CC MINUTES 08112020 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

City Council Regular Meeting Minutes August 11, 2020 Page 4 1 Councilmember Walker noted there have been Juneteenth festivals in the Twin Cities in June. 2 Councilmember Randle asked if there was anyone paying attention to what is currently going on 3 in Minneapolis at this point. Is that a model that they want to model themselves after. Ms. 4 Solomon indicated she did have a rally which was more than 250 people and to her knowledge, if 5 a case had been out, she was not made aware of it and the City was not put to some sort of 6 insurance standard. She thought a festival was a lot safer than a rally. 7 8 Councilmember Walker expressed his concern, along with the Mayor's in regard to the capacity, 9 he wondered with 200 plus people, will there be staff on site who would keep track of how many 10 people enter the grounds for the festival. He also wanted to know what happens when the 250 11 maximum is reached, would people be turned away and have them come back later. Ms. 12 Solomon explained in a perfect world, no one would be turned down but if that ends up reaching 13 to a point where they cannot safely have a certain number of people there then they will kindly 14 turn people away. She noted there will be legal observers and Marshalls that will be there 15 observing to make sure the scene is safe. She will also have specific people counting the number 16 of people there. 17 18 Councilmember Webster appreciated Ms. Solomon sharing all of her planning with the Council. 19 Ms. Solomon indicated she could send the Council a list of vendors with contact information if 20 needed as well. 21 22 Mayor Stille asked Ms. Solomon to expand on what the Marshalls will be doing. Ms. Solomon 23 explained Marshalls are trained to be within the crowd in case something was to happen, worst 24 case scenario, which she did not think would happen in St. Anthony. These are people that have 25 been training to de-escalate situations if that were to happen. Mayor Stille asked if the Marshalls 26 were armed. Ms. Solomon indicated they were not. 27 28 Councilmember Walker asked if the St. Anthony Police Department has been notified of this 29 event and has Ms. Solomon as been in any conversations with the Police Department to request 30 potential assistance. Ms. Solomon indicated the Police has been notified and she has talked to 31 Chief Mangseth personally and he is aware of the festival and appreciates knowing ahead of 32 time. 33 34 Councilmember Walker indicated Ms. Solomon could reach out to any Councilmember or the 35 City Manager or other personnel for feedback or assistance. Ms. Solomon indicated she 36 appreciated that and would do that. 37 38 Ms. Julianne Hunter explained as much as she likes festivals and wished someone would put one 39 together every weekend what Mr. Casey said about the insurance is not correct. She indicated 40 they do not have insurance on VillageFest just because there is beer. There is insurance because 41 if something happens then they are insured. If they are not insured and the City has allowed 42 them to have it on City grounds, the City is liable for what happens. She noted the vendors are 43 required to have insurance and they have to name the City. She explained this had to be done 44 even before they had beer at the festival. She stated that beer is a major issue and is why the 45 insurance is more but they definitely still have to have insurance regardless, or at least that is her 46 understanding and if she is wrong, they have still had it for as many years that she has been chair