University Place council studies city events; parade candy, pacing and insurance draw scrutiny

Council members and staff spent most of a March 17 study session reviewing University Place's 2025 lineup of city-sponsored events, their budgeted costs and risk-management practices after concerns raised following last year's Duck Days parade.

Lisa Plutoric, director of administrative services, told the council the city budgeted $273,000 for 11 events in 2025 and estimated roughly 878 staff hours to support them. "The total budgeted cost for events for 2025 is $273,000," she said, and noted Winterfest was elevated this year partly because $50,000 of the line item is for a new tree purchase.

Farrah DeRosier and Drew Bryant from the Washington Cities Insurance Authority urged stronger vendor contracting and careful choice of event activities. "If you can hire someone to handle the entire event for you, and the city can contractually transfer the risk, that would be ideal," DeRosier said. She and Bryant urged organizers to require vendors to carry commercial general liability and auto insurance and to name the city as additional insured.

Parade safety drew repeated attention. WCIA recommended restricting candy distribution from vehicles because children running into the street creates risk; staff and several council members instead proposed a compromise that preserves candy distribution but changes how it is done. Staff said their recommended approach is that vehicles lead the parade, walkers follow, and candy be handed out by walkers rather than tossed from vehicles. "No candy being thrown from the cars ... but we would like the opportunity to still have candy given out," staff said.

Council members raised additional operational concerns: gaps in parade pacing that left long stretches with no participants, inconsistent communication to registered groups, and staffing of staging and inspection points. Chief Pat Burke and event staff recommended more staff at staging, clearer pre-event meetings with participating groups and stronger on-site oversight to keep the parade moving at an appropriate pace.

Several council members pressed for an explicit policy decision about the city's risk tolerance for events, noting the topic carries both public-safety and budgetary implications. Mayor Pro Tem Wood said, "The policy turns on how much risk are we willing to accept," and several members asked staff to return quickly with a narrowed set of options so decisions can be made with the event season approaching.

Council members also questioned per-attendee costs for several events, pointing out some show relatively high cost per participant. Mayor Figueroa and others asked staff to prepare clearer cost-per-participant metrics and to explore volunteer roles and possible third-party organizers for events that require more resources to reduce city staff hours.

Staff and WCIA recommended practical safety steps: require vendor contracts with indemnity/insurance language, avoid high-risk activities (for example, close review or disallowance of fireworks or stunt vendors), implement event action plans that list roles, medical plans and contact information, and conduct after-action reviews to capture lessons and economic impact information.

Council directed staff to return with clarified recommendations on three near-term items: (1) a parade protocol addressing candy distribution and walker/vehicle sequencing; (2) a staffing and communications plan to eliminate long pacing gaps and improve pre-event briefing of participants; and (3) a suggested policy statement on acceptable event risk and whether staff can proceed administratively or whether council-level decisions are required. Several members asked for a fast-track follow-up so organizers can finalize plans and suppliers can be engaged in time for the 2025 season.