The meeting was headed by John Gallup, GBOS Parks and Recreation Supervisor, and a committee that included representatives from Forest Fair Committee, Alaska State Troopers, Girdwood Fire Department, and the Heritage Land Bank.
Two initial meetings gave the intrinsic legal overview of attorney, Tracy Knutson. She spoke of foreseeable risks and what “reasonable and prudent” people would do when those risks are being presented.
Risks cited included, but were not limited to: danger to human safety from excessive substance use and resulting violence and accident potential, danger to property and life from uncontrolled campfires spreading to become wildfires, and environmental damage to Girdwood watersheds from feces, trash, and other pollutants.
“We’re here asking for help,” said Forest Fair Treasurer SJ Klien. “Our goal is to continue this fair.”
The “reasonable and prudent” Knutson spoke of would then take steps to warn of, mitigate and or eliminate these risks. This became the principle task of the committee, she said.
The primary causes of trouble at this year’s Forest Fair were three-fold. There was first, the underage drinkers spending time away from their parents.
“I want to make it a pain in the rear end for the parents of juveniles who are caught drinking or with controlled substances,” said Alaska State Trooper Sergeant Brian Barlow, who spent his first summer at his new post in Girdwood.
Campers using municipal land as overseen by the Heritage Land Bank was also cited as a problem.
“HLB land campers are Trespassing,” said Heritage Land Bank Director Bill Mehner.
There was estimated to be around 3,000 campers at the only designated campground for the fair, located along Glacier Creek. The campers were considered a serious problem at this year’s fair—getting drunk, using illegal substances, and becoming unruly. “All of our volunteers were abused by people who didn’t even go to the fair,” said Jay Bell of the Forest Fair committee.
Barlow and the committee, as a whole, spoke of a mobile command center and paddy wagon being set up at next year’s fair in the center of all activity to “remind visitors of the Troopers’ presence at all times.
Sgt. Barlow admitted he was vastly understaffed for the amount of people attending the fair, and that it was difficult at times to keep up with all the security problems.
“I would catch and charge people who ran,” said Barlow. “That was the line we drew in the sand.”
The idea for a large media campaign was also introduced as a first step to mitigating future problems. It would be used to show a Trooper increase, which Sgt. Barlow says would most likely involve fewer than 10 Troopers.
The media campaign would also be used to draw awareness to the valley-wide increase of security. The second step would be to actually provide this increase in manpower. There was, however, concern for how exactly to pay for the additional manpower, which would include an outside security company, much like the one hired for the recent Reggae concert held this summer in Girdwood.
Other problems included parking and crowd control, both foreseeable risks.
On some streets in Girdwood during the fair, vehicles parked on both sides of the street created a bottle neck, so emergency vehicles could not access it. “No Parking” signs and parking citations were seen as a possible solution to this problem.
The signs would point out the illegality of people parking their cars in a certain area, and the citations would collect money for the city to help pay for the increase in security.
Crowd control was brought up by Girdwood Fire Chief Bill Chadwick, who said the campground was overly crowded in areas. He said the overcrowding inhibited emergency vehicles from accessing points within the campground. Chadwick suggested clearing the brush 200 feet from both sides of Karolius Drive, allowing both Troopers and a pump truck, used to douse fires, greater access to the campground.
Chadwick also suggested that the committee allow the fire department to organize a working group to formulate a large event action plan. If accepted, the plan would be in place to give clear designations to a chain of command when and where an event is taking place. It would also give cause and effect analysis of certain situations, and provide a “to-do” list should certain emergency situations arise.
The Forest Fair Committee will meet again in January to further discuss a working plan to address these and other issues facing next year’s fair.