Collin Raye performs during the concert to benefit the Buddy Care Foundation at Franklin Theatre on August 7, 2012 in Franklin, Tennessee. (file photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images)
GRANTSVILLE, Utah — The Tooele County Health Department (TCHD) has released a statement about the Collin Raye concert, sponsored by Utah Business Revival and now slated for Grantsville.
The TCHD says the event has not been approved by the health department or the county.
In order to hold a gathering of over 1,000 people, organizers must consult the county and apply for a permit. Tooele County says Utah Business Revival has done neither.
“According to state code R392-400 all mass gatherings over 1,000 people must receive a permit by the health department where the event will be located,” said TCHD in the statement. “No permit application has been received by Tooele County Health Department to review.”
The county says the application allows the county to plan out how to accommodate the crowd, including restrooms, traffic, and safety measures.
If Toole County so chooses, they can take legal action against the property owner of Studio Ranch Amphitheater for holding the concert without proper permission.
“After an event is held without a permit it is possible for the health department to file charges against the property owner for allowing an unpermitted event to take place,” said TCHD.
Additionally, TCHD states the pandemic brings added concern. “COVID-19 transmission adds an additional worry because at an event like this it is nearly impossible to maintain social distancing,” said the department.
The health department says Utah and Tooele County is doing a good job flattening the curve and wouldn’t like to see a spike in cases due to an unapproved event.
“We want to promote community unity and at the same time protect the health and wellbeing of our citizens,” Tooele County stated.
The Utah Business Revival announced on Thursday it will move a controversial Collin Raye concert originally planned for Kaysville to the Studio Ranch Amphitheater near Grantsville.
In a press release organizer Eric Moutsos says the change comes after pushback from city council members and residents over the Collin Raye show.
Moutsos claims that someone made threats against those who would assemble in Kaysville as a part of “an effort to make government more powerful while blocking your rights.”
Moutsos told Dave and Dujanovic that they weren’t forced out of Kaysville though, but that they decided to make the move to Grantsville because of the venue there.
“We’re really excited about Grantsville because they can hold 10,000 people, and so we’re going to have 300 booths set up, and ultimately if you don’t want to come, stay home, stay safe. But we’re America, and I believe this is the most patriotic thing we can be doing right now.”
Tooele County Commissioner Shawn Milne though says he hasn’t heard anything about the move to the venue near Grantsville though.
Milne says that the announcement causes them a little bit of concern. Milne told KSL NewsRadio’s Dave and Dujanovic that while he admire’s Moutsos’ passion, his situation is not unique.
“We all understand there’s a balance here in society, so I can appreciate that he’s very passionate, I think that’s admirable, but we all live in a society and have to be civil about it,” Milne says.
“I imagine that as this has been proposed to 300 businesses, that would look to be advertising their wares and services. They’d likely attract, or want to at least more than a thousand people. By the time he reaches that magical threshold of a thousand, the health department needs to be involved to make sure there are adequate port-a-potties, sanitary conditions [and] public safety.”
Milne says that events like this are common and says there is a process in place to ensure the safety of everyone involved saying he wouldn’t rule out the gathering, but would need the event to go through the same process as anyone else.
“We would just welcome him to follow the same process as anybody else.”
Moutsos says he doesn’t care about those permits though.
“I don’t, and the reason why I don’t is because when government oversteps, like health departments and our government in Utah, when they overstepped their bounds. It’s up to we, the people, to push back and to show them that we have our rights and we have our responsibilities to provide for our families.”
“I took an oath to uphold the Constitution and it’s an oath I take seriously. The freedom to peaceably assemble is a bedrock principle that Utah was founded on. I will always stand up for your Constitutional rights.
Let’s face it. If you have to wait until the government tells you its safe to exercise your Constitutional freedoms, you have no Constitutional freedoms at all.
This is a critical time for our nation. We need to safely reopen America. We have a choice to make: freedom or fear. I choose freedom.”
– Kaysville City Mayor Katie Witt
Officials with Raye’s management team say the singer still wants to perform and they have everything ready to go. However, they acknowledge there are a lot of behind-the-scenes issues that are being worked out between Tooele County and the UBR promotion team. So, they’ll need more “clarity” before they make any final decision.
Some members of his team say Raye never wanted the concert to become the political tussle that it has. One team member, who didn’t want his name to be used, says Raye saw the show as a way to help businesses get back on their feet and to ease the suffering people are going through because of the shutdown.
He says, “It was just about helping a community that’s suffering like every community in the country. But, follow protocol, do it correctly. We’re not trying to abuse anything or thumb our nose at anybody.”
That man says Raye loves performing in Utah and wants to help people regain a sense of safety and normalcy.
“We were going to take donations. We were going to try and put it so people could watch it on the air, take donations and donate the money to the local community,” he says.
KSL NewsRadio’s Dave and Dujanovic spoke with Moutsos, Witt, Milne, and Collin Raye’s manager on their program, you can hear the full conversations with all of them below.
COVID-19 coronavirus spreads person to person. It is a virus that is similar to the common cold and the flu. So, to prevent it from spreading:
Utah’s Coronavirus Information
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Utah Coronavirus Information Line – 1-800-456-7707
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention