The village board on Thursday approved updates to Ordinance 16-2 that restrict the hours when fireworks may be used within village limits and raised the minimum liability insurance requirement for permitted public fireworks displays.

Under the board-approved updates, fireworks use will be prohibited after 10 p.m. and before 7 a.m., and the minimum liability insurance for permitted displays will be increased from $500,000 to $1,000,000. The changes will be drafted into formal ordinance language by staff and executed in ordinance form following that drafting.

Why it matters: Board members said the time restrictions are intended to curb late-night nuisance fireworks — especially single, disruptive displays — and the higher insurance minimum is intended to better cover risk for larger permitted events.

The presenter noted that the ordinance’s definition section reproduces state law’s definitions verbatim and that the new language addresses only the local time window and insurance amount. The board also discussed enforcement challenges: the village’s contract with the sheriff’s department ends at 11 p.m., and members said isolated late-night incidents are hard to locate and enforce because by the time dispatch receives a complaint an operator may already be back inside.

A board member summarized the practical purpose: the ordinance “is just a tool to be used if the situation arises,” adding that it will be more effective at identifying large, organized displays than at catching isolated late-night launches.

What happens next: Staff will convert the redlined Word draft discussed at the meeting into formal ordinance language for signature and codification. Enforcement will rely on a combination of contracted sheriff response and village staff follow-up for incidents outside contracted hours.

Speakers at the discussion included village staff who presented the draft changes and multiple board members who debated enforcement logistics and technical definitions copied from state law.