Скачать или смотреть Michigan county suspends free community event, organizers blindsided with $100K fee

An event that's been hosted for decades on an Otsego County lake could be moving.

The Otsego Lake Splash-Inis an annual fly-in event for sea planes.

A few days ago, organizers received a letter in the mail suspending the event from being hosted at Otsego Lake County Park.

It was a letter, Sarah Rhodes says blindsided them.

The community is asking a lot of questions as to why and I don't really have those answers.
The splash-in has been hosted at Otsego Lake County Park for 43 years. Rhodes said her family has worked closely with the Otsego County Parks and Recreation Department during that time.

"They named their pavilion after my family for all of the hard work that we've done to help with the parks and the community," said Rhodes. "Then just to get a letter saying no we're gonna suspend this indefinitely is sad for us."

The letter Rhodes received in the mail was sent from the Otsego County Parks and Recreation Commission.

In it, the commission explains after in-depth discussions with the Otsego County Emergency Manager, the commission decided at their August 11 meeting to indefinitely suspend the hosting of the splash-in at the Otsego Lake County Park.

"They had a meeting and they did not tell any of us that there was even going to be a meeting," said Rhodes. "So, we had no opportunity to attend or speak on the organization's behalf."

The letter continues on to say, "the financial burdens, legal liability and safety concerns associated with the event have become untenable for the county to unilaterally bear."

However, the letter notes the commission may consider continuing to host the event for a minimum $5 million liability insurance coverage plan and $100,000 fee.

"We don't have that kind of money," said Rhodes. "I mean we're just a family that puts on an event. We don't make money we just do it for the love of the community and the loves of seaplanes."

The letter cites the reasoning for that fee is to cover the Parks and Recreation staff time, Otsego County first responders staffing and liability and safety risks the county would take on. However, a document about the splash-in included in the August 11 meeting packet says, "The park and the county do not have any liability over the lake. They are not responsible for accidents that may happen."

When UpNorthLive showed Rhodes the bullet point document made about her event, she said it was her first time seeing it, and not all of the information in it was true.

READ MORE: https://upnorthlive.com/news/local/ot...
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