Though banning future fests in Athens was discussed earlier this week, Mayor Paul Wiehl swept the possibility off the table Wednesday.
In the wake of a private meeting between Athens and Ohio University officials Monday, Wiehl said he wants fests to continue as long as students are behaving safely.
Wiehl added that he believes banning fests would be unconstitutional.
“We can’t, in America, preemptively say ‘no assembly,’ ” he said. “There’s no easy answer.”
Students have the right to throw a party, but starting fires took matters a step too far, Wiehl said.
Next Saturday’s Mill Fest will continue as planned, and city officials do not anticipate dangerous events like those of Saturday’s Palmer Fest.
“Mill Fest has not been as intense as Palmer, so we probably won’t change tactics,” he said. “But that conversation is still going on.”
Monday’s meeting — which hosted about 10 officials in Cutler Hall, including Wiehl and OU President Roderick McDavis — focused on the events of Palmer Fest and the future of the block parties in Athens.
Saturday’s fest ended prematurely after a fire, later ruled arson, broke out at 11 Palmer St. and thousands of partygoers were evacuated.
“The decision was made that it would be less likely to cause out-of-control behavior to go ahead with the fests that are already in place this year,” City Council President Jim Sands said in a previous interview.
The city is prepared to take actions similar to Saturday if the event gets heated, said Assistant Service-Safety Director Ron Lucas.
“If things start to get out of control, we have the tools available to step in, and we did that on Saturday,” Lucas said.
But city preparations for fests, including lighting and upping police presence, come at a cost to taxpayers.
“(The fest season) will probably cost us about $40,000, which is what it cost us last year,” Wiehl said. “We’re spending for somebody’s party, and there’s a lot of citizens that object to that.”
Despite the objections, Wiehl said a function of city government is to assist people in living.
“We’re trying to make a city that works for everybody,” he said. “And that’s a responsibility for us and every citizen. Everybody should be a good neighbor.”
Because of OU’s transition to semesters next year, the fests’ futures remain cloudy. Whether or not the block parties shift to earlier dates, move to the fall or are canceled altogether, it’s likely something will change, Lucas said.
An open forum — hosted by Athens and university officials — is being planned to discuss expected fest behavior with students, Service-Safety Director Paula Horan-Moseley said.
The meeting is set to take place May 9 at the West Portico.
At their meeting on Wednesday, OU Student Senate passed a resolution formally discouraging the behavior of partygoers at Palmer Fest.
“I want students to take the first step in saying this is not OK,” Student Senate President Kyle Triplett said. “This is our university and we need to be accountable for it.”
A hundred university officials and faculty members will be at Saturday’s Mill Fest in an effort to get direct contact with students, Dean of Students Ryan Lombardi said.
“Maybe, as a group, we can lift up this community,” he said. “I’m willing to do it with you.”
— Sara Jerde contributed to this report.
jj360410@ohiou.edu
