Troy City Council approved an agreement with the Troy Strawberry Festival for the location and other aspects of the 2016 festival and heard concerns from a resident about mountain bike trails being created on city property near Riverside Cemetery during its April 4 meeting.

The festival agreement includes a smaller payment for services to the city than in the past and adds a prohibition of drones on the festival site.

The Strawberry Festival committee again is planning for an event the first weekend of June on a split venue of downtown and part of the Great Miami River levee.

The proposed payment to the city is $7,500, about half of what was paid last year to cover city expenses beyond the yearly city donation to the festival, Patrick Titterington, city service and safety director, said. The amount is less in part due to economies and to the cancellation this year of a car show, he said.

The agreement also includes past prohibitions such as no writing, painting, chalking or marking on streets, sidewalks, alleys or other public areas in the event area during the festival.

An addition this year is the prohibition of drones on the festival site. The prohibition is planned for other agreements the city has for events, he said.

The prohibition does not rule out the city working with the festival or activity if a drone is desired for marketing work or similar purposes, Titterington said. The concern is having drones buzzing people and creating a privacy issue, although none have been experienced so far, he said.

The 2016 paving program and an agreement with Miami County for sharing the cost of paving McKaig Road from South Dorset Road to State Route 718 also were approved by council. Parts of the road lie within the city while others are in the county. The estimated cost of the paving project is $275,000.

Other parts of the paving program are the annual street paving at $800,000; park department paving, $15,000; and cemetery road paving, $15,000.

Council also heard from Jim Thompson of Nottinghill Lane who addressed council about concerns with mountain bike trails being cut into city property at the rear of Riverside Cemetery.

Thompson said he had expressed concerns about possible trails to council 16-18 months ago and was assured at the time that he would be notified of any proposal to council to move forward with a project.

As the weather grew nicer this spring, Thompson said he was surprised to see the extent of trails already cut into the area.

He questioned specifically Titterington about why he and neighbors were not notified of the apparent approval of a trails project.

Titterington said the proposal did not come before council because there was no need to ask council to OK money for trails. The costs are being paid privately, Titterington said after Grant Kerber, city law director, said the service director’s responsibilities include managing city property.

Titterington said discussions were held with those advocating the trails about a month ago with topics including ensuring access to the trails was away from the residences.

He said those at the meeting, including Mayor Mike Beamish were told the advocates had talked with other area residents. Thompson said that had not occurred.

The trails were explored in a report as part of a Mayor’s Cycling Advocacy Committee. Titterington said city administrators encourage biking activities as part of recreation. He noted the city has received awards for its efforts to encourage bike use options and wants to continue to build on those activities.

Thompson, who said he is a city employee, repeatedly asked Titterington why he wasn’t notified about discussions and decisions on the trails. He said he felt “blind sided” by what had occurred.