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And the band played on?

Business wants a couple of nights of outdoor music

Keith Vandervort
Posted 5/8/15

ELY – The city of Ely is looking at allowing later times for residents and tourists to enjoy outdoor music longer during a couple of summer nights.

Ely Bowling Alley owner Tim Brennan requested …

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And the band played on?

Business wants a couple of nights of outdoor music

Posted

ELY – The city of Ely is looking at allowing later times for residents and tourists to enjoy outdoor music longer during a couple of summer nights.

Ely Bowling Alley owner Tim Brennan requested a change to the noise ordinance this week to allow his business to conduct later outdoor music events on the Fourth of July and during the Blueberry Arts Festival.

Several years ago, Brennan was successful in getting the council to agree to change the ordinance to allow for music until 11:30 p.m. on July 4 and 11 p.m. on the Saturday of Blueberry weekend.

That’s not late enough.

“The bottom line is, during the summer time, people tend to want to come out later, and I would like to keep the music going to 12:30 a.m. for both nights,” Brennan said.

He was willing to concede to shutting the music down early during Blueberry weekend but was hoping to at least have the Fourth of July night run later. “People are out later and in town anyway for the fireworks,” he said. “I’m thinking that if we did something until 12:30 a.m. that would work really well.”

Some council members, along with the chief of police, are not too keen on allowing outdoor music to be played later.

Council member Al Forsman was concerned that the location of the Bowling Alley was not conducive to having outdoor music. He said he can hear the music playing on those days at his house. “I live quite a few blocks away, on Seventh Avenue.”

Council member Heidi Omerza said that because the Fourth of July falls on a Saturday this year, she’s not too concerned with the later music. “However, as I look at the day not being on a weekend, that is a tougher pill to swallow. I do know people who have to work on July 5,” she said.

“I do appreciate you putting on these events and trying to do something different,” she said to Brennan. “I know it is risk for you.”

Ely Police Chief John Lahtonen said in past years complaints about the loud music have started as early as 10:30 p.m. “What would you have my guys say to those who complain at 12 o’clock?” he asked.

Clerk-Treasurer Harold Langowski suggested drafting an ordinance to allow music to run later on a Friday or a Saturday.

Council member Paul Kess agreed that allowing later music on the weekend could be addressed by the council on a case-by case basis to allow for special events.

Novak agreed. “If we succeed with our economic development, more of these special events will come before this council that may not be on the Fourth of July or Blueberry weekend,” he said. “We need a way to handle this instead of going through a 60- or 90-day process every time.”

Langowski said the noise ordinance was revised in 2010 and again in 2012 to allow for an amplification permit for businesses located in a commercial zoning district and holding a valid liquor license.

“It was decided at that time to allow a business to apply for this special license for those two days during special hours,” he said.

“Having grown up in Ely, “ Novak said, “this used to be a fun town. But you can’t have fun any place but in your own garage anymore. That’s the issue that I have. We start making laws that are too stringent and they start breaking the law.”

He continued, “We are advertising to the world that we are a fun place to be, but you come into town and you can’t do this and you can’t do that. That’s not good for the economy in our town. We need to lighten up a little bit. For those of us who grew up in Ely before the mines closed, it was one heck of a town. Bars made a lot of money every night of the week and music flowed out onto the streets.”

The council directed City Attorney Kelly Klun to draft an ordinance to allow for special events for the May 19 regular meeting. A public hearing on the revised noise ordinance will be held prior to the June 2 meeting. If approved, the ordinance would be effective upon publication, which would allow for an outdoor music event at the Bowling Alley on the Fourth of July this year.

Library public use

The Ely Public Library Board has extended the moratorium on the use of the facility by non-library and non-city groups until at least Sept. 1.

Groups that have recently requested the use of the community room and have been denied by the library board include a local book club not affiliated with the library, and a musical group for Tuesday Night Live entertainment.

The library board did authorize the meeting room to be used for a memorial service on June 13 and a regional library directors meeting on July 14.

Council member Al Forsman said he had a conflict with the library being used as a place for a funeral or memorial service. “That is not an appropriate use,” he said. “What other uses will (the library) board OK?”

Library Director Rachel Heinrich said the memorial service scheduled next month is for Nez Artisensi who had served on the library board and was a member of the Friends of the Library for many years. “The family is donating memorials to the library,” she said.

Council member Paul Kess questioned the other library-use denial. “To deny the use of the library by a book group seems like an oxymoron,” he said. “How does a club like this become a library book club?” he asked.

Langowski noted that the city has several other meeting areas available, including the Rec Center, Semers Park, Hidden Valley and two meeting rooms in City Hall. “We do have other places for those groups to meet,” he said.

Other business

In other business, the council took the following action:

• Approved a resolution authorizing a raffle permit for the Dorothy Molter Memorial Foundation for an event on Oct. 31;

• OK’d a resolution authorizing the State Theater application to be added to the National Register of Historic Places;

• Supported a request from Ely Community Resource to conduct a youth project to clean up Semers and Whiteside parks;

•Agreed to discuss a food truck ordinance at the next study session on May 26.