Fête des Lacs Parade May Be Latest Victim Of Road Work
Road Construction Complicates Permit Application
CENTERVILLE - This year's Fête des Lacs celebration may go ahead without a parade.
The Centerville City Council heard at its Feb. 13 meeting that the application process for a parade route permit was likely to prove lengthy and complex, due to the CSAH 14 construction project.
As a result, Council Member Tom Lee explained, he was recommending that the event be canceled this year.
"Last year there was an issue getting a permit [from the county] for Main Street," he explained.
"We didn't know we had a permit until white-knuckle time."
The parade, which attracts more than 100 different groups and organizations to take part, and lasts more than an hour, is one of the highlights of Centerville's three-day Fête des Lacs at the start of August.
Speaking after the meeting, Lee added, "It is just because of the road construction. To do it on the side streets is not an option because of the size the parade has become, and to scale it down would be tough."
City Administrator Dallas Larson was quick to advise the council not to act hastily on the subject, warning, "I wouldn't take action the first time something like this comes up.
"I think you would be better to let the word get out and then put it on the agenda a few weeks from now."
Lee added he expected the parade to be reinstated next year regardless of what happened this summer.