Mayor praises pair of successful Halloween-themed, family-friendly events

Tuesday, October 22, 2024 at 10:00 AM

Shelbyville Mayor Scott Furgeson closed out Monday's Common Council meeting with praise for a pair of Halloween-themed events Friday and Saturday.

Furgeson stated he received plenty of positive feedback about the Shelbyville Parks and Recreation Department’s Halloween Fun at the Park event Friday at Blue River Memorial Park (photo).

The family-friendly event featured a haunted trail, games and treats at the city’s largest park.

On Saturday afternoon, the Shelbyville Community Trunk or Treat event took over downtown Shelbyville for another family-friendly event.

City attorney Jennifer Meltzer, one of the organizers of the event now in its sixth year, estimated approximately 4,000 people came downtown to the Public Square (photo below). There were 42 dedicated trunks or tables handing out candy to area children.

“Those are two great events we have in our community,” said Furgeson. “Unless you have younger children in your family you probably don’t notice those things or don’t do those things. Those things don’t happen by mistake. You have to have a lot of great volunteers.”

In other council business Monday:

Approved new police department and fire department contracts that will include a 13.4% salary raise for police officers and a 15% salary raise over a two-year period for fire department personnel.
Approved a voluntary annexation proposal from Caesars Entertainment to allow for connection to city services on a parcel of property owned by the casino. The plan is to build a community center on the property for use by the horse track employees for meeting space.
Approved a rezone proposal from St. Joseph Catholic Church to align parcels of property owned by the church with three different zoning designations under one zoning designation (Institutional). The rezone is an early step toward the plan to expand and reconfigure the church site.
Approved a rezone request from R2K Enterprise LLC to change the zoning on a parcel of property on County Road 400 North (Fairland Road) from Business Highway to General Industrial to create an area for RV and boat storage on the back side of the property.