By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
Bronson Town Council members Monday tabled a proposal to host a joint Fourth of July fireworks show with Archer at Bronson Speedway due to concerns about the condition of bleachers at the race track.
Archer proposed a joint Bronson-Archer Fourth of July fireworks show and offered to split the $5,000 cost down the middle, but Fire Chief Dennis Russell is concerned about the condition of bleachers.
Russell said storm damage hasn’t been repaired and he is worried that using the speedway for a fireworks show might open the town to liability if someone got hurt in the bleachers.
For the time being, the town is placing the joint fireworks display on hold until Russell can get back in touch with Archer to find out what city officials there think about the damaged bleachers.
Russell said he won’t be able to do a fireworks show at James H. Cobb Park this year due to a lack of firefighters. He said he would need 16 to 17 members of his fire department present to hand-fire the existing town fireworks display leftover from last year when a storm washed out the show.
He said many of his firefighters won’t be in town for the Fourth of July. The town tabled Archer’s offer for a joint fireworks display.
Russell said Archer uses a digital control board to trigger its fireworks display. It doesn’t require as many firefighters. He wants to find someone who might own a digital control board for future Bronson fireworks.
Most of Russell’s fireworks are hand-fired from tubes. The fireworks are dropped into the tubes, but the technique is labor-intensive.
As an alternative to a Fourth of July fireworks show, Councilman Jason Hunt asked Russell to find out whether Bronson is scheduled to host the Veterans Day Parade this year. The idea would be for Bronson to host its fireworks display on Veterans Day rather than the Fourth of July, assuming the parade is scheduled for Bronson.
Russell wasn’t certain if it is Bronson’s turn to host the Veterans Day parade but he thought it might be Bronson’s turn.
Gym Negotiations Haven’t Started
Bronson Town Attorney Steven Warm said he contacted County Coordinator Wilbur Dean about the possibility of Bronson leasing the old Bronson High School gymnasium for a recreation facility but the administrator wasn’t ready to give him a written proposal.
“First I sent an email and I didn’t get a response, so I called him and spoke to him. He apologized. He said he’s been very busy with some priority stuff. He started to explain. I said you don’t have to explain to me. I understand you have priorities,” Warm said.
The gym remains a priority for the town due to the lack of an indoor recreation facility for its youth. The town council voted 4-0 to purchase the gym from the county, but the county commission rejected the idea of selling the gym at its previous meeting. The county is willing to lease it to the town.
Warm said Dean told him he has “lots of ideas in his head about this but he hasn’t put them down on paper yet, but he will shortly and he’ll make me some type of proposal that I obviously will run past you folks,” Warm said.
Bronson Youth Sports, Inc., the private entity operating the town’s recreation program, has been asked by Town Manager Susan Beaudet to write a list of all the programs it might operate using the gym. Beaudet wants to provide the information to the county.
The 70-year-old gym is in good condition considering its age. It would provide an indoor facility for winter sports like basketball and volleyball during the cold winter months and probably would offer year-round recreation opportunities. Basketball players were forced this winter to practice outdoors during cold windy weather.
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Town of Bronson Regular Meeting April 19, 2021; Posted April 19, 2021
