Fireworks Flap Now In Sheriff's Hands

A nonpermitted Fourth of July fireworks display at a Ridge Manor Catholic church continues to sizzle.

Building Department Director Grant Tolbert said Wednesday he has kicked the matter over to the code enforcement department and the sheriff's office for further investigation.

If those two agencies determine that the people who put on the church display willfully violated a county ordinance by not obtaining a permit, the organizers could be found guilty of a first-degree misdemeanor punishable up to a $1,000 fine, Tolbert said.

Tolbert said he had no choice but to turn the matter over to higher authorities because, while his office issues permits for organized fireworks displays, it does not have enforcement powers.

County ordinance mandates that a person obtain a permit if there is to be a "supervised public display of fireworks."

Tolbert said it is his opinion that the event put on by St. Anne's Roman Catholic Church in Ridge Manor met that definition.

He also said this is the first time he can remember that such a display occurred without prior permit issuance from the board of county commissioners.

James Nico, a member of the church's Knights of Columbus, told Hernando Today that the event consisted of "low-level pyrotechnics" - some sparklers and 6 to 7 bottle rockets.

Nico said he contacted the building department prior to the event.

Donna Singer, the county's site plan review coordinator, said the Knights of Columbus failed to submit a fireworks application in the 45-day time frame necessary to get it reviewed through the proper channels, which would include the county commission.

She said the church also failed to sign an insurance form absolving the county of liability in case someone got hurt in county right of way.

The permit would have cost $200.

Nico e-mailed County Commissioner Chris Kingsley who, after deciding that the display being put on by the church did not rise to the level of a permit, told Hernando Today that he advised his constituent, "I would go ahead and do it."

Nico said Kingsley urged him to exercise caution during the advertised event.

After hearing that the fireworks gathering occurred without the sanction of the county, Singer turned the matter over to her supervisors.

Meanwhile, another person has weighed in on the matter: the Rev. Ron Marecki, pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Homosassa.

Marecki e-mailed Hernando Today after the story broke and said he was pastor of St. Anne's from July 2003 to June 2007.

"During that period of time, the Knights of Columbus had approached me with a request to have fireworks on the Fourth of July. I had informed them that I would not allow that because of the issue of safety and, in addition, it is prohibited by the insurance carrier for the Diocese of St. Petersburg, which owns St. Anne's," Marecki said.

"It upsets me that the Knights of Columbus, knowing full well the reasons why a fireworks display was not permissible in the past, would take advantage of the new pastor's apparent unfamiliarity with both the county laws and the insurance company's prohibition of such an activity," Marecki added.