Expect a bang in Wellington on the Fourth of July, as the Wellington Village Council voted Tuesday, March 13 to increase funding for the services of Zambelli Fireworks Manufacturing for the annual holiday fireworks display.
At the meeting, the council also authorized the engineering and consulting services of Mock-Roos & Associates to handle plans for work on the canals along the village’s Bridle and Brown trails.
With a unanimous decision by the council to renew the village’s three-year contract with the fireworks firm for the highly popular, annual Independence Day celebration at Village Park on Pierson Road, the fireworks display is certain to be on a par with surrounding communities.
Village Manager Paul Schofield requested that the council authorize the spending of an additional $5,000, increasing the amount normally paid to Zambelli Fireworks Manufacturing from $35,000 to $40,000. “The cost of fireworks is going up,” he explained.
Given the attention paid to Wellington’s parks, Schofield said that he supports increasing the amount of money spent on fireworks because it is a signature event that attracts thousands of residents each year to the community’s largest park.
Schofield said that the event is the most popular of the year. “The Fourth of July is the single most attended event that the village has,” he said. “We have more people in our parks that day than in any other six-month period combined.”
Mayor Anne Gerwig asked whether or not the village had compared the amount spent on fireworks in Wellington to the amount other municipalities spend. Village staff reported that most surrounding communities are spending around or above the requested $40,000.
The cost amount will remain set throughout the extent of the three-year contract with Zambelli.
The council also voted to approve the services of Mock-Roos for a cost of $39,304.
Schofield explained that, though the price is higher than originally expected, the intricate project will require elaborate construction.
“It is a couple of thousand dollars higher than we would normally expect, but because of the complexities [of the project’s construction], it’s certainly well within the range,” he said.
Schofield cited such aspects as the removal of existing culverts and the installation of new and larger ones in the C-11 and C-15 canals, and the construction and improvements of recreation trails along Wellington Trace, as some of the items complicating the project.
Vice Mayor John McGovern agreed, summing it up, “So, there are a lot of moving parts.”
Schofield said that the village received a $200,000 grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection/Recreational Trails Grant Program toward the entire project, which is expected to range from $780,000 to $790,000. It will preserve, renovate and build on to existing recreational trails in the community.
The council approved the Mock-Roos contract 4-0 with Mayor Anne Gerwig recusing herself.
