Vandergrift officials, businesses ironing out event policy

Vandergrift officials and business leaders say they’ve cooled tensions over a new public property use policy that some feared would quash the local festival scene.

Passed in December, the policy created a formal application process for individuals or organizations who wish to hold events in the borough. Previously, event coordinators would alert the borough by letter.

The application requires contact information, an event description, proof of insurance and a $500 refundable cleaning deposit. Event coordinators also must mark whether they need any street closures or police presence.

Borough council may deny applications because of conflicting events, incompatibility with the space or impact on public safety.

Robert Buchanan, president of the Vandergrift Business Association, said the length of the application and its contractionary verbiage caused alarm within the local business community.

“I fully understood that an application should be in place,” said Buchanan, who owns Allusion Brewing Co. on Grant Avenue. “It’s just when it came out, we were expecting a one-page informational application and then maybe a checklist of items that the event (coordinators) needed to take care of.”

Tom Holmes, Vandergrift council president, said the policy was created for the “health, safety and welfare” of borough residents and event attendees, as well as to protect the borough from liability.

“A lot of these things were not written down, but they were always required,” Holmes said. “This is not designed to hurt anybody.”

Buchanan met with Holmes, Councilwoman Marilee Kessler and Mayor Lenny Collini last week to workshop the policy.

“Overall, the meeting was very positive, very constructive,” Buchanan said.

Despite some criticism toward the policy, he praised a provision that assigns a council member to act as the liaison between the event coordinator and town council.

The plan is to collect feedback on events throughout the year and “then, hopefully, amend the application to something that is a lot less confusing,” Buchanan said.

Vandergrift has enjoyed a boom in festivals and downtown draws in recent years, from Artfest to Witching Hours Night Market and Pride in the Park.

“They get some of the businesses in town through the year,” Buchanan said.

This summer will mark Nikol Reed’s first time running Gathering on Grant, but the event’s third year in existence. One Thursday per month, May through September, Grant Avenue closes to vehicular traffic and businesses stay open late.

“These events are so important to Vandergrift. Our town is so small, but we are a close-knit community and we have so much talent here,” Reed said. “We really are just excited to showcase what we have here.”

Reed said she’s concerned about a “number of challenges” imposed by the policy, including a $250 fee for mingling trash and recycling.

Holmes emphasized that it’s “a living document” that will be amended as needed. All events require an application, Holmes added, but an Easter egg hunt will get more leeway than the borough’s marquee events, for example.

The borough will work with coordinators for small events to help them secure the required commercial general liability, umbrella liability, commercial automobile liability policies and workers’ compensation coverage, Holmes said.

He also noted events that occur multiple times through the year can be consolidated into one application with one deposit. Other changes may be on the horizon.

“It’s a work in progress,” Holmes said. “We want these festivals to be successful because it brings business into town.”