COSTA MESA The city will forge ahead with its own July 4 celebration on one condition – that Councilman John Stephens raise the $50,000 it will cost to put on the event from private sources by May 15.

Stephens asked the City Council to vote in favor of the city setting up a pyrotechnic display at the OC Fairgrounds as a way to reduce the use of illegal fireworks and allow police officers to patrol neighborhoods more effectively, he said.

The city will also launch an information campaign about the penalties for the discharge of illegal fireworks, a misdemeanor punishable by $1,000 fine and six months in jail.

Though the items passed in a 5-0 vote on Tuesday, April 18, some council members voiced concerns over the event’s costs, potential noise and skepticism that it would have the desired effect.

Mayor Katrina said having the display at the OC Fair & Event Center would be a financial burden for residents.

“You have to pay a lot of money for water… you can’t bring your own food so you have to buy their food,” she said. “I’d like to see us doing something like this at a different venue where it could be less expensive and more community oriented.”

The rest of the council was swayed into favoring the idea after Stephens agreed the celebration was contingent on him raising the money by the May 15 deadline.

“That’s plenty of time,” Stephens said. “I think that actually might accelerate the raising of the money.” As of Tuesday, he had raised $22,000 in pledges from six donors, he said.

Any funds raised exceeding the $50,000 mark will be donated to youth sports and veterans groups, he said.

Costa Mesa is one of a few cities in Orange County that doesn’t provide a fireworks celebration on July 4 holiday. Stephens pushed for the celebration after getting feedback from residents at a February community forum where he discussed fireworks.

“Council Member Stephens concludes that the Fourth of July holiday in Costa Mesa has become decentralized, disorganized and dangerous,” a staff report said.

From July 1-5 of 2016, the city received 1,009 firework-related calls.

The vision for the event is to open the Heroes Hall veterans museum on the fairgrounds from 2 to 5 p.m. From 3 to 9 p.m., local bands would perform by the Baja Blues concession area and the pyrotechnic display would begin sometime between 8:45 and 9 p.m.