It looks like the era of Paddock Lake having several temporary, seasonal vendors selling fireworks from tents may be over.
After discussion at Wednesday’s Village Board meeting, trustees agreed to have the Police and Fire Committee develop an ordinance to bring back to the full board that likely would ban the sales of fireworks and other holiday novelty items , such as sparklers, from temporary locations in the village. A still open question Wednesday was whether such sales would be banned also at more permanent businesses such as drug or grocery stores or perhaps be allowed in any building with a fire suppression system.
The ordinance would only effect the sale of fireworks and possibly novelty items, not the possession of items legal under state law.
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Several board members seemed dissatisfied with two of the three temporary vendors this year, who were found to be in violation of some requirments. One has still not removed a temporary storage unit from where they were selling fireworks. One vendor was found to not have sufficient fire extinguishers out when an inspector visited, though the extinguishers were on site. One was using a faulty ground fault circuit interrupter for electric power, but was reluctant to have a repair made, building inspector Tim Popanda said.
“They’re not working out in Paddock Lake,” village President Marlene Goodson said.
“They were put on warning and they still screwed up …” said Trustee Terry Burns. “All they care about is selling their wares.”
The village receives about $1,500 in revenue from the three vendors this year.
Banning all fireworks and novelty item sales in all instances might be a better solution than creating an ordinance that would require a lot of monitoring and enforcement by village staff, village attorney Jeff Davison suggested.
“Tim (Popanda) has a lot better things to do than baby sit fireworks businesses,” Davison said.
Trustee Joe Riesselmann, who also advocated that vendors who violate any rules be dealt with harshly and immediately, asked about the motivation for a ban. Trustee Chris Bucko, chairman of the Police and Fire Committee, responded that it was for the safety of village residents.
“You think the people of Paddock Lake won’t go and buy them someplace else?” Riesselmann asked.
The Police and Fire Committee is expected to have an ordinance for the board to consider at the August monthly meeting.
