The council hosted a sparsely attended public forum Monday night to present a memorandum of seven potential planning options for Halloween 2002 and to seek comment from town officials and residents. One option discussed was canceling the event, though that seems unlikely.
The council decided with little discussion to refer the options to Town Manager Cal Horton and his staff for consideration.
Two years ago, Halloween drew a record crowd of 50,000 to Franklin Street. The event forced the town to fork over almost $75,000 in clean-up and law enforcement costs.
In 2001, officials worked to reduce that number, costing an additional $33,000 because of the increase in traffic and crowd control. The number of revelers was cut in half, but council members say they want a more fair, permanent plan.
At Monday's forum, Chapel Hill Police Chief Gregg Jarvies presented the seven different options to the council.
Horton said he isn't optimistic about squelching turnout. "This is an event that draws people from all over the state," he said.
The proposed options for controlling the Halloween celebration in the downtown area range from ridding the town of the event to creating a friendly coexistence between town and festival.
The most expensive choice, reaching a cost of about $115,000, limits the size of the celebration to 25,000. This is the plan that was implemented in 2001.
The second option would bring back Halloweens of the past, which most likely would mean a crowd of 50,000 and a $90,000 price tag. This option puts less restriction on the movement of people and vehicles in the downtown area.
