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HomeMy WebLinkAboutagenda.council.worksession.20140218 CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION February 18, 2014 4:00 PM, City Council Chambers MEETING AGENDA I. Housing Board Interviews II. Christkindlemarket Discussion P1 I. P2 I. P3 I. P4 I. P5 I. P6 I. P7 I. P8 I. MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Nancy Lesley, Director of Special Events and Marketing DATE OF MEMO: February 14, 2014 MEETING DATE: February 18, 2014 RE: Christkindlmarket REQUEST OF COUNCIL: Staff is requesting direction from Council on how to proceed. PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION: Council had granted funding for Maren Biester of Christkindlmarket Chicago to travel to Aspen to discuss this idea. In the meeting was Bill Dinsmoor (CCLC), members of ACRA staff and Councilwoman Ann Mullins. BACKGROUND: The Commercial Core and Lodging Commission (CCLC) has been exploring the idea of bringing a Christkindlmarket (authentic German Christmas Market) to Aspen. As the organizers of Christkindlmarket Chicago, the longest running and most authentic European holiday market in the U.S., German American Services, Inc. (GASI) was approached by the CCLC to potentially organize such an event in the City of Aspen starting in 2014. In September 2013, ACRA joined CCLC for an informational meeting presented by Maren Biester, VP and Managing Director of Christkindlmarket Chicago. On January 15, 2014, the Special Events Dept. attended a CCLC meeting and was brought in to assess the viability of this event. Refer to attachment #1 and attachment #2 for further background on Christkindlmarket. DISCUSSION: The proposed dates and location for the Christkindlmarket are 11/28/2014 through 12/31/2014 to be hosted in Wagner Park. Event operating hours are Sun-Thu 11am-8pm and Fri-Sat 11am-9pm, with special times for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Wagner Park would need to be in use by Christkindlmarket from approximately 11/21/2014 through 1/7/2015 to include one week of load-in and load-out. Christkindlmarket organizers request that the City of Aspen provide the initial funding for the vendor booths and rent back to event organizers. City Staff from various affected departments met to discuss this event proposal and to gather feedback on Christkindlmarket, as follows: P9 II. Parks Wagner Park will be closed for use starting on July 7, 2014, to undergo renovations and improvements. Contractors have recommended to the Parks Dept. a full closure of Wagner Park to events through the 2014-15 winter season to protect the improvements made to the park. Community Relations Feedback from the Aspen business community should be sought and considered by Christkindlmarket event organizers. Fire Department Looking at the construction of the vendor booths they would be classified as “tents” and would therefore be held to the standards of the 2009 IFC chapter 24 pertaining to tent structures. This limits their use in cooking, heating, fuel types, construction materials and proximity to other structures, including other tents. While some issues present larger hurdles to overcome than others, the Fire Dept. would need to have a more in depth discussion with event organizers and other City of Aspen departments before they can provide a definitive answer as to supporting such an event. Environmental Health There is a request for licensed kitchen space to be used as a commissary for the food service operations during the event. During the busy holiday season with restaurants operating at full capacity it will be difficult to reasonably meet this expectation. The City does not have licensed food service space that could be provided to the vendors. The food service vendors would need to be licensed if they are looking to serve any potentially hazardous foods. This would require a commissary, on-site hand washing facilities and other equipment as determined by their menu and preparation processes along with the specific needs at the booth. The vendor booth would need to be constructed such that food service areas have smooth, easy-to-clean, non-absorbent surfaces. Due to the duration of the event, Environmental Health would require running water for the hand sinks at the booths. This could be accomplished through methods such as having a fresh and discharge tank in the booth with hot water heating equipment or more permanent plumbing. Environmental Health would not allow the temporary booth hand washing set-ups that are used for events such as the Mac & Cheese Festival. These are allowed only for short duration and where little to no food preparation is taking place. Special Events Christkindlmarket’s proposed dates would conflict with two special events that have historically taken place in Wagner Park during that time, e.g. World Snow Polo Championships (Dec. 17-21, 2013) and the New Year’s Eve party and bonfire (Dec. 31, 2013). Police Department The Aspen Police Department’s concern is that they are asking the City to cover a lot of requirements that traditionally are covered by event organizers. From the Police Department perspective it is the applicant’s responsibility to provide enough security for the entire event, P10 II. including inside the venue to monitor the sale and consumption of alcohol, so the impact on our staff and the community is minimal, from a public safety perspective. It is also recommended for the applicant to provide an alcohol mitigation plan. The Police Department would like clarification on what GASI will be requesting from the police department