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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes <br />August 11, 2020 <br />Page 5 <br /> <br />of VillageFest. She stated insurance is a big deal and if the City is willing to take that if 1 <br />something happens now that Ms. Solomon has been before the Council requesting use of the 2 <br />land, that is one thing, but she did not believe what Mr. Casey said was one hundred percent 3 <br />correct. 4 <br /> 5 <br />Ms. Solomon indicated when she addressed this to Mr. Casey and to Ms. Miller regarding the 6 <br />permit and space, if she was aware that she would need insurance then she would have gotten it 7 <br />but she was not aware of it and it was not addressed to her so she did not act on that. 8 <br /> 9 <br />Councilmember Jenson asked now that everyone is aware there needs to be insurance, do they 10 <br />follow through with that requirement or do they ignore it. Councilmember Webster thought in 11 <br />2014 the State Statute changed specifically for School District facilities and if they were to rent 12 <br />indoor or outdoor School District facility that insurance would be required. Because what makes 13 <br />them unique in St. Anthony is Community Services rents both City and School District. 14 <br />Insurance requirements were applied to any person, whether they rent the outdoor portion of the 15 <br />pavilion at Central Park or the indoor portion at the multi-purpose room. Any reservation that 16 <br />comes through has to have proof of insurance. For an individual it is one and a half million and 17 <br />for an organization it is three million in liability. She thought in this discussion, the City is 18 <br />finding those gaps because they have not rented a parking lot area before. This has created some 19 <br />really good discussion around public spaces that are not necessarily reserved. 20 <br /> 21 <br />Mayor Stille explained in practicality, if something happens in the parking lot versus down the 22 <br />hill next to the pavilion, it is still City property and why is there any difference between those 23 <br />two venues. 24 <br /> 25 <br />Mr. Casey indicated when staff reviewed the documents for both VillageFest and WinterFest 26 <br />they looked at the liability waiver form received from the insurance companies and are tied to the 27 <br />liquor. He appreciated the conversation he had with Ms. Solomon. He indicated this puts the 28 <br />Council is a very tough position. He noted staff can check tomorrow with the insurance carrier 29 <br />and see what would be needed to satisfy the City’s needs. 30 <br /> 31 <br />Ms. Solomon asked if she would have needed insurance if it were a rally. She asked what the 32 <br />difference was between that and public space because the parking lot is public. She wondered 33 <br />which spaces needs insurance and which spaces does not. Mayor Stille indicated he did not 34 <br />know, and that the City was going off the premise that this is a form of VillageFest and what has 35 <br />been done in the past is get full insurance from the organization. 36 <br /> 37 <br />Councilmember Webster wondered if the vendors could send in their copies of insurance to the 38 <br />City. She assumed some of the vendors that operate small businesses might already have 39 <br />certificates of insurance that they could share, especially if they have been to other festivals. 40 <br />Mayor Stille thought the practicality of getting twenty different certificates of insurance might be 41 <br />difficult and thought the easiest thing would be for the organization to provide their own 42 <br />insurance. Ms. Solomon indicated she was willing to get in contact with every single vendor to 43 <br />get their insurance and although it is a risk, she thought the rally would be and is more of a risk 44 <br />than the festival just because it is harder to tell people to social distance at a march than it is at a 45 <br />festival. 46 <br />5