The City of Independence makes some changes to the fireworks ordinance for the July Fourth holiday.
At last night's city commission meeting, Jake Marietta of Jake's Fireworks asked the city to extend the dates for legal fireworks sale in Independence. Changing the sales dates would not change the dates for legally setting off fireworks, which is from July 1st through the 4th. While Kansas law was recently changed to allow for year-round sales, the City of Independence limits those sales to June 27 through July 4. Marietta says extending the sales window would help his business and bring in more tax revenue for the city.
City Manager Kelly Passeuer told commissioners they had three options for action on the issue: The measure could be tabled to allow for citizen input, the dates could be extended to begin on June 20, or the dates could remain unchanged. Commissioner Tim Emert says there is also another option.
The change means that fireworks will now be legal to sell and to shoot off from June 27 through July 4.
In other business at last night's meeting, commissioners approved a request to allow for a 50% discount in Class A booking rental fees for Memorial Hall for events scheduled for June and July.