and their expectations. Part of the event will take place during our busy season when our resources are fully maximized. FINANCIAL/BUDGET IMPACTS: The Christkindlmarket is requested a multi-year financial commitment from the City of Aspen. The initial investment on the wooden vendor booths will be a major cost factor for this project. Construction of each booth is estimated at an average cost of $10,000 totaling an initial investment of $200,000 alone in the first year (for 20 booths). GASI proposes that the upfront investment for booths is made by the City of Aspen, which then could lease booths back to GASI for $1,000 per season. Additional annual costs will be incurred to properly store these wooden booths. Storage for these booths is very rough as we’re not sure of the unit dimensions once broken down. The best approximate by staff at this time, with known costs for storage unit at the ABC, is $9,096.00 annually. This total accounts for two 10x30 storage units at $379/month per unit at the Aspen Self Storage Warehouse. Storage unit prices decrease at establishments down valley. Parks Dept. estimates that the first year additional staffing costs incurred with this event would be approximately $33,260.00. This total does not include snowmaking or the cost of installing a water source. All of these cost estimates are based on the event starting with 20-30 vendors for a six week period. The $33,260.00 breakdown is as follows: - Turf Renovation for Wagner Park would cost approximately $15,000. - Litter and Waste Removal costs totaling $11,400. (Landfill fees at $1,000. Labor costs at $30/hour for two hours per day x 40 days. Supplies, trash bags and boxes and fuel at $8,000.) - Grooming the event site to maintain safety would cost approximately $2,860.00 when factoring in grooming the site twice a week for six weeks at a rate of $60/hour for four hours of work. - Labor for monitoring set up and tear down of event site at $4,000 (100 hours x $40/hr) Parks staff proposes snow making for this event. Without snow at this time of year, we can expect some turf damage in the park. The best protection would be a good base layer of snow. There are two concerns about making snow in Wagner Park in late November - temperatures do not always cooperate and equipment is not available for use until approximately Dec. 7th. If equipment were available and temperatures were sufficient to make snow, an approximate cost to make a snow base for the park would be $20,000 to $25,000 additional. Following the guidelines of Colorado law, Environmental Health staff must view this event as a permanent facility rather than temporary. Therefore this event must be licensed as a permanent structure and will need a water source that is currently not available. Notwithstanding the challenge to keep the water source from freezing in December, the estimated cost to install water lines are $30,000 to $50,000. P11 II. The event is also asking the City of Aspen to pay for electrical utility usage. Without knowing what equipment the food vendors will be using, the total electrical utility usage will be difficult to estimate. Christkindlmarket organizers estimate 860 Amps will be needed for the general areas with the number of expected vendors. The electric usage can be greatly reduced if alternate energy sources, such as natural gas or propane could be used. A rough approximate total for utility cost is $3,500.00, which amounted from the estimated kilowatts per hour totals (112,000 watts x 30 days x 10 hrs/day) multiplied by .095 (an average of 9.5 cents cost per kwh). Transportation and transit costs are unable to be assessed fully without more information on the number of visitors and travel patterns. If large crowds were expected then the City would need to consider backing up existing transit services at an approx. cost of over $100/hour. Moreover, if crowds are large enough to require the use of the Brush Creek Intercept Lot as a parking and transportation hub, then additional costs are incurred for portable toilets, security, signage and more at the Intercept Lot. It is important to note that our transit services are at or above capacity during the two weeks around Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Christkindlmarket is requesting that the City of Aspen assist in marketing this new event. They recommend that the marketing campaign start in the early autumn and occur on a national scale. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS: Electrical utility usage will be high during the Christkindlmarket event in order to provide electricity to the vendor booths for heating, cooking and power. All efforts must be made to limit the potential damage to Wagner Park during the extended event, which would require making a snow base in Wagner Park to protect the turf while the wooden booths and walkways are in use at the park. Food and alcohol vendors will be required to meet all City ordinances and sanitation standards. With an event of this length, Transportation requests that S. Monarch Street remain open both ways so that buses do not have to be rerouted for the 4-8 week period. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Staff is requesting direction from Council on how to proceed. ATTACHMENTS: 1. Christkindlmarket Aspen – Concept Paper 2. Memo from ACRA to CCLC on 12/31/2013 P12 II. 1 Christkindlmarket Aspen – Concept Paper Executive Summary German American Services, Inc. (GASI), a subsidiary of the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest, Inc., has been organizing Christkindlmarket Chicago since 1996. Inspired by the Christkindlmarket in Nürnberg, Germany, one of the oldest holiday markets dating back to 1545, the Christkindlmarket Chicago brings a cherished German and European tradition with international flair and local charm to Chicago. Chicago’s largest open-air Christmas festival was first held on Pioneer Court in 1996. By special invitation of Mayor Richard M. Daley, Christkindlmarket Chicago moved to Daley Plaza in 1997 and has become a staple event on the plaza ever since. In the past 18 years, Christkindlmarket Chicago has grown to become one of the most popular winter attractions in the heart of the city. Today, Christkindlmarket Chicago is the largest and most renowned winter holiday market in the United States and attracts visitors from the Chicagoland area, the rest of the country, and from around the world. The vendors’ traditional wooden huts are filled with holiday gifts of all kinds, ranging from ornaments, nutcrackers, cuckoo-clocks, beer steins, to other handcrafts. Visitors can enjoy an abundance of delicious fare and warm up with a cup of Hot Chocolate or Glühwein (hot spiced wine), which are served in a unique collectable souvenir mug. As the organizers of the longest running and most authentic European holiday market in the United States, GASI was approached by the Commercial Core and Lodging Commission of the City of Aspen to potentially organize such an event in the City of Aspen starting in 2014. Event Details of a Potential Christkindlmarket Aspen GASI recognizes the potential of re-creating this event outside of Chicago, in a city which is known across the world as a popular winter vacation spot, and is very interested in working with the City of Aspen to create an additional attraction to Aspen as a tourist destination. In starting this endeavor, it is to be understood by both parties as well as vendors, that the financial success of this event will only be measured long term. However, the long term success is directly dependent upon the short term success. This will be measured by positive visitor feedback, which can be guaranteed by creating an authentic event. The ultimate goal is to achieve increased visitor numbers each year to the City of Aspen, as it has to the City of Chicago, during Chicago’s off-season. Thus, GASI is looking for a long term partnership with the City of Aspen. Marketing In Chicago, GASI focuses on local advertising through a combination of physical advertisements (i.e. official brochure, local newspaper ads, ads in major subway lines, digital and stagnant ads at major train stations, taxi roof-tops) radio ads, tourist publications (i.e. Key Magazine, Where Magazine, Time-Out) and local television coverage. Outside of Chicagoland, the Christkindlmarket Chicago is approached by national and international news agencies that have added the market to the top attractions in the US and around the world during the holiday season. In past years, the market has been covered by major media P13 II. 2 entities including the Huffington Post, Midwest Living, AAA Magazine, United Airlines “Hemisphere” magazine, Lufthansa’s “Exclusive” magazine, German television ZDF “Volle Kanne”, Bayerischer Rundfunk Radio, Der Spiegel magazine, Nihao Magazine, NBC to name a few. Social media is also used and proven to be highly instrumental in reaching key consumers. The markets official Facebook page has a following of over 28,000 fans and Twitter, website utilizing search engine optimization, and online PR campaigns have added to the marketing mix. Word of mouth is still the predominant way of spreading the message and will be the major way of spreading hype for the event in Aspen. The traditional souvenir mug that is sold at markets in Germany and Europe is also a marketing tool that will be a staple at the Christkindlmarket Aspen. An annual mug will be sold at the event and will commemorate the event and at the same time entice visitors to return year after year to collect the souvenir item. In Chicago, the mug is the most popular item sold at the market and sales of the mugs have increased annually. This kind of marketing is something that will become increasingly popular once the market has been established due to its unique design and charm. In general the Christkindlmarket Aspen will also be able to see the profits from these marketing tools as the event grows in popularity. It is vital that the marketing imagery focuses on the traditional feel and aspects of the market, the uniqueness in vendor offerings, the holiday spirit, and the support from local residents, business and City officials. GASI is very proud to be able to say that Christkindlmarket Chicago attracts many visitors from all over the world due to the market’s word of mouth reputation. Nationally, GASI also works with a number of travel agencies that plan trips that include the Christkindlmarket Chicago as a major stop on their itinerary. Marketing efforts for a market in Aspen would need to focus on a much broader area. In order to attract visitors to a Christkindlmarket Aspen, marketing efforts will need to be strongly supported by local groups which are responsible for tourism marketing and will need to focus on the out of state visitor. The City of Chicago uses the Christkindlmarket Chicago in their advertising campaign to increase interest among tourists from out of state especially during the offseason being between November and December. In addition Choose Chicago and Discover Illinois also run major campaigns using the Christkindlmarket as one of the major attractions. The City and State leverage the market when attracting