Decision Expected Tomorrow on Party Permit
By Ellen Keohane
(05/03/2007) Tomorrow is Bulldog Day for the East Hampton Town Board. That’s the day board members agreed on Tuesday that they would decide whether to grant the Ross School the mass gathering permit it needs to put on an all-star five-concert series this summer to raise money for its scholarship fund.
Bulldog Island Entertainment, the New York company organizing the series, had submitted materials addressing previously expressed concerns about parking and security, which the board agreed to review in the interim. It also expanded on its plans for associated events on one of the school’s soccer field.
The concerts, to be held on the school’s soccer fields off Goodfriend Drive in East Hampton, are to feature Prince, Tom Petty, Dave Matthews, Billy Joel, and James Taylor. Each concert, scattered through July and August, would be limited to about 1,800 people. The cost, expected to be high, has not been announced.
In the documents submitted to the board, however, Bulldog Island Entertainment indicated that it planned to make a donation in excess of $987,000 to the Ross School “in cash and tickets.”
According to a site plan submitted, one soccer field would be used as a pre-show “hospitality area.” Four tents would house several bars and seating areas, as well as a “kids’ room” with hot dog and popcorn carts, juice and ice cream bars, and PlayStation 3 gaming stations. Arts and crafts tables for kids would be positioned outside the tents along with an “inflatable amusement.”
The second field would be used for the performance. Here, a 60-by-40-foot stage would be set up, as well as three 60-by-70-foot tents with bars, tables, and seating areas. Outside, bamboo mats with fleece blankets and pillows, sling-back beach chairs, and day beds with pillows would be offered.
Carl Monzo of a firm called National Event Services would be hired to provide security and to act as a liaison with the East Hampton Town police, Bulldog Island Entertainment, said in a letter to the board. Furthermore, a fence would be erected around the soccer fields.
The company also wrote that it had spoken with James Brundige, the manager of the East Hampton Town Airport, about using a field across from one of the runways for valet parking. The plan is to have concertgoers park at the airport and be shuttled to the concert. The letter requests the board’s permission. However, board members expressed concerns about using the airport for parking, as well as overall security issues.
On Tuesday, Supervisor Bill McGintee said the proposal needed further review. He also compared the Ross School benefit to a similar concert in 2002 at East Hampton High School, when Paul Simon, Garland Jeffreys, Dr. John, Phoebe Snow, and Susanne Vega performed to raise money for the family of Denis Craine, an East Hampton resident with Lou Gehrig’s disease. The taxpayers ended up footing part of the bill for police overtime.
According to a press release from the Ross School, 46 percent of the student body receives financial aid and next year’s financial aid is expected to provide $2 million to 255 students.
“Our scholarship program allows us to continue our commitment to offering the highest quality education to the broadest range of students,” Courtney Sale Ross, the school’s founder, said in the release.