Promoters of a concert event intended to replace the long running Merritt Mountain Music Festival have come up with the cash and most of the paperwork to garner approval from the regional district.

Promoters with Electric Mountain Music Festival were given a mid-week deadline to send about $18,000 along with emergency and health planning documents to the Thompson-Nicola Regional District.

Without it, the TNRD board could not consider whether to grant the Electric Mountain Music Festival an operations permit, during a meeting today.

“There are no outstanding issues fatal to their application,” TNRD planning manager Bob Finley said Wednesday. The department has recommended the board approve the permit.

Promoters of the two-day electronic and hip-hop event on the Labour Day weekend said, earlier this week, that ticket sales are slow. But they expect sales to pick up over the next two weeks, culminating in a large number of walk-ups.

Promoters needed to come up with the $18,000 for additional police and emergency services for the event at the site of the former Merritt Mountain Music Festival, located beside the Coldwater River.

“More importantly, we wanted emergency management plans and those dealing with health-related issues on site,” Finley said.

There is a small amount of paperwork still required of the promoters, but Finley said he does not expect problems receiving it by next week.

(Kamloops Daily News)