Mayor Paul Jordan, left, discusses a past meeting with Williamstown City Councilman Marty Steufer, right. (Photo by Gwen Sour)

WILLIAMSTOWN — Williamstown City Council began its preparations for the upcoming Ohio River Sternwheel Festival this weekend.

The city plans to close the Williamstown Bridge to pedestrian traffic at 8 p.m. on Saturday for the festival’s fireworks display scheduled for 9:30 p.m.

Additionally, there are plans to bring the closest an individual can stand to the river for the fireworks further back. According to Mayor Paul Jordan, there is a new regulation that says for every inch of fireworks based on the largest firework on the barge, there must be 75 feet for an area of protection. From what Jordan understood, the state fire marshal dictates the points on the map that must be walled off.

The council also selected a date for trick-or-treat. To match the surrounding cities, Williamstown decided trick-or-treat will take place on Oct. 31, beginning at 6 p.m. and ending at 7:30 p.m.

An additional proclamation passed was to declare Sept. 16-20 as National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week. The goal for the week is to help up literacy rates within Wood County – other local cities participating in this project include Vienna and Parkersburg.

Council approved the use of the bridge on Oct. 5. Marietta plans to have a Fire Prevention Parade that will begin at 7 a.m. and will take a path across the Williamstown Bridge that day.

According to Councilwoman Marsha Houston, a citizen brought to her concerns about the ordinance against chickens inside the city limits of Williamstown and wanted to know if there was any chance council would consider looking at the ordinance again.

Jordan said that allowing chickens in town may bring further issues that the city would hope to avoid.

“I think when you open up that gate – farm animals – and I think if you open up that gate as harmless as chickens sound, I think it just isn’t possible,” said Jordan.

Houston also agreed to keep the ordinance in place.

“My biggest concern was drawing predators,” said Houston.

The next Williamstown City Council meeting will take place on Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. at the Williamstown City Building.

Gwen Sour can be reached at gsour@newsandsentinel.com