City Council OKs annual Music Fest event in split vote

In a year that has seen the city pool shut down for the season, the fair parade canceled and First Friday relegated to an online presence, the Greencastle City Council encountered some unprecedented street closing issues at its June meeting.

For more than 90 minutes, the Council dealt with five separate street closing concerns, the most discussion coming on the scheduled Greencastle Music Fest, the 11th such summer event spearheaded by Gail Smith. This time the Aug. 21-22 event is set to celebrate 30 years for Almost Home.

“Hoping that in two more months things are going to be a lot better,” Smith told the Council she herself was torn about staging the concert in a COVID-19 world.

“I think not only about safety but what’s going to be best for my community,” an emotional Smith said. “I know Greencastle needs some life or Almost Home’s not going to make it 31 years.

“I don’t know that the Music Fest is the answer. I want you to think long and hard on it. It’s so hard for me to even ask. It feels like there’s so many pros, but there’s cons as well. I know it’s a tough decision. I’ve been a wreck the last week just thinking about it.”

Smith said she did a social media survey, admittedly unscientific, but 94 percent of the respondents said they would come to the event on the downtown square.

Council members were divided on the issue.

New at-large member Jacob Widner, sworn in at the outset of the meeting, was the first to speak up.

“We’re at the point now,” he said, reasoning that Aug. 21-22 is far removed from July 4, “where people in this community need something to look forward to.”

Councilman Adam Cohen, who self-distanced by sitting in the back of the room and not at the Council table, began his comments with “this is going to kill me to say” and noted that Indiana State Fair is canceled during the same timeframe. “This one I’m struggling with,” he said. “This is my first public outing in two months. I just don’t feel I’m ready to turn it loose.”

However, Councilor Veronica Pejril noted that Indiana is moving toward Stage 5 in the governor’s restrictions that would allow fairs and festivals to resume.

While Council President Mark Hammer suggested that perhaps Smith might consider moving the music event to September or October, Councilman Dave Murray said it remains “a public health question.”

“I want to see it happen,” added Murray, who has financially supported the festival and its bands a number of times over the years, “but we have a fiduciary responsibility.”

Smith wasn’t offended by some of the uncertainty.

“If all of you feel it’s not in the best interest of the city,” she suggested, “that’s how you should vote. I’m right here with you struggling.”

With that, Cohen made a motion to deny the street closure request, and ultimately the festival. However, that died due to lack of a second.

Almost immediately, Councilman Cody Eckert made the motion to approve Smith’s request, which was seconded by Widner.

In one of the few split-decision votes of the Greencastle City Council over the last couple of decades, members returned a 4-3 verdict to approve the annual signature event of the summer downtown. Pejril and Stacie Langdon added affirmative votes to those of Eckert and Widner.

Interestingly, the three oldest members of the Council – Murray, Hammer and Cohen voted against it.

But the Music Fest request wasn’t the only street closure item on the agenda. The Council also unanimously approved the June 16-July 5 closing of Franklin Street from Vine Street to the entrance to the PNC Bank parking lot to allow Wasser Brewing Co. to have additional outdoor seating beyond its porch area.

The closing will be in effect 5:30-10 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturdays and 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. on July 4. Owner Chris Weeks suggested it would a minor inconvenience for drivers to go around the block in return for helping save a local business. He pointed to the success of First Fridays “when we put people before cars.”

Weeks said people feel safer sitting outside right now. His normal business day is OK, he said, but Wasser is missing out on “big days.” “We lost graduation day,” he said. “We lost multiple First Fridays.

“My most tragic day was St. Patrick’s Day,” he said, noting that bars and restaurants were forced to close that day. “We had a cooler full of food and we lost all that product.”

In other street closing action, the Council:

• Agreed to extend the South Indiana Street closure (Washington to Walnut street) for Moore’s Bar and others to have outdoor dining. However, the Council denied allowing a July 4 outdoor concert at the site, indicating as Councilor Langdon said, it would send a “mixed message” since the July 4 celebration and fireworks at the park have been canceled.

• Unanimously approved the closure of Fifth Street between Avenues D and E to allow a July 4 neighborhood party as requested by Larry Dickerson and Harold Barger. The closing would be from 10 a.m. until midnight. There will be no live music, and fireworks will be confined to those allowable by state regulations. No alcohol will be served.

• Unanimously approved the June 15-19 closing of Olive Street between Indiana Street and College Avenue to allow DePauw University to employ a crane to hoist equipment to the roof of the Lilly Center in its continued campus renovation project. If weather cooperates, the project should take four days, Mayor Bill Dory said. In making the motion for approval, Cohen first chastised DePauw officials for not appearing in person to make the request. “It’s my neighborhood,” he added. “I probably hear the crane all day. I just want it done.”

In other business, the City Council:

-- Heard Mayor Dory report that DePauw has moved up its Jackson Street storm sewer project, which will close Jackson Street south of Berry Street from July 6-Sept. 10 as the construction project bores beneath the road. The area is prone to limestone, Dory said, which could add to the project timeframe.

-- Heard the mayor report that his appointments to the Human Relations Committee are Ruth Ralph and Russell Harvey.

-- Scheduled a work session for 5:30 p.m. Thursday, June 25 at City Hall for both the Council and Board of Works to discuss water rates with an eye toward a water rate increase in the near future.

-- Heard Police Chief Tom Sutherlin report that National Night Out has been canceled due to the coronavirus and social-distancing issues, He said the organization will work with Fill the Need to get supplies and backpacks to youngsters who need them.

-- Agreed unanimously with the recommendation of the Greencastle Redevelopment Commission to again take 100 percent of the TIF (tax-increment financing) funds available to the city with the caveat that when more firm numbers are available from the county, it could revisit the topic at a later date.