During Tuesday evening’s Plymouth School Board meeting, Superintendent Mitch Mawthorter told members he attended a meeting with the Blueberry Festival to discuss this year’s agreement. He said he leaned on the expertise of Charlotte Tyree in presenting the agreement which she feels is best for the parties involved. He then recommended approval of the contract.
Details of the contract include allowing the Blueberry Festival to use several of the corporation’s sites including Menominee Elementary School for the Blueberry Bike Cruise, Lincoln Jr. High School for bus parking for parade participants, Riverside Intermediate School for parking and line-up for the parade, Jefferson Elementary School for parking, the First Aid Station and air-conditioned mother/child feeding area, and Plymouth High School for parking.
The agreement allows a fee to be charged for parking on the school properties. Those funds will be shared with the Blueberry Festival at 30%, the Moose Lodge for the operation of the trams during the festival at 20%, and the various clubs for the high school and elementary schools at 50%. Parking will be $10 daily for cars, $20 for both a weekend pass and motorhomes, and $25 for busses and overnight RV parking without hookup facilities.
The agreement calls for the school to provide students and adult leadership to staff the parking areas. The Blueberry Festival will provide the golf carts and radios required for the management of the parking operations during the festival. They will also provide the printed parking tickets, rope, stakes, and signs for parking and will be responsible for damage to school property due to the operation of trams during the festival.
