County Commission beginning discussions about fireworks sales

The fireworks subcommittee of the Madison County Commission’s budget committee held its first meeting on June 4.

Commissioner Jeff Wall served as chairman. A handful of county officials sat at the conference table as they were committee members.

On one side of the room sat a number of officials from the City of Jackson including leaders from fire and police department. County Attorney Jay Bush and City Attorney Lewis Cobb were also in attendance.

On the other side, merchants who are involved in fireworks sales in neighboring counties.

Wall invited those present to the meeting so the City and County could ensure being on the same page when discussing the issue.

The county’s state representatives – Chris Todd and Johnny Shaw in the State House and Ed Jackson in the State Senate – were able to get a private act outlawing fireworks sales repealed earlier this year.

There are a few more hurdles to get over before fireworks can be sold in Madison County. The issue of illegal sales inside Jackson city limits also has to be dealt with.

One hurdle to get over is for the County Commission to approve the repeal by a two-thirds vote (at least 17 of 25).

Committee members got a number of ideas of what neighboring towns and counties are regulating fireworks sales. They will look those over until their next meeting.

Permits range from $5 to $500 for businesses. There are different timetables for when fireworks can be shot as well.

As the committee and city officials began discussing action items before their next meeting, they will be researching regulations for ideas of parameters and regulation methods for when fireworks are allowed within Madison County.

Discussion from the city officials possibly indicated the eventual legalization of fireworks inside city limits as well after the County makes them legal.

“All of this is most likely not going to happen before July 4 of this year,” Wall told the fireworks vendors who were present. But he did say that everything will be done by Dec. 1, which is the deadline set by state statute to approve the repeal.

The fireworks vendors who were in the room told a couple of stories from when other similar-sized towns have legalized fireworks in the past.

One was Bowling Green, Kent., in the 1990s. The first year after fireworks were legalized there, the city received 45 permit requests to sell them.

The question came up about possibly putting a cap on the permit number, but officials from both city and county said there are steps to be taken before they begin discussing that aspect of the situation.

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news