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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSpecial Event Committee Minutes_4-20-21 SPECIAL EVENTS COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES April 20, 2021, 10:00 AM 731 S. Lafayette Blvd, South Bend, IN 46601 Members present: Brad Rohrscheib, Toy Villa, Jonathan Jones, Gerard Ellis, Darwin Shipley 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 10:04 AM by President Rohrscheib. 2. Approval of minutes Upon a motion by Rohrscheib and seconded by Villa the minutes from the previous meetings held on March 16th and April 6th were approved unanimously. 3. Approval of Special Event Permits a. South Bend Fringe Festival – 5/6/21 thru 5/9/21 6:30 pm to 10:30 pm A series of (25) unique acts over the course of 4 days. Event will utilize multiple stages, with no specific closures of streets. Stages will be at multiple locations and will use assistance from volunteers for crossing at intersections. Bridget Fields will reach out to Traffic/Lighting for details of possible sidewalk closure from Lafayette to Michigan to facilitate sales of tickets for each act. This years event differs from previous years because it’s held outdoors. This application only designates activities for Leighton Plaza. As the event gets closer we will get a better idea of attendance. No apparent right-of-way issues. VPA has a running list of stage permits for upcoming events and Jonathan will check to see if there’s an application for this event. Special Events Committee only considered current application for Leighton Plaza. Upon a motion by Rohrscheib and seconded by Shipley the permit was approved unanimously. b. Hernandez Birthday Party - 5/15/21 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm Indoor and outdoor birthday party/family reunion. Applicant requesting street closure of Phillipa St between Western and Huron from 4pm to 9pm for the safety of the party attendees. Applicant most concerned with alleys to the North and South of her house because the cars pass her house really fast. Committee took this into consideration but ultimately addressed the specific street and times reflected in the application. Coby Deal Page | 2 mentioned this is a one way street (South) and there’s a restaurant nearby. No entrance to the restaurant will be blocked. Alley runs behind businesses E-W. Nearby neighbors have agreed to the party. The committee felt comfortable approving it due to the neighbors approval. Gerard requested the applicant apply for a Social Gathering permit from the County (found online) 7 days prior to the event. Committee Secretary will email a link to the County application to the event organizer and check on the time frame of the party. Upon a motion by Rohrscheib and seconded by Villa the permit was approved unanimously. c. Kids to Parks Day -5/15/21 10:00 am to 6:00 pm An initiative of the National Park Trust, is a nationally coordinated day designed to connect kids and families with their Local, State and National Parks. This years event is hosted by VPA and held at Leeper Park from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. Cynthia Fish discussed proposed road closures as being the corner of Riverside and Lafayette closed to the North side of the entrance to the parking lot of Madison School and Park Lane from Lafayette to the West corner of Main St. Just the one side of Main to the School Parking Lot entrance will be closed. A tennis match will be going on at the same time so the thought is to keep the parking lots of Leeper Park and Madison School open to accommodate parking for Kids to Parks Day and partner with Beacon to use half of the visitor parking area as was used in the past. Plans to spread out the event across two areas, big field area adjacent to the tennis courts and area adjacent to the fountain. This will hopefully eliminate people bunching together for Covid purposes. Activities will be spread out along Park Lane and children’s activities in the field south of the Park. Activities will also be along Park Ln and the side of the school. Festival type activities are planned and will include vendors. Boomer parked at Lafayette and Park Lane. Included will be a rock wall, fire trucks and police vehicles to connect the areas. Food vendors will be parked on Lafayette between Park Lane and Riverside which will utilize picnic tables in the area. Detour will be set up for Park Lane from Main (West side) to Lafayette. Signage set up on Bartlett for detour. Further discussion will follow with Traffic/Lighting to clarify event setup times and with VPA to verify food vendor licensing. Jersey walls will be in place with gaps at street closures to facilitate emergency vehicles Upon a motion by Rohrscheib and seconded by Shipley the permit was approved unanimously. d. Pulse FM Downtown Summer Series – 6/11/21, 7/8/21, 8/12/21 