Bourbon Gears Up For Annual Festival, OKs Several Event Requests
July 11, 2019 at 1:10 a.m.
By Carol Anders-
The festival runs Aug. 9-11.
Car show organizer Lonnie Berkey said they have had to move the show to the school grounds. After the meeting, he said that the school’s administrators have been very cooperative in providing the need electric power sources. The council approved a donation of $300 toward the expenses associated with the event.
Berkley also introduced Ashley Lemler, who has agreed to organize all aspects of a co-ed softball tournament. Lemler said players from several neighboring towns, as well as Bourbon residents, travel to games in the area. She was seeking approval to proceed with plans that could include using the restrooms in the park area, setting up the playing fields and accessing equipment. She was given approval.
Dan Stichter, along with Bobby Goodman, outlined their intention to bring a corn hole tournament to the list of events. Strichter said the expectation is that 100 to 150 people would take part in the tournament. They asked for a donation of $250 to be used for advertising on T-shirts and Facebook. They already have 12 teams signed up and will continue both advance registration and on-site registration. Additional funding will come from team entry fees.
It was noted that there will be categories for both social and competitive play. The council approved the request. Council member Les McFarland said this kind of event is a “quality-of-life issue” that helps bring people from other areas to Bourbon.
Fire Chief Mike Chapman asked informally if the town would be willing to help pay for fireworks. The council voted 3-0 to provide $500.
In other matters, several residents attended the meeting to share their concerns.
Alvin Chupp appeared before the council in June to seek permission to resurface an alley behind his house at 606 N. Harris St. so that he could have an entrance to a garage he is building. Chupp said the alley is overgrown with grass and he wants to take up several inches of sod and lay down limestone. He indicated that he would assume all cost for the project. During the June meeting, the council asked Chupp to speak with his neighbors and return to the July meeting.
Chupp presented signatures from four of his five neighbors during the July meeting. The fifth neighbor, Tamar Dominique, attended the meeting and expressed the reasons for her opposition. She said she bought a property with a back yard and didn’t want traffic going through, her grandchildren play in the area, she has registered dogs that could be more likely to be taken and other security concerns.
Council President. J. Hanley said it is technically an alley that everyone could use and that Chupp is only asking to improve it. Both council members Larry Wattenbarger and Les McFarland said they wanted to look at the alley before making a decision. Hanley made a motion to approve Chupp’s request, but it died from lack of a second.
Resident Kenn Workman told the council that he is disabled and said the town needs more parking signage to designate parking in the downtown area and the baseball fields. He also spoke to the disregard by people using golf carts in the areas marked no motorized vehicles. The council took no action, however, his concerns will be noted in the meeting minutes.
There was some discussion among the council members and Bill Keyser, Zoning Department, on revising a town park board. Keyser indicated that state grant applications for park projects are available for towns with park boards.
Bourbon did have a park board from 1978-83. It remains unclear why it was dissolved. The council did vote in favor of forming a park board; however, no other details were confirmed.
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The festival runs Aug. 9-11.
Car show organizer Lonnie Berkey said they have had to move the show to the school grounds. After the meeting, he said that the school’s administrators have been very cooperative in providing the need electric power sources. The council approved a donation of $300 toward the expenses associated with the event.
Berkley also introduced Ashley Lemler, who has agreed to organize all aspects of a co-ed softball tournament. Lemler said players from several neighboring towns, as well as Bourbon residents, travel to games in the area. She was seeking approval to proceed with plans that could include using the restrooms in the park area, setting up the playing fields and accessing equipment. She was given approval.
Dan Stichter, along with Bobby Goodman, outlined their intention to bring a corn hole tournament to the list of events. Strichter said the expectation is that 100 to 150 people would take part in the tournament. They asked for a donation of $250 to be used for advertising on T-shirts and Facebook. They already have 12 teams signed up and will continue both advance registration and on-site registration. Additional funding will come from team entry fees.
It was noted that there will be categories for both social and competitive play. The council approved the request. Council member Les McFarland said this kind of event is a “quality-of-life issue” that helps bring people from other areas to Bourbon.
Fire Chief Mike Chapman asked informally if the town would be willing to help pay for fireworks. The council voted 3-0 to provide $500.
In other matters, several residents attended the meeting to share their concerns.
Alvin Chupp appeared before the council in June to seek permission to resurface an alley behind his house at 606 N. Harris St. so that he could have an entrance to a garage he is building. Chupp said the alley is overgrown with grass and he wants to take up several inches of sod and lay down limestone. He indicated that he would assume all cost for the project. During the June meeting, the council asked Chupp to speak with his neighbors and return to the July meeting.
Chupp presented signatures from four of his five neighbors during the July meeting. The fifth neighbor, Tamar Dominique, attended the meeting and expressed the reasons for her opposition. She said she bought a property with a back yard and didn’t want traffic going through, her grandchildren play in the area, she has registered dogs that could be more likely to be taken and other security concerns.
Council President. J. Hanley said it is technically an alley that everyone could use and that Chupp is only asking to improve it. Both council members Larry Wattenbarger and Les McFarland said they wanted to look at the alley before making a decision. Hanley made a motion to approve Chupp’s request, but it died from lack of a second.
Resident Kenn Workman told the council that he is disabled and said the town needs more parking signage to designate parking in the downtown area and the baseball fields. He also spoke to the disregard by people using golf carts in the areas marked no motorized vehicles. The council took no action, however, his concerns will be noted in the meeting minutes.
There was some discussion among the council members and Bill Keyser, Zoning Department, on revising a town park board. Keyser indicated that state grant applications for park projects are available for towns with park boards.
Bourbon did have a park board from 1978-83. It remains unclear why it was dissolved. The council did vote in favor of forming a park board; however, no other details were confirmed.
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