Council Commits to Fourth of July Fireworks

Fair Lawn council has committed to funding the borough's annual Fourth of July fireworks display at Memorial Park again this year.

Mayor John Cosgrove gained consensus to insert the fireworks in the budget by assuring council members that a multi-day borough carnival he's spearheading would pay back the approximately $30,000 cost of the fireworks in full.

"We’re trying to keep a tradition alive," Cosgrove said as part of his sell to council last Tuesday. "We’re trying to make it where it doesn’t cost the town anything and we can maybe even make a little extra money and start to put it in the kitty and keep the thing going."

Cosgrove's proposal, which is still in the planning stages, involves holding a multi-day carnival, complete with rides and games, in the Memorial Pool parking lot in early fall. The four-night event would be held the final week of September, after the pool has closed for the year.

An amusement company would provide the carnival's rides, games, prizes, food and signs, while the borough would be responsible for security, toilets, garbage and bodies to man the booths.

Cosgrove said the amusement company told him the borough could expect to raise between $15,000 and $25,000 from the carnival, but that some of the clients he spoke to had brought in almost twice that.

Members of council expressed concern that Cosgrove had yet to develop a detailed budget plan fleshing out all of the borough's costs to hold the carnival, but gave unanimous approval to fund the fireworks on his assurance that he'd get to work on a comprehensive event budget with the manager and amusement vendor.

Last year, between the cost of fireworks and employee overtime, the borough spent $32,623 on its Fourth of July event, and brought in $19,600 via ticket sales and donations for a net loss of over $13,000.

--

Follow Fair Lawn-Saddle Brook Patch on Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to receive our daily newsletter in your inbox each morning