Decision to move Country on the River tabled
By Correne Martin
After five years on former agriculture land in Bridgeport, Country on the River is looking to relocate back to the beautiful park that is St. Feriole Island, which first hosted the music festival in 2010 and 2011. But, approval from the city of Prairie du Chien is needed before that can happen. Innumerable questions were asked of the festival owners during Tuesday night’s regular council meeting, before the common council chose to delay action on the request until its Sept. 20 meeting. Prior to that, a public comment opportunity will be held at the Sept. 6 council meeting. In the meantime, an ad hoc committee, appointed by the mayor, will negotiate terms for a possible agreement, with plans to report a proposal on Sept. 20.
“We feel the current site doesn’t work for us as it is today. We feel there is plenty of room for music, camping and growth on St. Feriole Island,” stated Sally Lidinski, director of Townsquare Live Events Wisconsin, the owner of Country on the River (COTR).
Lidinski explained that the festival brought 8,000 to 10,000 people per day to the Bridgeport grounds in 2016 and around the same amount in 2015. She said there has been an attendance decline in recent years and believes the current site is limited by space.
“The island is a great location. [The move] would put us back on the river,” she commented, noting that if the council didn’t approve the request, Townsquare would keep COTR in Bridgeport Township but “just could not grow.”
“We have no plans at this time to move the festival to La Crosse,” Lidinski added, matter of factly, when asked by City Administrator Aaron Kramer about the popular community rumor.
One of the biggest uncertainties vocalized by Mayor Dave Hemmer—and shared by others sitting through Tuesday’s council session—involved whether there is enough room on St. Feriole Island, considering all the state-owned Villa Louis property, Memorial Gardens, Mississippi River Sculpture Park, privately-owned property, etc.
“We hired an engineering firm to calculate the acreage and feel confident we have enough room,” Lidinski said. “We estimate we could have about 1,500 campsites.”
When questioned about the acreage provided by the Bridgeport site, she didn’t have the details and said she could provide that information to the council.
Former COTR owner and Bridgeport landowner Scott Sheckler was present, along with his family, Tuesday night, but did not speak.
Hemmer’s further questions concerned power issues and floodway limitations. He pointed out that, for the first two years of COTR, when it was on the island, there were power issues that resulted in the need for additional amenities, which would be at the expense of Townsquare. Lidinski said her company would incur any added costs such as power, fencing, temporary structures and liability insurance.
“It is in the floodway, so there can be no permanent fencing,” Hemmer stated firmly.
But Lidinski didn’t seem to waiver at that. “We roll into empty fields that have nothing and build our own cities,” she responded.
Hemmer also brought up traffic flow and asked Police Chief Chad Abram how that was handled in 2010 and 2011. Abram couldn’t recall any issues experienced by his department those years.
Kramer also informed her that liquor licenses are limited on the island, meaning hard liquor, which has been served during COTR in Bridgeport, could be out of the question.
Lidinski felt her team of employees has enough experience with festivals and liquor licenses that they could “figure something out.”
Questions and comments from the seven out of eight council members listening (with Jean Titlbach absent) were minimal. About a dozen citizens attended with interest, including Villa Louis, Chamber and Brideport Town Board representatives. However, no time was allotted for them to make remarks.
Kramer noted that the news of this unexpected request from Townsquare first went public on Sunday, Aug. 14, via social media. Some of the council members only found out about it prior to the meeting.
“You were officially the hottest source of rumors in our community since the talk about Menards coming to town,” Kramer quipped, adding, “and, for the record, you came to us, right?”
Lidinski answered, “Yes.”
Hemmer declared he hopes to hear more input from the citizens of Prairie du Chien before the council makes its decision. “People need to contact their alderpersons,” he said, “and provide public comment Sept. 6.”
Lidinski mentioned that Townsquare would like that decision to be made ASAP, at least at the Sept. 20 meeting.
“Our patrons have been asking about getting campsites,” she said, pointing out that no sites or tickets to the 2017 event have been sold at this time, in anticipation of a move.
The vote to table the COTR request included an abstention by Alderman Nate Gilberts, due to his involvement with the festival since it started. The action to table was ultimately approved, 6-0-1.
