05-04-2009 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Item No. 05 Type of Business: WS Date: May 4, 2009 City Administrator Review _______ City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Desaree Crane, Assistant City Clerk-Administrator Item Title/Subject: Outdoor Event Policy Background: On September 22, 2008, the Mounds View City Council adopted an ordinance creating an Outdoor Special Event provision into the City Code. The purpose of adding the provision was to promote the health, safety, and welfare of all residents and visitors of the City by ensuring that special events do not create disturbances, become nuisances, threaten life, health and property, and disrupt traffic or damage private or public property. Discussion: Since the adoption of the policy, Staff has received 2 requests for Special Outdoor Events: Sunrise Methodist Church and The Mermaid. Both organizations have expressed opposition to this policy. Sunrise Methodist: Sunrise Methodist Church would like to have an outdoor event on August 22, 2009. This event would start at 2pm and end at 6pm. They intend to grill hot dogs, have non-alcoholic drinks, and have live Christian music. The Christian band would only play from 3pm to 5pm. All activities would be in their parking lot. Sunrise Methodist Church intends to have church volunteers to clean the parking lot after the event, and have First Responders for First Aid. All residents are invited to this event. Some of the issues raised by Sunrise Methodist are the cost, and the requirement to have liability insurance. According to the code requirements, the applicant must possess or obtain liability insurance or protect damage arising from the event. Insurance must be maintained during the duration of the event and the coverage must be a commercial general liability policy. The minimum limits must be at least $1,000,000. However, this insurance requirement can be waived by the City Council if Sunrise Methodist can verify that the insurance coverage is impossible to obtain. Sunrise Methodist feels that the City may be setting too many requirements for an event such as theirs.