NEWS

Council approves Sawdust Days, with caveats

Nate Beck
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

OSHKOSH – Sawdust Days will return again this summer — with a smaller footprint and a smaller-than-expected city bill.

The Oshkosh Common Council approved plans Tuesday for a scaled-down Sawdust Days this year.

People celebrate the long holiday weekend at Sawdust Days on Saturday, July 2, 2016.

Conditions require more restrictions on alcohol and other measures councilors say will make the event safer. The city, meanwhile, won't more than double fees for the Fourth of July event that started 45 years ago.

“For the six years I was on council, there was no changes, until something last year had to happen, when the event became a disaster," Councilor Steve Herman said during Tuesday's meeting. "I think this an opportunity for a change. I think they realize that it has to be changed.”

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COLUMN:  Tales From Event City: Sawdust Days

Police arrested five teens after a skirmish with officers during last year's event, causing city officials to ask for a stiffer police presence at the event. Events organizers agreed to corral alcohol consumption during the event to shrink their bill, said Ellen Schmidt, the event's chairwoman.

Sawdust Days will pay $29,929 in special events fees this year — an increase that Schmidt called manageable. The plan also won’t require the event to pay its bill up front, which event organizers originally thought they'd have to do, prompting them to launch an online fundraiser to cover the cost.

After sparring with city staff over the event bill in recent months, Schmidt said she decided not to challenge the new charge.

The council rejected a plan two weeks ago that would have spelled a steep increase for many special events in Oshkosh. While planning that increase, city organizers asked Sawdust Days to pay about $54,000 for next year’s event, more than doubling its fees from the previous year.

The new bill also requires Sawdust Days to make changes to the event this year, taking up a smaller part of Menominee Park. The event will take up just the north end of Menominee Park, a move that will save organizers from paying city fees.

Schmidt said she was able to whittle down the bill for next year’s event during a meeting with city officials by requiring that alcohol stays behind a fenced-in area, cutting down on police required to patrol the event. Attendees will also be required to wear a wristband to drink, and Sawdust Days will stop serving alcohol shortly before the event is over.

Sawdust Days will also pay a new $5,500 fee as part of its bill to the city for use of park shelters and other facilities.

Oshkosh Police Chief Dean Smith said he's "cautiously optimistic" that these changes will help make the event safer this year.

"We can’t guarantee that there won’t be any problems with the event," Smith said during Tuesday's meeting. "We’re not going to solve all problems, but it’s more manageable for us. From our position, it’s going to be far more manageable."

Tom Guenther, a Sawdust Days board member, said the event is ready and willing to reinvent itself in coming years and hopes to become safer and more family friendly.

“We want to make Sawdust Days something that we all can be proud of,” Guenther said. “We’ll make it safe again; we’ll make it fun again; we’ll make Sawdust Days great again.”

Nate Beck: 920-858-9657 or nbeck@gannett.com; on Twitter: @NateBeck9