If the resounding boom of fireworks in Bedford annoyed you this year during the July 4 holiday weekend, you were not the only one. The loud banging and popping — which lasted into the late hours of the morning in some neighborhoods — was a source of concern and conversation during Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

Ward 1 Representative Sandy Spinks said the amount of fireworks going off this year was “crazy.” The noise was so loud it knocked a picture off her wall, she said.

“It is just the amount of disrespect from neighbors for people with dogs and cats, and our seniors,” she said. “It even made me nervous after a while.”

She said a lady from another ward called her six times about the noise. Spinks said the woman has an older dog, and the animal was having a panic attack.

“It was very aggravating,” Spinks said. “I know our guys (officers) were trying to do their best, (in responding to the noise).” She added that it was common for people to be lighting off fireworks as late as 2 a.m.

In November, Ohio House Bill 172 was signed into law stating that it was now legal for residents to let off consumer-grade fireworks in Ohio. There was a provision in the bill to allow municipalities to opt out of the law, and adopt their own laws. Earlier in the spring, the Bedford council passed Ordinance No. 9967-22 which once again imposed a complete ban on consumer-grade fireworks. See a copy of the approved ordinance at the link here. 

City Manager Mike Mallis said that although the city had gotten the word out prior to the holiday, it will take some time to continue to remind residents that lighting off consumer-grade fireworks is not allowed. He said it is particularly difficult when neighboring cities allow those types of activities. Even with the challenges, he said the Bedford police were ready to respond to the calls when they came in.

“We had 14 or 16 calls and we were chasing,” Mallis said. “We can’t cite unless we are physically right there and witness it. It’s not that we didn’t cite. We addressed some of them, but it’s going to take a while to drive home that this is not permitted in Bedford.”

He said when the ordinance originally passed a few months ago banning the fireworks, he wanted to make sure residents did not get a false sense that they were not going to hear fireworks at all. He said the city will continue to put out information to the public to educate residents about the ban.

Mark Sellards | The Bedford Tribune Workers continue to dig out a sewer hole on Corkhill Road behind Colony Club Apartments on Wednesday.

Ward 4 Representative Frank Smith Jr. thanked Mallis for giving attention to the sewer project on Corkhill Road behind the Colony Club Apartments. He said that workers have been pulling up a large amount of debris from the hole there including objects like trees and telephone poles. Mallis said, due to the nature of the project, the people working on the area were not able to give a definite date for the completion.

Ward 5 Representative Jeff Asbury spoke in his report to the council about the growing dangers of water pellet guns, also known as Orbeez guns, in the city. He said there have been reports of local kids shooting the pellets at people and cars.

“Parents, grandparents, guardians of kids, don’t let your kids do this,” Asbury said. “They are going to run into the wrong person one day.”

He went on to talk about an incident in Garfield Heights where a woman pulled her legally-carried gun on individuals because they shot at her with these pellet guns.

“The best outcome from somebody shooting (these guns) is they get a ticket,” Asbury said. “The worst … we don’t even want to talk about it.”

Mark Sellards | The Bedford Tribune This photo shows the leaning telephone pole on Northfield Road discussed at the meeting on Tuesday.

Ward 6 Representative Don Saunders asked the city to look into doing something about the leaning telephone pole on Northfield Road across from Giant Eagle. He said the situation should be on the critical list due to all the wires involved.

Mark Sellards | The Bedford Tribune The estimate for replacing a shorter guardrail on Union Street with a longer one for safety purpose was around $29,000.

Ward 3 Representative Vic Fluharty asked Mallis for an update on the guardrail plans on Union Street. Mallis said a quote came in from the county on replacing the smaller guardrail with a larger one to completely protect the section of homes located there. The cost came in around $29,000. Mallis inquired about the county covering the costs since it is a county road and they installed the guardrails initially, but they refused to do so. So, Mallis said he wrote them back and asked them to revisit that decision especially due to safety concerns in that vicinity. Mallis said he had not received a response as of yet.

The council approved an ordinance that allowed for slight changes in the wards for “equalization. An outside company was hired to give recommendations, and Koci said the results did not change a whole lot as far as the wards were concerned.

Mark Sellards | The Bedford Tribune These are the flowers the donation from the Bedford Garden Club goes to support on the bridge on Union Street.

Also during the meeting, Mayor Stan Koci was presented a check from Jeanne Sapir of the Bedford Garden Club. The $600 donation was to help the city take care of the flowers on the Union Street bridge over Tinkers Creek, and for the Arbor Day celebration.

In other council business:

  • This was Finance Director Frank Gambosi’s last official meeting, but since he was under the weather, Koci said they would have a nice send-off recognizing his years of service at another time.
  • The Annual Bedford Rotary Rib Festival is planned for the weekend of July 22-24. See info here.
  • The old Dog House on Broadway Avenue will be reopening as the Wild Dog this month.
  • Asbury shared that Elmer Flick Days will take place July 15 and 16, and the event will include many activities such as an old-time baseball game, a barbershop quartet and movies for the family. See info here.
  • Residents were reminded that some of the voting places in Bedford will be changed temporarily for the Aug. 2 primaries due to a conflict in scheduling at the Ellenwood Center. Voters in Wards 1 through 4 will be voting at Bedford High School, while Wards 5 and 6 will voting at Glendale Elementary School.
  • Council approved an ordinance that will raise refuse and recycling fees to $18 per month for a single family home. Assistant Finance Director Jennifer Howland said the old cost per month was $14 per month per unit.
  • Council approved a number of ordinances that will put amendments on the upcoming ballot for residents to vote upon to update the city charter. The potential changes were proposed by the Charter Review Commission, and most had to do with how elections are run in the city.