Fireworks ordinance could be up for debate this month

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BY CHUCK VANDENBERG

PCC EDITOR

FORT MADISON - City officials in all likelihood will be working on the city's fireworks ordinance at a meeting this month.

City Manager David Varley indicated at the end of Tuesday's regular city council meeting that discussions on the ordinance could be up for debate at the next council meeting in October.

The topic has come up on several occasions since the state legalized sales in Iowa beginning in 2017.

The item was listed on the agenda as topics that could come up at a future meeting and Councilman Mark Lair asked what the time line was because many of the complaints are coming from people in his ward.

I have people asking if they are going to get anything done with the fireworks ordinance before the Jan. 1 deadline when they're allowed to have them again.

"A lot of these complaints are coming from people in my ward so I'm just asking if things are going to happen before the next time fireworks are allowed again around January," Lair asked.

Mayor Brad Randolph said that was the plan.

Varley said the council could have the item on the next agenda for discussion.

"The fireworks ordinance will be on the next agenda. We're gonna put a proposed ordinance for the council under discussion items and throw out here's what we have and let you disucss is and if you want ot change the times or days or whatever than you can discuss it and then we'll bring it back to a following meeting once we have a consensus form the council on what you'd like to do.

Varley said the item won't be on the agenda for action, but discussion and then action could be at a follow up meeting.

City Police Chief Tim Sittig said he and Fire Chief Joey Herren have been working on a proposed ordinance looking at other ordinances in the state.

Residents at three straight city council meetings this summer complained about the how the fireworks were effecting family, pets and neighborhoods.

Randolph said this summer that he wanted to take a look at the fireworks ordinance after being downtown during the city's 4th of July celebration and observing what he called a "free for all" and fireworks going off in places they shouldn't be.

Current city ordinance is the same as state ordinances

The Iowa State Fire Marshals office listed three locations in Fort Madison that sold fireworks this summer including Bellino's Fireworks Tent at Fairway, Dollar General, which sold only second class fireworks, and the Fort Madison High School Football team sold under the license of RiverFest as a fundraiser in Hy-Vee's parking lot. Bellino's sold only first-class fireworks. The tent at Hy-Vee sold first- and second-class fireworks.

City Finance director Peggy Steffensmeier said the city has no way of telling how much revenue from the 1% local option sales tax was generated from fireworks sales as the state pays the city 90% of projected total sales in the city and then in November does a catch up for the difference.

Iowa laws allow for the setting off first and second class fireworks from Dec. 10 through Jan. 3 in the winter from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and from 9 a.m. Dec. 31 to 12:30 a.m. Jan. 1.

 

city council, complaints, fireworks, fort madison, ordinance, revenues

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