter inviting NFL coach Pete Carroll to be the official starter of the Nevada City Bicycle Classic this summer.