Summerfest, one of Ford City’s largest events, will now have to follow park ordinances and a special events policy that was enacted at Monday night’s public meeting.
Ford City Borough Council ratified an ordinance governing activities in the parks and playgrounds, as well as adopting a special events policy for events held on borough-owned property.
Council President Carol Fenyes said a committee worked for several months to establish the Special Events Resolution with minor difficulty.
“I don’t believe there was anything particularly rancorous about it,” Fenyes said following the meeting. “There are so many events that are starting to happen in Ford City, we felt that it was necessary to have a policy that everyone could read and understand, and the same procedure for everybody.”
Fenyes said the policy wasn’t to exclude events from happening in the Borough.
“We aren’t changing any events. We just want to make sure that they all fill out the same application. They may need barricades for the street. Do they get them from the borough or do they get them from the county? Do they need any borough resources? Do we need to empty trash for them? Do we need additional police doing rounds or will they have their own private security for a long-term event?” she said, stating these were all sticking points in the past that needed addressed.
“We didn’t have a policy before. All we had was an application. We are moving forward and doing a lot more events, so I think it is necessary for everyone to understand what the borough requires.”
There have been allegations of preferential treatment between borough-sponsored events such as First Fridays and organizational events such as Summerfest and Fantasy of Lights. Fenyes said the new policy should put everyone on the same page.
“We have heard the statement of preferential treatment a lot of times in the past,” she said. “This should allay everybody’s fears. Everyone is going to be treated according to the events policy. We have expectations as a borough to limit our liability and the event planner has the responsibility to make sure they are following the procedures that are outlined. It’s that simple.”
Under the new policy, a permit will be required to hold an event; however, special events conducted or hosted by the Borough are excluded from the requirement.
Permit applications must be submitted to the Borough office at least 45 business days in advance of the proposed event. A security plan, traffic circulation and parking plan, location of all tents, vendors, and bathroom facilities, a post-event tear-down and clean-up plan, requests for electricity, and an emergency action plan are all to be contained within the application.
An insurance binder is also required in the amount of at least $2 million naming the Borough as the additionally insured.
Interested persons may pick up information and an application during regular business hours at the Ford City Borough office.
Event planners of Family Fun Fest in Ford City will now be required to file numerous plans with their permit application to hold the event.