CITY COUNCIL: Report concerning requests associated with teh 2011 Carmel Art and Film Festival

Meeting Date: July 12, 2011
Prepared by: Heidi Burch, Asst. City Administrator

City Council
Agenda Item Summary

Name: Report concerning requests for the use of City facilities, street closures, one of the City’s free use days, a financial contribution and a waiver of certain costs and fees associated with the 2011 Carmel Art and Film Festival.

Description: The organizers of the Carmel Art and Film Festival have requested support from the City in various forms.

Overall Cost:
City Funds: up to an additional $17,044. $5,025 has already been
expended.
Grant Funds: N/A

Staff Recommendation: Receive report and provide policy direction.

Important Considerations: Noted in staff report.

Decision Record: For the past two years, the City Council has supported the Carmel Art and Film Festival by contributing $5,000 and a “free use” day at the Sunset Center. Additionally, approval to close Mission Street and the use of Devendorf Park has been granted annually.

Reviewed by:

_______________________________ __________________
John Goss, Interim City Administrator Date

CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA
STAFF REPORT
TO: MAYOR MCCLOUD AND CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
FROM: HEIDI BURCH, ASSISTANT CITY ADMINISTRATOR
THROUGH: JOHN GOSS, INTERIM CITY ADMINISTRATOR
DATE: JULY 12, 2011
SUBJECT: REPORT CONCERNING REQUESTS FOR THE USE OF CITY FACILITIES, STREET CLOSURES, ONE OF THE CITY’S FREE USE DAYS, A FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION, WAIVER OF CERTAIN COSTS AND FEES ASSOCIATED WITH THE 2011 ART AND FILM FESTIVAL

BACKGROUND
This will be the third year for presenting the Carmel Art & Film Festival, scheduled for October 12-16, 2011. The festival will include events such as the screening of films at venues throughout the City, a lecture series, a “Women in Film” program, a photography exhibit, and an art show and sale in Devendorf Park.

The event brings a large number of visitors to the City. The organizers offer daily tickets as well as packages ranging in price from $10 to $25,000, making the experience accessible to a wide array of filmgoers. Additionally, the movies on the beach and the art show/sale in the park are free to the public.

This year, in continuation of the organizers’ commitment to the future of filmmaking, organizers of the Festival are offering four $2500 scholarships to high school seniors who are planning on going to college to study art or film, and/or college students already enrolled in art or film programs. As in years past, student films will again be shown in
various venues.

The organizers of the Carmel Art and Film Festival have requested support for the event from the City in various forms the past two years.

This year the requests of the City are as follows:
Request #1 The use of Devendorf Park for the placement of tents to display and sell art from 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 15 through Sunday, October 16 at 7:00 p.m.

The City has granted this request the previous two years.

Request #2 The closure of Mission Street between Ocean Avenue and Sixth Avenue for the placement of tents to sell sponsor merchandise. The requested hours are from 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 12 through the conclusion of the event on Sunday, October 16 at 7:00 p.m.

Carmel Municipal Code Section 12.32.060 requires that City Council approve the closure of streets and the placement of tents in the public right-of-way for events. This has not posed problems or generated complaints at similar events held in the City in recent years.

As of June 28, no sponsors have been confirmed. This request is being made in anticipation of the procurement of sponsors, however, if none are found, the streets will not be closed. If the City Council chooses to approve the request, staff requests a cut-off date by which the street closure will be confirmed by the event’s organizers. This will allow staff to grant requests by other organizations for that time period. One such request has already been denied.

This request has also been granted to the organizers each year.

Request #3 One of the City’s “free use” days at the Sunset Center for use between October 12-16, 2011.

The City is granted five “free use” days of the Sunset Center each fiscal year. Council has already approved two of these days: one, for the Carmel Foundation; the other for the Carmel Authors and Ideas Festival. With approval of this request, there would be two remaining “free use” day for the City Council to allocate between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012.

