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BUSINESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
YAKIMA, WASHINGTON
AGENDA STATEMENT
Item No. 4.
For Meeting of: June 8, 2021
ITEM TITLE: Special Events and Insurance Requirements
SUBMITTED BY: Colleda Monick, Community Development Specialist
Joan Davenport, Community Development Director
SUMMARY EXPLANATION:
On December 8, 2020, the City Council moved to create an ad hoc committee to review events
across the City. The following is a brief presentation of what was reviewed and discussed by the
committee over the course of three meetings.
ITEM BUDGETED:
STRATEGIC PRIORITY: Economic Development
APPROVED FOR SUBMITTAL BY THE CITY MANAGER
RECOMMENDATION:
Insurance requirements for events was a central issue for the Ad Hoc committee and is covered
in the presentation materials. Staff has concerns about the "City I nsurance" option included in this
material. No funding source for the $25,000 has been identified and the initial survey of event
sponsors showed low interest.
ATTACHMENTS:
Description Upload Date Type
D resentation- cial rats 5/17/20 1 backup Material
erne--Insurance 5/17/ 021 backup Material
eon-Process 5/17/2021 backup Material
Minutes-February 2021 5/17/2021 backup Material
C inutes-March 2021 5/17/2021 backup Material
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MO••i•
12/08/2020 - Council Meeting
Consideration of an ad hoc committee with three councilmembers and staff to work on the
process of events in the City of Yakima. Assistant Mayor Cousens reported on her request to
review the policy related to community events. After Council discussion,
MOTION: Cousens moved and Funk seconded that Cousens and Byers work on an ad
hoc committee to review events across the City. The motion carried by unanimous vote,
Hill and White absent.
INSURANCE PROCESS
• OTHER COMMUNITIES • APPLICATION TIMELINE
• CITY LEGAL • PRE-APPROVED LOCATIONS
• PAYNE WEST INSURANCE
• SURVEY
BY THE NUMBERS
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f' 43 Special Event Permits were issued in 2019
;4 were submitted by Non-Profit Organizations
. , • 8 were multi-day events
M. .4...-*: . .::.... -.\lobo +to •
• 11 were exempted events
Aiiiiiiimict `."r.:: w. • 19 events used police services — ($42,000 approximate YPD
- , " ., t costs* $4,300 approximate recoverable funds)
* Estimates were provided by Lieutenant James Moore, YPD
"CITY INSURANCE"
The city could procure a blanket policy, contemplating roughly 35-50 events and cost roughly $25,000
annually. As the permits were pulled, the city would contact the carrier and schedule the event so that
coverage would be provided for the day(s) of the event. Coverage would be as follows based on
PayneWest's initial discussions with carriers:
➢ $1,000,000 for Bodily Injury and Property Damage; and
➢ $1,000,000 for Non-Owned and Hired Auto Liability
➢ This coverage would NOT contain the exclusion for assault
and battery, and if need be animal participation could
generally be covered.
➢ This policy would contain a minimal deductible (ex. $1,000)
if any at all, and would name both the City of Yakima, and
the event and/or its sponsor organization, thus complying
with existing code.
"CITY INSURANCE" SURVEY RESULTS
3 E s
1. List all events that you host that require a Special Event Permit(s):
2. Would you be interested in purchasing city provided insurance
coverage for your event if it was available?
3. If you would be interested, what is the maximum cost you would be
willing to pay for that coverage?
4. Are you planning on holding any events in 2021, if so, which one(s)?
5. Suggestions/Feedback/Comments
*41% response rate of surveyed permit holders
EXEMPT EVENTS FROM
SPECIAL EVENT COST RECOVERY FEES
Memorial Day Parade; Cinco de Mayo Parade; (4th of July Celebrations — we've
never received a permit for this event); Sunfair Parade; Veterans Day Parade;
Salvation Army Toy Run; YWCA Toy Run; Christmas Light Parade;
Also included are expressive events such as marches: Fighting for Dignity & Justice for All; Women's
March on Yakima; MLK Jr Celebration Walk; 2020 Central Washington Walk-for-Life
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Cruising is not required to submit a permit or insurance. Cruising 'events' are limited to
the second and third Saturdays of June, July; August and September, per YMC 9.25.020.
This permission does not prohibit other special events to occur on Yakima Ave during
these times unless a special event permit has been permitted, : . hich would preclude
cruising. For any additional open cruising events to take place, they shall be deemed
special events and are subject to all provisions and requirements.
