ROCK SPRINGS – The fireworks will fly this Fourth of July and it looks as though they will start their journey at Western Wyoming Community College.

On Tuesday, the Rock Springs City Council approved a $25,000 contract with Fireworks West Internationale, Inc., for the annual show. The contract was tabled at the last meeting after it was announced the city was looking at possibly moving the fireworks from North Rock Springs to the Western Wyoming Community College campus.

Before voting on the contract, Councilman David Halter gave an update on what the city has been doing. The city starting looking at moving the show for several reasons. Public safety issues, relieving traffic issues and they would be centrally located were all reasons given.

Halter explained several of the city events which take place north of Rock Springs during the Fourth of July celebrations had also been cut due to budget constraints. This includes the mud volleyball tournament.

With all these factors, Halter said this was the year to look at moving them if they wanted to see how it would work.

He said he will continue to work on a Memorandum of Understanding with the college to make the move official.

The vote on the fireworks contract was not unanimous. Councilman Tim Savage voted against the contract. He made it clear to SweetwaterNOW that it was a hard decision because he is such a fan of the local firework show.

While he said he had several concerns about moving the location, the vote was on the contract. With so many people out of work and budgets tight, Savage said $25,000 was a lot of money to spend on fireworks.

“That money could be used to hire a couple of season laborers or used in other ways,” Savage said.

Issues he had with moving the location included bringing them closer to pets and soldiers suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. He said they would have no way to get away from them. He said he also liked the tradition of them being north of Rock Springs.