The fourth annual Empire Asparagus Festival will have a new event this year: a bicycle road race within the village.

At its meeting Tuesday, the Empire Village Council unanimously approved a request from resident Derek Prechtl to close Beaver Creek Road on Saturday, May 20 for the duration of the inaugural Empire Asparagus Festival Criterium. Prechtl, a member of the Hagerty Insurance professional road racing team, said the women’s race will start at 8:30 a.m. and the men’s event at 9:30 a.m.

Unlike the Tour de Leelanau, which will be held later this year as a point-to-point race, Prechtl said a criterium bicycle event is run on a circular course. He asked the owner of the Beaver Creek development, located on the northwest edge of the village, to use the development’s main road, a circular loop.

The Asparagus Criterium will be a USA Cycling-sanctioned event, which provides liability insurance for the village and races. Prechtl said each racer must have a license from USA Cycling, and the event is open to professional and amateur racers. “Amateurs may apply for a one-day license and compete in our race,” he said.

Prechtl is expecting around 100 racers and some 200 spectators. “There is another well-established criterium being held downstate the same day, so we probably won’t get more than 100 cyclists,” he said.

“This is going to be a very spectator-friendly event. People will be able to stand inside the road track and watch the racers go around. It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Prechtl said.

In other business, the council:

• Denied a motion to set the stop time for music on Friday, Aug. 3 and Saturday, Aug. 4 at 1 a.m. for the Sleeping Bear Dunegrass and Blues Festival. Event organizers Michael Vanderberg and Joshua Stolz of Grassroots Productions brought a request to the council to reconsider its actions from its March 20 meeting that set the stop time for music on both those nights at midnight.

In a letter dated April 18, event organizers said they would agree to have a performance guarantee in place that would penalize them $500 for each minute the music continued after the proposed 1 a.m. stop time.

Council members were not swayed by the argument. “Whose clock are you using? Would you have a deposit of $3,000 or $4,000 on hand to cover the overage?” asked trustee Karen Baja.

“To me this is like when one of my children would come and say they would wash the car if I let them stay out late. I’m not in favor of extending the time limit,” said council president Susan Carpenter.

• Unanimously approved sending a request to the council parks committee to review removing lights and light poles from the North Park ballfields Committee chair Linda Payment said she was asked by a resident to look into removing the ballfield lights since they have been used rarely since their installation. The lights were installed at the field in 1993.

• Unanimously approved a request from Reuben and Mary Ann Chapman to allow the Empire Leelanau Farmers Market to use the green space next to the Post Office. Chapman said the Empire market will start on Saturday June 16 and run through Sept. 29. The market will be open from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.