After receiving recommendations from a committee it appointed, the Eudora City Commission will consider at its meeting Monday tweaking its Fourth of July fireworks regulations to reduce the hours of their use and sale and ban their discharge on city property.

Mayor Tim Reazin said the 11-member committee headed by City Commissioner Roberta Lehmann was appointed after the City Commission received complaints concerning the use of fireworks after this year’s Fourth of July celebration from July 1 through July 4. The committee included Eudora Fire Chief Ken Keiter, other city staffers, residents who brought complaints to the City Commission, representatives of the Eudora Baseball and Softball Association, the local Knights of Columbus, and two nonprofits that operate fireworks stands in the city.

The City Commission had a work session Nov. 23 on the committee’s recommendations, Reazin said. He supports the recommendations the committee developed during three meetings since its appointment.

“When we ask citizens to take the time to do the work we ask them, I am inclined to back them,” he said.

The committee agreed changes were needed to current city code that allows the sale and use of fireworks from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. July 1 and 2 and from 7 a.m. to midnight July 3 and 4. Among its recommended changes to city code were:

• Change the morning start time fireworks can be legally sold and discharged during the four-day holiday period from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m.

• Forbid the sale of fireworks after 11 p.m. on July 3 and 4.

• Ban the discharge of fireworks after 11:30 p.m. on July 3 and 4.

• Forbid the discharge of fireworks on city property.

The committee also recommended the City Commission consider adopting the Kansas State Fire Marshal code, which forbids the discharge of fireworks on city streets. The report does note there was committee discussion of whether it was safer to use fireworks on streets streets rather than yards and driveways.

In addition, the committee recommended city staff better inform residents of fireworks regulations, safety and expectations through expanded online postings and educational opportunities. Residents and visitors should be informed that ignoring fireworks regulations could lead to citations for littering, noise and fireworks violations.

Reazin said the proposed changes of hours won’t prevent Eudora residents from enjoying the holiday. One of the problems the committee identified was the large number of people from out of town who come to Eudora to discharge fireworks on city parks and ball fields and don’t clean up the debris. The proposed ordinance would address that with the help of barricades, signage and enforcement, he said.