Fireworks call wakes marshal

Not everyone in Belgium had a happy celebration of America’s 250th birthday.

Village Marshal Leon Anzia told the Village Board this month that he got a call at 10:30 p.m. on the Fourth of July about someone setting off fireworks.

“I got up, and I was a little bit short with them after being woken up,” he said.

Anzia found the culprits. They lived near his house but he didn’t hear the fireworks. They agreed to stop shooting them off.

“The people I talked to were very nice,” he said.

Anzia told the woman who called him to speak to the Village Board about the issue, but she did not attend the meeting.

Anzia is wondering about the future of fireworks patrol.

“Am I going to have to go out and drive around town at night trying to find people that are blowing off fireworks? I don’t want to be knocking on doors at night,” he said.

Trustee Dan Wolff, who works for the Port Washington Police Department, suggested people call the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Department with fireworks complaints.

“I don’t expect you to be out at midnight, 1 o’clock in the morning tracking down fireworks,” he told Anzia.

Village Treasurer Vickie Boehnlein said the marshal is not supposed to respond to fireworks complaints.

“I think it’s unfortunate that they woke you up and expected you to jump on it. That’s not what the role of a marshal really is,” she said.

Anzia asked that the village remind people through the village newsletter that they can’t shoot off fireworks.