OBSERVER file photo

By M.J. STAFFORD

mstafford@observertoday.com

Mayor Michael Ferguson continued voicing concerns about Fred Fest, and village events in general, during a Fredonia Board of Trustees workshop.

“I’ve been addressing both chiefs’ concerns with regards to upcoming events,” he said, referring to Police Chief David Price and Fire Chief Joshua Myers. “With extensive background in that area, I agree with (Code Enforcement Officer) Chuck (LaBarbera) and the chiefs about having a better process and procedure of bringing these things forward.”

Ferguson suggested that village officials “reverse the process” of allowing large events. He meant that the village should get as much information as possible about events before they happen, rather than be put in a position of belatedly reacting to problems they might bring.

Trustees will consider resolutions at their next meeting for two spring concert events at Barker Common. Ferguson spoke highly of one of them, “Fredchella,” because organizers spoke with village officials and had plenty of information. They had a “nice layout, virtually everything anticipated, the type of music anticipated, attendance, etc.,” the mayor said.

He wants that type of information ahead of time “so we can do things and say ‘Gee, do you need more bodies, do you need professional security, what are you doing with food trucks, licensing issues, insurance — all those types of things.'”

Ferguson proposed a form that promoters must fill out with all of that information, before trustees consider approving an event.

Fredchella would mix eight to 10 bands with local vendors on April 20 and 21. The other proposed event, Reverberation Music Festival, would showcase SUNY Fredonia musicians May 11.

Ferguson later offered some pushback on an OBSERVER editorial which pointed out Fred Fest is just one weekend out of 38 weeks the college is in session. The editorial asked, “As the university continues to shrink in terms of enrollment, there is another side to this. Is one party weekend too much for villagers to tolerate?”

The mayor said, “This is not simply a kegger party in somebody’s basement. Last year it was $8,000 of overtime for the Fredonia Police Department. It was 12.3% of the overtime budget, used in two days.”

He added that during the last Fred Fest on May 5-7, police “handled 300 calls for service directly related to the non-event.” They made 30 arrests.

Ferguson repeated earlier claims that some local residents and business owners leave town for Fred Fest weekend. “It is an unnecessary burden on the village of Fredonia, and any community in New York State that had this type of weekend, I’m sure would be addressing it,” he said.

SUNY Fredonia ended the original, official Fred Fest, an on-campus music festival, in 2015 over rowdiness concerns. However, SUNY Fredonia spring weekend partying simply moved off campus, a state of affairs cheekily dubbed “Not Fred Fest.”