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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-01-06 CSE Minutes TOWN *VA11L COMMISSION ON SPECIAL EVENTS MINUTES: Town of Vail: Commission on Special Events Meeting Vail Town Council Chambers Wednesday, January 6, 2010 @ 8:30 a.m. CSE Members present: Bobby Bank Jenn Bruno Dave Chapin Meggen Kirkham Rayla Kundolf Robert McKown Heather Trub (@ 8:45 a.m.) Staff Present: Sybill Navas, CSE Coordinator Pam Brandmeyer, Assistant Town Manager Corey Swisher, Executive Assistant to the Town Manager Lorelei Donaldson, Vail Town Clerk Matt Mire, Vail Town Attorney JP Power, HR and Risk Management Director Others Present: Joyce Gedelman- Viers, Vail Chamber and Business Association (VCBA) Laurie Asmussen, Eagle Valley Events Susie Tjossem, Colorado Ski Museum Diane Moudy, Resort Entertainment Marc LeVarn: Meadow Drive Partnership Nigel Cooper, Ski and Snowboard Club Vail (SSCV) Jason Roberts, Intercept Insight Angela Mueller, Vail Farmers' Market Bob Redwine, Vail Rotary Club Chad Young, Vail Recreation District (VRD) CSE Chairman Dave Chapin called the meeting to order at 8:35 a.m. Administrative Items: • Vail Town Clerk Lorelei Donaldson swore in newly appointed (Jenn Bruno) and reappointed (Bobby Bank, Rayla Kundolf and Bob McKown) CSE members for terms to expire on December 31, 2011. • Motion to approve the Minutes of the meeting of December 2, 2010, as presented. M /S /P: McKown /Bank/Unanimous (Trub was not present at the beginning of the meeting.) CSE Minutes: 2/4/2010 Page 1 of 6 • Coordinator Report: • Navas reported that all of the event producers who have been allocated special event funding by the CSE for 2010 have indicated that they intend to move forward with their events. • Approval of the proposed CSE meeting dates for 2010: CSE members reviewed and approve by consensus the proposed CSE meeting schedule for 2010. Bank expressed his opinion that more time for deliberation would be valuable prior to finalizing the event funding allocations. CSE members agreed to discuss alternatives to the decision making process, and to determine the format for these discussions no later than September 1S Following discussion, Bank moved to change the start time of the regular meetings from 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., with McKown seconding the motion. Bank, McKown, Chapin and Trub voted in favor of the motion. Kirkham, Bruno and Kundolf voted in opposition, and the motion passed 4 -3. CIRSA Training RE: Roles and Responsibilities of CSE Board Members: Town Attorney Matt Mire explained the roles and responsibilities of appointed public officials as required to maintain the town's insurance coverage under CIRSA. Stating that "allocating money on merits is a quasi - judicial decision," he explained that under Colorado State law, theses types of decisions can be questioned with regard to "conflicts" and /or "bias and prejudice." Conflicts are defined by financial interest; if a member stands to make money, then he /she should recuse himself /herself and make no attempt to influence a decision. In the Town of Vail, that implies leaving the room. In order not to be accused of bias and prejudice he advised members not to discus pending decisions outside of a public hearing and stated that it is inappropriate for producers with pending applications to lobby members. Kirkham informed the CSE that she has been contracted to provide services by Eagle Valley Events, Vail Restaurant Month and possibly the Colorado Soul Festival, but that she was not hired by any of these organizations until after the funding decisions were made in the fall. She added that she does not know what future contracts might be forthcoming. Mire commented that the issue is that it is important to adhere to the "appearance of legitimacy. He also advised that all decisions should be backed up with reference to "criteria," and that the best course of action is to conduct all business in public. He stated that the open records legislation provides access to all email records, and that all correspondence should be copied to the entire board, Sybill and himself and a copy brought to the next meeting. In closing, Mire advised the members, if lobbied by an interested party outside of the public meeting venue, to say "Thank you for your comments. Please come share them at our next public meeting." Vail Farmers' Market: Navas explained that Town Manager Stan Zemler had given direction to work out a compromise on the 4 th of July that would allow the market and the parade to coexist. She stated that Vail Resorts had offered Mountain Plaza as a possible venue for the Farmers' Market on that date, but that the Meadow Drive Partnership, which owns the event, is reluctant to move it away from Meadow Drive, even though that site would only allow space on that date for a much smaller than usual number of tents. The market's management is exploring both alternatives. Brandmeyer added that the Town of Vail is committed to make it work and that time adjustments and set -up procedures may be tweaked to accommodate the parade and the influx of the holiday crowds. Bruno advised the market representatives not to cut the food vendors as they choose which vendors will be able to participate on the 4 saying that many people are looking for lunch at the end of the parade and all the restaurants are filled to capacity. Chapin CSE Minutes: 2/4/2010 Page 2 of 6 encouraged them to work with Eagle Valley Events and the town, "You've got your work cut out for you but it can be done." He then