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Roanoke's Fourth of July fireworks funds to be kept separate from town funds

The committee that raises funds for the Fourth of July fireworks display in Roanoke will stockpile those funds differently than it has in years past, the Roanoke Town Council learned at its meeting on Tuesday, April 2.

Councilman Ryan Carroll reported that the committee expressed a desire to amass the funds it raises on its own, rather than go through the town.

Since the committee’s formation in 2015, it has brought the donations it receives to the town, which then deposits them into a dedicated bank account.

Carroll’s fellow council members, as well as Clerk-Treasurer JoAnne Kirchner, responded that they were fine with the committee keeping track of the funds it raises on its own.

Previously, Roanoke’s Fourth of July fireworks display had been funded by the town. However, the Indiana State Board of Accounts struck that line item from the town’s budget going into 2014. That year, the display was funded by the Roanoke Tractor Pullers Association. Every year since then, the display has been funded by the committee through the donations it receives.

After the committee finishes raising funds, Carroll and Council President Dave Tucker said they anticipated the town would get re-engaged with the process of conducting the fireworks show, working with the committee to hold the show at Roanoke Park.
In other business:

• Tucker shared that Noah Proffitt, an Eagle Scout candidate with Boy Scout Troop 302, would be building eight-foot benches and picnic tables for Roanoke Park as his Eagle project. While the town will be purchasing the materials for the project, Proffitt alone will be constructing the benches and tables, said Tucker.

• Council voted against repurchasing advertising space for the town on a billboard along Interstate 69. Repurchasing the space would have cost $2,500 and Carroll proposed spending that money on an update for the Roanoke Chamber of Commerce’s website, DiscoverRoanoke.org, instead.