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HomeMy WebLinkAboutA004 - Letter from Michael Warnick dated May 12, 2017 1 Ames Fireworks Ordinance Michael W rnick to: Diane R V s,jripperger 05/12/2017 02:14 AM Hide Details From:Michael Warnick<michaeLwarnick@gmail.com> To:Diane R Voss<DVoss@city.ames.ia.us>,jripperger@city.ames.ia.us To whom it may concern, Currently Ames City Ordinance 17.6 prohibits the use of fireworks without a permit issued by the City of Ames. Recently with the passing of the Iowa Fireworks Bill, fireworks vendors will be selling consumer grade fireworks in nearby cities. This will allow the citizens of Ames easy access to purchase and use these fireworks with or without knowledge of the legality of use within city limits. I suggest amending the City Ordinance to include citizen use as allowed by the State and permit the sale of fireworks by reputable vendors for the following reasons: 1)Loss of Sales Revenue - By not allowing use by citizens, reputable fireworks vendors are likely not to sell in Ames. Ames citizens will drive a short commute and take their hard eared dollars elsewhere. This not only include what they would sell on fireworks but also food, drinks, and other merchandise used for parties and holiday celebrations held at family and friends residences in neighboring communities taking money out of the Ames economy and the loss of tax dollars for community use. I can even attest that i have done this in years past where the state ban of use of fireworks other than sparklers and snappers and made a yearly trip with my family to the state ofNebraska where we would host a family get together.where we could use a wide variety of fireworks. The only purchase in Iowa on those trips in the state of Iowa was for the fuel to make the drive. Furthermore, many non-profits, schools, and organization will use fireworks sales for fundraising. If the non-profits do not do this of their own accord they will partner with for profit vendors to fundraise earning a percentage of sales in exchange for manning the retail locations and driving those sales. Non- profits within Ames could not take advantage of either or those options as the product they are selling are technically illegal to use in those communities. 2) General Pubic Safety- by not allowing the use by citizens for some you are forcing people to the edge of city limits and to remote locations to legally use fireworks. This is farther away from emergency services in the case of injury or fire. Any access to water will be limited and in the event of a dry season there will be plenty of dry brush and tinder to ignite making fires more likely. For those not aware of the ordinance, they will tie up police services having to enforce the fireworks ban. For those unaware of the ban they will receive a ticket, causing embarrassment, and ruining a holiday party for the consumer which has the potential of creating distrust law enforcement officials who already have a taxing occupation serving the public. Most firework laws were in place to prevent injuries and accidents. At one time there was a place for these laws but firework injuries are on the decline even as the sale of fireworks consumed are ever increasing. The injury rate from fireworks in 2015 is 42%lower than in 2000 (APA). This is due to not only safer products being manufactured but the safety education by reputable vendors provide to customers. The injuries that do occur now are often from misuse of product and failing to abide by simple common sense safety rules which can easily be discussed and provided to the customer. By not allowing citizens the ability to buy these locally from reputable vendors,that push for safety and education will not be available and those who have not handled fireworks before are likely to misuse causing injury. Access to fireworks is now more readily available even if only purchased in neighboring communities and we need to be able to educate the Ames Community after generations no having the ability to legally handle this product or we risk losing all of the positive benefits (revenue, entertainment, etc.) in order to try protect a few uneducated and misguided. 4)Parental Supervision- As a parent I have kids, and their friends whom I have coached through sports activities and watched grow up whom i do not want to see injured by fireworks. With the City Ordinance parents will have a harder time supervising the use of fireworks if the kids are not able to use fireworks on their own property. Children between the ages of 5 and 18 are by nature adventurous & experimental;thus much more likely to take risks. Because of this, children in this age group require close adult supervision. Even though the law prevents the sale to minors, teenagers and kids may be able to acquire the fireworks without parental knowledge and go to a remote location to try avoid any legal encounters without any training. I have been safely using fireworks legally as a consumer in the State of Nebraska for over 30 years around the 4th of July season. My parents taught me at a young age to respect and to use fireworks in a safe manner. They were able to do this due to the laws available at the time where they lived. In my early 20's I even had the pleasure to work with professional firework company putting on a Class B fireworks shows for a few small townships around the Lincoln Metro area for a season. With the foundation that I received from my parents i have not been injured using fireworks far beyond the scale of which will be available for sale in the state of Iowa. This is not a matter of luck that I have avoided injury but by good choices instilled through education. By not allowing firework use in the Ames Community you are taking that choice away from many parents and the kids are farther away from help if needed. My goal is to provide a safe experience for the 4th of July celebrations, to help create ever lasting memories for families and friends,to be able to provide consumer education from my knowledge and experience and industry standards, and to help the comrruanity through synergistic sales with local businesses. To that end I am looking to become vendor selling fireworks within the City of Ames. This venture would includes a safety training program available for both adults and kids. For the safety and profit of the community because of the reasons I mentioned above I urge the City of Ames to consider amending City Ordinance 17.6 to allow the consumer use of fireworks as permitted by the State of Iowa. Thank you for your consideration, Michael Warnick (http://www americapMro.com/assets/docs/FactsandFigures/conspMvinjuriesJiberalizationgra ph%201980-2010.pdt)