Council Continues Fireworks Conversation
Oskaloosa City Hall
By Hailey Brown
(Oskaloosa, Iowa) – The Oskaloosa City Council was able to make quick work of most of the agenda items during a regular meeting on Monday, June 5. A total of three items had one or more dissenting voter and two of those items focused on the use and sale of fireworks within the City of Oskaloosa.
The first of the two fireworks-related items was a second reading of an ordinance amending Chapter 8.04 Fireworks of the Oskaloosa Municipal Code. In summary, changes to the ordinance include:
• Amending the code to allow for the sales of consumer grade fireworks only within the general commercial (GC) zoning districts;
• Requiring all applications for sale of consumer grade fireworks have all the necessary paperwork filed, required facilities inspections completed, and fees paid prior to any consumer grade fireworks being sold;
• Prohibiting the use of consumer grade fireworks within the corporate city limits of Oskaloosa.
Council member Tom Jimenez (Ward Two) was the only “nay” vote and council member Tom Walling (At-Large) disclosed during the roll call vote that he would be voting in favor of the amendment, despite voting against it during the first reading.
“I’m changing my vote and I’m voting for this,” Walling said after a long pause. “Not with my whole heart, but I went out and talked with the family that lost their daughter and I know that it’s only an emotional thing with me because I was there, but they can be dangerous.”
Although the change may generate some minimal revenue, financial impact is projected to be very limited for the City of Oskaloosa. The second reading ultimately passed with a 5-1 vote.
The second item pertaining to fireworks was a resolution amending the City of Oskaloosa Fee Schedule to add permit fees for the sale of fireworks. The change was requested by the Oskaloosa Fire Department to recover costs incurred for performing these additional inspections. The amendment calls for a fee of $100 for permanent structures and a fee of $200 for temporary structures. When asked why the price difference, Fire Captain Daniel Hoy spoke on behalf of the Oskaloosa Fire Department.
“I think the presumption is that a permanent structure will have already met fire code while a temporary structure will have not and therefore presents more of a risk,” explained Hoy.
Included within these fees is documentation given to the proprietor, including the completed inspection form and a local fireworks sales permit. Jimenez was again the lone dissenting voter as the resolution passed 5-1.
In May, the State of Iowa legalized the sale of consumer fireworks by properly licensed companies or individuals but the law does leave restrictions on the usage of fireworks up to individual cities and counties. The law authorizes the sale of consumer fireworks in permanent buildings meeting National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1124 standards from June 1 to July 8 and December 10 to January 3. The bill allows sales in conforming temporary structures during the same time periods and the bill requires anyone selling fireworks to have a license issued by the State Fire Marshal and proof of insurance for liability for $1,000,000 and $2,000,000 aggregate. The Iowa Fire Marshal’s office has already posted an online application process for retailers wanting to sell consumer-grade fireworks to customers in Iowa and has received over 500 applications to date.
Many groups opposing the legalization of fireworks, including the Iowa Firefighter’s Association, Iowa Nurses’ Association and Blank Children’s Hospital, have released statements disclosing their main concern is the amount of injuries that occur when fireworks are more accessible. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, fireworks were involved in an estimated 10,500 injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments during 2014. According to the CPSC website, 230 people on average go the emergency room every day with fireworks-related injuries in the month around the July 4th holiday.
