fireworks

At the most recent Perry City Council meeting, they held a lengthy discussion about the legalization of fireworks in Iowa.

The governor recently signed into law a bill that legalizes the sale and use of fireworks in the state within certain time frames. However, as Perry City Administrator Sven Peterson explains, the timing of the bill’s passage gave cities very little opportunity to decide how they will handle it. “I do know the way the state passed this really tied the hands of communities and counties of getting something passed in time to be able to take care of this particular issue. As it stands right now, June 1st people can start setting off fireworks. And we really have very limited ways that we could possibly get something written, okayed, passed, and read three times by City Council before June 1st.”

Peterson isn’t sure if it will end up being a wait-and-see situation where they let what happens after June 1st happen, but does say there are guidelines set out in the law that was passed. Those guidelines include restrictions on the times of day and year fireworks can be sold or used, as well as the location. Peterson says fireworks can only be used on a person’s own property, or property they have permission to be on. Shooting fireworks in public areas or on right-of-ways like sidewalks and streets is still prohibited.

For more information about this and other topics from the recent Perry City Council meeting, listen to Tuesday’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.