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Office of the City Attorney
City of Yakima
MEMORANDUM
December 18, 2020
TO: Robert Harrison, City Manager and Yakima City Council Members
FROM: Ryan Bleek, Assistant City Attorney
SUBJECT: Special Events and Insurance Requirements
I. Current Practice
One of the current requirements of the City's Special Events code is that event organizers have
appropriate insurance coverage. Specifically, the Code states that:
9.70.160 Insurance required to conduct special event.
A. In addition to any other requirement(s) imposed by this chapter, for any parade or
special event involving participation of persons in games or races involving physical
effort; or involving the use of live animals, wild or domestic; or involving the use of
vehicles (except wheelchairs); or provision or sale of beverages or food for human
consumption; or use of alcoholic beverages, the applicant shall have the following
minimum insurance requirements:
1. Commercial General Liability (Occurrence Form). One million dollars per
occurrence/two million dollars aggregate combined single limit liability for bodily injury
and property damage. If other than the standard CG 00 01 form is used, such as a
special events policy, the policy shall be furnished to the city attorney for review and may
be rejected based upon the specified policy exclusions. If animals are included in the
event, no animal exclusion will be allowed or approved. The policy shall not contain a
separate assault and battery exclusion. The policy shall not exclude coverage for
participants in the event.
200 South Third Street,2nd Fl. I Yakima,WA 98901
P:509.575.6030 I F:509.575.6160
12
December 18, 2020
Page 2
2. If sponsor owned or rented vehicles are involved in the event: automobile liability at
one million dollars per occurrence combined single limit bodily injury and property
damage. This includes coverage for any owned, hired or non-owned vehicles. If the
sponsor of the event does not own the vehicles that will be used in the event, then only
hired and non-owned auto liability may be required, which can be included on the
commercial general liability policy.
3. If liquor is served at the event: liquor liability coverage shall be required at a one-
million-dollar liability limit. If there is no charge for the liquor being served and the policy
provides host liquor liability coverage, then this requirement may be waived with the
economic development manager's approval.
* * *
In the past, applicants for a special event permit have complained that they cannot obtain
insurance that meets the City's requirements. Specifically, they report that the requirement that
a "policy shall not contain a separate assault and battery exclusion" is what typically causes
insurance carriers to decline offering coverage. Additionally, the requirement for "hired and non-
owned auto liability" coverage tends to be an additional sticking point.
However, according to the City's insurance advisor—Jeff Widdows of PayneWest Insurance—
although insurance that meets the City's requirements may be difficult to find, it is possible, and
he is willing and able to assist in directing applicants to the appropriate insurance providers. At
the same time, Mr. Widdows does indicate that obtaining such insurance can be expensive for
event organizers whose organizations do not already carry liability insurance. He estimates that
an insurance policy for a single "one off" event could range from $1500 - $2500. On the other
hand, for organizations that already have standing liability insurance coverage, adding coverage
that meets the City's requirements should be relatively inexpensive.
II. Alternative Approaches
A. Additional Insurance
Jeff Widdows has identified an option for the City to purchase additional insurance that meets
the City's requirements, and would offer coverage for all special events for which the event
organizers have not secured their own insurance. The premium for such coverage is estimated
to be approximately$25000. The only caveat is that the insurance would not include coverage
for events where liquor is served. For those such events, the applicants would be required to
purchase a separate liquor liability policy to secure the necessary coverage, at a cost of
approximately $200 for a smaller event, with the price of premiums increasing from there
depending on the size and duration of the event. According to Mr. Widdows, liquor liability
coverage is not difficult to secure.
As a way to offset the cost of the special events insurance premium to the City, the City could
consider charging an additional fee for events for which the event organizers have not secured
their own coverage.
13
December 18, 2020
Page 3
B. No Insurance Requirements
Instead of requiring event organizers to have insurance that meets the City's requirements, and
instead of the City's procuring additional special events insurance, the City could remove all
insurance requirements for special events, or be liberal in exercising its authority under YMC
9.70.170 to waive the insurance requirements. However, this approach would expose the City to
significant liability. If the City chose to carry the risk for liability claims that arise from special
events, the City would be subject to deductibles in the amount of$750,000 for each claim.
Because the City would likely be seen by any plaintiff's attorney as a "deep pocket," it is all but
certain that the City would be sued as part of any and all lawsuits arising from incidents that
occur at a special event. Even where the City was not at fault, defending frivolous lawsuits can
be very expensive. Additionally, were the City only partly and minimally liable for an incident,
because Washington state is a "joint and several liability" state, it could be subject to paying the
entire judgment amount if any other defendants are unable to pay their share. In other words, in
the event of a $500,000 judgment where a jury found the City 1% liable and the event organizer
99% liable, if the event organizer does not have insurance and is unable to pay, the City would
be required to pay the entire $500,000.
