Commissioners offset park fee for veterans’ Balloon Festival after hearing nonprofit’s volunteer improvements

Alamance County commissioners on Sept. 3 agreed to offset a $4,000 park‑use fee for a veterans nonprofit staging a Balloon Festival at Cedar Rock Park, after hearing a lengthy presentation about the festival’s programming, volunteer improvements to park infrastructure and the nonprofit’s veterans outreach work.

AlcoVets representatives described the festival as a multi‑day event with balloons, bands, vendors and free children’s activities and explained that rising costs and fewer sponsors left the organization short of the fee. They detailed volunteer improvements to the park—road repairs, gravel work, electrical repairs and other services they said they performed without pay—and asked for a waiver or offset of the county fee. Several commissioners acknowledged the group’s volunteer contributions; others expressed concern about setting a precedent and the need to follow county policy on fee waivers.

Board action: The board approved an offset limited to $4,000 tied to documented improvements by the organization (motion passed 3–2). Commissioners who voted against cited fairness and policy consistency concerns; supporters emphasized the nonprofit’s volunteer work and veteran services mission.

What’s next: Staff will document agreed‑upon offsets tied to the nonprofit’s submitted records of volunteer improvements and materials. The festival is scheduled in the coming weeks; commissioners and county departments discussed logistics including security, power needs and traffic management.