Oktoberfest compromise in the works!

If the Walhalla mayor and the full city council agree in two weeks, the chamber of commerce will have to accept a compromise over the changes that the chamber had proposed to make better Walhalla’s annual celebration of its Germanic roots. A special committee tasked by Mayor Danny Edwards made known its findings last night in the form of a recommendation to be considered at city council’s regular meeting this month. As explained by Councilwoman Jennifer Crawford, the committee chairwoman, the recommendation amounts to a compromise. It would allow the chamber to move its craft beer tasting event to the green space property at Main and N. Catherine, but it rejects the chamber’s request that two blocks of Main Street be closed during the two-day festival. It had been the chamber’s idea to move the outdoor vendors from the sidewalk to the street, to make less congested the sidewalks in front of storefront businesses. But Crawford cited the concerns of the city’s police and fire chiefs for safety reasons.