Boom, bang, fizzle, fizzle, that’s the sound of a state law regulating the use of fireworks. The main point of contention at this week’s Toledo City Council meeting was the animosity felt over their hand being forced by the state regarding civilian use of fireworks.

Since the state took away the local government’s control on this topic, the council had no other choice, but to change the local ordinance to match that of the state’s, which allows the use of fireworks on July 3, July 4 and Dec. 31. Toledo City Attorney Michael Marquess summed his feelings on the subject by saying bluntly, “It’s a dumb law.” The council went on to waive the second and third reading of the ordinance as well.

The other big topic for the meeting was economic development. With the recent trials and tribulations at the county level, the Toledo city council has decided to move forward with starting their own Economic Development department. The city will start advertising for a director, who will shape and flesh out the department. The first project the city wants the new department to take on is the marketing of the Wood Lawn edition lots. The economic director will be a 30-hour-a-week position.

The council discussed at length before deciding to approve Jesse Brown’s vacation carryover request in part. Brown requested the carryover of 64 hours and was approved for 40 hours.

A resolution was approved for transfers for the City of Toledo, fund deficits before the fiscal year-end.

Another resolution was approved for the FY26 City of Toledo employee wages.

The Public Works department reported starting sewer line projects, and that Mannatts has started work on Church Street. A new button should help fix the crosswalk. On Saturday a water main broke in uptown Toledo.

The city attorney reported that at a future time, the insurance attorney will want to have a closed session with the council. He also reported that he is working on nuisance issues.

Police Chief Dan Quigley reported that between June 9 and June 22, they responded to 106 calls to service and affected three arrests. Officer Igor Dias has started his night shift and is on the final stretch of his field training before going solo. The department was also represented at two statewide conferences recently as well, with Officer Dickinson being a guest presenter at the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau conference and SRO Jefferson being a guest speaker at the Iowa School Resource Officer Association Conference.