The Eureka Springs Parks & Recreation commission’s Feb. 15 meeting was filled with discussion about whether to allow Executive Director Scott Miskiel to publish a Request for Proposal seeking an exclusive event promoter for large events.
Chair Keven Ruehle told commissioners public money should not be used for event promotion and that Lake Leatherwood City Park needed only a few, well-attended and well managed events per year. Miskiel pointed out he did not have the staff to handle event promotion, and commissioner Ruth Hager motioned to direct Miskiel to publish the RFP, with Jonathan Teigen seconding.
Commissioners Sue Hubbard and Pat Costner both voiced concern over the RFP, with Costner questioning if Parks was seeking a manager rather than a promoter, and asked if the commission approves events. Ruehle clarified that the ED approves events while the commission handles fees. To her first question, he said a promoter would handle event management, sponsorship, funding, safety, and cleanup and would pay to host the event in LLCP. He explained the RFP was a filtering process to see who could bring multiple events, and the commission would negotiate terms. Hubbard questioned how one person could host the different types of sporting events, and Ruehle pointed out that there are organizations that manage a variety of sporting events.
Hubbard also questioned how to keep moneyed interest from overwhelming the quieter uses of the park and why there was a need to go with a single promoter. Ruehle said Parks would have an easier time managing a single promoter and they would control the number of events per year through contract. He said requests are made each year from people who have never hosted an event in LLCP and with a single promoter they could expect a certain level of quality from them.
Miskiel said the commission would create a committee to read over the proposals and rate them. He said this was not a bid asking for build specifications for Parks to pay lowest dollar, instead the commission would negotiate the contract. If negotiations fail, they would move on to the next qualified request. He said all they were seeking was permission to send out the RFP to see who was out there to handle this.
Costner said she had not seen evidence that Parks had received income from events in the financials. Miskiel said he hadn’t either and as he understood it, in the past a fee wasn’t being charged which he described as a “travesty.” Miskiel said he has already received five proposals for events that would be upwards of 150-200 people and a basic fee structure may look like $10-$15 per head, disregarding other fees.
“That’s not a bundle of money for Parks,” Costner replied. Miskiel agreed but said it was not much effort on their part. Costner said it would be wear-and-tear on the park, but Miskiel said that those hosting events would be required to handle all clean-up by next business day. Ruehle said in recent past a fee hadn’t been required and they were trying to get away from that. He said the goal was that they could put events on in the park which he said was part of the mission.
Citizen Pat Matsukis spoke into the mic, “It’s not part of the mission” and that the commission wasn’t made to put on events. Ruehle requested multiple times that people stop speaking out of order, and that there have always been events in the park, so the objective was to find a better way to manage them to their benefit.
Costner asked how that would mesh with the responsibility to protecting and preserving the park. She pointed out that no part of the park is dedicated as an undisturbed area. She said she wasn’t arguing against events but arguing to maintain quality of LLCP and offering peace and natural serenity was no longer a priority being kept. Ruehle replied that the park is a recreational facility and that they weren’t talking of building new trails but utilizing present facilities that have been used for such activities.
Miskiel again said commissioners would decide how many events would be in the park and it was a decision of whether to handle them in-house, about which he said, “I can’t do it with the staff I’ve got,” or have another person or organization do it.
Hubbard said she didn’t follow the argument of doing in-house or out of house, but that it should be whether one person promotes events or multiple do so. She said that no matter what they would still need to be watched and it should not be handled in-house either way.
Commissioner Mark Ingram asked what the harm of getting proposals would be adding that the commission may not accept any of them. He said those submitting proposals may understand pitfalls that the commission does not.
The motion to allow publication of the RFP passed 4-2 with Hubbard and Costner voting No.
Event fees established for smaller events
Miskiel told commissioners that the job of establishing fees for events was their purview and offered commissioners definitions for “small” and “medium” sized events. Small defined as expected attendance of up to 25 people and a fee of $50 and medium as expected attendance between 26 – 75 people with a $100 fee.
Hubbard questioned why it wasn’t called a reservation after Ruehle said fees were applied for when a space was used for exclusive use. The motion to apply the fees was amended to describe them as “event reservation fees.” Costner asked how that might affect a group that meets at Harmon Park regularly. Miskiel said he hadn’t addressed it as he didn’t believe they charged for attendance. He said fees would be placed if the organizer charged. Ruehle also pointed out the fees were mostly for use at LLCP as that is where most of such events take place.
Motion to apply the fees carried unanimously.
Public Comments addressed by Chair and Director
In Public Comments, Sharon Roberts voiced a need for collaborative input from the public regarding capital improvements in city parks. Pat Matsukis echoed the sentiment saying that Parks was spending too much, and she was “devastated” they had taken $140,000 out of reserves to be used in the budget. She also said she wanted to see more planning for the future. Both Roberts and Matsukis voiced dismay that a new bridge at LLCP was done without a vote by the commission. Matsukis also questioned Parks of tearing up Harding Spring and described it as “ugly.”
Ruehle recapped 2021 in Chair’s comments saying that he and Miskiel had made a new chart of accounts that was now in use for the 2022 year. He described issues of land fill underneath Basin Spring Park being eroded away by a broken drain, as well as issues with the bandshell. He said that assessments for LLCP and the other pocket parks around Eureka Springs would be underway.
He pointed out that the restoration of the LLCP Dam would cost in the ballpark of $500,000 and the restoration of the LLCP Bathhouse would be another $250,000 and that repairs to the spring gardens still needed to be addressed. He said that Parks spends $500 per acre with its budget and 1800 acres needed to be managed. He compared it to Rogers, that spends $12,000 per acre, and Fayetteville $5000 per acre, to illustrate that they are restricted in what its staff can handle themselves.
In his director’s report Miskiel noted that a wall at Crescent Spring had collapsed and that staff are proceeding with plans to rebuild. He said to not expect an assessment of pocket parks on Spring Street to reveal inexpensive needs. Referencing the new bridge, he said it had been discussed at various meetings and $30,000 had been approved in the budget. He said none of Parks’ money had to be spent in its construction.
He reported that a sinkhole had been found at Harding Spring due to a tree root destabilizing the drainage culvert beneath it. Miskiel said Public Works had to dig it up to repair it and once their repairs were complete, Parks would begin work restoring the garden.
Other Items
- Chris Fischer provided an update on the Forestry Initiative Grant.
- The currently named “Educational Walkthrough Glade” and trail that sits between the camping cabins and Beacham Trail were renamed in memorial to the late Steven Foster.
- Commissioner Ruth Hager was voted in as Chair, Ruehle voted as Vice-Chair, and Hubbard as Secretary. Ingram and Costner volunteered to serve on the finance committee and Teigen and Ruehle would serve on the grievance committee.
- Motion to remove past commissioners from the signature cards at CS Bank and add Costner and Ingram carried unanimously.