The Whitmire Town Council took the first step Jan. 11 to make celebrating with fireworks a little easier for its residents.

Council members voted unanimously during its January meeting to approve the first reading to repeal the town’s fireworks ordinance that states residents cannot shoot off fireworks at any time without prior written permission from the mayor.

Town Clerk Carla Taylor said the ordinance has been on the books since sometime in the 1970s, but the city has allowed fireworks to be fired during celebrations — most of which center around holidays, she said — for some time. The move will simply take the existing ordinance off the books and allow the town’s residents to shoot fireworks at any time.

Taylor said there have been complaints about fireworks from some community residents; however, the town has a noise ordinance on the books that still would handle any nuisance fireworks.

“We have a noise ordinance and if something gets to be a nuisance, they can still report that,” Taylor said, adding it would then become a local law enforcement issue.

The second reading to repeal the fireworks ordinance is on the agenda for the next council meeting set for 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 8, at Whitmire Town Hall.

In other business, the council:

• Heard an update from Newberry County Memorial Hospital Director of Public Relations and Marketing Andy Hawkins and Board of Trustees member representing the Whitmire area, George Oxner, on the recent expansions at the hospital, including new technologies and services such as MRIs, radiation treatments and chemotherapy services. Taylor said the services the hospital offers give Whitmire residents the convenience of not having to drive to places like Columbia or Spartanburg to be treated.

• Heard a skate park update. Taylor said the project is still in the works, but there have been no new developments.

• Heard an update from Whitmire Police Chief Jeremiah Sinclair on recent news from his department, including the award of a new Chevrolet Tahoe from the South Carolina Department of Public Safety through its 2009 Law Enforcement DUI Challenge. The department was drawn to receive the new vehicle because the Law Enforcement Network is in — containing the counties of Laurens, Abbeville, Greenwood and Newberry — was one of the top two in the state in the DUI Challenge.