(July 13, 2017) Town Administrator Laura Allen said there were some questions as to how the recently approved Berlin event policy would work. She said the policy was geared specifically toward downtown events.
The process for scheduling events at town parks has not changed significantly, Allen said, despite a recent overhaul of the portion of town code that pertains to parks. Both measures were introduced at a Town Council meeting on June 26.
“There’s a transition period we’re going through right now where folks, if they have events they want to do later this year, it’s still the regular process,” Allen said. “That application period, really, is for event planning for next year. We’re starting to coordinate that and that’s going to be the ongoing process for downtown events.”
To schedule events for the remainder of the current calendar year, Allen said people can still fill out a form and speak with Economic and Community Development Director Ivy Wells with any questions.
“If they’re interested in holding an event next year, the window of opportunity for them to apply for downtown is July 1 to Sept.1,” Allen said.
The new policy states no more than one event per day will be held that requires town services.
“That’s mainly to give our folks an opportunity to have a day or a weekend off,” Allen said. “The challenge we’re having right now with events is frequently folks are working throughout the weekend, every weekend throughout the summer. That’s not as attractive and is a quality of life issue for us.
“Having the opportunity to look at all the events as a package and schedule them, I think, will work better for us,” Allen added. “The more preplanning we can do, the easier it will be for everyone to be able to project their schedules.”
Additionally, Allen said town merchants said during a recent meeting there were too many events overall. Berlin Police Chief Arnold Downing also spoke in favor of quality over quantity during the June 26 Town Council meeting.
The process for scheduling events at town parks has not changed significantly, Allen said, despite a recent overhaul of the portion of town code that pertains to parks. Both measures were introduced at a Town Council meeting on June 26.
“There’s a transition period we’re going through right now where folks, if they have events they want to do later this year, it’s still the regular process,” Allen said. “That application period, really, is for event planning for next year. We’re starting to coordinate that and that’s going to be the ongoing process for downtown events.”
To schedule events for the remainder of the current calendar year, Allen said people can still fill out a form and speak with Economic and Community Development Director Ivy Wells with any questions.
“If they’re interested in holding an event next year, the window of opportunity for them to apply for downtown is July 1 to Sept.1,” Allen said.
The new policy states no more than one event per day will be held that requires town services.
“That’s mainly to give our folks an opportunity to have a day or a weekend off,” Allen said. “The challenge we’re having right now with events is frequently folks are working throughout the weekend, every weekend throughout the summer. That’s not as attractive and is a quality of life issue for us.
“Having the opportunity to look at all the events as a package and schedule them, I think, will work better for us,” Allen added. “The more preplanning we can do, the easier it will be for everyone to be able to project their schedules.”
Additionally, Allen said town merchants said during a recent meeting there were too many events overall. Berlin Police Chief Arnold Downing also spoke in favor of quality over quantity during the June 26 Town Council meeting.