C. Reduced Insurance Requirements
Another approach would be to remove the requirement that insurance policies for special events
cannot contain an exclusion for assault and battery coverage, and/or remove the requirement
for hired and non-owned auto liability coverage. However, claims related to assault and battery
incidents and incidents involving automobile collisions frequently involve personal injury claims,
and personal injury claims are typically the most expensive types of claims to settle or litigate.
For that reason, removing the above-mentioned insurance requirements is an approach that
would subject the City to the nearly the same financial exposure as removing the insurance
requirements in their entirety.
III. Conclusion
From a risk management perspective, either maintaining the status quo practice of requiring
event organizers to procure insurance coverage that meets the City's current requirements, or
purchasing the additional special events insurance coverage clearly offers the City the best
protection from the significant financial exposure represented by potential damage and injury
claims that could result from special events. Additionally, it is worth noting that, although
$25,000 is not an insignificant sum to pay for the additional coverage, the payout on any single
large claim would have been enough to pay for the premium several times over (as compared to
if the City were to waive, reduce, or remove insurance requirements altogether).
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Memorandum
To: City Manager and Yakima City Council
From: Colleda Monick, Community Development Specialist
Date: January 5, 2020
Subject: Special Event Protocol
Special Event Protocol
Yakima Municipal Code 9.70 covers the law of the City as it relates to the permitting of special
events in the City of Yakima. At the beginning of 2013, the City had few rules and regulations as
they related to the governing of special event permits in the City. The City's approach to special
events is to ensure public safety for the attendees, proper insurance coverage and an easy
permit process to make special events occur in the City.
The full details of the code are helpful tools to administering the special event permitting
process. The details below are some of the lessons learned from nearly six years of permitting
special events in the City of Yakima.
Pre-Application Meeting for New Events Applicants
The City often gets calls from individuals or organizations looking to host a first time public
event. It is very worthwhile to invite the applicants to City Hall for a pre-application meeting to
discuss key details of the event. The pre-application meeting is perfect opportunity to assess the
organizer's capabilities to pull off a new event. History has taught us that many new applicants
don't quite grasp layout issues, power needs, street closure issues, restroom needs and more.
A pre-application meeting with the applicant allows the City the opportunity to work through key
event details and code issues in advance which will ultimately aid the planning efforts of both
parties.
Reoccurring Events
It's not necessary to have a pre-application meeting for long term reoccuring events unless
there is a major change in scope of new event location. Typically annual event holders know the
logistics drill and unless there were major issues in the previous year, the approval of a permit
for an annual event is a smooth process.
Permit Fee
The permit fee for all events, regardless of size or exempted status from a City services fee, is
$50. The late fee within three weeks of the event is an additional $100.
Exemptions to the Fee
Exempt from the special event cost recovery fee are the community events listed as follows:
Memorial Day Parade; Cinco De Mayo Parade; 4th of July Celebration; Sunfair Parade;
Veterans Day Parade; Salvation Army Toy Run; Harley Owners Group Toy Run; and Christmas
Light Parade.
15
Application Review
Upon receiving a Special Event Application, we review the key details of the application before
sharing it with the City departments for feedback. The initial goal is to review the key details,
location and timing to make sure it's conceptually doable. If there are issues, we try to solve
those well in advance. Once there is basic agreement on terms, we let the applicant know that
City departments will review the application and additional concerns will be addressed and
communicated back to the applicant.
Location Review
The location of a special event is an important consideration for the event organizer and the
City. As noted above, a pre-application meeting with an organizer of a new special event should
take place to review location amongst other things.
Because most of Yakima's events are held on street and sidewalks, it is important to note that
we can only permit the usage of public right of way for special events. If an event organizers
plans call for using an adjacent private parcel of land (which often happens on Front Street
events), the City needs to ensure that that the event organizers know that our approval of the
right of way doesn't include access to private property.
Private events held entirely on private property that do not involve the use of or have an impact
on public property do not need a special event permit. The City has worked with event
organizers to keep their events confined to private property to avoid the special event process.
The City's code does say if a private impacts public access to adjacent public property that a
special event permit is necessary. To date, we have seen the need to require a permit for a
situation like this.
