Beaumont council approves amended MOU to co-sponsor 2025 Cherry Festival; city to provide insurance and services

The Beaumont City Council on April 29 approved an amended memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Cherry Festival Association (CFA) and the Beaumont Cherry Valley Recreation and Park District to co-sponsor the 2025 Cherry Festival, authorizing city staff to finalize insurance arrangements and to sign a contract for traffic control provided the cost stays within city signing authority. The motion passed on a 5-0 roll-call vote.

The amendment, effective through June 30, 2025, formalizes the city's role as a co-sponsor and clarifies responsibilities including a $100,000 donation (intended for an entertainment vendor), police and fire services at the city's expense, traffic control and parking-management contracting through AWP, and transit services. Council members and staff discussed insurance requirements, prior reimbursements, parking and traffic plans, and follow-up coordination among the three parties.

Why it matters: The city will serve as a financial and operational backstop for an event that draws large crowds, taking on insurance exposure and committing staff resources. Council members stressed the need for clearer shared responsibilities among the city, CFA and the park district ahead of future festivals.

Key details and staff explanation Gus (city staff presenter) told the council the amendment responds to the parks district's insurance requirements, which the CFA could not meet on its own under the earlier agreement approved in December 2024. According to staff, CFA's certificate of insurance will be primary; the city's coverage is secondary and the city also maintains self-insurance to cover remaining exposure.

Staff described the insurance landscape in several places during the discussion. The CFA's coverage was described as $1,000,000 per occurrence with a $2,000,000 aggregate; at other points staff told the council the combined requirement between CFA and the city would be $5,000,000 per occurrence and $10,000,000 general aggregate (the MOU text lists specific combined and per-party limits and names the park district as additional insured). City staff said a special-event insurance premium is included in the staff report as a separate line item (a $13,000 figure is listed in the staff report) and that the city's self-insurance retention level is $250,000 with excess coverage above that up to $25,000,000.

Costs and past reimbursements Council members asked about prior-year costs. Staff said police overtime was invoiced to CFA and reimbursed about $57,678 last year; transit costs were listed at roughly $5,000 last year. Staff noted some city costs have not historically been invoiced (for example, on-site fire staffing is typically provided by the city and not separately billed to the CFA).

Parking, traffic and site access Council members and staff discussed parking and traffic control plans. The city plans to use Noble Creek parking on the north side; CFA will arrange two school-lot parking areas for Saturday and Sunday only. Staff said AWP will provide signage and traffic control; the parks district will pay AWP if the council's donation is sent to the parks district for that purpose.

During the meeting Ari, representing the CFA, reported the Johnson property owner declined to allow use of a private access road, saying it would increase trespassing. Ari said, "He... did not grant us permission to use the road," and said the CFA had obtained special-event insurance and would forward a corrected certificate to the city.

Coordination and next steps Council members repeatedly urged stronger collaboration among the three partners. Councilmember Martinez said the festival has grown into a "three-way partnership" and called for early planning and clearer division of responsibilities in future MOUs. Staff and the parks district said they will debrief within 30 days after the event to plan next year's responsibilities; the parks district's vice chair, Dan Hughes, confirmed that debrief is planned.

Formal action and administrative authority The council approved the amended MOU and authorized the deputy city manager to sign the MOU and to sign a contract with AWP provided the contract cost falls within the city manager's signing authority. For the record, the city manager recused herself from the matter because of a disclosed connection (her husband provides services to the park district), and council noted that delegation explicitly in the motion.

Vote at a glance - Approve amended MOU among City of Beaumont, Cherry Festival Association and Beaumont Cherry Valley Recreation and Park District; authorize deputy city manager to execute the MOU and to sign a contract with AWP if within signing authority: Passed 5-0 (Councilmember Fenn: yes; Councilmember Martinez: yes; Councilmember White: yes; Mayor Pro Tem Tembois: yes; Mayor Laura: yes).

What was not decided or remains pending Staff said the city's coverage of certain claims depends on claim specifics and on the primary insurer's response; staff indicated they could not absolutely guarantee coverage in every potential claim scenario. The special-event insurance certificate from CFA had a minor typo that staff said would be corrected and resubmitted.

Closing Council members expressed support for proceeding so the festival can go forward, while emphasizing the need for improved advance coordination on budgeting, insurance and operational roles for future years.