July 4 fireworks show back on in Charles City; details to follow

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Charles City will have a fireworks display on July 4, and more details will be announced soon.

Mark Wicks, Charles City development director, told the City Council Monday evening that he was excited to be announcing the display will be held, this year in a new location instead of near the Main Street bridge over the Cedar River.

“We explored numerous options,” Wicks said. “Downtown simply won’t work” because of social distancing requirements because of the coronavirus.

Originally it had been announced that the fireworks show for the Fourth had been canceled, possibly to be held later in the year, both because of difficulty coming up with a safe place to have the show, and because local businesses are usually the source of funding for the show.

“Both the July Fourth Planning Committee and the Fireworks Committee are concerned with supporting our local businesses that have had a tough time and not placing any additional burdens on them right now,” Wicks had said earlier this month.

“There are a lot of different expenses associated with putting on these events that our local businesses help out with through sponsorships each year. This year it is our turn to support them,” he had said.

Now, Wicks said Monday night, the fireworks will be possible because one local business has stepped up and will fund the entire show. Details are expected to be announced later this week.

He said the committees had talked with the Fire Department, the Police Department, local businesses and others and agreed they could come up with a show where people wouldn’t have to crowd together to watch it and wouldn’t gather at the launch area.

“This is actually in many ways a superior site from where we’ve done it before,” he said.

The show this year will use larger fireworks shells that will launch higher into the sky so they will be visible from a wider area, Wicks said.

“We really want people to watch from yards, from parking lots, families in parked cars,” he said. “They should be able to see it from several areas of town.”

The Charles City Council approved closing two streets in the southeast part of town on July 4 for the show.

Also at the council meeting:

• City Administrator Steve Diers said that City Hall has been closed to the public again because of rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in the county. The next few City Council meetings will be held virtually over Zoom teleconference. The meeting Monday was also held on Zoom, as council meetings have been for some time now, but several council members were present in the council chambers for the meeting, although their seating has been spaced out.

• The council approved a new three-year contract with AMR ambulance to provide service to Charles City and Floyd County. The city and county will pay $150,000 in subsidy the first year, $175,000 the second year and $200,000 the third year, split equally between them.
The Floyd County Board of Supervisors is expected to discuss and likely vote on the contract at its regular meeting this morning (Tuesday). More details on the contract and the process will be reported in the Friday Press.

• Looked at a proposed ordinance that would provide penalties for people from outside Charles City who dump yard waste at the Shaw Avenue site.