At its Monday night meeting, the Safety Harbor City Commission unanimously voted to have city staff negotiate a $25,000 contract with Explosive Touch for a 15- to 17-minute fireworks show on the Fourth of July.
Last year, the city was forced to move the fireworks show to July 1 as the number of fireworks companies that served cities on the west coast of Florida had dwindled to just three and none had availability on July 4th. Of the three companies, Explosive Touch, which did the city's show last year, was the only one to respond to the city this year.
City staff also provided Commission with an alternative show that would feature 300 drones with lights and graphics. The cost of that 27-minute show, from Celestrial Drones, would have been $45,000.
Commission was intrigued by the drone show, and asked Special Events Coordinator Joe Cooper to research having a smaller drone show for another event so residents could experince it before committing to replacing fireworks with it.