Although Halloween is still more than a month away, Athens City Council members will be preparing for the festivities at their meeting Tuesday night by passing several ordinances relating to Halloween weekend.
The ordinances will be closing the same streets and allowing vending from the same times as the 2016 Halloween Block Party, according to a previous Post report. Ordinances will be in effect for Halloween weekend, Oct. 27-29.
“Everything seemed to work out,” Brandon Thompson, a member of Athens Clean and Safe Halloween Committee, said of last year’s party in the previous report.
Jonathan Holmberg, a chairman on the Athens Clean and Safe Halloween Committee, told The Post in another report that the music ended earlier last year as a safety measure.
“The city is trying to concentrate on starting and ending early,” Holmberg said.
Police issued more than 150 citations at last year’s block party, including 35 arrests by the Athens Police Department.
In a previous Post report, Councilman Patrick McGee, I-At Large, said allowing vendors to sell earlier in the day hurt local businesses last year.
“People who should be benefitting from a local festival (are) losing business,” McGee said.
Council members will also discuss authorizing the mayor to hire a new Arts, Parks and Recreation Director and allowing the state to replace old guardrails on Route 50.
