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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-35JANUARY 25, 2011 11 -35 RESOLUTION (CARRIED LOST 0 -7 LAID OVER WITHDRAWN ) PURPOSE: APPROVAL OF WAIVER OF FEES FOR EXTRAORDINARY SERVICES FOR SPECIAL EVENT / SPECIAL OLYMPICS / POLAR PLUNGE/ FEBRUARY 18 -19, 2011 ($1,395.00) INITIATED BY: CITY ADMINISTRATION NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Common Council of the City of Oshkosh that the request for waiver of fees for extraordinary services for Special Olympics Fox Valley Area (Nicci Sprangers) for their Polar Plunge event benefitting Special Olympics on February 18 -19, 2011 is hereby approved. Cost Estimates for Extraordinary Services Street Department -- Barricades ($1,095 preliminary estimate) Parks Department -- Plowing of one field within park for parking ($200 -$300 preliminary estimate) CITY HALL 215 Church Avenue P.O. Box 1130 Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54903 -1130 City of Oshkosh MEMORANDUM OfHKOlH Date: January 21, 2011 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager Lam• . �y,�!�' Subject: WAIVER OF SPECIAL EVENTS EXTRAORDINARY COSTS Background Last year the Common Council passed the Special Events Ordinance which was proposed, in part, to address concerns that had been raised relative to the cost of special events and whether the costs for special events should be paid by the event organizer, or supplemented or paid for by taxpayers. While, in general, the ordinance states that event organizers are responsible for the costs of extraordinary services to support their event, the ordinance does provide a method for event organizers to petition the Council to have the City costs for providing extraordinary services waived. In contemplating these requests, the Council may consider any relevant criteria in a given case, but the ordinance does list the following 10 specific criteria that the Council should consider when reviewing a request to waive extraordinary costs: 1. The Special Event's benefit to the quality of life to the City as a whole; 2. The Special Event's financial benefit to the City as a whole; 3. The Special Event is of interest to a smaller segment of the City's population which the City seeks to encourage; 4. The tradition of the event in the City; 5. The cultural and /or historical significance of the Special Event; 6. Whether or not the Special Event provides services or functions that are traditionally organized or sponsored by other cities or governments; 7. Whether or not the Special Event organizers are making good faith efforts to minimize adverse effects on the health, safety, and welfare of the community and as a result minimizing the need for City employee involvement; 8. The effect of the Special Events on the neighborhood(s) surrounding the site of the event; 9. The financial burden the Special Event places on the City's taxpayers as a whole; 10. The financial condition of the event organizer(s). Two event organizers have submitted requests to have the extraordinary costs associated with their events waived. Special Olympics is requesting a waiver of costs associated with the provision of barricades and the plowing of a field for additional parking area for their Polar Plunge event. The UW- Oshkosh Student Recreation is requesting a waiver of costs associated with the provision of barricades for their 5K Fun Run/Walk event. t�J Mayor & City Council January 21, 2011 Page 2 Analysis Prior to the passage of the Special Events Ordinance and the 2011 Special Events Fee Resolution in December of last year, the City had provided barricades and cones upon request of event organizers, when available, without charge. However, there is cost associated with delivery and pick up of the items (employee time, vehicle expenses) and also with potential loss of or damage to the items, therefore staff proposed a modest charge per barricade or cone to be included in the fees charged to special events. Organizers remain free to negotiate with private firms for the provision of the necessary barricades and /or cones for their events. While the City has provided these services in support of various special events in the past, the passage of the new ordinance and tighter city budgets provide an opportunity to review that policy. The Council must determine whether, in each case, employee time and taxpayer dollars should be used to support the particular events without seeking reimbursement. Both events are clearly in support of worthy causes, however, both events are sponsored by and supported by organizations with broad financial resources. While both organizations are non - profit organizations, both events also have revenue generating aspects through admissions /entrant fees and /or sales of food and beverages. In terms of the considerations listed above, the Council must determine what weight to place on the various considerations. Both groups, and many of the other event organizers that we are expecting to come before Council in the following months, may make compelling arguments related to several of the criteria. However, from the perspective of the city as an entity, particularly in consideration of the financial challenges which we continue to face, the most prudent and fiscally responsible course of action may be to seek to recover costs for services provided while working diligently with event organizers to minimize those costs. Because the general policy, evidenced by the Special Events ordinance, is to seek reimbursement of city costs, the resolutions approving the events have been drafted separately from the request to waive fees. Should the Council decide they wish to waive the costs associated with either or both of the events, they may adopt a separate resolution on the Agenda to approve the waiver and delete the requirement that the event organizer pay for all or a portion of the costs. If Council does not want to waive these fees as recommended by staff, they should vote down the separate ordinance. MAR/j do