The annual July 4th fireworks show held by the City of Miami Springs will be cancelled this year.  The City Council unanimously voted at Monday’s meeting to cancel this year’s fireworks.

July 4th Fireworks Cancelled this year in Miami Springs
July 4th Fireworks Cancelled this year in Miami Springs

The fireworks could not be held at the Miami Springs Golf Course this year.  The Golf Course is currently undergoing a nearly $4 Million renovation.  As such, it would be impossible to host the annual fireworks tradition on the golf course.

The Director of Recreation, Omar Luna, had come up with a viable plan to host the fireworks at Miami Springs Senior High which would provide viewing areas along Peavey Dove Field and the empty lots adjacent to the clay pits.

Police Staffing

Police Chief Armando Guzman stated that he needed 14 police officers working at the Golf Course to prevent people from coming onto the property on July 4th.  We’ll come back to this in a moment.

Obviously, if the event was moved to the High School, the Chief would need to staff police to handle the crowds, street closures, and traffic for the fireworks event at the new location.

At Monday’s meeting, there was a lot of concern over the additional costs for the police and the overtime required to manage the fireworks event, but also protect the golf course.

As a result of the extra expense required to protect the golf course, the Council unanimously agreed to cancel the event this year.

14 Police Officers to Protect the Golf Course?

We emailed Police Chief Guzman regarding the necessity to staff 14 Police Officers to protect the golf course.  I’m sure he put his experience with a lot of thought and consideration with coming with this number.  For the record, it’s important to protect the golf course considering it’s undergoing a nearly $4 Million renovation.

What we don’t understand is why are 14 police officers needed if there is no event happening at the golf course.  If we move the fireworks to the High School, why will people go to the golf course?

Clearly, there would be a lot of publicity announcing the move ahead of time.  I’m also sure the City would have those Mobile Traffic Signs indicating the new location for the fireworks.

Of course, there will always be someone who shows up at the wrong location who didn’t see any of the notifications.  Signage at the golf course indicating the property is closed and that there’s no event should suffice.  In our opinion, abundant signage along with one or two officers patrolling the golf course should be sufficient.

Again, we reached out to Chief Guzman about this to get his perspective.  We respect his experience on these matters.

But of course, that leads to another question.  If we cancel the fireworks and publicize that the event is cancelled, we’re still in the same boat.  By the same logic, people who didn’t get the memo will still show up at the golf course expecting fireworks.  Do we still need 14 police officers present even if the fireworks are cancelled?

Again, we reached out to the Chief and we’ll share his feedback here.

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