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The Daily Tar Heel

Open Forum to Focus on Halloween Measures

Chapel Hill town officials and residents will discuss the positive and negative aspects of this year's event at 6 p.m. today at the Franklin Street post office.

This year's Halloween celebration drew about half the crowd of the last year's but cost the town $35,000 more. Officials attribute both the drop in attendance and the increased cost to additional security measures implemented this year.

Chapel Hill Town Manager Cal Horton said the purpose of tonight's forum is to hear the thoughts of community members concerned by this year's curtailed festivities. "(We want to) make changes to better serve the community," Horton said.

Police spokeswoman Jane Cousins said that although police department officials are not going to the forum with any preconceived ideas, she has heard some negative feedback from residents and businesses regarding this year's Halloween.

"(Some businesses) said they lost business because of traffic; people couldn't drive to certain places."

But she explained that not all the feedback was negative. Instead, she said some residents supported the increased security and more controlled celebration.

"Many told us they liked the plan, particularly residents downtown," Cousins said. "The crowds were smaller and less disruptive. There was less traffic and trash."

But the controlled crowd did not come without a price. This year's Halloween cost the town $110,000, compared to last year's $75,000 bill.

Chapel Hill Police Chief Gregg Jarvies credited the difference in cost to an increased law enforcement presence. Jarvies emphasized that arrests were down 40 percent from the previous Halloween.

Horton also defended the increased cost, saying safety was the town's primary concern. "We are always interested in maintaining costs, but the main principle is to maintain safety," Horton said.

Mayor-elect Kevin Foy will be present at tonight's forum. He said he wants to see the public's general attitude on the Halloween celebration. Foy also said he sees safety as the primary goal.

"The town needs to balance good safety measures with what has become a good celebration," Foy said.

Cousins said that although there have been some responses to the way this year's celebration was handled, town officials want to hear more community feedback.

"On either side there was not a great outpouring," she said. "We are trying to get as much input as we can."

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.

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