The Fourth of July 2015 is now in the past.
But some of the fallout from the pyrotechnics continues to linger – most notably, in the area of illegal fireworks.
A few months ago, Jake Parks brought up this concern before the Ripon City Council.
The Councilman praised the events at the Mistlin Sports Complex but was concerned about the staggering use of illegal fireworks given the dry conditions of this past summer.
Ripon police Chief Ed Ormonde took it from there, looking into this matter while requesting last Tuesday for council to expand the current ordinance to cite or arrest the property owner on “possession, storage or discharge” of illegal fireworks.
Elected leaders agreed, giving staff the green light on pursuing an amendment to this section, stating that “it is illegal to sell or discharge illegal fireworks” within city limits.
“Unfortunately, over the past several years possession and discharge of illegal fireworks within the city has continued to grow,” Ormonde said. “I suspect the problem has continued even though the department has increased its efforts to combat the problem, due to the ease of accessing illegal fireworks and individuals more covertly igniting illegal fireworks from private property where their identity can be concealed.”
Under the current laws, he pointed out that it’s required that a citizen or officer observing the violation and identifying the violator in order to make an arrest of any sort.
“Due to the very difficult task of identifying the specific person in possession of and igniting the illegal firework on private property, in many instances fireworks are being seized without an arrest being made or citation issued,” said Ormonde.
Council said the change, once approved, would finally make these property owners accountable.