10A

CITY OF WOODBURY, MINNESOTA

Office of City Administrator

Council Letter No. 13-17

January 9, 2013

TO:	The Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM:	Clinton P. Gridley, City Administrator
SUBJECT:	Establishing a Special Event Policy

SUMMARY

Woodbury’s well-kept parks and excellent customer service have made our community a popular place to host events. As the number of events increase, it is important that a clear policy is created to guide staff on what services should be provided in-kind and what should be charged a fee. To help manage this process, staff has created a special event guide and policy to:

1) help staff budget, plan and create a more accountable, transparent process;

2) ensure equity and eliminate questions of bias;

3) ensure the City’s name is only being used when appropriate and organizations provide proper security and insurance to cover costs of liabilities;

4) streamline the process so that staff can be more efficient in handling requests.

RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended the City Council adopt the attached resolution adopting Council Directive CD-ADMIN-1.6, Special Event Policy.

BUDGET IMPACT

The policy will ensure all special events are budgeted and lessen the risk of unexpected expenses and demands for staff time. The policy requires the special events which the city currently supports to work within an allotted number of hours and resources. In addition, a small special event application fee of $25 will be implemented which will help pay for staff time, which is used to process event applications. All sponsored events and Woodbury based non-profits will have their application fee waived.

DISCUSSION

In order to help organizations smoothly plan and organize events in Woodbury, staff has created a Special Event Guide. The Special Event Guide clearly lies out the approval process for any public city events. The special event guide also supplies guidelines for organizations to help ensure events are successful.

In addition to the special event guide, city staff has created a special event policy which highlights the kind of events which will take place in Woodbury and outlines which events the city will support with public resources. The policy provides front line staff with clear direction on what projects they should and should not be using public resources for each event. All organizations hosting special events would be required to follow all guide-lines detailed in the Woodbury Special Event Use Guide and city code.

The draft special events policy generally maintains the status quo, in terms of current event assistance by providing in-kind services to “sponsored” events which are directly related to a recognized function of the City of Woodbury. All Woodbury-based non-profit organizations would have the event application fee waived. Woodbury Days, the Lions Club Garage Sale, the Country Mile, and the Citizens’ Academy are proposed to be sponsored events and to have separate special event agreements that outline the level of services the city will provide.

Based on feedback provided by Council at the November 28, workshop, staff has made two changes to the special event policy:

1. The Woodbury Days and Lion’s Club Community Garage Sale agreements have been updated with more lenient sign guidelines. Woodbury Days will now be able to post an unlimited number of signs for 30 days and the Lion’s Club will be able to post signs for 30 days (rather than 10) in front of City Hall and Public Safety.

2. The language regarding vendor fees has been clarified to read, “If your event will be hosting outside vendors, selling merchandise or services on site, you will be required to submit a list of vendors, to be approved by the Parks and Recreation Department. In addition, the event organizer must submit a $75 fee per vendor to the City of Woodbury, 10 business days prior to the event.  The City of Woodbury reserves the right to determine where the vendors will be housed at the event.”

PUBLIC PROCESS

Aug. – Sept. 2012	Interdepartmental teams collaborated on special event policy draft.
October, 2012	Staff completed initial revisions to the policy and reviewed them with the Woodbury Days Council, The Woodbury Chamber of Commerce, the Woodbury Community Foundation and Woodbury Lions Club.
November, 2012	Policy revisions were made based on input from the organizations.
November 28, 2012	Council workshop review
January 9, 2013	Policy adoption
January 10, 2013	Effective date

Written By:	Mary Van Milligen, Assistant to the Administrator
Approved Through:	Clinton P. Gridley, City Administrator
Attachments:	1. Resolution 2. Council Directive CD-ADMIN-1.6, Special Event Policy 3. Special Event Use Guide and Application