City Special Event Application Review Process
If the event is a simple event or activity, the City's special event administrator can perform a
quick review and approval process that doesn't involve the numerous City departments that
typically review an application. A simple event would be an alcohol in parks event, a Capitol
Theatre street closure or a simple street closure for an event like a block party. All others go
through the City's formal review process where City departments are allowed the opportunity to
review the application and provide feedback (this includes Streets & Traffic, Fire, Police,
Refuse, and Transit).
The typical review process involving sending the application to a variety of City departments and
other partnering agencies such as the Downtown Association of Yakima and the Chamber of
Commerce. In this process, the assigned department reviewer will submit comments or
questions about the event
City Services Involved in a Special Event
Many event organizers request City services as part of their special event. The following is a
review some of the most reoccurring requests for City services:
• Yakima Police Department
When the Yakima Police Department receives a call to address an issue at a special event, it
removes them off their regular beat activity protecting the residents of the City. If there is
16
another issue happening elsewhere in the City when a call is received, police service to the
special event may not be timely. In order to ensure timely service, many events should have
police services on site.
The Yakima Police Department is comfortable having private security (Phoenix Security for
example) perform basic security services at special events (Checking IDs, patrol and guarding
property for example). A co-mingling for private security and YPD officers is often a good
solution. For many smaller events, hiring a security firm is the most economical and easy
solution. However, it is important to keep in mind that when a security firm needs assistance,
they call the Yakima Police Department for service. Events that feature alcohol should almost
always have a Police presence, however, exceptions can be made for private events that aren't
open to the general public.
The Yakima Police Department presents the following requirements for service at special
events:
For larger events, the Yakima Police Department recommends hiring four officers per day for
events that have 5,000 or more attendees. The officers present at these events should be on-
duty officers hired by the Yakima Police Department to ensure proper coverage. At least one
month in advance of the start of the event, the cost of the officer man hours should be
communicated to the event organizer and the cost/ payment of the police services should be
included as a condition of receiving a permit.
For events smaller than 5,000, the Yakima Police Department, in the past, has made a
determination on officer needs. That determination will be made reviewing the event details as
well as the history of the event. The officers for these smaller events will be off duty officers who
must be hired by the event organizers by using Yakima Police Department contractor Extra Duty
Solutions (https://yakimapolice.orq/off-duty-police-employment/). Extra Duty Solutions will hire
the officers for off duty work and arrange billing directly with the applicant.
• Yakima Fire Department
The Yakima Fire Department plays three major roles in the permitting of special events:
The first role is to conduct a Fire and Life Safety Inspection prior to the opening of the event.
The applicant is billed a minimum of $100 for the inspection. After a review with YFD staff, the
inspection fee should be due upon issuance of any Special Event Permit. If it is a multiday
event, the minimum fee will be charged each day the event is hosted. This fee was enacted by
the Yakima City Council in 2017.
The second role is to review event layout details to ensure there is an adequate access points in
an event layout so a fire truck or EMS vehicle can either access the event or an adjoining
property. As a rule of thumb, the Yakima Fire Department will require a 20 foot fire line through
the heart of any special event layout.
The third role is to review new regulations in YMC on 10.05.095 that relate cooking under tents
that are larger than 10x10 in size. This inspection is typically done at the same time as the Fire
and Life Safety inspection fee above.
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• Public Works Street Division
It is of the utmost importance to understand the power needs of a special event before sending
the application out for DST review. With limited available power in downtown and virtually no
public outlets throughout the City, an event's location is usually determined by the availability of
power. Further complicating the power issue for events is damage to outlets in downtown due to
vandalism and age and the simple fact that all outlets are turned off throughout downtown (can
be turned back on).
• Downtown has limited power that is available for public usage. Some businesses
will allow power access to an event but that access is not a given. City staff must
be able to understand the power needs of the applicant before giving initial
approval for the event location.
• Most trees in downtown have power in them that was installed to plug in tree
lights. The power is not enough to power a food truck or a stage for example, but
could handle low voltage uses. The power is in the trees is on a light sensitive
timer and is programmed to only come on at night. If arrangements are made in
advance, the City's Signal Department can turn the tree power on for day time
usage.
• The City's only power sources to support food trucks, a stage, a public address
system, a lighting rig or other large need can be found in three locations. The first
is Millennium Plaza, the second is in an underground well located near the
entrance to the Opera House parking lot on Front Street and the third is in the
north south alley in the North Front Street Historic District. The City's Signal
Department staff know the capacity and challenges of each of these three
locations for reference. The Capitol Theatre has high capacity plug in on both the
3' Street and 4'h Street sides of the theatre. Access can be arranged with
permission from the Capitol Theatre Committee staff.