asked for an update in the near future. Final 2009 Event Recaps: Ambient Street Entertainment: Diane Moudy presented the results of an informal survey conducted at the entertainment sites over several days and announced that they had received a100% approval rate, with 92% of the respondents indicating that they were "pleased" with the program and 8% giving a "neutral" response. She added that they had received no phone calls and no complaints over the 11 weeks plus 2 "special dates" of the program (entertainment was provided to enhance both the Vail Arts Festival and the South of the Border Fiesta), for a total of 41 days of performances. Diane confirmed that the schedule could remain unchanged for 2010 in spite of the cut in funding. She stated that they would utilize more solo performers, in lieu duos and or trios that are more expensive. McKown clarified that in the current economic downturn performers are willing to work for less money. Kundolf stated that she liked the survey and reminded the others to "keep in mind that there are other "pockets of opportunity" than would welcome street entertainment. The Snow Daze recap was moved to the February 3 d CSE meeting at the request of Jeff Brausch, who had been unexpectedly called out of town. Ski and Snowboard Club Vail representative, Nigel Cooper, citing the email he sent for the record, explained that both the USSA Pep Rally and Pancake Breakfast and the annual Ski Swap had been very successful. He stated that the Ski Swap seemed to have fewer customers, but more buyers this year and that they would like to keep the event in Vail at the Dobson Arena in future years. Navas explained to the CSE that the council had halved their allocation of "free days" at the arena for all of the historical beneficiaries in order to accommodate the participatory events recruitment program. Assistant Town Manager Pam Brandmeyer said 30 days were designated for Town of Vail use. Navas added that reinstating the dates will be considered if the participatory sports recruits do not fill all dates. Cooper then spoke about the huge benefits to the Town of Vail from the Ski and Snowboard Club's nearly $3M investment in snowmaking and improved training facilities at Golden Peak. He cited the benefit to the town's restaurants from having snow on Golden Peak 45 days earlier than normal and stated that Vail is now known as the "best in the world for November training." He added that they operated only at about 25% of capacity this year, and expect to be able to accommodate over 600 athletes per day beginning next year. Bank inquired if there was a way to attract the teams to stay in Vail. Stating that only one team stayed in Breckenridge because they had booked long ago, Cooper said that they had developed a good relationship with Manor Vail that they expect to build on, and that although they do not currently require teams to stay in Vail if they want to train here, they expect that they may get there in the future. Eagle Valley Events representative Laurie Asmussen distributed an event report, including preliminary survey results taken by Intercept Insight, LLC and described the successes and shortcomings of the revised Holidays in Vail events. She explained that one of the goals was to "test" to see what works and what doesn't. With respect to the holiday markets, Asmussen felt that Thanksgiving weekend was a challenging time frame and that perhaps scheduling the markets on Sat/Sun would have been better than Fri /Sat. Also, the Meadow Drive location was too small and not well advertised. The Thanksgiving tree lightings and parade of lights were better received in Lionshead than in Vail Village. Kundolf expressed concern about a lack of advertising and the last second scheduling of events and added, "There should be a little bit more Christmas more theme." She also stated that a schedule and components should be set, with a commitment to dates and times, and that more of the event information handouts should be distributed to local businesses and earlier. Navas said it was challenging to get the CSE Minutes: 2/4/2010 Page 3 of 6 information in a timely enough fashion to make it meaningful. Asmussen noted, "If people want to have their stuff advertised we need to have that by the 15 of October... Many of the events had location and time changes at the very last minute." Bank questioned why the plan to have all the holiday lights come on simultaneously didn't happen. Chapin emphasized this was a first year event. Tjossem commented that, "successful Christmas markets are fashioned after European markets....we need to do some research as to what components are expected and put a theme to it." Saying that it is difficult to send a message with too many components she suggested that the Thanksgiving component, which successfully added vibrancy to that holiday weekend, should be separated from the other marketing efforts. "We lost track of the dining /shopping meld.... creating Vail as a destination that invites people from down - valley back into town. We need to do a better job of packaging an event, not several separate ones... perhaps too many components under one umbrella ?" The First Night event was reported to have been very successful. "It was five degrees and we had 1200 people at the event... the atmosphere was phenomenal," stated Asmussen. Navas added, "People were really happy to be there... they were having fun and really did seem to like it." Kirkham commented, "we criticize, but the survey indicates customer satisfaction." VCBA representative Gedelman -Viers