The Miami County commissioners told Troy Strawberry organizers they won’t allow the festival’s new downtown location interfere with daily business at the county Courthouse and Safety Building.
Commissioners also expressed concerns about not being told of street closing plans or asked about use of county-owned parking areas until a March 18 meeting with festival Manager Heather Dorsten and committee member Doug Wenning, who works for the city of Troy.
The commissioners said parking near the county buildings downtown along Main Street is in big demand daily as people come to court and conduct other business with the county.
“I think if this (festival downtown) is going to be a regular occurrence the county needs to be a full-time player in this …we certainly want to be cordial and helpful as possible but it would be nice to be having this meeting when you guys started talking about this. Maybe we could have headed off some of these issues before you put it down on paper,” Commission President John “Bud” O’Brien said.
Dorsten said later last week that the county was not approached until the meeting because the festival first had to obtain city approval to use the Public Square and parts of Main and Market streets for festival arts and crafts and clubs and organizations booths.
Many festival events will continue to be held on or near the Great Miami River levee between Adams and North Market streets.
“Until this was approved, there was no point asking for parking lots,” Dorsten said. The council approved the downtown location in February.
Dorsten explained to commissioners that the downtown layout for the festival is very close to that used for the Mumford and Sons Gentlemen of the Road Stopover late last summer. Although some areas will be closed off for festival preparations prior to the June 7 and 8 events, the street in front of the west parking lot entrance at the Safety Building will remain open for full access, she said.
Having part of the festival downtown this year is a test with a decision on future locations to come after the festival, Dorsten said.
The entire festival was held along West Main Street downtown in 2012 because of the Adams Street bridge replacement project.
The first move of the festival in its more than three decades was billed as a one-time occurrence. The commissioners ended up closing county offices downtown on the Friday of that festival because more streets were blocked around the Courthouse and Safety Building.
This year, some closings downtown will begin as early as Wednesday festival week, Wenning said. Commissioners said that any closings affect available parking for those coming to county offices.
Commissioner Jack Evans suggested the festival look at expanding the festival booths once block further south on Market Street and divert to that area booths proposed along West Main Street. That change would free up more parking for county office visitors, he said.
Commissioner Richard Cultice pointed out a notation in paperwork that Main Street would be cleared of the festival by noon Monday, June 9. That timeframe would not be acceptable, he said, adding the street needed to be cleared by the time people started arriving for work Monday morning.