Batesville aldermen will decide time limits for shooting fireworks

By John Howell
Batesville’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen will begin their meeting one hour early — at 1 p.m. — today to allow time to consider drafts of ordinances regulating discharge of fireworks and door to door sales calls in the city.
Exploding fireworks several weeks after the Fourth of July brought complaints to aldermen, who asked assistant City Attorney Colmon Mitchell to draft an ordinance addressing the use of fireworks. Sales of fireworks are legal in the city but are restricted by state law to immediately before and after certain holidays. Today’s discussion is expected to lead to a restriction on when fireworks may be shot in the city.
Door-to-door solicitation by representatives of Nielson TV Ratings brought complaints to the police department in August and representatives of the company to a September board meeting.
Nielson representative Robert Palmer told the mayor and aldermen during their Sept. 5 meeting that he had been soliciting Batesville participants for the survey for 20 years without having had police ask him to stop.
“Our citizens have been warned so much about scams …, I just think they were uncomfortable with the equestions,” Police Chief Jimmy McCloud said during the Sept. meeting.
Aldermen instructed McCloud to assist Mitchell with guidelines for the ordinance draft that will be considered today.