Warren officials will hold a public debrief about the town's Fourth of July celebration and a separate conversation about the growing use of the village pavilion after residents described recent traffic congestion, emergency access concerns, excessive noise and damage to public property during a July 14 select board hearing.
The discussion was prompted by lengthy public comments from longtime residents Alice Cheney and Patty Sue Carter, who urged the town to take a larger role in overseeing the annual Independence Day celebration. The parade is organized by the Mad River Valley Rotary Club with financial support from the town.
Cheney, who lives at the corner of Main Street and Fuller Hill, said this year's celebration was the most disruptive she has experienced in 30 years.
"I think the parade has outgrown the village," Cheney told the board, describing blocked driveways, inadequate parking control, litter, unauthorized signs placed on her property and what she characterized as confusion when emergency vehicles attempted to respond to a medical emergency during the parade.
She said parking restrictions that had been used on Fuller Hill in previous years were absent this year, leaving cars parked in locations that made it difficult for motorists to turn around or enter and leave nearby driveways.
Cheney said she ended up directing traffic herself after volunteers staffing a road closure told her they were responsible only for checking "buddy badges."
She also criticized the crowd's response when an ambulance attempted to pass through the parade route.
Select Board Chair Devin Klein Corrigan thanked Cheney for sharing her concerns and acknowledged the scale of this year's celebration.
"We are planning to have a debrief with the Rotary," Klein Corrigan said. "These are really important conversations. We knew it was going to be big because it was the 250th anniversary and it fell on a Saturday."
She said the board expects to examine parking, traffic management, signage and other logistics while recognizing that the growing popularity of the celebration presents broader challenges.
"The logistical elements you're discussing — the signage, the parking — those are things we can address," she said. "I don't know what we do about the volume."
PAVILION NOISE
Cheney also renewed concerns about concerts and other events at the town pavilion, saying amplified music and announcements have significantly changed the quality of life for nearby residents. She said she could hear every word of a recent Thursday evening concert from inside her home with the windows closed and described announcements during a children's dinosaur program the following morning as equally intrusive.
"I didn't move to this town with a bandstand in my backyard," Cheney said.
She questioned whether the Select Board should continue overseeing pavilion programming and suggested appointing a separate manager to coordinate events.
Klein Corrigan said the board intends to hold a communitywide discussion about pavilion use, including event frequency, sound levels and enforcement of the town's noise ordinance.
"We need to have an active conversation about what that looks like and how it includes everyone," she said.
STICKER CLEANUP
Both Cheney and Carter also complained about stickers placed on traffic signs and other public infrastructure throughout the village during the holiday weekend.
Cheney said many of the stickers contained profanity and political messages and called them disrespectful to residents and visitors.
"If you want to get rid of these, I'll do it for you," she said, explaining that she had already removed some using WD-40.
"The language they had on those signs is terrible," Carter said.
Board members agreed the stickers had become a town maintenance issue, but noted that preventing people from placing them is difficult.
"You can't stop people from doing graffiti," board member Joel Taplin said.
Klein Corrigan agreed the town could address the cleanup even if it could not prevent vandalism.
"We can address the result," she said.
Town administrator Rebecca Campbell told the board that stickers had been placed on speed limit signs and even the town's approximately $5,000 radar feedback sign, creating an extensive cleanup project.
The board pointed out that town highway staff have a lot on their plates with regular road work and do not have the capacity to remove the stickers. Board members discussed hiring KMK Property Management, a contractor already used by the town, to perform the cleanup instead.
Several board members also suggested discussing the cleanup costs with Rotary organizers since the town appropriates money each year to support the parade. They also floated publicizing the cost of removing the stickers to show residents how much vandalism costs taxpayers.
LOOKING AHEAD
Carter also objected to reports that vehicles had parked in the village cemetery during the Fourth of July celebration, calling the practice disrespectful to those buried there.
"I know where about everybody is buried," Carter said. "To me, that's no respect."
Campbell said she did not believe parking had been authorized there, while Klein Corrigan said organizers should have consulted the Warrenn Cemetery Commission if they wanted to use the property.
"I think this speaks to the larger conversation about the Fourth of July — how it's organized and what our role is in it," she said. "What we're experiencing suggests we may need to take a larger role if it's going to continue."
Later in the meeting, the board declined a request to schedule another live performance at the pavilion later this month, saying it wanted to address concerns raised by nearby residents.
Campbell told the board that Automatic Slim had asked to perform July 29.
"I just don't think we should do that right now," Klein Corrigan said.
Board members Harvey Blake and Taplin agreed, with Blake saying the "timing's not great."
The board noted several additional events are already scheduled at the pavilion this summer, including a church barbecue, a Harwood Union High School performance by the Glam Cowboys and a September jazz concert.
Klein Corrigan said the board wants to complete its review of both the Fourth of July celebration and pavilion programming before approving additional events.
"We need the debrief first," Blake said.
Campbell added that recent events had also exposed operational issues, including overflowing trash, a lack of portable toilets and bears getting into garbage left overnight.
