Electric Forest permit subject of Monday’s hearing

GRANT TWP. — The Grant Township Board has scheduled a public hearing for Monday, Nov. 10, at 7:30 p.m. at the township hall regarding the mass gathering permit for the Electric Forest Festival at the Double JJ Ranch.

As long as the festival gets support from the Grant Township Board every year, it looks like the hugely-popular music festival is here to stay in Oceana County for the next decade.

The Double JJ Ranch and AEG Live, a national concert promotion company, agreed last summer to a 10-year deal to keep the gigantic music festival in Grant Township.

Norm Halbower, who is co-owner of the Double JJ Ranch’s ownership group Antler Bar Amusements, LLC, confirmed the deal.

The ranch  has invested $2.4 million in the property since May. New roofs, upgraded rooms, new flooring and cabinets at Back Forty cabins, and upgrades to the water park are some of the improvements.

Halbower said the only thing that could stop the festival from happening would be a lack of support from the board, which he doesn’t anticipate. Before last year’s festival, the board approved a mass gathering permit in a split vote. The township has supported the festival since it began in 2011.