ELLSWORTH – A rather routine March 6 Ellsworth Village Board meeting was dominated by public comments about the Cheese Curd Festival location and poor water quality concerns on 570^th Avenue.

Ellsworth resident Sean Hall asked the village board to consider revoking a street use permit and street dance license for Cheese Curd Festival, scheduled for June 23 and 24. The village board voted 4-2 Feb. 6 to approve the permits. The street use permit is for approximately 15,000 to 20,000 people (each day), concessions, vendors and music for all of Crosscut, Wall, and Broadway streets and the alley way east of Associated Bank.

Hall said he asked the Ellsworth Area Chamber of Commerce for an electronic/paper copy of:

1. The safety/emergency plans and precautions the chamber worked on with Ellsworth Fire Department, Ellsworth Area Ambulance and Ellsworth Police Department.
2. A copy of the research and studies about economic impact mentioned at the Feb. 6 meeting.
3. A list of locally owned businesses that actively participate and profit from the event in the East End.
4. Is the Cheese Curd Festival Committee meeting open to the public and when is the next one?

He said none of those items have been provided to him. He wanted the items by March 5.

Kim Beebe responded to Hall in an email March 2. She wrote:

“As we explained at the Village Board meeting on Monday, Feb. 6, the Ellsworth Chamber is an organization of local businesses. As such, we have specific goals for this event. We are proud of our perfect safety record. With nine years of experience holding the event at the fairgrounds and 11 years in the current location, we've been there, done that. Based on our success in East Ellsworth, a change of location would not be in the best interest of the festival, our members, or the community.

“Our board and committee has read your posts and comments on Facebook, some of which they felt were inaccurate, defaming, and derogatory. It’s clear nothing we can say will change your mind. With nothing new being brought to the discussion, we're going to have to disagree and do not wish to continue further dialog on this matter.

“We have explained our position, the reasons for the festival location, and the benefits the festival have brought to our community. We understand it will never be possible to have 100% consensus. As business professionals, you can be assured that our board and committee have done their due diligence. Our primary mission is to serve in the best interests of our members and the business community, which is what our board has done on this matter.”

“I believe there is no safety or emergency plan in place. It (the festival) is not 100% ADA compliant,” Hall said.

He believes the event has outgrown the East End location and is worried about 30,000 people crowding into the area. He claimed the East End bars have been denied street use permits in the past for events less than 500 people.

According to Hall, out of 519 votes on a Facebook poll, 6% want the festival to stay in East End and 93% wanted it moved out of the East End to a safer location. Hall also said that 55 East End residents signed a petition in a few hours asking the event to be moved out of East End.

“Why are we catering to the Twin Cities and beyond?” Hall said. “Why aren’t we listening to our village residents?”

He said East End Park is still not 100% ADA compliant even though CCF has been held there since 2011. He wanted to know if the village is still working on ADA improvements.

“Residents want to know the timeline,” Hall said. “Why is it on the schedule after 10-plus years?”

He also said the festival violates East End residents’ 14^th Amendment Constitutional rights, because it bars them from accessing their homes.

He mentioned an intoxicated driver who drove through a barricade Aug. 21, 2022 at the El Paso Days Parade and wondered what would happen if that occurred during Cheese Curd Festival.

“We have safer, more spacious locations within the village limits … “ Hall said. “Luckily he did not hurt anybody, but they had a helluva time trying to stop that man’s car.”

Two residents on 570^th Avenue, Ann Wells and Maribeth Cole, requested the village consider hooking their residences up to village water. They live about a half-mile from the water tower and have had problems with rusty, undrinkable water for years. One resident is replacing a well for a cost of about $60,000 with no guarantee the problem will be solved. The other resident cannot afford to do so.

Wells held up a rust-colored dishrag that started off snow-white. The cloth had been used for one sink of dishes.

Downtown Design Guidelines

The board 3-1 approved a $2,500 agreement with UW-River Falls for the development of Downtown Design Guidelines. The guidelines would provide businesses guidance if they chose to remodel/renovate a business.

Trustee Tony Hines questioned whether businesses would be forced to adhere to the guidelines and if so, who would pay for it. Village President Becky Beissel said businesses would not be forced to change their facades.

“I think what this village needs before we go with something like this is a business,” Hines said. “We need business in this town.”

Beissel said the village is working on that too. Hines said he hasn’t heard one thing about it, at which point Trustee Mindy Anderson talked about the work of the Community Development Authority.

“As new businesses potentially come to our downtown, and someone buys a building and wants to renovate it, than they’re held to some design guidelines and standards,” Anderson said. “They don’t have to do it. It’s just if they choose to remodel or update.

Tony Hines opposed the motion, while Trustee Dale Hines (who was online) could not be heard casting a vote.

Other business

• The board approved an agreement with Cedar Corporation for $25,450 for the demolition landfill plan.
• The village hired four new employees: A deputy clerk, a police sergeant, a patrol officer and a police office support.
• The board approved a temporary Class B retailer’s license for the St. Francis School Gala on April 22 and a temporary Class B retailer’s license for the Ellsworth FFA Alumni’s Showdown in Curdtown event June 10, with a June 11 rain date at the Pierce County Fairgrounds (364 N. Maple St.)
• After a closed session, the board approved an offer from Mahn Family Funeral & Cremation Services to purchase a piece of property next to Knutson Dental in Crossing Meadows Business Park, contingent on them paying for land surveying.