GrassRoots faces fines from Environmental Division

The GrassRoots Festival organization, which puts on Trumansburg’s annual GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance, has been hit with fines from the Environmental Division of the Tompkins County Health Department (TCHD) and the Town of Ulysses — for $22,000 and $17,000, respectively.

The fines are because the festival did not receive a mass gathering permit for its camping and parking areas, which are on a separate property from the Trumansburg Fairgrounds (tinyurl.com/2mjja2s2). This is the first time in the festival’s history that it has not been issued a mass gathering permit.

The Town of Ulysses declined to comment because of the ongoing litigation between the town and the GrassRoots organization. The next court date will be Dec. 6. Additionally, TCHD declined to comment.

Russ Friedell, the marketing director for GrassRoots, said the organization was told that the permit wasn’t issued only after the festival had already begun. Friedell said the mass gathering permit was denied because the Health Department did not feel satisfied that the Across the Way camping area and the parking area had met regulations.

“We were already into the festival, and then a permit was never issued,” Friedell said. “The county felt this past July that there were some [regulatory] things that were not addressed. GrassRoots worked diligently to address and remedy them over the weekend, [but] the end result was that we did not satisfy [their standard].”

Jordan Puryear, founder and current director of GrassRoots, said there were multiple errors on GrassRoots’ part, such as failure to submit paperwork on time. However, Puryear said that over the years, local and state regulation of festivals has tightened, making it more difficult for GrassRoots to satisfy regulators.

“As time has gone on, especially in the past three or four years — and prior to COVID — regulations have been getting a little bit more serious,” Puryear said. “We have to meet a greater specification for campgrounds and camp sizes.”

The Across the Way camping site is located behind Smith Forest, about a quarter mile from the fairground’s entrance. The camping site is owned by GrassRoots and is within the town of Ulysses, so when TCHD did not issue a permit, the town was able to issue a fine as well.

Puryear said one of the issues at the Across the Way campsite was the placement of water spigots, which are required to be within 250 feet of all campsites. A few of the campground’s campsites were outside of the 250-foot radius, so the festival used a hose to add an additional spigot within those campsites. However, Puryear said this did not satisfy regulators.

This year’s GrassRoots went relatively smoothly, with ticket sales high and medical emergencies low. Despite intense heat during the festival, its water infrastructure was able to support festival goers without major issues.

Puryear said GrassRoots reached an agreement with TCHD to pay the $22,000 fine in order to be able to begin selling tickets for next summer’s festival. Although the size of the fines GrassRoots has to pay is large, Puryear said the organization has enough revenue that it will be able to survive paying them off. However, since GrassRoots uses any profit it makes for charity, it will impact one of the organization’s missions.

“Usually, when we have any semblance of revenue, we give that away,” Puryear said. “We’re a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, and with fining an organization like that, it just simply reduces the ability of the organization to follow its mission in the first place.”

Alan Vogel, a longtime GrassRoots volunteer, said the restrictive regulations and large fines are frustrating, given the good that the festival does for the local community. Each year, GrassRoots brings around $4.8 million into Tompkins County.

“Why should they be hassling a bunch of do-gooders?” Vogel said. “We’re all just effectively serving the community. It’s bringing culture, entertainment, education and community involvement. There’s more than 1,000 volunteers.”

Friedell said the GrassRoots organization is working with TCHD and the Town of Ulysses to improve communication going forward so that next summer goes more smoothly.

“We’re all doing our best and are in very clear communication with the county Health Department and the Town [of Ulysses],” Friedell said. “[We want to] address the Health Department’s concerns from this past July and rectify that so we can move forward with everybody on the same page.”

Trumansburg Connection appears every Wednesday in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@VizellaMedia.com.