The Wright City Board of Aldermen discussed two seemingly unrelated topics as one of their bills resulted in a debate involving fireworks and last year’s Senate Bill 3.

The discussion occurred during the board’s meeting March 12 and started with a simple bill to vacate a portion of Warren Avenue to allow for its purchase by a business. This conversation then expanded into a discussion of what to do with the proceeds of the sale.

Alderman Don Andrews said that he felt it would be a good opportunity to use any proceeds from the sale of the vacated section of Warren Avenue to put towards the city’s Fourth of July celebration. He suggested it especially because he noted this will be the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Alderman Karey Owens voiced concerns with this approach noting that the city is on a tight budget. She also worried about the effect SB 3 voting in April would have on the city’s tax collections. Under SB 3 Warren County is a zero percent county, meaning that in April, county voters will be voting whether to effectively freeze property tax liability.

Owens focused on the uncertainty if the vote in April passes to the city’s budget.

“I worry about spending taxpayer dollars on firework shows,” Owens said. “I really worry about burning money.”

Heiliger agreed with Owens’ concerns, noting that a fireworks show would cost around $10,000.

“We have real needs in our city that we can apply $10,000 to than a fireworks show,” Heiliger said.

Heiliger also voiced concerns with the impact of SB 3 on the city’s finances.

Alderman Ramiz Hakim suggested earmarking $10,000 for the fireworks show, but attempting to get sponsors to cover the cost so that taxpayers would not be on the hook. This led to a discussion about recent efforts to get sponsors for the event and the inability of the city to do so.

Andrews initially said he would not vote in favor of the vacation of a portion of Warren Avenue if he couldn’t get the funds earmarked for fireworks. This led to a legal discussion where attorney Paul Rost said the ordinance up for vote only involves vacating the roadway. Heiliger also voiced concerns about limiting commercial businesses because the city wants to consider having a fireworks show. Ultimately the aldermen voted 4-0 to approve vacating the portion of Warren Avenue.

The board also unanimously approved a resolution for the city to apply for the Missouri Blue Shield Public Safety Accreditation Program. Police Chief Tom Canavan said last year Gov. Mike Kehoe set aside $10 million for law enforcement agencies. Canavan said there are 10 requirements to meet in order to qualify for the grant, which would provide the department $50,000 if approved. Canavan said the funds would go towards equipment and training for the department.

The board also approved an amendment to their agreement to purchase Caselle accounting software. Originally the city had approved $41,000 for the software, but City Clerk Abbie Ogborn said there was a cost difference due to court modules and the actual cost of the software was $46,588. The board approved this change 4-0.

The board also heard a presentation from Lynda Chandler representing the Warren County Fair Queen’s contest. She said the organization wanted to use the Heiliger Building at Diekroger Park for a workshop for the queen contestants. Chandler had asked for the fee to be waived for use of the building, but the board noted that if they waived the fee for one organization they would have to waive the fee for all organizations.