Athens City officials are gearing up for this weekend's Halloween Block Party, taking extra precautions to keep the party under control.
More than $50,000 will be spent over the course of the weekend on safety services, street maintenance and overtime costs for Athens Police Officers, firefighters and code enforcers.
The bulk of the money will be spent on police officers and firefighters working overtime, said Jim Sands, D-at Large, at yesterday's Athens City Council committee meeting.
Officers will be clocking more hours this weekend because safety is city officials' main concern, said Paula Moseley, the city's service-safety director.
A portion of the money also will be spend on police officers coming from other cities to join the task force this weekend, Sands said.
Officers will be out in full force, said Moseley, adding that students should party safe and stay with a buddy.
They truly only catch the fish in the barrel
Moseley said, addressing the partygoers who wander the streets alone and intoxicated.
She would not comment on how many officers will be patrolling the streets.
Athens is also receiving help from the Ohio State Highway Patrol to keep partygoers in check before entering the city limits.
Highway patrollers could stop visitors on their way into Athens, Moseley said, adding that officials prevented more than 1,000 attendees from entering the city last year.
Wait 'til you get here (to drink) she said.
Another chunk of the sum will be spend by the Athens Street Department to block off Court Street to traffic for a 24-hour period on Saturday as well as cleaning and reopening the street Sunday, Moseley said.
Police officers also will be watching out for noise violations to keep the party subdued.
Although the city banned the noise ordinance for Court Street until 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, it still applies to house parties, she said.
The ordinance was never intended to shut down parties, but to keep the noise level down, Moseley said.
You can have a party but don't blare the music
she said. Keep the doors closed and have (the party) inside.
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Emily Bowman
