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