By Lee Reinsch
Correspondent
DE PERE – Those of legal drinking age attending certain downtown events this summer will be allowed to enjoy an open bottle of beer or glass of wine legally in public areas that are normally off limits for those consuming adult beverages.
The De Pere Common Council voted Tuesday, June 4, to give the green light to three applications submitted by Definitely De Pere for special permits, allowing alcohol to be consumed on public right-of-ways and public outdoor areas for several events.
Food truck rally evenings are slated to be held Sunday, July 14, and Sunday, Aug. 11.
According to Definitely De Pere, the Food Truck Rally will be centered around the area of George Street Plaza (George Street from Broadway to Wisconsin Street) and possibly part of the Mission Square parking lot adjacent to George Street.
The event will include live music, life-size Connect 4, cornhole, Jenga and tic-tac-toe, facepainting and balloon animals for kids and other activities, as well as food, craft beers and other goodies.
The Common Council also voted to grant Definitely De Pere’s requests for special alcohol permits for the Art Walk event Friday, June 14, and for the downtown De Pere farmers markets, which will be held Thursdays between June 20 and Sept. 26, from 3-8 p.m. (7 p.m. in September).
Alderman Ryan Jennings recused himself from voting on all three permits due to his position serving on the board of directors for Definitely De Pere.
In other business, the Common Council voted:
To allow C&C Pub & Grill to add outdoor sidewalk cafe seating.
The pub’s owners plan to fence in the seating area so that seats and tables don’t have to be taken inside at night.
The current sidewalk cafe ordinance requires tables and chairs to be brought in after hours so they’re not stolen or thrown around, said Judith Schmidt-Lehman, city attorney.
Hanson has requested a discussion of the sidewalk cafe ordinance be placed on a future agenda.
The council accepted a donation of about $11,000 from De Pere Girls Softball to rebuild the old batting cages at Optimist Park.
It accepted a $500 donation from Tundra Apparel & Promotions for the Beer Garden.
The council approved a bid of $64,424 by Bluemel’s Maintenance Service to resurface areas of the playground at VFW Park with Poured in Place rubber playground surfacing.
It also approved a budget of around $7,141,000 for the construction of the VFW aquatic facility.
Finally, the council accepted a bid by Ranger Services, Inc. of Appleton, of $20,000 to update an inventory of all of the trees on city property.
With some 115 miles of streets in the city and around 8,500 trees located on city property, an updated tree inventory on the city’s GIS map would help to keep track of species of trees, tree conditions, trees needing replacement and other factors, according to the Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry.