General photo of fireworks.
DERBY — A city Alderman asked City Hall to send Shelton a bill for costs Derby incurred during last week’s fireworks display in Shelton.
“I think we ought to call the mayor of Shelton and hand him the large bill for his fireworks display,” Alderman Charles Sampson said during the July 7 meeting of the Derby Board of Aldermen/Alderwomen.
The Valley Indy emailed Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti July 14 to react to Sampson’s statement.
The annual Derby-Shelton fireworks show, which usually happens with large crowds on both sides of the Housatonic River, had been canceled because of social distancing rules brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, Derby usually hits up businesses for donations to cover the costs, something the Dziekan administration didn’t want to do this year since so many local businesses are struggling.
However, the City of Shelton decided to go ahead and hold fireworks July 8 (announcing it to the public July 6) since the COVID-19 infection rate had fallen in Connecticut.
Valley Indy Facebook readers who watched the show posted that it was a great time, especially for families who’ve been looking for something to do.
But Derby officials, particularly emergency responders, questioned the City of Shelton’s decision to hold the show with little notice to their Derby neighbors across the river.
The move caused Derby at the last minute to assign extra police, firefighters, an ambulance, and a public works crew to the Derby side of the Housatonic River the night of the show.
Alderman Sampson asked several questions about how much resources were used in Derby to deal with the fireworks show.
Derby Police Chief Gerald Narowski told the board Shelton city officials closed ‘the slab’ (a public green space in downtown Shelton on the Housatonic River) to the public, aside
from members of the Shelton High School Class of 2020. That eliminated a popular vantage point to see fireworks and “basically forced everyone who wanted to view it into Derby,” Narowski said.
The chief also said no one from Shelton reached out to him to talk about the fireworks show. Narowski said he found out from the Derby Fire Department. Usually streets are closed during the annual show. Extra officers are assigned for crowd control.
“They unilaterally did these fireworks without talking to us and pushed all their viewers into our town, which forced us to use our own resources to deal with it,” Chief Narowski said.
Derby Volunteer Fire Department Commissioner Gary Parker said personnel were assigned to each fire company during the event. Two fire trucks were on scene, along with an ambulance from Derby Storm Ambulance. The Storms also had a boat on the river, Parker said.
After the meeting, the mayor’s office told The Valley Indy it cost $417.12 in overtime to have the Derby DPW on scene.
Chief Narowski said six officers were assigned, costing $1,550 in overtime.
“That doesn’t include other items such as auxiliary police being deployed, denial of time off to keep normal staffing levels, pre-planning, and fuel,” Narowski told The Valley Indy.
The Aldermen/Alderwomen did not take action on Sampson’s request, though Sampson was supported by Alderman Jim DiMartino.
“Charlie’s right,” he said.
Mayor Rich Dziekan said he was “left in the dark like everyone else” when it came to planning Shelton’s fireworks show, but did not say whether he would send a bill.
After the meeting Drew Baklik, Dziekan’s chief of staff, said he doubted an invoice would be sent, but the decision is up to the mayor.
Here’s video from Valley Aerial Optics of last year’s show:
