Fireworks not in works for E. Bruns. this year
BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

EAST BRUNSWICK - For the second straight year, the township will be unable to hold its Fourth of July fireworks event.

Citing public safety issues, the annual fireworks, which are renowned in the area and have traditionally drawn thousands of people to the Middlesex County Fairgrounds, had to be forgone, Mayoral Assistant Jacqueline Eaker said during Monday night's Township Council meeting.

Eaker told the Sentinel that the popularity of the event, which also includes live entertainment, is part of the problem, because the township could not accommodate all the parking this year. She also cited the lack of an emergency access road.

Historically, the Middlesex County Fair Association has allowed the township to use its grounds for parking, but Eaker said that since the township purchased part of the fairgrounds, the association has not allowed the use.

And with the volume of traffic that would be going in and out, the fire marshal felt another road would be needed, she said.

This year's fireworks were to be held at the adjacent, township-owned Heavenly Farms park. But the township wanted to use the fairgrounds property for parking and for emergency egress, Eaker said. She said Mayor William Neary worked "until the last minute" trying to meet with the involved parties to find a solution, but could not.

While there is plenty of room for people to park at Heavenly Farms, much of the required area has not yet been seeded, so it was feared that rain could cause cars to sink into the mud.

Eaker said officials had hoped to be far enough along in the development of Heavenly Farms this year to hold the fireworks. The park has a dog park and athletic fields, and will soon be home to a community arts center, but it is still early in the park's development, she said.

Parking for the dog park could have been used, but that is where the "shoot area" was to be located for the fireworks to be launched.

Next year, the township should be able to park cars on fields where the ground is now still immature, Eaker said. In addition, parking for the multiuse facility should be available then.

The Fourth of July fireworks is the only event where the town needs to accommodate such a volume of parking, she noted.