Adel Sweet Corn Festival: vendors get county parking; courthouse shelter request deferred amid construction and insurance concerns

Representatives of the Adel Partners Chamber of Commerce asked the Dallas County Board of Supervisors on June 30 for county support for the Aug. 8 Sweet Corn Festival, including use of county-owned parking lots for vendors, the courthouse lawn for a kids zone and use of the courthouse as a shelter-in-place during the event.

Casey Wheeler of the chamber asked to use the same county lots that served the event last year and to place two inflatables on the courthouse lawn for a children’s area. Board and staff members raised concerns about the courthouse building and emergency-use requests because the building is currently an active construction site; the county’s emergency manager told staff the building is not built as a storm shelter and suggested using the library instead.

Construction manager Chad Lane reported exterior waterproofing and sprinkler repairs were complete, with sod scheduled to be laid the week of July 6. Insurance staff flagged concerns about inflatables and general operations on the lawn while construction is active and requested additional certificates of insurance and additional-insured language from the city. The board approved the use of county parking lots for vendors but declined to designate the courthouse building as a shelter and put final decisions on lawn inflatables off until insurance and construction staff provide further guidance.

Chair and county staff asked the chamber to return with requested insurance paperwork and for staff to assess whether the new sod and construction fencing will support activities in early August.