Board weighs whether to move carnival back to Main Street as businesses and operator raise concerns
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Summary
Board members revisited calls to move the carnival back downtown; Gold Star Amusement and public-safety concerns over narrow streets, ride configuration and late-night issues were cited, and the board agreed to seek additional input before changing the contracted location.
Members discussed whether to return the carnival to Main Street following public feedback. Speaker 1 said Mitchell Main Street and some businesses were contacted after earlier moves and that feedback was mixed. He told the board Gold Star Amusement—current ride contractor—warned that narrow downtown streets limit larger rides and that a linear layout downtown would reduce the operator’s ability to rotate rides and maintain profitability: “when they're linear like that, they can't really see those... so they they like the carnival being circular.”
Public-safety officials and Gold Star previously favored the current circular site for faster response and better crowd control. Several board members said they would be open to re-surveying Main Street businesses and holding further discussions in October before altering the multi-year contract with the carnival operator.
Board members emphasized tradeoffs between downtown economic spillover and ride-operator safety and feasibility; no motion to change locations was made at the meeting.