City Council Agenda Report
TO: Mayor Clauzel and Members of the City Council
FROM: Ken Irwin, City Manager
BY: Juliene Flanders, Recreation & Community Services Director MEETING DATE: May 2, 2023
ITEM NO: 6.1
SUBJECT: Receive a report on special event costs and provide direction to staff on special event priorities and equipment.
RECOMMENDATION
Receive a report on special event costs and provide direction to staff on special event priorities and equipment.
BACKGROUND
Community wide special events provide an exceptional opportunity for the community to come together in a positive way and foster pride in our city. To this end, there has been an interest in conducting additional community special events in the downtown area. Various special events have been held downtown, including Farm to Fork, Skate the Circle, and Back to School Block Party, which have been incredibly successful, but come at a cost to the city to operate.
Additionally, due to safety concerns when closing streets for special events, discussion, and recommendations on additional equipment to ensure participant safety are warranted.
ANALYSIS
Scheduled Special Events
The city organizes and operates various special events throughout the year. The following cityorganized special events are scheduled for the summer season:
· Safety Day
Participants will learn about safety from the Patterson Fire Department, Stanislaus Sheriff’s County Officers, Del Puerto Healthcare District, and the Aquatics Swimming Team.
o Saturday, May 6, 2:30 - 7:30 p.m.
o Patterson Aquatics Center
o Cost: Free
· Movie Night - Summer Series
Brought to the community by the Youth Action Commission (YAC), free family-friendly movies in the park. The event will include fun activities and games before each movie. o Thursday, June 15 - Black Panther
o Thursday, June 29 - Guardians of the Galaxy
o Thursday, July 13 - Jumanji
o Thursday, July 27 - Zootopia
o Location - Tilton Park
o Cost: Free
· Baseball Movie Night - with the Jr. Giants
In partnership with the Youth Action Commission (YAC) and Patterson Jr. Giants Baseball and Softball, watch the classic movie, Sandlot, with your family for free. o Saturday, August 5 - Sandlot
o Location - T.W. Patterson Sports Complex
o Cost: Free
· Farm to Fork
o Saturday, September 9, 6 - 9 p.m.
o Location - Downtown Circle
o Cost: $80
Special Event Locations
The city is proud to host numerous special events throughout the year, including the events mentioned above. When planning for these events, budget, and cost are factors when deciding where these events will be held. Special events in city parks or facilities, as many of the events above are held, are more cost-effective and easier to manage as they do not require street closures or additional staff to manage closure points. Additionally, conducting special events in various city parks and facilities provides an opportunity for events to be spread throughout the community, making access easier for those that may not otherwise be able to attend.
As opposed to events at city parks and facilities, downtown special events require a higher level of funding, oversight, and planning due to the logistics of street closures and event safety.
Attachment 1 details the cost of downtown events with street closures. Costs are broken down by full Plaza Circle closure during the weekday and on nights and weekends, by one street closure during the weekday and on nights and weekends, and for events at a city facility. Costs range from $17,172 (full circle closure on a night and weekend) on the high end and $3,044 (city facility) on the low end.
Street Closure Equipment
Special events in the downtown area typically require street closures, executed by the City’s Public Works Department with rented closure equipment. Historically, metal crowd control barriers are used to close the streets, but due to their size and weight can be easily moved or driven through. This has happened on two occasions during city-run special events where two separate individuals easily moved the metal barricades to drive into the events. While these incidents were resolved with no injuries or impact on the event, it has caused increased concern for the safety of attendees at future special events requiring street closures.
To provide a more secure closure, staff recommends a closure system that continues to utilize the metal crowd control barriers and folding barricades but is augmented with temporary K-Rail barriers. K-Rails are temporary concrete barriers commonly used on road projects to block traffic from the area of construction. In our application for special event street closures, the recommended K-Rail system would be plastic barriers and when in place, would be filled with water which makes them nearly immovable. At the conclusion of the event, the water would be drained allowing for easy removal. The recommended K-Rail barriers, crowd barriers, and folding barriers, purchase price, and rental costs are shown in Attachment 2. Note, for large events requiring street closures, equipment is typically rented for multiple days.
If the City decides to purchase the equipment, it could be available for rent from the city for nonsponsored city events which would allow the city to recapture some of the funds used to purchase and provide a potential funding stream for replacement as the equipment is damaged or worn.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact as a result of this report. Any fiscal impacts subsequent to the discussion of this item will return to city council for approval if funding has not been anticipated in the approved FY22/23 budget or will be included in the FY 23/24 budget for expenditure next fiscal year.