Des Moines Sun

The Windsor Heights City Council is opening its checkbook to pay for fireworks for the annual fall festival and sponsorship for the Windsor Heights Foundation.

At its April 3 meeting, the council was given two options for fireworks packages for the Windsor Heights Fall Festival, one with a $13,000 price tag and another priced at $15,000. Both included an 8% discount for early purchase and a loyalty bonus. The first option covers a 20-minute show, while the more expensive option is a 25-minute display with some variations in the fireworks used.

The council also learned during the meeting that the Events Committee, which also plans the July 4 events each year, supported the $15,000 package. The City would be required to pay for the display 90 days before the event. After some debate, the council agreed to go with that package for the event, which will be held at the end of September.

During the meeting, the council also approved $5,000 for the Windsor Heights Foundation in sponsorship of summer activities at Colby Park throughout the summer. The foundation focuses on providing free activities for families to drive fellowship and improve the lives of people living in the community.

Mark Arends, president of the Windsor Heights Foundation, told the council that the foundation’s expenses for July 4 activities would run approximately $20,000.

“So the $5,000 that we're using is not only for the fireworks on the 4th of July timeframe,” he said in the meeting. “It will also encompass and also be used for the Nights in Heights concert series and things. We for the 4th of July, our total expenses as a foundation will probably run close to $20,000 with the security, maintenance folks that we need, the fire department.”

The foundation also hosts free monthly movie nights in the park staring in May and an ice cream social on June 25.

“So the $5,000 and we will put the City down as a sponsor, it’ll go on all the primary mailings that we do,” Arends said. “And we have three trifold signage that we put up for the Nights in the Heights, and so you’d be listed as a primary sponsor.”