Restaurant seeks town OK for fireworks

The Esopus Town Board has sent the owner of Ole Savannah Southern Table & Bar on the Rondout Creek in Kingston back to the town code enforcement officer to determine what permits and insurance coverage will be needed for a planned Sept. 22 fireworks display.

Board members said at a meeting Tuesday that they didn’t have enough information to determine whether a section of the street on North Broadway in Esopus hamlet of Port Ewen, across the creek from the restaurant, could be used as the fireworks launch site.

“We did it two years ago and there were no issues,” Ole Savannah owner David Amato said. “We filed [to obtain] the same exact permit as we did two years ago.”

Also, he said, “I’m pretty sure the last time, there was an insurance policy of some sort.”

Amato said the Sept. 22 fireworks are to be part of a customer appreciation night and would be shot off by the same company that handles Kingston’s Fourth of July display.

The town of Esopus has changed code enforcement personnel during the past year and has asked the Building Department to look closely at how various permits are issued.

“We need to get waivers, insurance riders, or something to utilize our property,” Town Board member Wayne Freer said. “What happens if they’re set off from our property and something happens and it burns something down? It would make us partly responsible by using our property.”

Freer said there needs to be at least a $1 million insurance policy in place for just the permit, while additional coverage would be needed for use of the townowned road.

“You’re using ... the people’s property,” he said.

Town officials said they expect approval from the Port Ewen Fire Department also would be needed.