Decorah City Council to do "trial balloon" of Water Street closings

The Decorah City Council has approved two requests for temporary closings of Water Street.

The Water Street Music Series had asked for permission to close the 300 block of West Water Street for a May 11th concert.  Downtown Decorah Betterment Association had asked to close a few parking spots June 20th, July 18th and August 15th for smaller concerts in the same location--Water Street Park.

Monday night the Decorah City Council approved both requests--but not without some discussion and one opposing vote from council member Randy Schissel.

City council member Paul Wanless told the group "I'm not opposed to trying this," but he wanted assurances the city council was not setting a precedent.  City council member Gary Rustad called the street closings a "trial balloon" and said it was even possible for the city council to revoke the later street closings if the earlier concerts led to problems.