• When it is known that a City power source will be used for an event, a call to the
Signal Department a few days before the event to test the power source is a
requirement.
• If an event is to use generators, it is important to determine where they will be
located as to not disrupt a nearby business or residence.
Street Closure
Closing of city streets to conduct a special event is a challenging consideration for all special
events. A thorough review of the event's site layout must be conducted and conclusions must
be drawn on how the event's street closure will effect access to neighboring properties and
businesses. Above that, there is also the process of how the street actually gets closed.
A few considerations:
• When reviewing an application, we take into consideration how business
deliveries and handicapped access may occur during the closure. Ideally, we
want to avoid shutting access for delivery services.
• Even if an event only needs a portion of a block for their event, we historically
have closed the whole block to vehicle access. It's a very unnecessary hazard to
have vehicle turn around in the open half of a closed block.
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• YMC 9.70 does not allow the closure of an arterial on weekdays between 7-9 am
and 4-6 pm. The City Council could allow a closure during this timeframe with the
passage of a resolution.
• City bus routes can be effected by a street closure. It is important to understand
the City's bus schedule to minimize any effect to public transportation.
The closing of non-arterial streets (3rd Street, Front Street etc) can be accomplished by the
event organizers. For each event, the City's streets department can create a map showing the
expected location of barricades and cones to keep the event safe and closed to traffic.
The closing of Yakima Avenue for large events like Cinco De Mayo, is a coordinated effort with
the event organizers and the City.
• Street Closure Notification to Nearby Businesses and Residential Buildings
While the City's event code ensures that nearby businesses are notified at least two weeks in
advance of when a special event is occurring, a secondary process must be undertaken to
make sure that parkers are alerted to an upcoming closure to avoid having cars towed. This
signage has to be placed 24 hours in advance to allow for proper notification. The City's Print
Shop prints street closure signage for an event that can be attached to a-frame signs, street
poles or parking signs in the area to be closed by an event.
If there is a residential building within a two block distance from the special event, notice is also
provided to the building as well. Often times, the cars we do have to tow are downtown
residents who simply didn't notice signage on street.
City code requires no parking along parade routes two hours before the parade and during the
parade. This is a true public safety issue as before the ordinance was passed we had people
walking into the parade route to see past the parked cars. Historically, Public Works has placed
no parking signage along the route a day in advance.
• Refuse
Trash and grease from food vendors are large issues to address when dealing with special
events. The City has faced day after event issues in the past of vendors pouring grease into tree
wells, grease on the streets and overstuffed City trash cans amongst other things.
While we have allowed small events to cart their own trash to an offsite location, that process
will not work for large events. The City's Refuse department will rent cans and dumpsters for
special events for a reasonable fee. The number of cans will vary for each event but based on
past experience, those events with beer and food vendors tend to produce the largest amount of
trash.
Grease is a significant issue when you have an event with many food vendors. It is important to
find out how food vendors plan to deal with grease to avoid the unfortunate issues of spills in a
dumpster or street drain.
• Street Sweeping
When an events occur on downtown streets, it's a nice touch to notify the City's Street
Department of the location and date of the event so they can coordinate the City's street
sweeper schedule to make the area look as good as possible for the attendees. The same goes
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with a possible run through after an event. Off duty street sweeping services (Saturdays &
Sundays) can be arranged through the Street Department. However, this arrangement should
be made at least a month in advance and the typical cost for the equipment and off duty man
hours can be in the $300 range.
First Amendment Events
For most free speech /first amendment related marches or parades, their goal is to raise as
much awareness as possible for their cause. The City is fully supportive of first amendment
events and has often times invested large amounts of staff to ensure the right of our local
residents and organizations to peacefully support their message.
First amendment events are not charged a fee for using city services. We do take special time
to review event details to gain a sense of how they are being promoted and advertised. This is
usually an indicator of how many people will come out for the event. For example, we have
saved the City thousands of dollars in the past by requesting that a first amendment march be
moved to a City sidewalk instead of an on street because of a small turnout. We can easily
accommodate a march of 200 on a sidewalk as opposed to hiring a dozen officers to allow the
same group to march on a closed City street.
5k Runs / Fun Runs / Marathons
The City has hosted a variety of 5k and Fun Runs in the past. The planning of runs held on the
streets of the City require an extensive review of the route and business access. For example, a
run on Yakima Avenue at 9:00 a.m. would be much easier to pull off than a run that began at
11:00 a.m. when numerous businesses are open to the public. It is important to bring a Yakima
Police Department representative into the planning from the beginning.
