The Red Bank council amended the entry fee for the Kaboom fireworks Wednesday. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
Red Bank’s council had a collective palm-to-forehead moment Wednesday night.
Apparently caught up earlier this month in the haste of getting the entry charge for the KaBoom fireworks show formally passed so the organizers could go to print on advertising material, the council flubbed the fee structure for the show at its last meeting.
This, even after a pretty lengthy discourse on what qualifies as a child – and a mid-meeting text exchange with KaBoom committee Chairman Charles Moran.
“In confirming and calls and text, we probably missed something,” Mayor Pasquale Menna said.
Two weeks ago, the council unanimously voted in favor of authorizing entry charges at Riverside Gardens Park. At the time, there was some confusion on the dais as to what the committee had actually recommended. Was it $5 for all children? Do infants and toddlers get charged? The council then passed what it had thought was the correct recommendation for the fees, setting them at $10 for adults and $5 for children and teens ages 10 and up.
Turns out the committee recommended charging $10 for anyone over 11 years old. Three- to 10-year-olds will cost $5; younger ones are free.
“I think everybody kind of got confused and twisted,” Council President Art Murphy said.
An obvious question was raised: how is anybody collecting the money going to tell who’s 10 years old and who’s 11, and to charge accordingly?
“We’re going to trust the parents to be honest,” Moran said.
