ROTHBURY — In an effort to quiet some local discontent over recent Electric Forest developments, Chad Cheek, who runs the annual festival for parent company AEG Presents, spoke at Tuesday’s regularly scheduled Rothbury village council meeting. The meeting took place as preparations for the Forest were at their height; the festival began Thursday.
Cheek addressed several issues during his remarks, but devoted most of his time to going over the January extension of the festival’s mass gathering permit through 2035 and the changes to the village wristband program, which were announced in February. The two events occurring so close together drew negative attention from some village residents, even sparking a recall petition against three current trustees - Dylan Zuniga, Autum Drake and Jim Fekken.
Cheek attempted to quell those issues Tuesday, saying on a few occasions that the wristband changes were his decision and his decision alone. Cheek called the previous neighbor wristband program, which granted residents who lived close to the festival footprint access to each day of the event, “unsustainable,” citing economic and security issues they presented. He added that the program was always going to change for this year as a result, and the choices were to have no complimentary wristband at all or to settle on the compromise of one day.
Cheek said the festival plans to stage a celebration picnic on the Sunday of the festival for village residents, with up to 400 welcome to attend (as of the 2020 census, the village’s population is 462). He thanked the new management of the Double JJ ranch for their help with outreach and said he hopes to improve the way the festival communicates with the local public in the future.
Cheek added that he’s worked many festivals, including Super Bowl and Grammy parties, and the Electric Forest is his “favorite event,” in large part due to its repeat visitors; according to his numbers, 79% of Forest attendees are coming for at least the second time, and over half have visited four times or more, numbers he said stun others he knows in the industry. So tight-knit is the “Forest Family,” Cheek said, that when the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered the 2020 festival, many of them got together to spearhead a donation of over 10,000 meals to those in need.
That sense of community has hit home even more to Cheek since 2021, when he said his family lost their Colorado home due to a wildfire. Since then, due in large part to community help, 75% of those displaced by the fires have rebuilt.
In discussing the permit renewal, which some in the village have criticized because the prior permit was already approved through 2030, Cheek said the extension served two purposes - lining up AEG’s deal with the village with the one it has with Double JJ, and accounting for the Forest’s 2020 and 2021 pandemic-related cancellations.
A few public comments put Cheek on the spot again as residents pressed for more details. One commenter asked why residents couldn’t at least choose the single day for their passes rather than be locked to Sunday; Cheek replied the technology AEG uses for the wristbands does not allow for single uses, noting the festival does not sell single-use tickets to anyone, but that he hopes to offer that as an option in future years.
As for the recall petition, Patricia Day, a local resident who got the petition’s wording approved by the county in May and is in the process of gathering required signatures for it, said the reason only three trustees were named on the recall petition is that the other two who voted for the Electric Forest permit extension in January - Mike Harris and Denise Kurdziel - have terms ending this year anyway.
Day said in a May interview she feels the council has not helped the community with its recent decisions regarding the Electric Forest and has been dismissive of her concerns when they’re brought up during council meetings or on social media.
“This is who we elected to represent us and they’re absolutely not representing us,” Day said in May. “They (AEG) are basically getting carte blanche to run over the village of Rothbury. That’s basically why we’re upset.”
Zuniga said Tuesday he respects differences of opinion and is glad to see the increased interest in recent village council meetings, but said he has pursued the village’s benefit throughout his term.
“Any decision I’ve ever made or helped to vote on was what I felt would be good for the whole, but I respect that people can see otherwise,” Zuniga said. “It’s nice to see involvement, and if there’s differing opinions, I think it’s all better because it gets everyone involved...We’ve got attendance higher than I’ve ever seen it. I think it’s a good thing.”
Also Tuesday, the village unanimously approved the creation of a village garden club, which will pursue the beautification of the area. The village also unanimously announced its support for a grant application being made by David Beckman of Valley City Metals in Shelby, who is making plans to turn some of the old Barber Steel Foundry property, which he recently purchased, into a community-use center.
