7.
City Council Work Session - AMENDED
- Meeting Date:
- 12/08/2015
- Co-Submitter:
- Glorice Pavey, Recreation Supervisor
- From:
- Glorice Pavey, Recreation Supervisor
- Department:
- Public Works
Co-Submitter:
TITLE:
Discussion/Direction regarding the Dew Downtown Winter Festival. *THIS ITEM WAS MOVED FROM 9.
DESIRED OUTCOME:
Obtain input from City Council regarding the changes made to the Dew Downtown Festival.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Special events are important to our community. They bring excitement to our city and enhance our quality of life. If done correctly by addressing parking, trash, noise and congestion, a community event has the potential to enhance business in the surrounding area.
INFORMATION:
Over the last four years we have seen the Dew Downtown Flagstaff Urban Ski and Snowboard Festival transform from a grassroots winter celebration to a large scale event for our community.
As the event has grown, the city has seen an increased strain on resources. In addition to the use of city equipment and vehicles, the 2015 event utilized over 100 city employees. In May of 2015, staff met with stakeholders about taking over the event and recommended postponing the event in order to allow more time for a new event producer to transition into the role of event planner. However, in an effort to ensure the momentum of the event was not lost, the Director for the Downtown Business Alliance, Terry Madeksza, approached city staff in the hopes of partnering on a 2016 event. Staff has been meeting with Ms. Madeksza on a weekly basis for the last two months to discuss logistics for a 2016 event and to determine whether a 2016 event was even possible. In an effort to reduce the workload on city staff, the city is working on retaining the services of a private event producer, Rand Jenkins, to assist with event planning and implementation.
In the past, the event has used potable water because the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) prohibited the mixture of reclaimed water runoff with storm water runoff which was difficult to prevent in an urban street setting such as Dew Downtown event. The ADEQ will be changing the law to allow reclaimed water to be used for a purpose like this sometime in 2016. Staff doesn’t anticipate the rule change in time for the 2016 event.
City staff proposes to hold the event on Saturday, January 30th from 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. on San Francisco Street (between the parking garage north of Aspen Avenue to Cherry Avenue), on Birch Avenue (between Leroux Street and Agassiz Street), and on Aspen Avenue (between Leroux and San Francisco Street).
The goals of the event are to promote Flagstaff as a four season destination, provide a family-friendly winter event for all ages, and to provide an economic stimulus to the community during the traditionally low performing month of January.
Proposed changes to the event:
As the event has grown, the city has seen an increased strain on resources. In addition to the use of city equipment and vehicles, the 2015 event utilized over 100 city employees. In May of 2015, staff met with stakeholders about taking over the event and recommended postponing the event in order to allow more time for a new event producer to transition into the role of event planner. However, in an effort to ensure the momentum of the event was not lost, the Director for the Downtown Business Alliance, Terry Madeksza, approached city staff in the hopes of partnering on a 2016 event. Staff has been meeting with Ms. Madeksza on a weekly basis for the last two months to discuss logistics for a 2016 event and to determine whether a 2016 event was even possible. In an effort to reduce the workload on city staff, the city is working on retaining the services of a private event producer, Rand Jenkins, to assist with event planning and implementation.
In the past, the event has used potable water because the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) prohibited the mixture of reclaimed water runoff with storm water runoff which was difficult to prevent in an urban street setting such as Dew Downtown event. The ADEQ will be changing the law to allow reclaimed water to be used for a purpose like this sometime in 2016. Staff doesn’t anticipate the rule change in time for the 2016 event.
City staff proposes to hold the event on Saturday, January 30th from 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. on San Francisco Street (between the parking garage north of Aspen Avenue to Cherry Avenue), on Birch Avenue (between Leroux Street and Agassiz Street), and on Aspen Avenue (between Leroux and San Francisco Street).
The goals of the event are to promote Flagstaff as a four season destination, provide a family-friendly winter event for all ages, and to provide an economic stimulus to the community during the traditionally low performing month of January.
Proposed changes to the event:
• The event will still be called Dew Downtown and will take place over a two-day period (January 30-31).
• The Saturday portion of the event will be a one-day winter festival in downtown. The City will partner with the DBA to implement the winter festival in downtown.
• The ski and snowboard competition will take place on Sunday at Snowbowl. City will assist with marketing the competition but will not be involved with planning or running the competition on Sunday.
• The winter festival downtown will have a greater focus on family activities, such as:
o Snowzilla (inflatable sledding hill)
o Giant snow globe for photos with friends and family
o Synthetic ice skating rink
o Adult ski and snowboard lessons provided by Snowbowl
o Rigglett Park for young kids to learn how to snowboard
o Snowplay area with crafts
o Entertainment stage
• Footprint of the event will be reduced
• The amount of water used to create snow will be reduced to an estimated 1/3 less than previous years
• Event will incorporate Heritage Square to encourage foot traffic on the west side of the downtown area
• The amount of city staff time and resources will be reduced considerably.