City drafts up new event policy

Talk about it

The city’s new event policy will not change much from how events have been handled, but with events continuing to grow, it was time for some tweaking and streamlining.

Woodbury City Council discussed a new event policy at a workshop last Wednesday, where representatives from Woodbury Days, the Lions Club and the Woodbury Community Foundation (WCF) were present.

Mary Van Milligen, assistant to the city administrator, said drafting a new policy will eliminate questions of bias and define what events are sponsored by the city.

The main citywide sponsored events are Woodbury Days, the Country Mile and the WCF Citizens Academy, where the city provides location and staff assistance.

Additionally, the city provides in-kind services to slightly smaller-scale events like the Lions Garage Sale.

One of the main reasons for drafting the policy was defining which events benefit the entire community and are worthy of in-kind services, Van Milligen said.

There were questions about the number of signs event managers are allowed to post around town and how long before the event they can start advertising with the signs.

At first, staff proposed limits of 30 signs per event, to be placed one month prior to the event.

Woodbury Days Council president Theresa Janechek said volunteers for the event usually post the signs one month prior to the event anyway, but 30 signs would not be enough.

She said it’s a big form of advertising and helps promote the event to hundreds of residents.

Woodbury Days signs normally total about 50, she added.

“As a guy who pounded a number of signs for the Lions pancake breakfast, 30 is nothing,” Council Member Paul Rebholz said. “Besides that, who’s going to count them?”

The council agreed to table approving the policy until the January meeting, since no citywide events are scheduled for this time of year. Members also wanted more time to study the proposal in detail.

Other than the signage, Mayor Mary Giuliani Stephens said it would make things simpler if event managers for each event handle vendor fees as opposed to referring vendors to the city to pay that specific event fee.

For example: For vendors participating in Woodbury Days, businesses would need to go through Woodbury Days, rather than pay their vendor fee to the city.

Lions Club member Don Place said the Lions Garage Sale is the biggest fundraising event for the organization and members are always looking for ways to make it even bigger.

“The sponsorship that you’re proposing for the Lions is exactly what we need,” he said.

Tags: news, government, woodbury