visitors as it has become such a popular destination event. This is what the long term goal will be for Aspen once a market has been established and it gains in popularity over the next few years providing the City of Aspen with an increase in tourism numbers. GASI would like to know how the City of Aspen plans on promoting the Christkindlmarket Aspen to international and out of state travelers. We know that Chicago and the State of Illinois have several bureaus located around the world that use Christkindlmarket Chicago to promote the city/state and that these agencies also attend all of the major travel consumer expos including ITB in Germany and Asia, WTM London and ATF. Location The prime and therefore only location to be taken into consideration for a Christkindlmarket in Aspen would be Wagner Park. This location is centrally located within downtown Aspen, which based on GASI’s experience with the market in Chicago as well as other cities, is the vital requirement for the success of P14 II. 3 this type of event. Especially the close proximity to the outdoor ice skating rink and lift 1A make this location optimal. In order to gauge potential daily visitor numbers to a Christkindlmarket Aspen, GASI will need to know what the usual visitor numbers are to Aspen during the suggested timeframe. Can the City of Aspen provide these numbers? It would also be important to understand what the other attractions are counting on visitor numbers. For example, on average, how many lift tickets are sold daily in the month of November and December by Snowmass, Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk? What are the occupancy rates and how many rooms-per-night stay are lodging facilities and hotels totaling? Knowing these numbers will provide GASI with an understanding of current visitor numbers and will also help make the case to attract high quality vendors from out of state and abroad. Long term, GASI would like to take advantage of the space available at Wagner Park by hosting 50 to 100 vendor booth locations. However, for the first year, a more conservative estimate of 20 vendors in 10 to 20 booths is realistic. Roughly 20% of vendors will serve food and beverages, and the other 80% high- quality merchandise from the region as well as around the world. Event Dates/Times The recommended dates that GASI suggests for the event are from Friday, November 28th until Wednesday, December 31st. The official Holiday season kick-off weekend after Thanksgiving is one of the best performing weekends for the Christkindlmarket Chicago vendors. GASI believes this will be true for the Christkindlmarket Aspen as it will be a great time to also introduce the market to the locals and their visitors in hopes to draw attention to the existence and timing of the event increasing the word-of- mouth advertising that is necessary for this type of event. The event will continue through Christmas and until New Year’s Eve in order to take advantage of holiday visitors to the City of Aspen. The vendors depend on the holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve to assure high volume sales days to be able to sustain their investment in participating in this type of an event. This is also crucial to ensure that the vendors find the event attractive enough for them to return for the following year and beyond. These dates will also be able to attract the high-quality vendors, especially those that travel from Germany and afar. Suggested event operating hours are: - Sun-Thu: approx. 11am-8pm - Fri-Sat: approx. 11am-9*pm (special times: Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve) *(in compliance with the City of Aspen’s noise regulations and merchant requirements) Vendor Booths & Construction Vendors will be selling their merchandise and food out of custom built wooden booths, such as the ones in Chicago. These traditional booths, which are based on those found in the City of Nürnberg, Germany, give the market an authentic flair, which is highly praised by visitors to the Chicago market. Booths are made out of wood, with a red and white striped (which is traditional) vinyl tarps to cover the roof; they are approx. 16’x8’ and can either be shared by two vendors or used by a single vendor. The initial investment of these booths will be a major cost factor for this project. P15 II. 4 Construction of each booth is estimated at an average cost of $10,000 totaling an initial investment of $200,000 alone in the first year. GASI proposes that the upfront investment for booths is made by the City of Aspen, which then leases booths back to GASI for $1,000 per season. The booths would be available throughout the year for the City to lease to other events. From experience in Chicago, this type of booth can be used on average for 10 years if properly maintained and stored. An alternative would be to find a local builder or sponsor(s) that would agree to donate the supplies and labor or provide funding to fabricate the booths. Experience in Chicago has shown that approx. 1 week (to 10 days) before the market and 1 week after the market is required for set-up and tear-down. Electrical / Heating Requirements The vendor booths will require a minimum of 1600 Watt per vendor space (for non-food vendors) and 4x 110V circuits (of 1600 Watt each) and 1x 208V circuit (for food vendors). The electrical needs are also dependent if food vendors will be allowed to use alternative energy sources (i.e. propane or charcoal) and if heating elements in vendor booths can also be replaced with alternate energy sources. In addition to this, electricity for heating the general areas will be needed, at about 35,000 Watts. Finally, the wine vendor will need about 20,000 Watts to run the equipment needed for service. This amounts to approx. 