This request has been granted the previous two years.

Request #4 A contribution of $10,000 toward City sponsorship of the event.
The City has contributed $5,000 each of the past two years.

Request #5 Waivers of certain City fees and costs associated with the event.

This is a new request and, as such, has never been granted. A breakdown of costs is provided for Council consideration.

FISCAL IMPACT
The fiscal impacts for each of the requests are delineated below:

Request #1- The use of Devendorf Park $800
Cost of $400 per day for two days. This fee includes the cost of Public Works’ time to inspect the park before and after for damage, the posting and removal of signage, the placement and removal of barricades and/or A-frames by the Public Works department.

Request #2 - The closure of Mission between Ocean and Sixth $1,825
Cost of $365 per block per day for five days. This fee includes the cost of traffic control by the Police Department, the posting and removal of signage, the placement and removal of barricades and or A-frames by the Public Works department

The rates used for the calculation of the proposed fees are as follows:
No Parking signs (cost to the city) $3 Each
Long barricades (cost to the city) $65 Each
A-frames (cost to the city) $25 Each
PW Staff (cost to the city) $50 Per hour/per staff
PD Staff-off-duty 4 hour min (cost to the city) $75 Per hour/per officer

Request #3 Sunset Center free use day value of $2,000
This is not a direct cost to the City. The City has five “free use” days for use of the Sunset Center each year. The value is provided here for reference only.

Request #4 $10,000 contribution
$10,000

Request #5 Waiver of certain City fees and staff costs $4,419
The organizers of the event are also requesting a waiver of these additional fees and costs:

Special event permit fee $125
PW Staff time for beach cleanup following movie/beach BBQ $300
Police staffing costs for coordination of movie/beach BBQ $750
(Saturday night 5-10 p.m., two officers)
Police staffing costs for coordination of VIP guests w/private security $1,000
(This cost is contingent upon confirmation of VIP guests)
Community Services staff time for coordination of event $2,244
(This cost also includes 12 hours of Corporal Rana’s time)
Total cost of requests $17,044*
*This figure does not include the $2,000 value of the free use day at Sunset. An additional amount of $5,025 has already been contributed toward the event in the form of grant writing costs incurred to assist the Festival in offsetting some of the costs of the event.

STAFF REVIEW
The Community Activities and Cultural Commission reviewed the event proposal. The attached budget of $479, 800 was provided for their consideration (Attachment “A”). The Commissioners expressed their concern about the ability of the organizers to fund the Festival and were apprehensive about expending City funds for an event that may not be
held. As such, staff is recommending that, if request #4 is granted by Council, that it be made as a $10,000 reimbursement of costs upon conclusion of the event rather than an up-front contribution.

The City has already expended $5,025 in grant writing costs up to June 1, 2011 on behalf of the Art & Film Festival. The efforts made by Jan Roehl, the City’s grant writer, have resulted thus far in a grant of $5,000. While there are still applications pending at the Talbott, Harden, Hearst, Packard and Monterey Peninsula Foundations, these outstanding applications, if all were to be granted would total only $190,000 and would not offset enough of the Festival costs to proceed. As such, corporate or private sponsors are crucial to the ability of the organizers to proceed with this year’s event. As they have in the past, the organizers will be contributing their own funds to the extent they are able to support the Festival.

While there is no precedence for the City supporting an event to the extent of $22,069 in contributions and fee/cost waivers, the City’s financial support is important to the organizers’ ability to proceed with the event this year.

RECOMMENDATION
Receive report and provide policy direction.

CAFF Special Event Permit 2001-B
CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA
COMMUNITY SERVICES
PO BOX CC
CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA, CALIFORNIA 93921
Phone: 831/620.2020 Fax: 831/624.2132
E-Mail: srana@ci.carmel.ca.us
@ci.carmel.ca.
@ci.carmel.ca.
SPECIAL EVENT PERMIT-VERSION B
TYPE OF EVENT