apologized for her incomplete report information, citing last minute computer and printer difficulties. She continued with her report, saying that 32 restaurants participated in the Dine - Around, which had been re- titled "Savor the Season." "All in all it was very well received... To get 32 restaurant together in Vail is extraordinary ... We really extended our marketing efforts... I believe this is a keeper and I believe we should do it again next year. " Chapin said it is good for locals, as most locals believe that once ski season starts the specials "go away." VRD representative Chad Young took over by reporting that the 4 Santa's Workshops were immensely successful with attendance growing with each event from 50 the first week to 75 the second and then 100+ attendees in the last two weeks. The concept was to provide various craft activities for the children as they waited to visit and be photographed with Santa, with each event tied to a theme from a different children's book. The VRD had send out an email blast to over 2000 families in the VRD data base, distributed about 2000 newsletters to the local elementary schools and about 750 to the local pre - schools. He added that the attendance was a "good mix of locals and families with guests and families resulting in a "church picnic" feel. He added that many families came to multiple workshops. In response to questions about how the various sites were selected and why they final event was held in West Vail, Gedelman -Viers explained that they planned to tie together the a workshop and gift wrapping station each week in a different area of the town and had scheduled the events on Meadow Drive, in LionsHead, Vail Village and West Vail. She then noted, "It's not easy to find space for two hundred kids two days before Christmas... our hope was to service all of the commercial areas in the community." Both Young and Gedelman -Viers acknowledged that the free gift- wrapping program, in conjunction with Santa's Workshop, did not work. Tjossem remarked, "The event could be packaged better... So there is not a feeling everything is all separated out... we lost sight of combining the dining, shopping, wrapping etc. to make it an event per week." Discussion: Review the proposed revisions to the "Letter of Agreement for Release of CSE Funds" which attempt to clarify the requirements for final event recaps. Questions to consider: • How can the CSE get event wrap- up reports with a consistent ROI model? CSE Minutes: 2/4/2010 Page 4 of 6 • Does the CSE want to require intercept surveys from all funded events? If so, at what level? After some discussion, CSE members agreed by consensus that the final payment to events (W receiving public funding would be withheld until all of the final event recap requirements have been met and the CSE has affirmed by majority vote that they are satisfied that the information complies with their guidelines. Additionally they agreed that in 2010 all events receiving public funding must provide survey results, utilizing the proposed template as a guide, in a statistically valid quantity, or a minimum of 100 intercepts. They did agree to postpone the requirement for a third party interviewer and analysis because they felt adequate notice had not been given the event producers and that it would be a hardship given that the cost had not been factored in to this year's budget proposals. The board agreed to develop a strategy over the coming months that would yield objective, third party results in 2011. Rotary Duck Race: Liquor Licensing issues and /or possible date change from Sunday, September 5. Town Clerk Lorelei Donaldson stated that, "We essentially have three adjacent events (Farmers' Market, Rotary Duck Race and Gourmet on Gore) occurring simultaneously," and emphasized that each event must contain and supervise their individual event perimeter, in accordance with the Colorado State Liquor regulations. Navas said it was very confusing for our guests, who do not understand why they cannot walk freely from one event to the other carrying alcoholic beverages purchased from one venue into the neighboring event's venue. She added that she had received feedback from several members of the business community that it would be good to have something going on into Monday, in order to better capitalize on the 3 day holiday weekend. Highline representative Jeff Brausch said he would be willing to work with the other event promoters. Chapin said if it was up to the board there would be a Village wide liquor (W license. Rotary representative John Power said, "Our goal is to make the guest experience as seamless as possible... We want to make the Labor Day weekend in Vail the place to be... Sunday is a better day for the volunteers and the most traffic... Rotarians put in about 1000 hours to pull this event off ... It is very much a family centered event." CSE members strongly encouraged the Rotarians host their event on Monday. New Business: Kundolf expressed concern that Beaver Creek lodging properties were featured more prominently than the Vail lodging partners on the Vail Film Festival web -site. "We need to remind them of their conditions." Bank expressed concern about the volume of paper used for CSE packets, and asked that the materials be supplied electronically whenever possible. Motion to Adjourn @ 11:45 a.m. WS/P: Bank/McKown /Unanimous Minutes taken by Corey Swisher, edited nd submitted by Sybill Navas, CSE Coordinator January 6, 2010. Approved b Date: f V 6 r✓ P Y ave Cha in, bS Chalan CSE Minutes: 2/2/2010 Page 5 of 6 t.