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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-21-08 Finance Com MinutesDUBLIN CITY COUNCIL Finance Committee Monday, April 21, 2008 Minutes of Meeting Mr. Keenan, Chair, called the meeting to order at 6:10 p.m. Council members present: Mr. Keenan, Vice Mayor Boring, and Mr. Gerber. Staff members present: Ms. Gibson and Ms. Puskarcik Mr. Keenan stated that the purpose of the meeting is to review the application for ahotel/motel tax grant for the Dublin Area Art League (DAAL) and to develop a recommendation for the regular Council meeting, which follows this Committee meeting at 7:00 p.m. The applicants were present: Cindy Bryden, President, DAAL and Rich Sharrick, DAAL. Ms. Gibson stated that the applicant is requesting a grant of $3,500 to provide assistance in holding The Celebration of Local Art on July 21. She was not able to verify for what specific purposes. Is it to cover the cost of City services for the event? Mr. Sharrick responded that not many City services would be needed for this event. However, there is an imbalance between the revenue and the anticipated expenses. Ms. Bryden stated that money is needed to cover the cost of port-a-potty rentals, trash disposal, and mailing costs of letters of recruitment to local artists. Ms. Gibson clarified that although they are not requesting money to offset the cost of City services, they are requesting a small subsidy to get the event off the ground. Vice Mayor Boring inquired if there would be any cost of City services involved. Ms. Puskarcik responded that there would not. This will be one of the first groups to use the new area in Historic Dublin. Vice Mayor Boring inquired if there would be a need for traffic control. Mayor Chinnici-Zuercher stated there would not. Mr. Keenan noted that there is sufficient parking available, all on the event side of the street. There is also the new City lot, the Indian Run Elementary and Middle School lots, which are also on the same side of the street. Ms. Puskarcik stated that this is no different from a sporting event. Mr. Gerber inquired if a permit for the event was necessary. Ms. Bryden responded that none was required. Ms. Bryden stated that their intent is not to compete with the type of event that was run by the Dublin Arts Council. Their vision is to provide an event for the local artists to celebrate local art. There will be 4-5 large tents set up for the various art leagues around the City, who will fill the tents with their local members. They are inviting additional artists to participate, more seasoned Festival participators, who will set up in the independent tents. The event will be called A Celebration of Local Art. Many of these artists have no way of getting into juried shows. With this event, they anticipate having many artists in one area. It should be a nice festival in lieu of the previous Arts & Music Festival. They also would invite other community groups to participate in small scale food vending for the event, such as bake sales and ice cream carts. It will be a community gathering. Finance Committee April 21, 2008 Page 2 Mr. Keenan noted that the time frame for this event would be better than the September time frame when the Arts & Music Festival was previously held. Mrs. Boring inquired if they had discussed this event with other local art leagues and what was their response? Ms. Bryden stated that they have. The Worthington Art League and Bexley Art League have committed to renting tents; Grove City and Hilltop will be sharing a tent; and, of course, the Dublin Area Art League will participate. In addition, there are six artists who have expressed interest and are waiting on information to be provided. Vice Mayor Boring inquired if this event is scheduled near the Westerville Art Festival. Ms. Bryden responded that Westerville's event will be the preceding weekend. Mr. Gerber inquired if there would be music involved. Mr. Sharrick stated that there would be classical and light jazz groups providing ambience for the event. They do not have the resources or manpower to provide a stage, line up a day's worth of acts, and advertise. The Festival will run from 12:00 - 8:00 p.m. Mr. Keenan mentioned the Dublin Singers might be interested. Ms. Bryden stated that the Dublin Singers are considering participating. They also plan to contact the local high schools. They are restricted to the two small buildings that are available. Ms. Puskarcik stated that it would be better not to have the music take over the art emphasis. Mr. Keenan stated that the Historic Business Association would be interested in the benefits of having the Festival attendees visit the business district during the afternoon. Ms. Bryden stated that is one of the reasons those hours were chosen. It will attract some of the people who typically visit the area for lunch or dinner. They are also holding another event the week before -the "Art, Stroll and Paint-out," which they have held the last 5 years. Mr. Keenan inquired about the annual Historic Dublin hotel-motel tax allocation. Has that amount been used for this year? If so, it should be possible to grant the $3,500 from the remaining hotel-motel tax funds. Vice Mayor Boring requested clarification of the grant given to the Historic Dublin Business Association. Was it to use as they wished? Mr. Keenan responded that it was to be used primarily for Slainte Thursday. Ms. Puskarcik stated that the City has helped HDBA with seed money for Slainte Thursday, with the intent that HDBA would assume more of the financial responsibility. Mrs. Boring inquired the timeline for that event. Ms. Gibson responded that the weekly event runs January-December. Mrs. Boring inquired if HDBA had used all of the money granted to them for last year. Ms. Gibson confirmed that they did. Mr. Sharrick stated that one reason they need financial assistance is that they are not trying to generate money from the artists, who are local and amateur. A local artist would not spend $150 to set up for the day, but they would spend $40. Their fee will cover only the tent cost. Finance Committee April 21, 2008 Page 3 Mrs. Boring stated that a similar type of event was held several years ago. Ms. Puskarcik stated that this is the "Paint Out" Ms. Bryden mentioned previously. The DAAL has actually done this for nearly 20 years. Ms. Bryden stated that the DAAL has been in existence since the 1980's, and has been very active during those years. Recently, they have made an effort to collaborate with the Historic Business Association. Mr. Keenan thanked the applicants for their presentation. Committee Discussion: Vice Mayor Boring stated that she is happy to see the event proposed for the local artists. She does not object to the grant; however, she is in concerned about creating a future problem. She doesn't want to encourage the different art groups that are supposed to be under the umbrella of the Dublin Arts Council to seek funding elsewhere. It will be important to frame this decision in a way to address that. Mr. Keenan agreed. In the future, a grant for this event would need to be handled by DAC. If DAC should decide to resume the Art and Music Festival, they would not fund this event, but if they had no plans to do their own event, they could fund the DAAL festival. Ms. Puskarcik noted that this is a transition time for the art groups in Dublin. It is actually nice for Dublin to be able to round out its grants by providing an event for the public in the heart of the community. Mr. Gerber moved to recommend to Council that the event be funded for $3,500 to be spent for any expenses related to the Dublin Art Fair to be held on June 19. Vice Mayor Boring seconded the motion. The vote in favor of approval was unanimous. Ms. Puskarcik suggested the following language for the Committee's recommendation to Council: This grant is considered outside the existing process to: • Support an arts event in Historic Dublin for local artists; • Work in concert with the HDBA's efforts with Slainte Thursday; • Respond to Council's goal of revitalizing Historic Dublin; • Provide a free community event sponsored by a community group located in the "heart" of the community. The meeting was adjourned at 6:30 p.m. Deputy Clerk of Council