Traverse City commissioners expressed interest in considering several possible changes to the National Cherry Festival (NCF) at a special study session last night, including altering how the festival reimburses the city for expenses, separating the festival from the Fourth of July and enhancing Open Space access and enjoyment through better fencing, trash management, sidewalk clearance and handicap parking.

Commissioners did not vote on any changes last night, but provided City Manager Jered Ottenwess direction on the above priorities so Ottenwess can work with city staff and NCF officials to draft proposed changes for commissioners to review and vote on at one or more future meetings. Approximately 25 residents spoke during public comment at last night's meeting, many in support of maintaining NCF's existing model. Other residents called for scaling back the commercial nature of the event, and/or reducing its impact on the city.

The majority of commissioners stated they were fine with NCF remaining eight days, but would like to see the festival reduce its set-up and tear-down time. The commission was almost evenly divided on whether the event should overlap with the Fourth of July, a topic that generated lengthy discussion. Most commissioners also wanted to see the city's reimbursement cap eliminated so the city could be compensated for the full amount of costs it incurs during the event, and also discussed ceasing exempting NCF from the city's parks policy so the event would be required to pay rental fees to use the Open Space, in addition to its other city expenses.

NCF Executive Director Trevor Tkach told the commission he would provide the city a report soon responding to commissioner and public concerns, which Ottenwess will integrate into his drafted recommendations for future commission review. “We don't want to have to go through this (process) every year,” said Mayor Michael Estes of the review. “The idea is to make some of these changes, then put them in place for a long time to come.”