Organizers of the Cedar Polka Fest say the storied event could be cancelled this summer due to unexpected fee increases from Solon Township.

The Polka Fest, which takes place each summer at Cedar Community Park, is set to hold its 42nd annual event in less than two months, August 22-25. But according to Lisa Rossi-Brett, executive director of the Cedar Polka Fest Foundation, the organization still does not have an approved lease agreement with Solon Township to allow it to use the tennis courts, baseball fields, and other parklands that have traditionally served as the event’s home.

In a memo to the Solon Township Board dated May 9, Kelly Claar and Mary Taylor, volunteer co-chairs of the township's parks and recreation committee, urged board members to require new deposits, fees, and inspections before agreeing to lease the tennis courts and baseball fields to the Polka Fest Foundation.

“This month, we feel the need to stress the fact that the Polka Fest Foundation is the permit applicant for the Polka Fest,” Claar and Taylor wrote. “Any handshake or understood agreements between the Township and [past Polka Fest applicants the Cedar Chamber of Commerce] are now null and void. Given the fact that this is a different applicant, all the forms will need to be renewed and a new precedent should be set regarding the exclusive use of public parks.”

Per Rossi-Brett, the Cedar Polka Fest Foundation was formed within the last six months to serve as the “the nonprofit arm” of the Cedar Chamber of Commerce, which has hosted the festival for decades. The foundation, she says, exists strictly for tax reasons: “If you have ‘chamber of commerce’ in your title, you can never be a 501c3. So, we created the foundation, but we’re still the same organization [the township] has been dealing with for 42 years.”

The parks committee proposed that the township require a security deposit, pre- and post-event walkthroughs of the Polka Fest site, and a “fee for exclusive use of the fields.” Additionally, Claar and Taylor urged the township board to prohibit the Polka Fest Foundation’s plans to add various dog-friendly offerings to this year’s festival, reasoning that “dogs are prohibited in all Solon Township parks, with the exception of Vlack's Park.”

Rossi-Brett says she and the other members of the Polka Fest Foundation board were caught off guard by the township’s late changes to what has historically been a fairly easy approval process. In past years, she notes, the township only charged Polka Fest organizers a $1 fee to use the park – a formality “to make the lease valid.”

“Now, we’ve heard numbers all the way from $5,000 to $20,000, and any one of those increases, with no notice whatsoever, is not okay,” Rossi-Brett says “This is our 42nd year. Every year, we go to [the township board] for a lease agreement. They know what our event is. They know when it's going to happen. But they waited until May to start talking about [this fee], and now we’re less than 60 days away and we don’t know what they’re going to charge us.”

Rossi-Brett insists she isn’t opposed to a fee, noting that the Polka Fest has voluntarily contributed significant funds to Solon Township and its parks over the years. Still, she argues the parks committee and township have erred by trying to force the issue without proper notice or due diligence.

“It's my understanding that a use agreement [on a township park] needs to be based on what [the event] costs the township,” she says. “They can’t just say, ‘Oh, well, we need money. We should get 10 percent of the Polka Fest grosses.’ Where did that number come from? And then, if they're going to charge one organization, they have to charge all.”

Steve Yoder, who sits on the Solon Township Board, concurs. At meetings, he’s called for the board to approve the 2024 Polka Fest and revisit the fee discussion ahead of next year’s event. Rossi-Brett expected things would go that route based on conversations at the board’s May meeting. Instead, she says the board “reneged” on that plan at their June meeting and punted the decision to July. “We had to write them an email saying, ‘We can’t wait until July. We have contracts to sign. We’ve got vendors who are already going to be charging us extra because we couldn’t sign contracts 60 days in advance. We need an answer sooner.’”

That led the township to schedule a special meeting for 7pm Friday at Solon Township Hall. There, Yoder expects the board will make a final decision on what to charge the Polka Fest Foundation. Options discussed so far include 10 percent of the festival’s gross profits, $300 per day for use of the park, and most recently, Yoder says, a $5,000 flat fee.

“We don’t know what they're going throw at us on Friday,” Rossi-Brett says, though she is sure of one thing: The Cedar Polka Fest will cancel for 2024 if the fee is too high. “We did have to draw a hard line in sand. There's only a certain amount that we can absorb as an organization.”

Solon Township Supervisor James Lautner did not respond to requests for comment, including attempts to confirm Friday’s special meeting. As of press time, no formal notice about the meeting had been posted on the Solon Township website. Claar and Taylor also could not be reached for comment. One question the Leelanau Ticker sought to ascertain is if fee increases would also apply to other events that use Solon Township parks, such as the annual Brian Nachazel Snowball Tournament. Solon Township Treasurer Joan Gauthier did confirm the special meeting in an email sent to the Leelanau Ticker Tuesday afternoon, but urged other event organizers not to attend.

“On behalf of the Solon Township Board, I am asking that an article regarding lease fees for baseball fields and tennis courts in Solon Township to not be put in The Ticker,” Gauthier wrote. “We are having a special meeting on Friday, June 28, 2024 at 7pm at the Solon Township Hall to discuss the lease fee agreement regarding the Cedar Chamber of Commerce and the Polka Fest Foundation. There is nothing else on the agenda, so it probably wouldn't be worth them attending. They can make public comments only, but there will be no response to them. Our regular meeting in July is July 11. They should call the clerk and be asked to put on that agenda.”