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Committee recommends rescinding Special Event Policy; American Legion raises parade insurance and cemetery-marking concerns
Summary
The Joint Committee of the Whole voted to recommend rescinding Resolution 2024-152 and directed staff to pursue separate Street Use and Park Event ordinances; members of the American Legion asked the city to reconsider requiring the Legion to pay parade insurance and sought guidance on marking graves under the new cemetery policy.
Council President Tetzlaff chaired the Joint Committee of the Whole on April 28, when members voted to recommend rescinding Resolution 2024-152 (Special Event Policy Permit) and to pursue two separate special-event rules and an ordinance.
City Administrator [name not specified] told the committee that staff proposes distinct Street Use and Park Event permits and that a separate events policy would govern the Outagamie County Fairgrounds. Alderperson Gerbers moved to recommend rescinding Resolution 2024-152; Alderperson Hurkman seconded and the motion carried. The minutes do not record a vote tally.
Representatives of the American Legion — Jim Simon, Brad Blazek and Russ Hansetter — spoke during public input. They asked the city to reconsider the requirement that the American Legion pay for insurance for the Memorial Day Parade and requested clarification about how the Legion’s preferred method of marking graves would comply with the city’s new cemetery policy. Hansetter specifically asked the city to consider how that marking approach could be handled under the new rules. Because the committee recommended rescinding the resolution, the American Legion’s special-event request was not discussed further at the meeting.
The committee’s action is a recommendation to the Common Council; members directed staff to return with ordinance language and separate permit frameworks. The minutes note that the Outagamie County Fairgrounds would have its own policy; no timetable or ordinance text was provided in the record. The record also does not specify whether the city will waive or alter the parade-insurance requirement for the American Legion — that detail was not included in the minutes.
Next steps: staff will draft the separate permit/ordinance structure for the Common Council’s consideration at a future meeting, and the American Legion’s questions about cemetery markings and insurance remain pending.