When reviewing a potential run application, it is important to review the cost of doing the event
before working on the many details associated with it. We have found that the city service fee is
enough to make organizers look to a plan B. Traditionally, the Yakima Police Department will
not allow civilians to close streets so runs also require in the range of 30-40 officers to make the
route safe for runners — however, an exception was made for the Yakima Mile and licensed
flaggers were used.
Plan B options for organizers who don't want to pay the City service fee associated with their
run is using the Yakima Greenway or Franklin Park. Organizations have held very successful
runs at either of those facilities that attract both serious runners and families.
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Minutes of the "Special Events" Council Committee
February 1, 2021
Present: Holly Cousens, Bob Harrison, Colleda Monick, Ken Wilkenson,Joe Resenlund, Ryan Bleek, Lt.
Jim Moore
Colleda discussed the current code/ordinance. It can be changed if Council wants to vote on it.
Holly brought up two main points for discussion:
1. The application process and timing regarding need for proof of insurance. Colleda advised that
the City can provide application approval up to 30 days prior to the event, giving ample time to
applicants.
2. Insurance that must include assault coverage, or group coverage beyond individual car
insurance. Can there be a less expensive coverage? Holly suggested for example, DAY and
Yakima Fairgrounds carry a year round umbrella that is less expensive. Discussion indicated this
is different than single day events like Sunfair Parade and Cinco De Mayo.
Holly reported that Sunfair may be able to be included under an umbrella. She has contacted several
insurance agents with similar questions. It was agreed that Jeff Widows, city agent, should be included
in the discussion.
Colleda cited a previous assault event at a large event function brought on the inclusion of"assault &
battery" in all event liability packages.
The possibility of the city liability policy acting as an umbrella for the events. Ryan Bleek advised against
this as the city's insurance comes with a large deductible per event.
Ryan discussed that they might be able to purchase umbrella insurance that met all stipulations for
about$25,000 per year. Specifically:
1. Does not include alcohol
2. An early incident may affect city's ability to get insurance in future
3. Likely would be aggregate limits
4. Litigation of claims is expensive
Holly pointed out that as the ordinance stands, the city is to pay 1/2 of YPD fees for any nonprofit event. If
it turns into a large time coverage,the city may not have funds to cover.The Council likely needs to
review this for a policy change that would say the city will cover 1/2 up to a certain dollar amount.
All agreed that further conversation is needed, and to include Jeff Widows in the future conversation.
t I
21
Special Event
i COUNCIL COMMITTEE
March 1, 2021
In Attendance:
Council: Mayor Patricia Byers I Holly Cousens
City Staff: Bob Harrison I Ryan Bleek I Ken Wilkinson I Tami Adringa I Lt.Jim Moore I Joseph
Rosenlund I Colleda Monick
Jeff Widdows, Payne West Insurance
Meeting Notes:
Review of previous minutes.
Discussion centered around a possible proposal for the City to offer umbrella insurance
coverage to event applicants at a fee.
Jeff Widdows provided insurance context regarding coverage, the following is a recap of this
hypothetical proposal:
The city could possibly procure a blanket policy, contemplating roughly 35-50 events
and cost roughly$25,000 annually. As the permits were pulled, the city would contact
the carrier and schedule the event so that coverage would be provided for the day(s) of
the event. Coverage would be as follows based on PayneWest's initial discussions with
carriers:
• $1,000,000 for Bodily Injury and Property Damage; and
• $1,000,000 for Non-Owned and Hired Auto Liability
• This coverage would NOT contain the exclusion for assault and battery,
and if need be animal participation could generally be covered.
• This policy would contain a minimal deductible (ex. $1,000) if any at all,
and would name both the City of Yakima, and the event and/or its
sponsor organization, thus complying with existing code.
In the current insurance marketplace, obtaining"one off" coverage for single events
that comply with the code could cost a minimum of$1500 -$3000 per single event (as
stated by PayneWest). As the City's Risk Consultants, PayneWest recommends against
lowering or eliminating the current requirements for special events, because of the
massive potential liability incurred by the city.
To formalize terms and pricing, PayneWest would need to pin down the expected
number, type, and duration of events.
Council requested that city staff provide;
• Special event applicant feedback; is there market interest for the city to
provide this coverage;
• What price would event holders be willing to pay;
• How many events might occur in 2021 vs. 2022
Next meeting proposed for Zoom April TBD, 2021