Residents request moving fest to fairgrounds

ELLSWORTH – The Ellsworth Village Board voted 5-1 Monday, Feb. 6 to approve a street use permit for the Cheese Curd Festival amid calls from public commenters to move it out of the East End. The board also approved a temporary Class B retailer’s license for June 23 and 24 for the festival, as well as a street dance license application.

Becky Beissel, who as village president doesn’t vote, reminded those in attendance that the Ellsworth Area Chamber of Commerce plans and facilitates the festival, not the village, so comments about its location should be directed to them.

“The village board has no authority or power in moving the festival to the fairgrounds,” Beissel said. “So we won’t be discussing that tonight.”

The street use permit, good for 8 a.m. June 21 through 6 p.m. June 25, is for all of Crosscut, Wall and Broadway streets and the alley east of Association Bank for 15,000 to 20,000 people, concessions, vendors and music. In the past week, social media posts on Ellsworth community Facebook pages have generated hundreds of comments of people wanting the festival moved back to the fairgrounds. However, as Beissel noted, people should direct their comments to the Cheese Curd Festival Committee.

Kim Beebe, member of the chamber’s executive team, added some history and context to the conversation. While the festival used to be held at the Pierce County Fairgrounds, it eventually moved to East End Park and has since expanded to include all the East End from the park to Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery, one of the main event sponsors.

The chamber plans and executes the festival and has “very specific goals,” which Beebe listed.

“After some very hard years, you could say we got smart,” she said.

Agribusiness tourism and food festivals began trending and the chamber jumped on the bandwagon by gearing the festival toward local tourism (the creamery), local businesses, food and drink, and music. The festival celebrates Ellsworth’s designation as Wisconsin’s Cheese Curd Capital.

The goals of the chamber are to generate tourism dollars and economic vitality, revitalize the East End Business District, and bring people to businesses in town. Beebe said the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, the Wisconsin Department of Tourism and other experts have agreed the approach and location has “caught on.”

Beebe pointed out the festival has never had an emergency or accident. The Cheese Curd Festival Committee works closely with Ellsworth fire and police departments and Ellsworth Area Ambulance in implementing safety plans and precautions. Shuttles bring visitors from safe parking spaces at the fairgrounds, school district lots and county lots to the festival grounds, where they are dropped off right at the site.

“This event has brought state and national attention to our town, which has brought people to Ellsworth from all over,” Beebe said.

Each year, the festival generates an economic impact of $2.55 million to local businesses, she added. Since implementing a volunteer give-back program in 2016, volunteers have earned almost $100,000 in festival proceeds for their non-profit organizations, which includes the Lions Club, area churches, sports clubs, and more. The chamber uses festival proceeds to financially support community projects such as the Ellsworth High School Fab Lab, flowers downtown and in the East End, and the Ellsworth Public Library.

Beebe said the festival greatly appreciates residents’ cooperation throughout the festival and wants to hear people’s ideas to improve safety, parking, etc. In fact, the committee has a wish list of items it wants to implement, such as a handicapped accessible bus.

Public comment

Resident Tricia McGrath thanked the chamber and volunteers for an amazing event, but believes it would be more successful at the Pierce County Fairgrounds.

“The festival has simply outgrown its space,” McGrath said. “Having 15,000 to 20,000 people in this space is not sustainable.”

She said it boils down to what is safe for the community, police, and EMTs.

“Nothing else should matter,” she said. “Times are changing and we need to adapt to what is the best for our community and residents.”

She wondered how firetrucks and EMS would get to a housefire on Wall Street or how a neighboring department would get through to assist. She questioned what would happen if someone drove through a barricade and plowed into the crowd or tried to rob Associated Bank. She asked the chamber to consider the elderly, special needs and handicapped people who attend the event, which she said is not 100% ADA compliant.

“It’s a nightmare getting in and out of East End and it’s not fair to make residents leave their homes for the weekend to get away from the crowds,” she said. “We are not asking to have this event cancelled. The residents have huge safety concerns. The village residents are saying we should not approve the permits for this event because we feel it’s not safe for our community.”

DeAnn Peterson echoed McGrath’s concerns and suggested purchasing a piece of property large enough for the festival.

“It’s a lot of people in a small amount of space that’s provided,” Peterson said. “I pray to God that nothing happens at any given time in the future.”

She said the food vendors are great, but she’d also like to see the water fights brought back, along with more kid-friendly activities.

Resident Sean Hall, one of the posters on Facebook, said he volunteered for the festival for the first time last year and saw things he found troubling: Trying to regulate people parking in residents’ space on Wall Street.

“Technically by blocking those folks off, we are violating their Constitutional rights,” he said. “They shouldn’t have to leave town and not come back for two to three days. They should be able to come and go as they please without having to let anyone know what they’re doing.”

Beebe said earlier that Wall Street residents are provided parking spots and a traffic lane in which to come and go.

He too spoke about parking near the festival and dealing with upset motorcyclists who aren’t allowed to park in front of the bars. He said many people he’s spoke to will not go to the festival because they can’t handle the walking.

Business owner Chris Whelan from YB Urban?, which is located on Broadway Street, spoke in favor of the festival’s East End location and the economic development it’s brought to the area. Their store made 5% of its annual sales in one day during the festival, and 10% of visitors came back later. He said he had no issues with safety or parking.

“I was able to walk freely through the festival and never felt crowded or unsafe,” he said. “It recently expanded and there’s more area to walk than there ever was. I’d love to be involved in more festivals in this town.”

Trustee Dale Hines said he has handled parking at large-scale events such as the Pierce County Dairy Breakfasts and Farm Technology Days.

“The only injury was when someone got their finger stuck in an outhouse door,” Hines said. “If you want to live in fear, I guess you could never leave your home. We all takes that risk when we attend an event.

“I think there’s a lot of planning and my hat goes off to the committees who are involved in this. People need to go to those committees.”

Hines also spoke about a number of people with handicapped parking stickers who might not actually need them, which a resident with MS called a “touchy subject.”

“You can’t tell if people are having a good day or a bad day,” she said.

Other business

The board approved the following: — A resolution declaring official intent to reimburse expenditures from proceeds of borrowing for the sanitary sewer, watermain, storm sewer and street reconstruction projects on Grant, Piety, Strickland, Woodworth and connecting streets.

— A resolution authorizing a representative to file applications for financial assistance from the state’s Environmental Improvement Fund.

— An agreement with CBS Squared for $44,640 for overseeing the old junior high demolition.

— A resolution designating the one-way portion of Chestnut Street as a two-way street.

— An agreement with Davy Engineering for $7,500 to work on sewer ordinances.

— Payment of $175,810 to McQueen for a D45 snowblower (a budgeted item).

— The board awarded authority to the Salary & Labor Committee to hire employees in order to streamline the process for candidates. Trustees are welcome to sit in.