Original fireworks compromise remains, before Beatrice City Council

BEATRICE – Two attempts to amend a proposed fireworks ordinance in Beatrice fizzled Tuesday night, before the Beatrice City Council. That moves a committee-led plan closer to final approval, which would set a fireworks sales and use period in Beatrice at six days…..from June 29th through July 4th each year.
Councilman

Tim Fralin offered an amendment that would allow sales for seven days, and discharge of fireworks for six. He said that would produce additional tax revenue for the city.  "They can go to several towns within twenty miles for ten days, and buy them...and bring them back and fire them. You can fire them tonight...because not everybody always shoots their fireworks off. It comes down to a matter of people following the established rules of when to discharge. That is what the complaint has been. The other complaint was July 5th...it had nothing to do with the selling dates. I'm trying to help out a local constituent who has a vested interest in this city."

Fralin’s amendment lost on a 6-1 vote. Councilman Duane Ruh then proposed a change that would allow sales of fireworks from June 29th through July 4th, but discharge of fireworks only from July 1st to July 4th. "I understand that we want to try to keep business in town, but the amount of people that had contacted me about the problems with the fireworks...and there are going to be people who shoot them off and ones that are completely illegal...you're not going to stop it. They're going to go to Cortland, they're going to go to Hickman...they're going to come back and shoot them off before then. That's going to be up to our law enforcement to try to handle that."

Ruh’s amendment, however, also flamed out on a 6-1 vote….leaving the original committee compromise of a six day sales and use period. That advanced to final round on a 6-1 vote. Under that plan, a curfew for discharge of fireworks would be ten p.m. from June 29th through July 2nd…..and midnight on July 3rd and 4th.

Mayor Bob Morgan says policing fireworks use during the Fourth of July holiday period is certainly not the highest priority for law enforcement. "In a city our size, fireworks and police calls probably have a different priority. That's the hard part. We kind of put the police officers at a little bit of a disadvantage, when they have other and more important calls to get to. That's why it's harder to enforce."

A handful of citizens provided input to the mayor and council Tuesday night….mainly those who did so on prior occasions.  Chair of the council committee that offered the six-day proposal, Gary Barnard…said making everybody happy isn’t likely.

"I just think it's somewhat of a compromise. Neither side is going to think that.....but I believe it is."

Many entities conduct fundraising campaigns through fireworks sales. One more vote of approval is needed before the new ordinance is enacted. Currently, the state-allowed standard for fireworks sales and use is June 25th through July 4th….a ten-day stretch.