112,000 Watts needed on site. Please note that these are rough estimates and numbers may alter depending on other power sources that may be used instead of electricity. One or two warming tents will also be set up for visitors, with the possibility of adding amusement rides, attractions, and/or a two story pyramid structure for beer and wine sales in future years. Vendors The timing of getting all of the details finalized is crucial as it will also determine what type of vendor will be able to participate in the Christkindlmarket Aspen. Vendors that participate in the Christkindlmarket Chicago do their purchasing of wares in the beginning of the year as it takes their suppliers time to produce and fulfil the orders to ensure that they can get shipped from Germany or other countries in time for the start of the setup. GASI has a long term relationship with many vendors that have a very positive and loyal dedication to the Christkindlmarket Chicago. Their wares are mostly hand-made, painted and are one-of-a-kind. GASI is certainly is open to working with local artisans and businesses that would like to participate and encourages the local interaction in the event as this is vital to root the event with the public and vest the community. Ideally the vendors will sell wares that are seasonal, authentic, unique and yield high quality artistry. The authentic German vendor is extremely popular and highly sought after but cannot be guaranteed. A good mix of vendor offerings is important. GASI has acquired an understanding of what types of food, drink and gift wares make this type of event exceptional in its long term existence. It is GASI’s expertise, connections and know-how that will help to create a symbiosis among the talented vendors to achieve a similar atmosphere to what can be found at the Christkindlmarket Chicago and the markets in Germany. P16 II. 5 Key Factors for a Successful Event  In order for this endeavor to be feasible, costs for GASI need to be kept to a minimum, especially in the first year. The costs for personnel, travel and lodging will be significant to GASI during the planning and organizational phase of the event as well as costs incurred for onsite management during the event. GASI will need the support of the City of Aspen to cover initial investment costs, such as booth construction. In addition, permit fees will need to be reviewed and potentially waived to make the event possible and local assistance will need to be given in regards to obtaining required permits and licenses (i.e. liquor license) for the duration of the event.  In order to win over high quality vendors, which are vital to the success of this event, vendors’ costs will need to be kept at a minimum. This can be achieved by assisting them in finding affordable lodging during the duration of the event (i.e. Sister City and local lodging facilities support), providing a source for local temporary staff during the busy season in Aspen as well as ensuring that vendors have an accessible place to store their goods along with parking near the event site.  Food vendors will also need access to kitchen facilities that are approved and certified by local sanitation requirements which will allow them to prep and precook food that will be served at the event. Here GASI will also be requesting the assistance of the City of Aspen to facilitate the proper contacts.    Access to the public restroom facilities at Wagner Park will also be requested. As the attendee numbers are currently unknown, it is not possible to know how many portable restrooms will be needed and if they are necessary if public restrooms are made available.    The assistance with obtaining all permits and licenses required for the event will be imperative. Also the support with making sure the event will be able to fulfill all City of Aspen requirements. Working with the local City Departments like Aspen Streets and Sanitation, Aspen Engineering Dept. (for electric needs), Health and Human Services, Environmental Health, Traffic Control, Community Safety, Aspen Police and Fire District, Aspen Parks and Rec. among others to help make this event safe and successful. GASI would be looking to the City of Aspen to help provide waste, recycle and compost bins along with waste and compost pickup. Assistance will also be required for the following: sanitation seminars for food vendors, available electricity for the event’s needs, barricades, street closure assistance, creating a traffic, safety, communication, security, accessibility, medical, parking, sanitation and recycling plan (i.e. ZGreen requirements) among the other requirements. Assistance will also be needed in obtaining the Aspen Business License (Occasional Business License) for the vendors and support of the local Revenue Service to help with paying taxes at the end of the event (particularly important for non-US or out of State vendors).    Local support is also very important and being able to work with other entities and events is a request of GASI. 12 days of Aspen, the New Year’s Eve celebration, and a continuation of the Saturday Market would be great events to partner with during the event. Also partnering with Snowmass, Aspen Tourism Office, Aspen Chamber Resort Association, Commercial Core and Lodging Commission, International Ski Federation, among others to help cross promote local business, events and attractions. P17 II. P18 II. P19 II.