Over two months of Oxxfest-related controversy among Wiscasset and Lincoln County officials has settled considerably after the July 31 concert.
Several town and county boards and agencies, including, notably, the Lincoln County Commissioners, the Wiscasset Board of Selectmen, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and the Wiscasset Police Department, expressed varying degrees of concern before the event.
In the days following the all-day hard rock/heavy metal festival, however, representatives of most agencies gave Oxxfest high marks.
“I assure you, the people of Wiscasset greatly benefited from this,” Major Ken Mason of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office told the Lincoln County Commissioners at their Aug. 3 meeting.
“It went very well,” Mason said. “Because of the planning, we didn’t have any problems.”
The 9,000-12,000 people in attendance, Mason said, “don’t go there with the intention of butting heads with the police or with anyone… they go there to rock out.”
Traffic to and from the concert provided a boost to area businesses, Mason said, including Newcastle’s Mike’s Place. Mason said the owner of Mike’s Place reported a “banner day.”
Concerns about the concert promoters, New England Concerts and Waterfront Concerts, withholding payment for emergency services proved unfounded.
According to Lt. John Allen of the Wiscasset Police Department, a “very lengthy meeting” between promoter Alex Gray and local agencies resulted in a contract. On Tuesday, Lincoln County Administrator John O’Connell displayed a Waterfront Concerts check for $11,299.50 written out to Lincoln County.
The amount is slightly less than the $14,500 requested by Sheriff Todd Brackett for the services of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and Lincoln County Communications, including wages, benefits and vehicle-related expenses.
According to Mason, the $3000 difference represented Wiscasset’s cut of the original estimate, as well as shortened hours for some staff.
“There was no compromise as far as we were concerned,” Allen said.
Police are paid a different rate for private details such as the concert. According to O’Connell, the county charges $50/hour. Each officer receives $35/hour. The remainder helps cover benefits and administrative costs.
Reports on the amount of arrests related to the concert differed slightly. Mason reported eight arrests – six for criminal trespass, one for assault and one for narcotics possession.
Allen, meanwhile, reported nine arrests inside the concert and six related arrests by state police outside the concert, although he did not have final confirmation on the state’s arrests.
The arrests inside the concert included two for criminal trespass, one for criminal trespass and escape, one or two assaults, one for felony possession of OxyContin (the only felony arrest), and one arrest for an outstanding warrant. The warrant arrest resulted in further charges for possession of marijuana and Klonopin, Allen said.
In the single, ill-fated escape attempt, a handcuffed man ran away, tripped in a pothole and “landed right on his face,” Allen said.
State police patrolled the perimeter of the concert during the mass exodus after the final show, making six arrests, all for operating after suspension (OAS) or operating under the influence (OUI), Allen said.
The criminal trespass arrests, meanwhile, resulted from attendees re-entering the event after ejection by security or police. Allen said the police didn’t seek out those people, but instead arrested those who continued to create problems after re-entry.
Allen said his officers were involved in “very few” altercations. Some intoxicated subjects, reluctant to miss the rest of the program, “kind of” resisted arrest, he said, but not “wholeheartedly.”
“Our officers were all set,” Allen said.
“It went better than I anticipated,” Allen said. Allen credited “great communication” with LCSO, Lincoln County Communications, state police and other emergency services. Allen said he would express some concerns to Town Manager Laurie Smith, including concerns about signage.
Many people didn’t know where the concert was and parked much farther away than necessary, Allen said. At night, the pedestrians – many intoxicated – created a precarious situation along the narrow roads around the raceway.
One driver hit a pedestrian with the mirror of their vehicle. Police stopped the vehicle but didn’t find the pedestrian, Allen said.
One major concern for concertgoers and area residents didn’t materialize, at least not to the degree many expected. “There really wasn’t a major traffic issue,” Allen said.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office deployed 19 officers at the event, Mason said. Allen, citing tactical concerns, did not reveal the number of Wiscasset Police Department officers present, except to say that staffing levels were “just right or not quite enough.”
“We were busy,” Allen said. “All of our guys were busy.” In general, he said, the people at the concert were friendly and supportive, and many thanked police for their work as they left. “It made me feel good,” Allen said.
Emergency services responded to 51 medical calls throughout the day, Allen said.
Roland Abbott, Director of the Wiscasset Ambulance Service, said the calls did not involve any major injuries.
Abbott’s team treated two knee dislocations and a shoulder dislocation. The dislocated shoulder belonged to a drummer who suffered the injury during his band’s performance. Otherwise, the calls involved mostly “cuts and bruises” and “broken fingernails and toenails,” Abbott said.
“We were more than prepared for it,” Abbott said in an Aug. 3 workshop with the Wiscasset Board of Selectmen. “We expected 12-15 [hospital] transports. We had eight.”
“It went very well,” Abbott said. “If there was a problem in the mosh pit, [security] threw them over to us, we patched them up and threw them back.”
Town Manager Laurie Smith said Wiscasset “received a check for our proposed costs on Friday.”
Steve Smith, Director of Sales and Marketing for the Wiscasset Raceway, released a statement thanking departments for their efforts, including the Wiscasset Police Department, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Wiscasset Road Commissioner Greg Griffin, Abbott’s medical team and “all of the town departments who went out of their way to help us plan and stage this big show!
“The professionalism of the sheriff deputies and Wiscasset police officers was a big part of the success of this event,” Smith wrote.
