Lively discussion of future downtown event permitting and street closures

C&C Frozen Treats business owner and Family Fun Day organizer William Huck expresses his ideas on downtown event criteria development, as did many others Thursday night at the Downtown Envision meeting. Royal Examiner Photos by Roger Bianchini. Video by Mark Williams, Royal Examiner.

Downtown business owners and other interested citizens gathered for the second in a series of meetings scheduled to reach a consensus on recommendations to the town government on policies moving forward regarding special events, related street closures, parking and other variables that may impact them all.

Interim Town Manager Matt Tederick, fresh from his grilling by mostly angry citizens reacting to his radical proposal to downsize the town government function as part of his FY 2021 Town Budget proposal, helped Envision Meeting Facilitator Chips Lickson poll 30 to 40 present on their opinions on how a consensus should be reached and on what criteria that consensus should be based.

It is important to the Town because that consensus will help Tederick recommend policy changes to council on festival and event permitting, street closures, policing needs and cost distribution between the Town and private and non-profit sectors.

Meeting facilitator Chips Lickson, left, and Interim Town Manager Matt Tederick at the white board list of proposed criteria for future event permitting.

Tederick may have noticed that much of the negative heat he caught at the 4:30 p.m. public meeting over recommended staff terminations and downsizing of the town government, came from the absence of this very type of public and impacted citizen input prior to the recommendation being decided upon, whether by him as “interim” town manager or under the non-publicly disclosed recommendation of council.

Unlike that quickly-organized and heated public confrontation earlier at the Front Royal Brewery where Tederick and IT/Communications Director Todd Jones alone were present from the Town, a number of Town Council members were present for the long-scheduled Envision session at the Villa Avenue Community Center. Among those present were Vice-Mayor Bill Sealock, Gary Gillespie, Letasha Thompson, Lori Cockrell, as well as Mayor Gene Tewalt and Police Chief Kahle Magalis. Also present was County Board Chairman Walter Mabe.

At left, County Board Chair Walter Mabe and Vice-Mayor Bill Sealock listen, as M’dub Chauffeur Service’s Michael Williams to their left, awaits his turn to chime in, and downtown State Farm insurance agent Ellen Aders listens.

Punctuated by some lively discussion, a consensus seemed to be reached that of seven criteria future downtown festival and event permitting be based on, attendance, even distribution of vendors along the length of East Main Street, and a qualitative assessment of the event and revenue produced be categorized as the top three criteria.

Other variables discussed included how to approach new events without a track record to judge criteria by; how event revenue should be distributed and how operational costs should be divided between event sponsors and the town government.

While opinions varied widely among those present, majorities were expressed for:

1 – provision of a budget forecast and breakdown, as well as post-event report on those actual numbers;

2 – no time limit on how long downtown streets or parking facilities would be closed for major events, such events being judged at 1500 along Main Street and 750 in the Gazebo/Village Commons area alone;

3 – that event applications be considered throughout the year;

4 – that events with a positive track record be given preference if there were conflicting permit applications for a single date;

5 – that applying organizations not be limited in the number of events sought within a single year.

Well, that certainly explains it – uncredited artists’ whiteboard rendition of parking, road closure variables in the Gazebo-Village Commons area at East Main and Chester Streets.

There was also a tight 9-7 majority in support of a two events per month limit over no limit on the number of events requiring street or other closures within a month.

See the discussion, and lively back and forth among participants, including many familiar faces in the downtown business community in this exclusive Royal Examiner video: