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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFourth of July Steering Committee Minutes 2012-08-154th of July Steering Committee Minutes August 15, 2012 The following members and staff were present at the meeting: Chris Scarpa Heather McDonald Michelle Scarpa Robin Hall Tony Scarpa Tommy McDonald Stefanie Scarpa Darrell Fales Dan Morgan Stefanie Karacostas Darrell Fales Nicole Morgan James Toney, Director of Community Services Kimberly Ramirez, Staff Drew Pennywell, Staff Gary Williams, Parks Superintendent Josh Rogers, Friendswood PD Billy Enochs, City Council Liasion Lucy Woltz, Chamber Liasion Pat McGinnis, City Council Mike Jones, FISD Transportation 1. Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 7:10 p.m. 2. Communications from the public: James stated that there were some emails sent concerning parade entries, stating business entries should be decorate. The requirement of having each entry decorated is on the application but maybe we can do something to make sure everyone is abiding by the rules. Robin suggested to verbally tell entries when their called with their route number the week of the parade. Robin stated we should be prepared for the consequences. Tony stated that one of the complaints was on Nick Lampson entry, but Tony stated we have to remember "freedom of speech". James stated that there was also an email of where were the clowns or Shriners in the parade, maybe we should invite these groups to participate in the parade. James asked if the committee if they wanted to invite these groups, committee stated yes we should try. Committee stated that there were very big gaps in the parade due to the dance groups performing in front of the judges. Nicole suggested having them perform in front of city hall. James stated there were several people that expressed concerned about people smoking during the evening program. He asked if we wanted to create a smoking section. We can advertise no smoking and put it on the website and remind the crowd during the announcements. Mike Jones stated that they transported 1,934 people back to their cars after the evening program. Mike Jones stated no dogs are allowed on the bus. James stated that Steve with FISD suggested loading a 3rd bus instead of just 2 in 2013. Mike stated that we had quite a few drivers this year, with a total of 22. FISD stated it took them 45 minutes to get completely out of the park. 3. Discussion and possible action regarding June 20, 2012 Minutes: Nicole Morgan made a motion to approve the minutes as presented, Tommy McDonald seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. 4. Discussion and possible action regarding the 2012, 4th of July Celebration A. Dignitary Breakfast: Nicole stated we had one. There was enough food left over for snack for the rest of the day. We have enough supplies left over for next year’s event. B. Parade: Stacy stated that the lineup areas were much more organized. This year. With sending emails out to participants 2 days prior to the parade, Stacy stated we got a lot of feedback for participants. We need to try to send parade line up notices out earlier. Robin suggested that the entries get more exposure if their spread out. Stacy suggested to notify her if someone is sponsoring in advance so she can move them up in the parade instead of the day of. Robin suggested adding an information blurb to the parade application on each entry; this will help the parade announcer describe each parade entry. Lucy asked why the Grand Marshal didn’t have his name on his car. Drew stated it was an oversight. Heather stated that the bike area is hard to judge and to pick the winning entries during the parade. It was hard to judge them when they’re our packed together at Comerica Bank. Heather suggested giving medals to each bike participants. Heather also stated that the judges didn’t think political groups should be judged. James suggested giving the bike entries all a participation ribbon or medal around the neck. Heather stated that currently 1 trophy goes the best in each age group. Robin stated she like being across the street from the judges. Michael stated that this year was a lot more organized. He wanted to tell Stacy she did a good job. Tommy stated that we need to know what entries are allowed to drive into the city hall parking lot. Drew stated that chick Fila stated that they will return again next year. The flyover went great. James asked Pat if he could pass that on to the flyover team. C. Day Program: Michele stated that she didn’t have any complaints; also FFA is coming back next year. The Health dept. lady came on time this year and there were no issues. Tables were not moved until that morning, generators need to be moved and the park needs to be sprayed for ants the night before. Gary Williams stated that the park was treated for ants the day before. Gary stated that the tables were moved around days before but unfortunately people move the tables back again. James stated that he wants to assign a park guy to the day program. If were fully staffed then we can assign a parks guy dedicated to the day program. Pat stated that standing on stage at the gazebo he felt that no one can hear. Chris stated we need more speakers. Dan suggested rent a sound system. Stacy stated that there were many, many good comments on having awesome events there. Nicole stated that we need signage for the free events for the little kids. Michael stated that his summer staff worked the event and since the cheerleaders did not help, he pulled in the pool staff to help with the program. He stated that the summer staff needed help at one time during the day program and asked a committee member to help them find Michael or James Toney and the committee member refuse to help them. D. Evening: Tommy stated that he had a big thank you for Pete from Sonic and requested to send Pete a letter. Fireworks, Mike was very pleased with where he was. Tommy stated everything went great; all the vendors were very pleased with their location. Gary suggested on moving the portable toilets a little bit to provide that area with more light. Tommy stated he didn’t have any complaints. Heather and Robin picked up everyone that wanted a ride. Police officer at the gate did a great job, with the dignitaries parked over there by the school worked well too. The parking lot was full but not to capacity. Tommy stated 64 cars were parked at the school during the fireworks. Josh stated that the West Ranch area will be more of a concern as they build out. Robin stated the bike officers were at the gate during the fireworks. Stacy stated she liked the way we directed the foot traffic. Stacy suggested roping off the area near the school parking lot by Fire and EMS. It’s also for safety and to protect the cars. Dan stated everything went off pretty good, but I have some concerns. We vote on things we meet all year long and then 10 minutes before a program is going to start we're asked to change things. I’ve seen in the last year or so, that someone else is making promises that we (the committee) don't know about. A day program vendor showed up in the morning and needed a generator, along with a radio station that was part of the evening program, that we don’t know anything about it. Dan asked Tony if he knew about the radio station and Tony stated yes. Nicole stated that we need to talk about fixing the process. We all need to review the timeline and don’t publish it until everything is finalized. Robin stated that she went to Tony the night of the 4th and asked if moving the Chamber raffle was an issue and Tony stated it wasn’t an issue. Robin stated that the chamber printed the time change on the tickets that we were doing the drawing at 9 o’clock. Robin stated that you probably cost the chamber a couple grand, and that is a big issue. When we saw that the timeline wasn’t correct we went to the proper channels to try to fix it, the chamber does a lot for the city and lot for the 4th of July committee. You don’t realize what the chamber does for the committee. Dan stated he wasn’t aware that a radio station would be at the evening program. That affects the fireworks folks and sound folks. James stated that the fireworks company did know about the radio station we got a lot of free airtime. Drew stated that Tommy is the evening chair and he did send the info to Tommy, like I was instructed to. the budget was passed out to the committee, james stated that possibly we need to go to council and request a decision package to increase the committee’s budget to cover the cost of PD’s overtime. James stated the committee wanted more police presence and he believed it worked well. Tony stated it did work very well. Billy stated that everyone loves the 4th of July it was a raving success. Billy stated we thank the staff and the committee for what they do, their reason why the city gets the accolades. Tony suggested expanding the games and charging $10 instead of $5. James stated our goal was to break even and we more than did that. Possibly sell tickets ahead of time next year? Michelle stated that usually the park is dead at 3pm and there were still a lot of people there at 3 this year. Tommy stated that we'll need to spend money for radios. Robin asked if we can have the vote now for the drawing. Next meeting is scheduled for September 19, put chamber drawing on the next agenda. 5. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:53 p.m. Approved by: Kimberly Ramirez Date: __1-16-13__________