Jonestown council considers future Independence Day fireworks

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Jonestown Borough Council discussed the possibility of holding a fireworks show Independence Day weekend in future years at its monthly meeting Tuesday, citing the success of the America250 show and parade.

Concerning the fireworks show and parade July 3, mayor Jeffrey Schott said “I think the public consensus is that the 250th event, the fireworks in the park event, were very well-attended for that heat and successful,” saying the borough was lucky to avoid the rain that ultimately canceled the city’s fireworks show.

Schott thanked council members Jay Young and Daniel Shuman for stepping up the day of the event to help with planning. He also thanked council member Madisyn Breiner, who he said handled multiple crises throughout the day.

“It never would’ve gotten done without Madisyn’s help,” added Shuman.

He said multiple people have asked him whether the borough plans to host the event again in the future, which he said he wanted to bring to the council right away. Though the event was initially planned as a one-off for the country’s 250th anniversary, council is considering planning fireworks next year, also July 3.

Schott said he was told by the fireworks vendor that costs this year would likely have been several thousand dollars lower if not for the anniversary.

“None of them use numbers, but I would guess based on the tone, we’d be looking more at 15 than 20,” said Schott.

If the borough decides to go through with future shows, he said, they should begin seeking sponsorships early to avoid needing to scramble for funds later.

Council member Amber White said that, as the parade was shorter than 30 minutes, they would not need to receive PennDOT approval. She said the borough could also consider hosting a fireworks show without a parade.

In other news, council:

• Discussed instances where the park bathrooms have been vandalized, with council member Lynn Kleinfelter suggesting the borough place as little in the bathroom that can be defaced as possible. Council discussed installing valves to turn off the sinks outside of major events and placing hand secure sanitizer dispensers in the bathrooms, as well as changing toilet paper dispensers. Young said problems with the bathroom are “an everyday occurrence.” There were no problems July 3, and Schott said problems are caused by “a couple hooligans” rather than the park’s users on the whole.
• Heard from Shuman on possible historic preservation status for parts of the borough, which would place limitations on changes made to historic buildings in the borough. No action was taken.
• Heard that solicitor Colleen Gallo is working on a short-term rentals ordinance (which would govern Airbnbs).
• Unanimously authorized former borough administrator Mariah Mauser, who recently resigned, to work up to eight hours per week as needed until July 24 at her previous hourly rate.
• Unanimously approved an update to the job description for a full-time maintenance position.
• Unanimously approved up to $50 for junior council person Lia Almer’s park beautification project.
• Informally authorized Gallo to file a petition with the court to allow the borough to use funds in the Edward Spittle Light Fund toward baseball field maintenance at the field, as the borough cannot return funds and there are not enough funds to pay for the lighting project originally planned.
• Unanimously added the discussion of a possible borough Facebook page to the agenda, and spoke in favor of creating a page without allowing comments to avoid misinformation or the need for the borough to moderate comments.
• Unanimously ratified a street sweeping cost of $4,200, $1,050 more than was ratified in April.
• Discussed a codes and code enforcement matter in executive session.
• Discussed the possibility of outsourcing accounting and payroll services, adding to the agenda the possibility of temporarily bonding a council member, but ultimately taking no action.

Jonestown Borough Council will its next regular meeting Aug. 4 at 6:30 p.m. All meetings are held at the Jonestown Borough building at 295 S. Mill St.