Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By TOM LAVENTURE
Hurley — The Hurley City Council on Monday voted 4-1 not to close Silver Street or provide other support that would allow for a downtown parade during the annual Memorial Weekend ATV/UTV Rally.
Council members Joanne Bruneau, Jamey Francis, Robert Lanctoe and Stephanie Innes-Smith voted with the decision to withhold city support required for the Hurley Area Chamber of Commerce and other event partners to hold the parade in the interest of following COVID-19 pandemic guidelines that still recommend against forming large groups and needlessly putting city workers and volunteers at risk. Council member Thomas Conhartoski voted to support the parade and Council member Steven Lombardo was not present.
Mayor Jay Aijala said “it is hard to sit here and say we don’t want it to happen,” at the same time that summer events are being approved from Mercer to Bessemer. The impact on area businesses is understood, but at the end of the day the city must consider the recommendations from the departments that understand what is at stake in making those difficult decisions, he said.
The city council does not want to be in a position to decide on summer events on a case-by-case basis each month going forward, he said. It will be difficult to eventually allow an event to occur when it is possible after having canceled others before them, he said.
“These businesses went through enough this past year,” Aijala said.
In his dissenting vote, Conhartoski said the Memorial Weekend ATV/UTV Rally is one of the biggest events of the year. Business owners tell him that they bring in more revenue that weekend than they at any other time of the year and some of them shut down entirely when the rally was canceled last year, he said.
“I agree that this has been a tough road for everybody,” Conhartoski said.
There must be a “happy medium” where the event participants, the city, and downtown businesses could potentially go forward with the parade in a safe manner, he said. He asked if there was a way to somehow keep people social distanced and encouraged to mask.
Other board members said that the city could not guarantee the safety of workers or volunteers who would be among the participants to block traffic and direct people to where they are going.
Chief of Police Chris Colassaco said that his department made its decision with input from the health department and also because the guidelines against large groups have not changed since the start of the pandemic shutdowns in March 2020. The decision cannot just factor in the potential negative impact to local businesses, but also must consider the wellbeing of the elderly and the most vulnerable residents, he said.
“I understand that the businesses have been hurting and it’s been a tough year, and everybody is struggling to get by,” Colassaco said. “But, what we have to look at is not just the businesses, but all of the people in this area, which includes the elderly people who have been hit the hardest by this, by far, and have suffered the most.”
These people have been in isolation for a year and are grateful for vaccinations that let them be with their families again, he said. People who have less of a risk consider their “choice” to gather every day, which is fine, but to a point, he said.
“I am not against people coming up here and enjoying themselves and staying in their groups,” Colassaco said. “That is OK. That is what the guidance says.”
The guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, and the county health department are all consistent with allowing ATV as an individual or small group activity during the pandemic, he said. The guidance also recommends staying within smaller groups and not gathering into large groups, he said.
That is the one thing that hasn’t changed, Colassaco said. Since the beginning, the one recommendation that has not changed is about not gathering in one large group at one time.
“So, I am for the rally,” Colassaco said. “I am for them coming here and staying in their small groups. I just don’t think that it’s in our best interest as a city to put everybody together in one place at one time.”
Sharon Ofstad, president of the Hurley Area Chamber of Commerce, said that the ATV riders would be in town anyway to take part in the Iron County poker run, along with events at various private businesses. The riders will be in town and if the parade were allowed to happen it would be good for downtown, she said.
Joe Smoczyk, a veteran, said he felt the cancellation of the 2020 event. The parade is about honoring veterans as much as it’s about drawing ATV riders to Hurley, he said.
People are shopping in stores and not abiding with social distancing and many are no longer masking, he said. More people are vaccinated, he said.
A member of the Hurley Fire Department who was present said the department has not been contacted regarding the “mud pit.” The department usually waters down the area used for the pit as part of the annual event.
