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Volunteer OU Faculty And Students To Patrol Mill Fest
By: Graylyn Roose
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Athens and Ohio University officials are making an effort to keep this weekend's block party from getting out of hand, just two weekends after a riot broke out and a house caught fire at Palmer Fest.
The university says it will implement a new safety initiative during Mill Fest on Saturday called "green teams."
About 100 volunteer faculty and students will walk the street to keep an eye out for safety violations and illegal activity.
Ryan Amin, who lives on Mill Street, says his house will have a party, but will lock the windows and doors to discourage break-ins.
"We've been making a game plan for the last couple of weeks. Now that everything's been paved back here, we're kind of going to block it off so everything's in [our] backyard," said Amin.
Amin said he doesn't think the party this weekend can be stopped by OU or the city.
"We call it Mill Fest cause everyone on Mill wants to throw a party. But really, we could do that any time we wanted if you think about it," he said.
Ron Lucas, deputy director of service and safety, said the weekend is intended to be a fun experience, and he hopes that the party doesn't get out of control.
"My expectations are that we have a weekend where people can have a good time and there's no threat to the public safety," he said.