City Council Prepares for Halloween Block Party

Each year hundreds of visitors arrive in the city of Athens to join in celebrating the event that makes the area famous: Halloween. To help make the upcoming block party both fun and safe, Athens City Council prepared for the hoards of people by swiftly approving needed legislature.City council approved ordinances for the annual Halloween weekend street party on Court Street at a meeting Monday.The festival began in the 1970s and continued to grow each year to the point where the city and the university cooperated to try and control the party. By closing Court Street and bringing in varied music acts to play on two stages on opposite ends of the street, the city maintains a generally safe environment that allows the costumed partygoers to enjoy the festival-like atmosphere.According to budget reports, the university spends less than one percent of tuition on keeping the peace during the festivities. The city brings in police support from surrounding areas as far as Columbus. Mounted police officers serve as a highly visible source of authority for partygoers. Intoxicated revelers also enjoy giving the horses a pat on the nose as they pass.Representative Elahu Gosney proposed several standard ordinances in anticipation for the upcoming Halloween events. He and his fellow council members unanimously accepted the proposals.“The following ordinances will be set up to provide a safe and fun time for all,” said Gosney.City Council President Jim Sands addressed the community members in attendance by noting the annual ordinances in place for Halloween help keep everyone safe and keep the party from getting too out of hand.“These ordinances are pretty standard for the Halloween season,” said Sands.The main points of the ordinances include no parking or driving on Court Street from Mulberry Street to Carpenter Street on Oct. 27-28 and no glass on Court Street and adjoining sidewalks between Union and State Streets.Athens residents need also be aware that the city noise ordinance calling for a decrease in unnecessary noise near midnight in the downtown area will be suspended as festivities progress.“This ordiance is to make sure we are paying attention to our own laws,” said Gosney. “We are scheduling public music for this event as we do every year, so we have to make sure that this is within our legal guidelines.”Council implemented the “glass-free” ordinance a few years ago and decided to renew the ordinance again this year. The ordinance forbids glass containers in the heart of the Halloween party for the safety of partygoers, police officers, volunteers and any other persons walking the downtown Athens streets.“We tried the ‘glass-free’ ordinance a few years ago,” said Sands. “It helped ease safety concerns and made clean up a little easier, so we have kept it.”