Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Ordinance upheld on bottle rockets

Despite a plea to change a city ordinance that bans the sale and use of bottle rockets inside the city limits, the Gurdon City Council decided to uphold the ordinance.

The ordinance was first passed in 2002 in response to complaints from city residents, according to Gurdon Mayor Clayton Franklin. Franklin said the problem with bottle rockets is that a person fires them from one location, but they actually explode somewhere else  often over or on top of a neighbor's roof or in someone else's yard. Franklin said the city did not have a single complaint about fireworks in 2003 after the ban was in place. He said it rained last year, and that could have helped the situation.

Gurdon City Recorder Tambra Childres said Pastor Jim Faris addressed the city council with the request. Franklin said Faris's argument was that the sale of bottle rockets is a big drawing card for those organizations that set up fireworks stands during the fireworks seasons.

The ordinance states that the mayor has the authority to allow special events, according to Childres. She said that applies to the annual Fourth of July fireworks display slated for the evening of the fourth at the Gurdon High School football field.

In other business:

* The city council heard a report from the city's water department. Franklin said the report is the department's end of the year report. Auditors will begin the inspection of the department's financial records sometime this week, Childres said.

* Franklin said Becky Jester is working on a grant to renovate the walking trail near the Gurdon Primary School. In accordance with grant requirements, a mobile home in the area is to be moved the owners by Aug. 1.

* Franklin said the city's solid waste and recycling programs are breaking even. The city maintains a trailer where Gurdon residents can leave recyclables on Saturdays. Materials that can be recycled include newsprint, cardboard and aluminum cans. Items collected are then taken to a recycling center and sold. Franklin said the proceeds barely cover the cost of the program, but said it's positive that people participate.

* City Council members were told that the street department is continuing to work on clearing ditches and has torn down more houses that were a hazard.