Community Government News
Gig Harbor bans fireworks within city beginning next year
The Gig Harbor City Council voted during it Monday meeting to make it illegal beginning next year to sell or use fireworks within the city limits.
After listening to citizens on both sides of the issue, the Council voted 4-3 to ban their sale and discharge effective June 27, 2023. Jeni Woock, Brenda Lykins, Robyn Denson and Roger Henderson voted in favor of the ban. Mary Barber, Le Rodenberg and Seth Storset were opposed.
The ban has been under consideration since October when the Finance and Safety Committee directed city staff to research the feasibility, process and procedures required to amend city code to allow its fire marshal to declare an emergency ban when environmental conditions warrant. That discussion was spurred by a September decision by the Pierce County Council that authorized such emergency bans and set new limits on fireworks sale and use. While researching emergency ban procedures, discussion segued to the possibility of an outright ban.
The new ordinance acknowledges that fireworks can harm the health and welfare of citizens, including military veterans, can harm wildlife and pets, and can be a fire hazard and a threat to life and property.
Woock noted that public comment was overwhelmingly in favor of the ban. Citizens opposed to it generally were those, including high school groups, who sell fireworks as fundraisers.
Because state law requires a yearlong waiting period, the ban won’t take effect until 2023. The new ordinance doesn’t apply to city-sponsored fireworks displays, and several Council members were optimistic that one could take place in the future.
Violation of the new ordinance could result in a penalty of $1,000. The police department is responsible for its enforcement.
This year, fireworks sales are permitted on June 28 from noon to 11 p.m., June 29 thru July 4 from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., and July 4 from 9 a.m. to noon. They can be discharged only on July 4 from 9 a.m. to midnight.
New ballot box location
The Council approved an agreement with the Pierce County auditor to install a ballot drop box in front of the civic center. It will be near the existing drop box that’s used for utility payments.
Currently, the ballot box is at the fire station on Kimball Drive. It will have to be removed to make way for construction planned at the station if the proposed fire bond passes in August.
Other business
Public Works Director Jeff Langhelm reported that the emergency repair work on Borgen Boulevard is finished and traffic is again flowing in both directions. Westbound traffic was rerouted for a week while repairs were made to a failing section of the roadway that had been exacerbated by the spring rains.
Tonya Lane, interim permit manager from the Washington State Department of Ecology, congratulated Gig Harbor’s wastewater treatment plant for winning Ecology’s Outstanding Performance Award for 2021. Of approximately 300 wastewater treatment plants in the state, 124 achieved top performance in 2021, she said, adding that it was a challenging year for treatment plants statewide due to extreme weather events and the pandemic.
Gig Harbor’s plant has received the award 15 of the past 17 years, Langhelm said. He credited plant manager Darrell Winans with leading the effort to keep the system running smoothly. Winans is leaving Gig Harbor to be district manager for Douglas County Sewer District #1 in East Wenatchee.
To view a recording of the Council meeting, visit cityofgigharbor.net. The next meeting will take place Monday, July 11.