City Council agrees to concert series in Snoqualmie
March 13, 2009
By Michael Rowe
A summer concert series is expected to bring as many as 4,500 to the Snoqualmie Point Park for shows this summer, after a memorandum of agreement was approved by the City Council March 9.
The Snoqualmie Tribe plans to organize as many as six shows this summer to boost attendance at its casino. City attorney Pat Anderson told the council that it was probably too late for the tribe to get big name acts for the summer, but they needed the agreement with the city to get started booking and promoting the concert series.
Council members debated whether it was a good idea to approve the memorandum of agreement without a specific termination clause that would allow the city to cancel a show if they did not feel that security at the shows was adequate.
Anderson told the council that plans for the concerts would be approved by Parks Director Al Frank, following essentially the same guidelines required for event permits. If alcohol is sold at the concerts, a special event permit will need to be obtained from the council. The tribe will also be responsible for cleanup at the park after shows. The city attorney told the council that, if the agreement were not approved that night, the concert series would likely not take place.
The main reason behind needing the memorandum of agreement is because a covenant in the deed to the park prohibits commercial use. The memorandum of agreement makes the concert series a municipal use.
Mayor Matt Larson said that the city would collect 5 percent of the price of each ticket sold, which would help pay for maintenance of the park. Anderson described the concert series as a pilot program that would allow the city to decide if the park would host future events. If the concert series is successful, the city may decide to improve the park to host future shows.
With assurances that the parks department would review the concert plans, and that temporary structures would be inspected by the city, the council unanimously approved the memorandum of agreement.
“The tribe has every incentive to have a well-run, profitable event,” Anderson said.
In other business, the council heard a report from the city’s finance officer Donya Gregson about the worst-case scenario about how the economic downturn could affect Snoqualmie. Gregson presented a scenario where as few as 36 homes might be built this year, and that sales tax revenues would at best be flat.
City Administrator Bob Larson said that the worst-case scenario might not be as bad as predicted. Gregson said that, at Snoqualmie’s current spending levels, the city would have to dip into its reserve funds for as much as $1 million. She recommended taking a look at program cuts and staffing expenses.
Reach reporter Michael Bayless Rowe at mrowe@snovalleystar.com or 392-6434, ext. 248.
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