COVINGTON, Ga. – The ongoing discussion of fireworks was the main topic brought up at the Covington city council meeting on Tuesday. However, residents may not be able to witness them this year, due to concerns about safety leaving some in the council hesitant.

A 4-2 vote to allow fireworks for the 2024 Lighting of the Square was vetoed by mayor Fleeta Baggett.

According to Baggett, she has ongoing concerns regarding public safety.

“My main concern is No. 1 it's dark, and No. 2 you’re talking about a large amount of children,” Baggett said. 

Previously, it was decided via an unofficial consensus to not have fireworks at the Christmas event. However, council member Jared Rutberg, said that they should change this to allow the fireworks to still be launched. 

At earlier meetings, conversations about having the fireworks on Juneteenth instead were discussed. However, due to scheduling and the inability to store fireworks for a long period of time, Rutberg said the idea was declined by Friends of Covington Fireworks owner Robert Foxworth. 

Foxworth has a contract with the city for $15,000 for this year’s fireworks.

Rutberg stated that Newton County committed to paying $5,000 if the fireworks were launched. He said that they should launch them at the Christmas event anyways because it will cost them $15,000 to not launch them due to the exclusion of county funds and $10,000 to launch them.

Despite this, concerns over public safety and crowd control have yet to be solved. Just last year, 19,000 people showed up to the Lighting of the Square — a 130 percent increase in participation.  

“I was always under the impression that the problem is just on the Square,” Rutberg said. “It’s not just on the Square.” 

Rutberg also addressed public safety concerns that come with the event, suggesting parking on alternate sides of the street with ‘no parking’ signs, using Tourism Convention and Trade (TCT) or advertising dollars to pay for the purchases.

However, city attorney Frank Turner Jr. said that his concern is that the TCT dollars will not be approved to be used for parking signs, because it is only for advertising Covington. They also do not have in writing that the county will help pay $5,000 for fireworks, citing the county had not previously done so before.

Chief Phillip Bradford also added that he does not think a solution has been figured out in regards to the number of people that the event draws. When reviewing the side parking idea, he said that he doesn't think they can get enough people to comply because he doesn't have the manpower to go out and work traffic. 

“Are they gonna go by the signs?,” Bradford said. “They knocked our cones over, moved our barricades off the street and went right on by and did what they wanted to at Fourth of July.” 

Data shows that people showed up for the event mostly from 4:30-5 p.m. During that time in 2023, 15,000 people arrived. 

With that many people coming at one time, there are concerns over whether they could dedicate law enforcement and volunteers to control parking situations. However, it was also noted that in previous years there has never been a traffic plan initiated. 

“Everythings just outgrowing that area, it’s just so big for it and I don't know an answer,” Bradford said. 

On top of the parking situation, Bradford said they also now have to limit parking at the parking deck, due to additional safety concerns.

Rutberg made the motion to host the fireworks as previously scheduled with conditions such as the side parking and more security measures. Council member Anthony Henderson seconded the motion. 

The council voted 4-2, with council members Susie Keck and Charika Davis in opposition, to have the fireworks. 

The mayor pro-tem shared her reasoning on why she voted against the motion.

“It’s hard for me to vote to have fireworks,” Keck said. “I know it [costs] $15,000, but that's a drop in the bucket if somebody gets hurt.” 

Council member Charika Davis added her viewpoint, saying she voted to not have the fireworks due to her experience with parking. She said it was too dark and she could barely see to park, and that if you take something off the table like fireworks, people may be deterred from coming. 

“At the end of the day, the kids are important, and the people in this city, in this town are very important,” Davis said. 

But despite the vote, Baggett used mayor's privilege to veto it, meaning fireworks will not happen for Lighting of the Square as of today.

Baggett said that if  safety concerns are figured out,  she will not stand in the way, but until then she said she is not comfortable holding the fireworks. 

“It’s not just about the fireworks, it's more about how we have to get a handle on how we’re going to do large crowds and what types of events are gonna be okay to have downtown in the future,” Baggett said. 

But despite the veto, the council can overturn the mayor’s decision. If a majority decision is reached at the next meeting to override the veto – meaning 4-2 or higher – then the veto will be overruled and the original vote will stay in place.

The next council meeting will take place on Sept. 16.

News editor Evan Newton contributed to this report.