08-02-2021 Regular CCM - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Minutes August 2, 2021 9. Council Liaison Updates Page 3 Councilmembers provided updates from the respective advisory boards as outlined in the board/commission minutes. 10.1 Elk RiverFest Update Ms. Wingard provided a recap of this year's Elk RiverFest as well as some options for changes for 2022. Mayor Dietz questioned why there were no police or fire vehicles at the event. Ms. Wingard explained the event had to be planned COVID friendly and from all the information she gathered, having kids in and out of vehicles wasn't a good fit as it is very difficult to keep the crowd small and to disinfect the vehicles after every person. She added this is also why the event was more spread out this year and why there were two separate food areas. Councilmember Westgaard questioned attendance. Ms. Wingard indicated it was difficult to tell because the events were more spread out than before, but she believes it was comparable to previous years. She added it doesn't appear people stayed all day like they did in 2019 noting people may still be hesitant to get out and do activities. Ms. Wingard explained staff does not believe the fireworks and festival are co- dependent. She indicated having the event and fireworks on the same day has proved challenging for police and fire to be available for event wrap up downtown and firework set up across town. Ms. Wingard outlined staff and the Parks and Recreation Commission recommendations for 2022 as follows: ■ Consider moving the event to last Saturday in July (Saturday, July 30, 2022.) ■ Orono Park daytime family activities • Evening event downtown street dance 21+ ■ Fireworks on July 4 Mayor Dietz questioned if we would be competing with neighboring events if we move the date. Ms. Wingard indicated we would not. Council discussed the changes and overall felt moving the event away from the holiday weekend and having fireworks on Independence Day would be positive. The Council discussed separating the daytime activities to Orono Park and having a street dance type event for adults in the evening. There was some concern about shifting and splitting locations, but Council felt that Orono Park would be an amazing location and would allow for expansion of the kids and family portion of P a W E R E I BY NATURE