Memorandum

City of Lawrence

City Manager’s Office    

 

TO:

David L. Corliss, City Manager

 

FROM:

Jonathan Douglass, Assistant to the City Manager/City Clerk

 

CC:

Chuck Soules, Director of Public Works

Ernie Shaw, Interim Director of Parks and Recreation

Mark Bradford, Fire Medical Chief

Tarik Khatib, Chief of Police

Bob Nugent, Transit Administrator

 

DATE:

February 16, 2011

 

RE:

Adult Swim Spring College Carnival – Thursday, April 14, 2011

 

 

 

BFG Communications has submitted a request for a temporary use of right-of-way permit for the closure of 8th Street from Massachusetts to New Hampshire, and the intersection of 8th and New Hampshire, on Thursday, April 14, 2011. BFG would host a “Spring College Carnival” affiliated with the Adult Swim television programming. This event was hosted in the same location (except that the intersection was not closed) on Monday, April 19, 2010. Please see the attached site layout (revised 02/28/11) submitted by the organizers.   

 

The event would consist of live music and carnival games, and would be geared towards a college student crowd. No alcohol will be served or sold on the public right-of-way as part of the event.

 

The event would close the street from 9:00 a.m. Thursday to 1:00 a.m. Friday. The event would start around 5:00 p.m. with the musical acts starting around 7:45 p.m. The live music would conclude at 9:30 p.m. and the event would conclude at 10:30 p.m.

 

If the request is approved, staff will work with the event organizers to make sure the site layout allows proper access for emergency services and other city services. The Fire Medical Department notes that the intersection which would be blocked by this event provides immediate access to various mixed occupancy residential and commercial properties and will restrict access to a densely occupied area. The intersection closure will also necessitate bus reroutes.

 

As of the posting of this memo to the City Commission agenda, the applicant was working on getting adjacent property owner permission for this use of right-of-way. As such written statements are obtained, staff will make them available to the Commission.

 

BFG has also requested the use of a number of metered parking spaces on New Hampshire for the parking of a tour bus and several equipment trucks. Staff will administratively process right-of-permits for those parking spaces, contingent of receipt of statements from adjacent properties that they do not object to that use.

 

Staff recommends that the event organizers be required to enter into a service agreement to compensate the city for costs such as emergency services and cleanup, as a condition of receiving the temporary use of right-of-way permit. During last year’s event there were not significant costs to the city beyond the off-duty police presence and standby medical support which were paid by the organizers. Staff also recommends that the event organizers obtain traffic control devices (signage and barricades as approved by the Public Works Department) from a private vendor rather than from the city.

 

ACTION:      Approve temporary use of right-of-way permit to BFG Communications for the 2011 Adult Swim Spring College Carnival on 8th Street between Massachusetts Street and New Hampshire, and the intersection of 8th and New Hampshire, from 9:00 a.m. Thursday 04/14/11 to 1:00 a.m. Friday 04/15/11, contingent on departmental approval of specific site layout, receipt of proper proof of insurance, and negotiation of a service agreement to compensate the city for service costs.