Another resident, who did not identify herself, opined that the city should only allow fireworks on the Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve, but also be more stringent on the times when people can shoot off fireworks.
Jones also suggested the city place a larger ad in the newspaper notifying people of approved times to set off fireworks instead of the small ad it ran this year.
But the crux of the problem goes back to 2011, when the state allowed the sale of Class C fireworks, which include bottle rockets, Roman candles and larger items that shoot exploding fire balls into the air.
That opened a Pandora’s box for local governments, according to city officials.
“The new law has made it tougher on everybody,” police chief Barry Waldrop said.
Aside from the noise fireworks make, Nicholasville resident Randy Tipton said they also cause a fire hazard.
“If one of them lodges into your house, it's going to catch your house on fire,” he said.
Commissioner Johnny Collier and Mayor Russ Meyer said the city is going to take another look at the ordinance to see if it can be tweaked.
“The fire chief and the police chief are very aware of the problems, and we’re going to go back and look at these ordinances, and we’re going to try to cut the days back as much as possible,” Collier said.
Fire chief Charles Brumfield said the city knew going into this year’s Fourth of July that it would have to revisit the issue.
“We see where some of the problems are; some things we can fix, but unfortunately, by design, there are going to be some things that we can't fix,” Brumfield said. “If we do a citywide ban on sale and use, we’re still going to see folks who are going to continue to shoot them to the degree that it would overwhelm the police agency trying to enforce it.”
No action was taken Monday night. City officials, including the fire and police chiefs, plan to bring back their proposals at a later meeting.
