he way the city of Mineola handles the approval of events such as festivals may be changing.

Fire Marshal David Madsen briefed the city council last week about discrepancies between the city ordinance and the adopted fire code from 2021, which went into effect in January.

Under current practice, street closures for events are approved in advance by the city council.

But the ordinance requires approval only from the city secretary once certain criteria are met.

Among those is a provision to petition business owners within 200 feet of the event for approval. If declined, it could be appealed to the council.

The rules have been in place since 1977, and Madsen said he cannot recall following the specifics required in the ordinance.

The fire code has a section for outdoor events involving fire safety. He described those requirements as what the city has been trying to do, and they are not difficult.

The council tasked the department heads to work out the differences and come back to the council with a recommendation.