Fireworks show to go on, despite hike in fees

Jim McKee says he’s likely to be out of pocket thousands of dollars when he puts on his annual fireworks display in the park across the street of his home Aug. 18 – and he says the city is partly to blame since it is charging him an extra fee this year.

“I’m not cancelling the show,” he said on Friday. “But I’m tired of the bureaucratic red tape…. It’s been nothing but stress and depression.”

For 12 years, the Spillsbury Dr. resident has put on a summer firework display in Valleymore Park, across the street from his home.

McKee has a licence to supervise pyrotechnic displays, and he puts on an elaborate summer show every year as a gesture of goodwill.

Usually he asks his neighbours for donations to help cover the cost of the fireworks – he uses GoFundMe, although he says that’s far less effective than canvassing his neighbours in per-

son.

McKee is not one to stint: this year he pre-paid for his fireworks and they cost him $10,000. He says he’s raised $6,000 so far, mostly by going door-to-door.

He knows he may fall short between now and Aug. 18, he says: last year his donations didn’t cover his costs (although he doesn’t say exactly how much he was short).

“I didn’t mind,” he said.

But he does mind that city staff has told him he’ll have to pay a new fee of $1,350 that he’s never paid before; that’s the cost to close a stretch of Spillsbury Dr., between Clancy St. and Parcells Cres., to vehicular traffic.

That’s new, McKee said: the city has never before wanted to close any portion of the road.

Brendan Wedley, manager of communications services for the city, wrote in an email to The Examiner that it’s because McKee told city officials he was expecting a crowd of 700 people — which is a larger crowd than he estimated in applications in previous years.

“With the larger crowd, the road will need to be closed for the event for public safety,” Wedley wrote.

“Safety is a priority when considering applications for the use of public space for events.”

On Friday McKee said he has since reconsidered: while 700 people are likely to see the show, he says 250 or so usually watch from their yards with the rest gathering in the park.

In that case he doesn’t think there’s a safety issue – and if the city disagrees, he wonders why they won’t barricade the road for free.

Meanwhile McKee says his fundraising is stalled at $6,000 (against his costs of $10,000) and the city’s additional fee of $1,350 could put him out of pocket as much as $5,350.

In a bid to stoke his fundraising, he said he will give away his Harley Davidson motorcycle – worth $2,500 – in a draw among people who’ve donated more than $20.

Worrying about the losses is taking a toll, he said.

“I will never do it (a show) again in this park,” he said on Friday. “I can’t afford the stress.”

NOTE: A GoFundMe campaign is collecting donations at https://ca.gofundme.com/ Block-Party-Fireworks-Night