Parks & Rec reports record Independence Fest attendance and Peters Colony public-art progress

Travis, a town staff member, reported that this year's Independence Fest had strong turnout: about 2,200 people attended the morning children's parade and the evening event at Bakersfield Park drew an estimated 29,000 attendees, according to his remarks to the commission. He said the event featured headline entertainment and what staff described as the town's largest fireworks show to date; the celebration also included a flyover by four F-35 aircraft.

On public art, Travis reported progress on the Peters Colony Memorial Park installation: full‑scale drawings were completed and printed for the artist, metal components have been purchased and cut, and stamped drawings for the sculpture foundations were sent to concrete vendors for estimates. He said hotel-occupancy-tax funds were used to support the permanent public-art project and that future projects would be considered on a per-project basis and follow town selection processes.

Staff cautioned that murals and some park-asset proposals must comply with town standards: benches are standardized for maintenance and murals are treated as signage under local ordinances, so location and ordinance compliance are considerations for future public-art proposals.