两幼儿溺亡后哥伦布议员推动蓄水池围栏立法
位于俄亥俄州富兰克林县的哥伦布市再议蓄水池安全。据《哥伦布快报》10 月 22 日报道，在两名幼儿两个月内相继在公寓小区雨水蓄水池溺亡后，哥伦布市议会临时议长 Rob Dorans 表示，市府应重新考虑要求在全市 100 多个雨水蓄水池周围设置防护屏障。9 月去世的两岁男童 Benny Mbombo 和 7 月去世的两岁女童 Georgina Villar 是最新两起悲剧；过去 13 年里，至少 13 名儿童在哥伦布的蓄水池中溺亡。
Dorans 告诉《快报》，他计划在 2026 年底前向市议会提交屏障要求的立法进行表决。他曾在 2024 年底主导立法，要求房东每年向租户发放警示通知、配备救生圈和警示牌，但当时因房东和部分公共安全官员反对，未采纳类似泳池的围栏要求，反对者认为大面积池塘设围栏可能妨碍紧急救援。Dorans 回应说，屏障完全可以设计成既阻挡幼儿靠近、又不妨碍救援人员进入，形式可以是栅栏、巨石硬质景观或植被屏障。
他同时推动两项可先行通过的过渡条例：一是禁止在池塘边缘 15 英尺范围内割草，利用高草形成天然屏障；二是要求房东发放由市建筑与分区局统一撰写的独立风险告知书。Dorans 已于 10 月 20 日就蓄水池安全举行市议会听证会。哥伦布公寓协会的律师表示，看到立法文本后再作评论。
After two toddler drownings, Columbus council member pushes retention-pond barrier law
COLUMBUS, Ohio — After two toddlers drowned in apartment-complex retention ponds within two months of each other, Columbus City Council President Pro Tempore Rob Dorans wants the city to reconsider requiring barriers around its more than 100 stormwater retention ponds, the Columbus Dispatch reported on October 22, in Franklin County, Ohio. The deaths of Benny Mbombo in September and Georgina Villar in July are the latest in a series: at least 13 children have died in Columbus retention ponds in the last 13 years.
Dorans told the Dispatch he plans to introduce barrier legislation for a council vote by the end of 2026. He previously spearheaded laws in late 2024 requiring annual warning notices to tenants, life preservers and warning signs; at the time he considered a fencing requirement like the one for swimming pools, but landlords and some public safety officials opposed it, arguing fences around large ponds could hamper emergency rescues. Dorans says barriers can be designed to keep small children away from the water while still allowing responders access — fencing, boulder hardscaping or vegetative barriers.
He is also advancing two interim measures: a "no-mow" zone within 15 feet of the water, and a requirement that landlords hand residents a standalone risk notice written by Columbus Building & Zoning. Dorans held a council hearing on retention-pond safety on October 20. An attorney for the Columbus Apartment Association said the group would comment once it sees the legislation.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：哥伦布市中心资料照片。图片：Paul Wasneski，公有领域，经Wikimedia Commons。 / Downtown Columbus, file photo. Photo: Paul Wasneski, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
