B1-1: ACL Contract Questions and Answers — original pdf

Backup

AUSTIN PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD Question related to Austin City Limits May 31, 2022 The responses below have been formulated based on a Contracts and Concessions Committee item on April 15th and subsequent follow up questions from board members via email that stemmed from the sharing of the Austin City Limits contract. Please tell us about traffic control signage. The engineered traffic control plan is monitored by both the organizer/organizer’s traffic control company agent. In addition, City of Austin Right of Way Inspectors working as part the paid traffic control permit fees do daily inspections of the traffic control. How is the traffic control messaged? In order to assist traffic management weeks before Austin City Limits Music Festival, the City of Austin posts event and traffic alert information. The closure map, a closure schedule, and interactive traffic and park access map is posted on the following six (6) City of Austin managed webpages. Those pages are: • Austin Center for Events Page • Park Events Page • Zilker Park Page • Barton Springs Pool Page • Austin Nature and Science Center Page • Zilker Botanical Gardens Page The interactive park closure and traffic map hosted on the Park Events and Austin Center for Events webpages received over 30,000 views specific to the 2021 ACL event. o 2021 Interactive Park/Closure Map o Closure Schedule (attachment A) o Closure Map (attachment B) In addition, both prior and during the Event: • The City posts daily alerts on the variable message boards permanently installed throughout the city. Of note is the message board at Barton Springs and Mopac. • The City coordinates with department Public Information Officers to publish social media and promote media information prior to and during the event. • The event posts notice signage at the park 14 days prior to accessing the park. It includes directive information to the City’s website for closure and alternative use area information. ** As an additional note, Barton Springs Road is not fully closed until the overnight hours Thursday evening before the event. What headcount data is available to the City of Austin Event Operations Center at the event? As a digital scan in event, the Operations Center personnel at the festival have real time access to the total amount of wristbands scanned for entrance into the event. The Event Operations Center includes multiple City of Austin Departments. The City of Austin Event Command holds the ultimate jurisdiction related to access control if capacity data required action by the City – this control has not yet been required to be exercised. Help describe payments or funding known related to Austin City Limits Music Festival. The following three items are the commonly known funds and pathways that have been routinely of interest or, perhaps, misunderstood by the public. 1. User Fees/Permit Fees The Parks and Recreation Department, in addition to others City of Austin departments, collects fees for the event. Under State law regulations most fees for various municipal services are user fees. As such use fees may not exceed the cost to provide the service. • Park use fees are a general fund revenue received from an event for the various services and permitting required for the event. • As a reference point, the 2019 ACL Festival total payment to City Departments in costs or fees was $2.4M. • 2019 Total Fees to PARD was $1,719,433 2021 Festival Payments to PARD • Event Contract Use Fees • Other Charges (time, materials, etc.) • Ticket Fees • Post Event Fee (while remediation occurring) Total: 1,742,148.40 $ 103,530.00 $ 135,139.40 $1,444,479.00 $ 59,000.00 All turf work was required by the City to be at the expense and coordination of the festival who directly contract and manage the work and resources. City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department and Austin Parks Foundation did a joint presentation to the Parks Board in February 2020. Reviewing those presentations may also be helpful with similar topics.  Backup - C1: Austin Parks Foundation Presentation (16.8MB) Backup - C1: Office of Special Events Presentation (397KB) 2. Economic Impact and Hotel Occupancy Taxes For 2021, the festival reported $369M in overall economic impact. Hotel Occupancy Taxes are a subset of economic impact. City Council allocates the heavily regulated Hotel Occupancy Tax distribution (under Chapter 351 of the Texas Tax Code). The Parks and Recreation Department is an important partner in this effort as public parks, museums, and cultural centers are among the top tourist attractions in the City. Partially funded by Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue, the PARD Historic Preservation and Heritage Tourism Program manages approximately 350 historic and cultural resources 3. Partner or Donor Agreements The Austin Parks Foundation, as part of a separate agreement, receives additional funds. For the 2021 ACL Festival, the Austin Parks Foundation reported receiving $6.7M in funds. These funds become neighborhood driven park improvement projects that become a part of the city’s park system assets. No Smoking Enforcement It is a significant challenge to enforce a smoke free environment at any outdoor mass gathering. While important, it is not a fire-danger concern. As part of the overall safety plan for the event there are two (2) on site fire engines and multiple public safety personnel. Multiple approaches are utilized to message a smoke free park environment: • website information • physical signage • on site jumbotron displayed messages • looping voice messages at the entry gates. Great Lawn Closure Each year City staff carefully review any changes to closures, traffic control or scheduling with the commitment to keeping the Great Lawn accessible up until 11 days prior to the first event Friday. Priority is placed on maintaining public access to the park even while event load in is occurring in various sections of the park. Examples would include the Stratford Field area or off-site ticketing areas. The interactive map updated by PARD provides the public clear day by day information of what can be expected at the park. 2021 Interactive Park/Closure Map McBeth Recreation Center Access McBeth Recreation Center has direct access to the site via Columbus Drive which is largely unaffected during the load in/out period and family members receive access passes ensuring access to the recreation center the two (2) Fridays of the event. Follow Up Questions Is there a more detailed accounting of the "post event fee (while remediation occurring)"? What was the remediation and how is the fee calculated? Is this the fee assessed for the lack of great lawn available for use for several months following the 2021 festival? What is the formula used to create this amount? A set up and take down fee of $500/day is charged for any period of set up or take down, including “additional days” an event utilizes or encumbers for post event work. In this example, the take down fee was assessed per day once work was completed and additionally while areas were roped off during initial grow in to ensure they event was accountable until the areas were fully reopen. ACL tickets range in price from $300 - $5500 for a platinum VIP, can you confirm if the $1 per ticket fee applies to all levels of tickets? This only has a gross amount not a calculation of how the ticket fee was calculated. Yes, the fee applies per day to any ticket with a fee to enter/attend an event. Attachment A – Closure Schedule Attachment B