During its regular meeting, the Burlington Jct. City Council discussed a litany of topics including fielding citizen concerns regarding firework ordinances.

A rousing discussion occurred during the meeting when a concerned citizen rose to debate the need for the city to better regulate when residents can and cannot shoot fireworks. The discussion centered around an incident this year in which a resident shot fireworks days after the fourth and kept the concerned citizen from sleeping.

The citizen said he had no issue with fireworks going off on July 4, but was hoping the city would consider passing an ordinance to limit the days and times when fireworks are legal to be shot. The city had an ordinance in the past, but the council had rescinded it sighting a difficulty to enforce the law as written.

Discussion on both sides of the issue was abundant in the council chamber. Most seemed in favor of finding a way to limit fireworks use and brought forward various ideas ranging from noise permits for fireworks, revising the city’s noise ordinance, making a fireworks-specific ordinance or a hybrid of those options. The council decided it would look into different options for an ordinance and would discuss the situation more at future meetings.

The council reviewed the yearly financial report, noting it ended slightly in the negative for the year.

During the Alliance maintenance report, the council discussed having to replace a four-inch water line at the edge of town affecting the drinking water of many Burlington Jct. residents. Alliance did not have a bid for the project, but it was made clear replacing the entirety of the pipe was not only the most cost effective fix for the issue, but also the most permanent.

The Alliance representative and the council also discussed the need for the installation of a new system in the city’s sewer system. The installation of the system is a requirement from the EPA and will have to take place. The project looks to be a costly endeavor, but numbers are not yet finalized. The city and Alliance will work together to try and acquire grants to help offset the cost. The council did not vote on anything regarding the installation, deferring to discuss it further once the numbers are solid.

The council also looked at letters needing to be sent regarding derelict vehicles, animal management and lawn length.

It was announced the baseball association is working to improve the baseball field, and Town and Country Days will be September 15.