Commissioners grill town and county officials about Oxxfest planning
By J.W. Oliver
Less than 48 hours before gates open at Oxxfest, an all-day concert at the Wiscasset Raceway, the Lincoln County Commissioners grilled town and county officials about local preparedness in a special meeting Thursday morning, July 29.
Chairman Lynn Orne opened the meeting and summarized the commissioners’ concerns. “It has never come to our table,” she said.
The deployment of emergency services, including as many as 19 employees of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, represents significant cost and risk to the county, Orne said.
“I apologize for the lack of communication. I should have come over sooner,” Lincoln County Sheriff Todd Brackett said. “We do special details all the time,” Brackett said, but Oxxfest “may be the largest single day event we’ve ever done… certainly since I’ve been Sheriff.”
“With the event will come issues,” Brackett said. “Any gathering of people brings issues, whether it’s a rock concert or a county fair.”
Estimates for attendance at Oxxfest hover between 10-12,000 and advance ticket sales number nearly 8,000, according to various officials. Gates open at 10 a.m., Saturday, July 31, for the concert, which will feature multi-platinum selling headliner Shinedown, as well as other popular acts, including Puddle of Mudd, Sevendust and Chevelle.
Oxxfest promoter New England Concerts originally agreed to pay for emergency services, including the presence of LCSO officers, but in recent days, Brackett said, “we’ve had difficulty getting in touch with the promoter.”
Unable to “nail down details” about compensation, Brackett said, he faces a difficult decision. “Do we go? Do we not go?” he asked.
Orne asked Brackett if he or other departments had a contract in place with the promoter.
Brackett said a draft contract is ready, but no contract is in place.
“Since we’ve been dragged into this I want to find out what our commitment and what our liability – particularly our liability – is,” Commissioner William Blodgett said. “If we become a partner to this, we’re going to share in the liability.”
Lieutenant John Allen of the Wiscasset Police Department told the commissioners he recommended that the promoters put a bond in place to limit liability for the town.
The challenge presented by Oxxfest is amplified because this weekend “is probably the busiest weekend for traffic,” Allen said.
Blodgett expressed frustration because New England Concerts began selling tickets in late April, two months before the raceway secured a permit for the event.
Blodgett asked Brackett and Allen if arrangements were made with the jail in case of an increase in arrests. “They’re prepared for it,” Allen said.
Brackett and Allen said they’ve also communicated with area hospitals, state police and the Department of Transportation.
Commissioner Sheridan Bond asked if Wiscasset officials spoke with anyone in the town of Oxford, where Oxxfest was held in 2009.
Wiscasset selectman Judy Colby said she spoke briefly with Oxford’s town manager about LiveNation, the parent company of New England Concerts. The town manager told Colby “They lie. They don’t tell the truth,” she said.
Bond said he spoke to Oxford town officials about Oxxfest in 2009. Bond said Oxford planned for the event for over a year. Ambulance services from several counties were present, a triage tent was set up and concert promoters hired three private security firms.
Despite all the planning, bookings tripled at the local jail during the concert, Bond said, and the only entity to profit from the festival was Hannaford.
Oxxfest supporters, including Wiscasset Raceway owner Doug White, have said the event will provide Wiscasset and the surrounding area with a significant economic boost.
Allen said Bond was speaking about Nateva, a separate, three-day festival July 2-4, 2010 featuring mostly jam bands, including headliner Furthur, featuring Phil Lesh and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, and indie rock acts like Grizzly Bear and She & Him.
Nateva concertgoers camped at the facility, whereas Oxxfest, in 2009 and 2010, is a one-day heavy metal concert. “If you had asked about Oxxfest in 2009, I think you would have got a different answer,” Allen said.
Bond initially agreed with Allen, but later, in an interview, Bond said he thought Nateva was the name of a singer that performed at Oxxfest 2009 and said he was talking about Oxxfest 2009. “I don’t know anything about [Nateva],” he said.
White told commissioners he spoke with an Oxford selectman about that town’s experience with Oxxfest. The selectman “told me it was a very good event,” White said.
“There’s a reason why they’re having it in Wiscasset and not in Oxford,” Bond said.
White replied that the reason was because contractors were at work on the concert grounds.
“I’m sorry, that’s not the reason,” Bond said. Bond didn’t elaborate on his response, but repeatedly said he would speak privately with Brackett about his conversations with Oxford officials.
In a Thursday, July 29 interview, Floyd Thayer, Chairman of the Oxford Board of Selectmen, said he wasn’t aware of any problems resulting from Oxxfest 2009.
“We have an ordinance up here and they played by the rules,” Thayer said. “I don’t know if they had an arrest there.”
Thayer said he didn’t know why Oxxfest didn’t come back to Oxford, but suspected it was an issue with the venue, the Oxford County Fairgrounds. “As far as the actual town, I’m not aware of any problems at all,” he said.
Thayer wasn’t aware of problems at Nateva, either. “We had no issues with that,” he said.
On Friday morning, July 30, Oxford Police Chief Jon Tibbetts largely corroborated Thayer’s account of Oxxfest. “I think we only arrested one or two at the Oxxfest,” Tibbetts said. The arrests were for disorderly conduct, he said.
There were injuries in the mosh pit, including broken arms and noses, but “their security took care of almost all of that,” Tibbetts said.
Tibbetts said his office received payment from the Oxford County Fairgrounds, rather than directly through New England Concerts. “We didn’t have to deal with the promoter,” he said.
Tibbetts said Oxxfest 2009 only drew about 3500 fans, less than half the amount of advance tickets already sold for the Wiscasset show. “Ours was so small last year it’s really hard to judge from,” he said.
Nateva, Tibbetts said, may have caused confusion for Lincoln County officials. About 30 arrests, including 28 felony drug arrests, as well as disorderly conduct and criminal trespass arrests, took place during the three-day festival.
Despite the arrests, Tibbetts called the Nateva crowd “pretty peaceful people.”
Bond told Brackett he was concerned about services to other towns in the county with a large contingent of emergency personnel at or around Oxxfest. If a major accident occurred in Waldoboro, Bond said, “That could require a lot of services.”
Brackett said four units would be available to serve the rest of the county.
In response to a comment from Orne, Brackett said the office has never done a “formal contract” for private details.
“That doesn’t make it right,” Bond said. Bond said he didn’t think it was appropriate for officers to work an event where alcohol is served.
“I don’t like the fact that they’re serving alcohol at all,” Brackett said, although he granted that organizers were “doing it the right way.”
“I wish they were serving Kool-Aid or water,” Brackett said.
Brackett repeatedly expressed that, despite his reservations, he felt it was better to maintain a presence than to ignore the event completely, leading to a tense exchange with Bond.
“I don’t think in this case it’s totally your decision,” Bond said.
“You have control of the purse strings,” Brackett said. “Unfortunately, I have control of the law enforcement decisions.” Brackett said he didn’t want a confrontation. “I’m not trying to say ‘Damn it, this is my decision, not yours!'” he said.
“If they have their own security there’s no reason for us to be there,” Bond said.
Brackett said the concert will have “30-odd security people,” but security officers lack the authority of police. “Our role is law enforcement only. Law enforcement only, and that will be spelled out in the contract,” he said.
Brackett said “all kinds of red flags” surround the event, including the lack of a contract. “It appears we’re not going to get any compensation,” he said. “We have given Alex [Gray] ample opportunity to respond to us.”
Regardless of who picks up the tab, Brackett said, his office needs to provide support for Wiscasset Police. “I can’t leave John [Allen] and his seven officers out there alone.”
Unless Wiscasset withdraws the permit for the concert, County Administrator John O’Connell said, “this thing is going to go forward whether we like it or not.”
O’Connell joked about the Sheriff’s determination to police the concert. “I think the Sheriff has a soft spot for heavy metal,” O’Connell joked, drawing laughter throughout the room.
O’Connell said that, if Brackett’s officers maintain a large presence at the concert, “We will be giving the appearance of being in full control.” O’Connell suggested that LCSO employees “pull back as far as [they] can.”
“I would prefer to see our liability inside reduced,” O’Connell said. “I don’t want to see our officers horsing around with a bunch of agitated heavy metal fans.”
Tim Pellerin, Director of Lincoln County’s Emergency Management Agency, said extra staffing for Lincoln County Communications would cost about $2600. Pellerin said he submitted his budget to Brackett earlier that morning.
The figure includes use of the Communications center’s mobile command trailer, he said. The Communications center on Rt. 1 will maintain regular staffing levels. “We have to provide that service, no questions asked,” he said. “One way or another, whether we get paid or not… I’ve got to fill those positions.”
Pellerin said Brackett received an e-mail from Gray protesting the bill for police and communications. Brackett’s request, for $14,500, includes wages, benefits and vehicle expenses. Staffing will ramp up slowly throughout the day, Brackett said.
“They’re business folks,” Brackett said of New England Concerts. “They said, ‘That’s too much, we can’t afford that.'”
“We’re not sitting here to make a deal with them,” Orne said. “This will be costing the citizens of Lincoln County when it’s done. I’ll be very surprised if it doesn’t.”
Near the close of the meeting, officials discussed how to move forward, including planning for possible, similar events in the future.
Brackett agreed to update Bond on contract negotiations and invited him to stop by his office and review his operations plan. O’Connell said Malcolm Ulmer, who manages the Maine County Commissioners Association’s risk pool, should look at any contract before the commissioners sign it.
According to officials, Gray was en route to Wiscasset from Bangor during the meeting. Brackett said he would communicate with Commissioners about the status of negotiations. Gray did not return repeated messages seeking comment for this article.
Allen said Wiscasset could consider a mass gathering ordinance. Bond told White the county’s problem isn’t with the raceway.
“I guess we’re all going to learn from it,” Bond said.
