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Home My WebLink About110122-03.3 TO: Mayor and Town Council November 1, 2022 SUBJECT: Community Events and Resource Management BACKGROUND The Town of Danville typically hosts several public events throughout the year that can attract hundreds and thousands of participants. These events can be broadly classified into four categories: 1. Community Events – Large public events involving public street closures. 2. Program Events – Events typically programmed through the Recreation, Arts, and Community Services Department (RACS) and listed in the quarterly recreation guide. 3. One-Time Events– Held to celebrate or honor a specific occasion or individual (e.g., Gold Medal Olympians, Captain Sully Sullenberger, etc.). 4. Collaborative Events – Smaller events that involve Town support in the form of grants through the Business Promotion Fund Grant Program (e.g., Sip & Strolls). The information provided in this report is intended to identify opportunities to reimagine the events held in Danville while being mindful of the Town’s limited resources. The memorandum is focused on the Town’s Community Events Program. Events provide opportunities for people to visit and enjoy the community in a safe and fun environment that promotes economic vitality and growth for local businesses. Many of these events originated in the late 1980s as a means of increasing foot traffic and patronage to downtown businesses through difficult economic times. Over time, some events have come to be regarded as Town traditions (e.g., car shows, festivals, runs, July 4th Parade, Lighting of the Old Oak Tree, Farmers’ Market, etc.). Through years of experience and programmatic changes, policies, and guidelines, event agreements have been developed in partnership with event organizers to better define respective roles and responsibilities. These changes have resulted in improved program and logistics management, safer road closures, improved detours, and modified schedules to better support businesses and serve the community. This also led to the creation of a Community Events Team (CET) which includes Town staff from STUDY SESSION MEMORANDUM 3.3 CE Resource Management 2 November 1, 2022 departments and divisions including Maintenance, Police, Fire, and Event Management. The CET regularly evaluates events to assess staffing and resource needs. With the return of live community events in 2022, following a pandemic-driven pause of two years, numerous changes were brought into play that affected event logistics for both the CET and event organizers. In light of the Waukesha, Wisconsin parade attack in December 2021, the CET identified a need to provide additional safety measures to reduce the ability of high-speed vehicles to bypass a street closure. These measures are costly, requiring additional planning and staffing, including the use of contract vendors for road closures. Event organizers were also faced with increased costs for supplies and contracted services, unpredictable sponsorships, difficulty recruiting volunteers, severe weather, etc. These factors impacted the ability of event organizers to stage their events, and several event organizers have shared that they will not be continuing with their respective events in 2023. The Danville Area Chamber of Commerce (Chamber) has experienced fluctuations in attendance for various events, causing the Chamber to phase out events such as street festivals, while looking to increase other events that feature strolling and shopping. A business survey conducted by the Chamber in August 2022 revealed that community events requiring street closures have a more negative effect on specific types of businesses in comparison to strolling events that bring customers directly into retail and restaurant establishments (e.g., Wine Stroll, May the Fourth Be With You, Shops and Hops, etc.). Further feedback conveyed the desire for events that supported shopping, wellness, cultural, and foodie tourism. DISCUSSION Based on the background presented, separate conversations have taken place with the Chamber and the Town RACS staff regarding how future events might evolve. This includes a focus on the types of events now seen as beneficial to the public and the local business community. Further discussion of the CET’s recommendations for more permanent solutions for road closures has been deferred, and the focus was shifted to temporary solutions for all events requesting road closures. At present, only four events planned for 2023 would necessitate large-scale road closures (Devil Mountain Run, Hot Summer Sunday Car Show, July 4th Parade and Lighting of the Old Oak Tree). These events will continue to incorporate improved safety measures as outlined in the April 12, 2022, Study Session Memorandum, and implemented by the CET and event organizers. Moving forward, recommended changes to the Community Events Program are focused on improved event safety, the availability of Town resources, and opportunities to support collaborative events that do not require road closures. CE Resource Management 3 November 1, 2022 Safety and Town Resources It is recommended that the Town consider opportunities to support large collaborative events without extensive road closures. Where road closures are required, the CET recommends standardizing closure limits to a defined area within the core downtown in addition to the improved safety measures (Attachment A). Standardized limits allow for a more consistent level of agency support for police and EMS services. Further measures that can lessen potential impacts on business operations include: • limiting road closures to one-day • defining closure hours to better align with resource availability • having event organizers demonstrate/prioritize event activities with economic vitality components that support local businesses • requiring event organizers to incur actual costs should it be necessary to contract for services to perform the road closure For currently established community events, the road closure limits could be grandfathered. While the Town continues to look for opportunities to improve logistics that may alter those event limits, recommended changes would not involve expanding any of the existing event limits. Collaborative Event Support As mentioned previously, the Chamber is re-evaluating the types of events it curates to support local businesses. A recent example includes the transition of the former two-day Fallfest to the one-day Flavors of Fall – A Celebration of Culture and Community. The new format significantly reduced the area of road closure and included a variety of strolling-type activities and entertainment. This reimagined event was driven by business input that identified a preference for strolling-type events with shopping, cultural, or foodie components. Additionally, the Town is considering how to stage programmed events to improve exposure and engagement with businesses (e.g., May the 4th Scavenger Hunt, Temporary Art Exhibits, strolls, etc.). Through regular conversations with the Town’s RACS team, the goal is to increase the number of collaborative events with businesses and business organizations. These types of collaborative events are mutually beneficial, promoting businesses while enhancing the types of events the Town offers to the community. CE Resource Management 4 November 1, 2022 Other types of support could come in the form of grants to support the planning and marketing of the event, entertainment, facility fee reduction/waivers, etc. Grants could be funded through the existing Business Promotion Fund Grant Program or the Community Events budget and would be viewed as shifting resources from road closures to support different event logistics. Updated criteria would encourage internal and external partners to try different event models that support businesses that can also be safely enjoyed by the community. Further, the catalyst project recently approved by the Town Council as part of the Downtown Master Plan includes the Theatre Plaza. This space is intended to be a flexible space for a variety of events to connect downtown businesses with the Arts District and could be considered as an option to host some reimagined community events. Town staff is requesting that the Town Council provide feedback related to establishing limits for future events, limiting the times and duration of road closures, requiring event organizers to share cost responsibilities by paying for road closures, and recommendations to support evolving events proposed by outside businesses and/or organizations through possible grant opportunities. After receiving input from the Town Council, Town staff intends to work with community partners to seek input and further collaborate on updates to the Community Events Program materials. Further, any fiscal changes to the Community Events or Business Promotion Budget would be presented for consideration as part of the FY 2023/24 Fiscal Operating Budget review process. Prepared by: Lianna Adauto Economic Development Specialist Reviewed by: Jill Bergman Business & Economic Development Director Standardized Community Event Road Closure Limits Legend ROAD CLOSURE LIMIT PRE-FAZ REDEVELOPMENT SOUTH ROAD CLOSURE LIMIT ON HARTZ AFTER FAZ REDEVELOPMENT COMPLETION A T T A C H M E N T A