12-10-18 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING December 10, 2018 the City sponsors all public events and what that means is we provide our staff support through Police, Traffic and Lighting and other means for all events in the City. While we support and encourage events, we think it is fair to ask for some type of a cost share for those larger events that take up a tremendous amount of City staff These are events like large parades or races that tend to block off multiple streets over a long distance.What we are proposing is that profit organizations would cover one hundred percent (100%) of event cost but for non-profits, the City would cover costs up to thirty-two (32) hours of South Bend Police Department time and up to eight (8) hours of Public Works' time. Anything above that, which would be limited to a small number of events, would have to be covered by the event organizers. Events such as block parties would not be impacted because they typically require only one (1) or two (2) staff people to help organize. We are also consolidating various sections in the ordinance regarding the three (3) different types of applications. We have some information about demonstrations which we are also clarifying through this ordinance. Mr. Kain went on, The filing fees will be set for each tier. We are proposing a twenty-five-dollar ($25) tier one (1) early filing fee. So, if an applicant files within the appropriate time period, it is a much lower fee. Tier two (2) and tier three (3)would be fifty dollars ($50). By the way, the fees right now for all events is fifty dollars ($50) so this would be a benefit to neighborhood organizations. For a little bit more detail, if there are events that applicants organize that is similar to an event within a six (6)month timeframe, we will be able to accept multiple applications at the same time. I talked about the expedited fee. If you do file in a shorter duration, there will be an expedited fee. For example, for Tier One (1), we will accept applications up to fourteen (14) days prior to an event. However, if an applicant files the application forty-five (45) days before the event, they will pay the twenty-five dollars ($25). If it is between forty-four(44) and fourteen(14) days, they will pay fifty dollars ($50) which is the current filing fee. For Tier Two (2) and Three (3) it is a similar idea. Because Tier Two (2) and Three (3) events take much longer for our staff to coordinate, there will be a filing fee of fifty dollars($50). However, if it is within that expedited period, there will be a higher filing fee. Demonstrations and First (1St) Amendment expressive activities are protected activities and there will be no fee for those. Demonstrations do require a seventy-two (72) hour notification and a form will be available as part of this application process which will go to our Events Coordinator who will then notify the Police Chief of these events. A demonstration form applies to any event where a crowd of greater than twenty-five(25)is expected and then the ordinance also talks about the banning of certain tools during the demonstrations as well as no face coverings for safety reasons. Mr. Kain continued, We have a section on civic sponsored events. In addition to outside entities organizing events, the City itself also organizes events. An example of that is Best. Week. Ever. That is organized by the Parks Department. These activities and events will be categorized as civic sponsored events. In addition to the City's own events, we will allow the opportunity for certain third (3rd)party events to become sponsored or part of these civic sponsored events if they follow these three (3) criteria. One (1) is they must not charge a fee to the participants. It must be a non- profit organization and the event must be of greater good for the City. The event decisions will be made by a special event committee comprised of five (5) individuals representing different departments of the City that are engaged in these events that will meet on a regular basis. The advantage of forming a committee over sending the applications out to the different departments is that it will allow for a gathering and combined conversation on these events. It also encourages the applicant to meet with the committee on a regular basis to answer questions. It simply expedites the permitting process. Mr. Kain went on, Any denial given by the special events committee can go through an appeal process and that would be through the Board of Public Works. The appeal must be filed within three (3) business days of the decision by the committee and then the hearing will be at the next Board of Public Works meeting. In conclusion,the effective date of this ordinance is recommended as January 1. We are suggesting a small grace period for those applications that might come in right away. Typically,more events start getting organized after March. We will be communicating with event applicants we already have in our database and will let them know of the update to the process. We will reach out through social media and other means with the community to let them know of the new process. We are also developing a guide to let the applicants know of how the process works. 8