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April 27, 2023 <br /> TO: Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe & Decatur City Council Members <br /> FROM: Scot Wrighton, City Manager <br /> RE: Lake Fest 2023 Event Management <br /> Last year the city determined to celebrate the centennial of Lake Decatur. In July of 1923 the <br /> Decatur community put on a 4-day event to celebrate the completion of Lake Decatur—one of <br /> the most impactful public works projects in the city's history. The idea for creating Lake Decatur <br /> was largely the vision of A.E. Staley. For this reason,the Staley Family Foundation made a <br /> significant 4-year donation to the city two months ago (February 2023), and the City Council <br /> approved an agreement governing how the donated funds will be utilized. Approximately one- <br /> fourth of this gift will be used to conduct the Lake Fest 2023 event, rename Basin 3 to the <br /> "Staley Basin," and erect permanent signage near the lake designating the Staley Basin and <br /> narrating historical details about the lasting legacy of A.E.Staley in Decatur. The remaining <br /> three-fourths of the Staley Family Foundation's donation will be used in 2024 thru 2026 to <br /> make watershed improvements and water quality enhancements in, and adjacent to,the Staley <br /> Basin. So the costs of this July's Lake Fest 2023 are fully supported by a single event sponsor— <br /> the Staley Family Foundation.The city serves as the fiscal agent for event. <br /> To plan, manage and coordinate the event, we have recruited Have-a-Ball Productions to make <br /> all the arrangements. They have put together the attached tentative budget. An event <br /> expenditure of this size was not anticipated by the city's 2023 budget, and it exceeds staff's <br /> spending authority.Therefore, it is requested that the City Council approve a resolution <br /> permitting the city manager to approve spending funds for Lake Fest 2023, along with an <br /> agreement with Nave-a-Ball Productions containing the following provisions: <br /> ■ Although security will be handled by DPD, site management will be coordinated <br /> with the Decatur Park District, and numerous entertainment and support <br /> services will be provided by multiple other event partners, Lake Fest 2023 will be <br /> managed, run and under the direction of Have-a-Ball Productions. <br /> ■ Once the event budget is finalized,the city will advance half of the budget <br /> amount to Have-a-Ball Productions to be used to defray expenses of the event <br /> (advance fees, down payments, supplies, etc.). Actual documented costs for Lake <br /> Fest 2023 exceeding the amount advanced to Have-a-Ball Productions will be <br /> reimbursed to them at the conclusion of the event after a full accounting of <br /> event expenditures is approved by the city, and all approved vendors are paid. <br /> ■ Permanent signage and historic display boards installed by the city in accordance <br /> with terms of the agreement with the Staley Family Foundation will be outside <br /> the scope of the Have-a-Ball Productions agreement and are not included in the <br /> event budget. <br />