South Bruce Peninsula may be able to close the municipality’s streets for special events and have volunteers set up and tear down barricades.
But when a provincial highway comes into play, the Ministry of Transportation calls the shots.
The second annual Wiarton Freeze Festival takes place July 8th to 10th and it involves the closure of Berford Street in Wiarton, or Highway 6.
The MTO says the highway can be closed from 5:30 PM to Midnight on July 8th and 9th and from 8 AM to 1:30 AM on July 10th.
Otherwise the roadway must be open to traffic.
That means the set up and tear-down of barricades which was going to be done by volunteers.
The MTO says it must be done by town staff and it will cost close to one thousand dollars.
Council has decided to split the cost with the festival which suits organizer Brett Miller just fine.
Miller hopes to build up the Freeze Festival along the lines of Summerfolk in Owen Sound and Pumpkinfest in Port Elgin.
The festival will feature car shows, a farmers market and a street dance among other things.
Councillor Jay Kirkland didn’t think it was fair to saddle the festival with the additional costs but agreed to a 50-50 split of the bill.
Councillor Marilyn Bowman was leery of making the concession because it provides no consistency to the town’s policy where other groups have had to pay the freight for their events.
The motion to split the costs narrowly passed in a 5-4 vote with Mayor John Close casting the deciding ballot.
Council was told any money raised by the event is distributed to area charities.