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm Annual Christian Concert will be held in downtown South Bend this year in June, July and August. The event will be held outdoors observing a socially distanced capacity, following all State and local health guidelines. The St. Joseph County Health Department has approved an outdoor capacity of 2000 in the John R Hunt Plaza. A complete closure requested for Colfax from MLK Jr Ave to Michigan for a two day closure to facilitate event setup was discussed by the committee. The closure would be for Thursday- Saturday for each event this summer. Committee agreed that a diagonal should be setup Page | 3 at intersection of Colfax and Michigan. The hotel entrance at MLK and Colfax on the West side will be taken into consideration as far as barriers used. Setup for the event will take place the night prior to the concerts. Coordination of SBPD with event security was discussed. Rohrscheib commented that he could give the names of available off duty officers to the event coordinators but SBPD won’t be providing on duty officers. The State will be responsible for inspections prior to each event. Concerns raised pertained to pedestrians crossing on Michigan to purchase tickets and enter the entrance of the event. Upon a motion by Rohrscheib and seconded by Villa the permit was approved unanimously. e. Leeper Park Art Fair – 6/19/21 thru 6/20/19 10:00 am to 6:00 pm An annual Art Fair showcasing several different mediums of art work with an expected attendance of 1000+. Amanda in VPA is assisting in the setup of this event and Rohrscheib will reach out to her for details on the intersection crossings on Riverside between Michigan and Lafayette and a sidewalk closure on Riverside between Michigan and Lafayette. Event will be held on the fountain side (west side) of Leeper Park this year. Upon a motion by Rohrscheib and seconded by Ellis the permit was approved unanimously. f. Bacon Around the Bend – 6/19/21 8:00 am to 11:00 am The committee discussed the 4th annual event to benefit the Family Justice Center. This is a 5K and a 1 mile family fun walk/run that starts at the Family Justice Center and ends at Corby’s Irish Pub. Most of the event path is along the Riverwalk which has resumed construction this Spring. Effected streets are Angela West of Michigan, Pokagon continuing along the trail to Railroad bridge and towards Madison. Pokagon will be closed completely at some point. Villa will reach out for specific closure dates to allow for adjustments of the event route. Event organizers will be contacted to discuss options for an alternate route that would begin and end at the desired locations but be re-routed thru the neighborhoods in the area to avoid the trail under construction. Several optional routes were discussed by the committee to present to the event organizer should the need arise. Upon a motion by Rohrscheib and seconded by Villa the permit was approved unanimously. g. Fallen Heroes Family Ride – 6/27/21 11:00 am to 12:30 pm Annual ride hosted by American Legion Riders to benefit families of Northern Indiana fallen soldiers. Discussion followed on the changing policies of SBPD regarding future motorcycle rides. It was decided by SBPD, Mishawaka PD and County PD that going forward for rides to have a police escort they must stay in St Joseph County and also 2 weeks prior to event the organizer must show proof of 100 participants signed up for the ride. Motorcycle rides will still be permitted with fewer participants but they will need to Page | 4 hold them as a “poker run” with riders proceeding at their own pace without a police escort. Proof of registration will be determined by the officer in charge of Special Events at the location of the start point of the ride. Closures will be intermittent as riders pass thru. Google My Maps tool was suggested for event organizers to generate route maps. No objections to the ride from the committee. Rohrscheib will work with the organizer to explain the new escort procedures. Upon a motion by Rohrscheib and seconded by Jones the permit was approved unanimously. h. Livestrong at the YMCA 5k and 1 Mile Family Fun Run -6/27/21 Tabled until next meeting on May 4, 2021 Upon a motion by Ellis and seconded by Rohrscheib the item was tabled unanimously. Other Business a. IUSB Commencement – 5/12/21 IUSB reached out to the Police Chief inquiring about help with the commencement on May 12th for a temporary closure of 20th from Mishawaka Ave to Vine. They are asking for cones to be dropped off and SBPD assistance. Neighbors will be notified of temporary closure. (5) cones to be dropped at Wall and 21st. Upon a motion by Rohrscheib and seconded by Villa the request was approved unanimously. 1. Privilege of the Floor – None 2. Adjournment With no additional business, Rohrscheib motioned for adjournment and Villa seconded. The meeting ended at 11:27 AM.