NASHUA – Bishop Guertin High School will celebrate its graduating seniors this year by lighting up the sky after members of the Board of Aldermen approved an ordinance this week changing the way the city deals with fireworks.

“They’re going to set up a drive through type setting in their field house and each graduate’s going to go by car through the field and they’re going to project the graduates picture up on the wall,” Alderman-At-Large President Lori Wilshire said. “And then after their ceremony and they get their diplomas they’re just going to have a five to eight minute display of fireworks, which I thought was reasonable so I agreed to sponsor this for them.”

This decision came after an hour or so of discussion on the matter, during which time Alderman Ernest Jette pointed out that Ordinance 20-019 constitutes a complete change in the way the city deals with fireworks display. Jette said that right now under the fireworks ordinances, no fireworks without a permit are allowed, and that no permits will be issued except to the city for programs and displays under its control. Jette further explained that this ordinance allows anyone to apply for a permit from the fire marshal.

“This is one of the problems I think we run into when things are presented to us at the last minute and an ordinance is drafted very quickly, presented to us without a proper discussion and vetting by a committee,” Jette said. “I just think this is bad legislation. I think it sets a bad precedent for the city, and as much as I’d like to allow Guertin to do what they want to do for their graduation I cannot support this ordinance.”

While he and several others were unable to support the ordinance as written, it ultimately passed by a vote of 9 yeas and 5 neas. However, some board members would like to see Bishop Guertein celebrate their graduating Class of 2020 this way and then bring this back for further vetting.

Alderman Tom Lopez suggested to board members that they continue forward with this legislation and then introduce additional amendments that can be vetted very thoroughly in a committee setting. Alderman Richard Dowd echoed a similar sentiment in that he would also like to see the high school have this occasion and if board members want to bring it back to a committee and discuss it further and put more t’s and c’s in it they can do that.

“While I want them to have this special celebration, I’m not feeling comfortable,” Alderman Patricia Klee said. “I feel like we’re just opening up a pandora’s box and I don’t want to go there.”

Nashua Fire Chief Brian Rhodes also joined the virtual meeting and said that this is not something that the fire department takes lightly. He explained that the fire marshal has surveyed the site at Bishop Guertin and that it falls within the parameters of both the state and city ordinances for a safety zone.

Rhodes also said that there are very few sites in the city that have the square footage that would accommodate Class C fireworks. However he also believes that there are very few entities in the city who can meet the insurance requirements to hold an event like this as well. Rhodes said the department is comfortable with this from a public safety standpoint.

“We will, as we do with events at Holman Stadium, we will have a fire department presence on scene,” Rhodes said. “Our fire marshal will be on scene and will inspect the set up – and just to reiterate, this is not something that the average citizen could request and meet all of the requirements to do this.”

Wilshire said the event is scheduled for May 31 with a rain date of June 1.

Adam Urquhart may be contacted at 594-1206, or at aurquhart@nashuatelegraph.com.

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