HARDIN CO.—It doesn’t look like there are any solutions to the issue of problem events at Hog Rock.
Wayne Eichorn, Hardin County board president
There was a meeting last night held at the Hardin County courthouse in Elizabethtown involving the county board and a county resident, Brenda Clanton (we apologize if the spelling isn’t accurate; this is just what’s being reported to us) wishing to lodge complaints against the events on the Hog Rock campground, owned by local businessman Tim York. York is the one who owned HogDaddy’s saloon in Shawneetown and shut it down, from what we’re hearing, out of spite over some perceived infraction against him during the Old Town Street Rally.
The premise of the meeting, from what we’re hearing, was to see if the county could impose a tax on the events that go on at York’s private campgrounds outside Cave-in-Rock on the Ohio River. That way, the county could at least recoup some of the losses they experience through the use of law enforcement, ambulance, fire and rescue, and other services that are severely strained when the event the size of the Gathering of the Juggalos invades the area.
The ultimate outcome of the meeting, from what we’re hearing, is that the board said they can’t impose an event fee or anything similar; that has to be done by Illinois legislators.
We don’t necessarily believe that. Local government entities can certainly make existing state laws more restrictive within their own communities, including county-wide. And surely, the board could find a state law that they could fashion an ordinance after…if not just make up something of their own, which they have the power to do.
People in the know in Hardin are of the belief that York has some kind of arrangement with the powers-that-be (county board) that puts him in some sort of favor with them….like perhaps monetary exchange. They use as an example the fact that the county had gravel hauled in on the road to the private property at York’s request.
But the further problems that are getting county residents in a stir is the fact that when the Juggalos come to town, the local youth prep for it….by stealing medicines from their parents to sell on the campgrounds at the “drug bridge,” or thieve money from said parents in order to get with Harrisburg/Saline County dope dealers in order to purchase amounts of other dope to sell at the event. This past year, there were children as young as 14 and 15 being eyed with suspicion as having stolen money for this purpose.
Clearly, something needs to be done, as the expense to the county and local resources far outweighs any benefit the county (or any other entity) realizes from it. But then again this is the ongoing battle….public vs. private….and it’s sad that it has to go on at all.