By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
ELLIS — An Ellis resident has started a petition asking the Ellis City Council to remove its ban on fireworks for the Fourth of July holiday.
Susie Kohlrus created the online petition at www.change.org Saturday evening after talking to other residents who are also unhappy the city council members voted Thursday night to retain the ban.
“We hope the council will get rid of the ordinance requiring a decision be made by June 15 whether to allow the discharge of fireworks on July 4th,” Kohlrus said Monday morning.
“We think it makes more sense to make the decision by July 1, because God does sometimes give us rain after June 15th. If it becomes too dry, the city can always spread the word through the media just before the Fourth that fireworks won’t be allowed after all.”
A printed petition asking for the ban to be rescinded was presented to the council last Thursday, but “I was told some of the signatures were illegible and others were duplicated,” said Kohlrus. “That’s why I decided to go with an online petition. I’ll print it out shortly before tonight’s (June 16 Ellis City Council) meeting so there are as many signatures on it as possible.”
On the agenda for tonight’s Ellis City Council meeting is discussion of Ordinance No. 1311 Establishing Provisions for the Sale of Fireworks.
According to Kohlrus, Ellis has previously “postponed the Fourth of July celebration” because of dry conditions and allowed the discharging of fireworks at a later date after dry conditions improved.
Ellis Fire Chief Denis Vine told council members last week he had no objection to July 4 fireworks because of the abundant recent rains.
Kohlrus believes banning fireworks has a negative impact on the Ellis economy.
“Selling fireworks is a good fundraiser for nonprofit groups, and having fireworks helps our local stores, especially the grocery store which sells food for parties and barbeques,” she added.
Ellis County Commissioners are also scheduled to discuss the current county ban on fireworks at their meeting tonight.