In the first Athens City Council meeting of Fall Semester and since August recess, Athens Police Chief Tom Pyle is scheduled to appear at Tuesday night's meeting to discuss the "Multi-House Party Task Force."
The crackdown on non-Ohio University sanctioned block parties came after an arson house fire and a riot designation brought a premature end to April’s Palmerfest.
City and Ohio University officials created the task force to find a way to prevent similar uncontrollable parties in the future.
At the recommendation of Pyle and Deputy Service Safety Director Ron Lucas, Council deliberated creating a multi-house party ordinance this summer to regulate the huge block parties during the 2012–13 school year.
While continuing to explore the possibilities of new ordinances to address unsafe and uncivil conduct at “fests," the task force recommended that the behavior at individual house parties be addressed through existing laws, according to a press release from APD.
