Liberty Lake weighs producing Winterglow after nonprofit steps back

Liberty Lake city staff laid out options, budgets and volunteer needs at a town hall after the Winterglow Foundation told the city it had voted to stop producing the annual Winterglow displays and offered the lights and containers to the city for $25,000; the foundation later revised that offer to exclude the event name.

City Administrator Arnaud told the crowd the foundation "approached the city, and the information that we received essentially was that, board members were stepping away, volunteer basis were dwindling, material costs were going up." He said staff briefed council in an April workshop and recommended that the council not accept the foundation's initial offer without further due diligence.

The meeting focused on two practical choices: the city could decline the offer and the foundation would scale back or relocate its displays, or the city could take on production. Staff presented a five-year cost estimate of about $480,000 to produce Winterglow in Orchard Park at the scale used since 2019, including materials, paid labor and other operational costs. The city also estimated annual setup-and-teardown labor at roughly 1,770 hours.

Kyle, the city's finance and administrative services director, explained funding sources used historically and available offsets. He said ARPA funds had contributed to community events in 2021 and that "the city received roughly $3,000,000" in ARPA allocations distributed to the city through the state; he also said the city maintains a lodging-tax fund and that the lodging-tax account currently had about $220,000 available. Staff said some of those revenue sources — lodging tax grants, donations and sponsorships — could partially offset production costs but would not eliminate the need for staff time or other expenses.

Representatives of the Winterglow board described why the group reduced its scope. Board member Bryce Riley said the board was shrinking and volunteers were less available: "we are not gonna dissolve. We're just downsizing to where we can manage the displays that we do." Board members and longtime volunteers explained the nonprofit has carried insurance and transportation costs and that the group has historically relied on in-kind help from the Geiger work crew for setup and teardown; the board confirmed the Geiger crew remains willing to assist if available.

City staff outlined operational risks and options if the city became producer. Parks and Arts Director Jenna Camp and recreation staff noted existing seasonal staffing constraints and used a workforce analysis to show the department is fully allocated during November–January. Staff said the most straightforward operational step to deliver the event at full scale would be hiring at least one additional full‑time employee and potentially using contractors or overtime to cover the peak months.

Residents and local business representatives emphasized Winterglow's role as a community event and raised ideas to reduce net city costs if it produced the event: volunteer recruitment through service clubs and schools, vendor fees (concessions and food trucks), sponsorships and modest admission or donation options. Paul Merrill, a resident who said he recently moved to Liberty Lake, told the meeting, "it's a community building event. Makes it feel like home." City staff flagged that a mix of those levers could reduce the city's gross cost but that staff was presenting a "worst-case" budget that assumes minimal volunteer help so the council could see the full fiscal exposure.

Staff and the board also discussed a legal and branding detail: the foundation initially offered the displays plus the Winterglow name for $25,000 and later removed the name from the offer; the council would need to decide whether to buy inventory without the event name and whether a new name would be used for any city-run production. The board set a June 16 deadline for the council to decide on purchasing the inventory.

No formal council action was taken at the town hall. Staff reiterated that a council workshop on the matter was scheduled for the next day and that a decision would be expected by the June 16 deadline. Arnaud closed by encouraging residents to attend the council workshop and stay engaged.

The town hall included live polling to gauge resident preferences for location, programming additions and funding strategies; city staff said the polling results and public comments will be shared with council ahead of the workshop. The city also said it is exploring more precise economic tracking on events and would seek to measure local-business impacts if Winterglow continues under city management.