The board agreed to a request to use the Dobson Town Square for an Old Timey Celebration that would include old time and blue grass music, square dance calling and other entertainment.
“It’s a good way to generate revenue for the town,” Commissioner Gerri Martin said during the town hall meeting yesterday.
Mayor Ricky Draughn agreed, and said that it would be good recreation for the locals and a way to drum up business for local merchants.
The N.C. State HOG Rally, which is being hosted by the city of Mount Airy and the surrounding area, is expected to draw a crowd of more than 2,500 motorcyclist to the area from Aug. 21-23. From that Friday to Sunday, different events and festivities will be taking place throughout the county for the group.
Laurette Leagon, the president and chief executive officer of the Yadkin Valley Chamber of Commerce, requested the board’s permission to use Dobson as a host as one of the events on Friday Aug. 21 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. She also told the board that the demographic of the attendees is generally professionals with an average age of 60, and an average income of $90,000.
In her request Leagon said that for the Dobson event no outside vendors would be invited and only Dobson merchants will be given the opportunity to have a display booth and/or sell products on the streets. There will be no booth fees charged and all food will be from Dobson merchants.
She also requested a variance on the ordinance regarding open containers on the street.
According to a document she gave the board containing the requests, it stated that the Yadkin Valley Chamber of Commerce will be responsible for paying for and obtaining all necessary ABC Permits and a special events liability insurance. It also stated that signs will be posted noting the designated area where alcohol can be consumed and they will also read “no alcohol beverages beyond this point.”
“We will work closely with law enforcement for alcohol sales and crowd control,” she said, noting that the chamber will hire a local law enforcement officer who has had the proper Alcohol Law Enforcement training to verify ID’s and to determine if anyone should no longer be served.
Those who are of legal age will receive an arm band allowing them to purchase one ticket at a time that can be redeemed for beer or wine.
She also mentioned that no promotional material or advertisement would mention the sell of alcohol.
“Alcohol is not a big part of this, it’s just another option for them,” she said. “The time frame (4 p.m. to 7 p.m.) would not encourage overindulgence of alcohol.”
After her request, the board agreed to the event, but stated it was necessary to obtain permission from the county about using the property near and around the courthouse, which the county owns.
The board also discussed holding a special open meeting for the public to hear about the results of a $2,500 market study to create a YMCA in the town. Last August the board approved a proposal to use part of its miscellaneous recreation budget of $9,000 to conduct the study to see if the town could afford a local YMCA and if the facility would be able to support itself.
The board contracted a YMCA representative to conduct the study.
Town Manager Lynn Burcham informed the board that if they waited until the next monthly meeting (March 26) to obtain the results from representative it would have to pay him an additional $2,000 for the visit and travel expenses.
She said the representative said he would be in Winston-Salem the week of March 16-20, and would be willing to present his information at that time at no additional cost.
Because of timeliness and budgeting, Burcham suggested the board receive the information sooner than later.
To save the expense of $2,000, the board decided to have two of its members present at an open meeting with the public that would include the representative’s presentation, and discuss the information with the entire board at its regular monthly meeting.
Burcham said she will confirm the date of that meeting after getting in touch with the representative.
In other news, the board:
• Approved a request for aerial photos of the proposed Prison Camp Road Sewer Project;
• Agreed to accept $2,830 bid on 2004 Crown Vic police car;
• Approved $300 a recreation fund request for Dobson Hornets Softball;
• Approved a $2,000 request for recreation funds from the Dobson Community Council;
• Decided to wait 30 days in order to recommend an appointment to the Dobson Tourism Authority;
• Approved a request for aerial photos of the proposed Prison Camp Road Sewer Project
Contact Erin C. Perkins at eperkins@mtairynews.com or 719-1952.
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