OLD ORCHARD BEACH — A town request for OOB365 to hire a police officer for a blues festival is not a political move, town officials say.

Local economic group OOB365 is hosting the Blues Festival at The Ballpark on Saturday, Sept. 13 from 1-7 p.m., featuring James Montgomery and a lineup of other performers. Food and alcohol will be sold at the festival, which is a fundraiser for The Ballpark.

Israel Collins, representing OOB365, said at Tuesday night’s town council meeting that he did not think hiring a police officer at the blues festival was necessary.

Collins said he envisions the crowd as a bunch of “40- to 60-year-old people sitting in lawn chairs.”

“We don’t think security is going to be an issue,” he said, and noted that there haven’t been problems with security at past events the group has sponsored.

“Quite honestly, it feels like it’s a political attack against OOB365,” said Collins, a group he said last year raised $5,000 for The Ballpark and has a large volunteer effort putting on events in town.

Town Manager Larry Mead said it was an administrative request, not a council request that the group hire a police officer for the event.

“I’m certainly not in the business of political attacks,” said Mead.

Mead said he read in some of the materials for the event that organizers were hoping to have 1,000 or more people at the festival. He said he’s very supportive of musical events at The Ballpark, and it’s typical to require security for such events.

“We think one police officer is a very modest amount,” he said.

Hiring a police officer for the event will cost $60 an hour, plus the cost of benefits. Collins said if the group didn’t hire a police officer, it could donate the money to The Ballpark.

Police Chief Dana Kelley said he wanted to make sure there were no security problems, and the event was as successful as it could be.

“This shouldn’t be viewed by anyone as more than my opinion based on these types of events. I’ve been doing this a long time,” said Kelley.

Council Chairman Shawn O’Neil, said it was “embarrassing” and “disheartening” to hear the request for a police officer at the festival was believed by some to be a political move.

“That just floors me, I don’t understand that, and I’m sorry that happened,” he said.

He noted that the recent motorcycle event in town, the Maine State H.O.G. Rally, hired two police officers.

Councilor Joseph Thornton echoed Mead’s comment that one police officer was a modest request.

“The comments that it’s a political attack is a throwback to where we were a little over a year ago,” he said.

Ballpark Commission member Guy Fontaine said the thought the town was not consistent in requiring security for events, and there needed to be a set rule.

Cheryl Poulopoulos, director of the Seaside Pavilion, an outdoor venue owned by the Salvation Army that hosts concerts and other events, said in response to an email that the Pavilion requires security as well. The site has one to three police officers per event in addition to staff from a private security company.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or [email protected].