A set of requests from the River Falls Business Leaders group for special events prompted city council discussion on whether groups should be charged for city labor and materials when hosting these events.

RFBL presented a special event request, letter and application for the 2024 St. Patrick’s Day Potato Soup Crawl on March 17, and two Taste of River Falls events, one on June 2 and the other on Oct. 6.

Melissa “Mei Mei” Abdouch, owner of Mei Mei’s Cookies & Creamery and president of RFBL, thanked the council and city staff for considering their requests.

“I just want to take the time to thank you for all the faith that you’ve put into us thus far for all of our past requests,” she said.

The council approved the first three unanimously: An open container exemption, a noise control exemption and a street closure request. However, Alderperson Scott Morrissette pulled the request for city resources and assistance for further discussion.

The request asks city staff to conduct street closures and parking enforcement for the Taste of RF events, along with use of public electrical services in Veterans Park and along Main and Elm streets, the use of 10-12 picnic tables, a dumpster and the Veterans Park bandshell, plus policing from River Falls Police Department.

City staff calculated the costs of these items to be roughly $1,659 per event, which includes labor and materials.

Abdouch said she believed they had discussed the city and RFBL splitting the costs, but Morrissette said that wasn’t his understanding.

Alderperson Alyssa Mueller said she was in favor of not charging the group.

 “I would be in favor of following past practice and not charging them for this since we don’t, it’s a nominal amount of money that we would give and I’ve been to both and they’re great events. I’ve been to two Taste of River Falls I should say, so my vote would be not to charge them. I understood it to be that we were going to following past practice and not charging you. Is that correct?” she asked.

The resolution in the packet is the use of these public resources at no cost, City Administrator Scot Simpson said.

After Mueller made the motion to approve the resolution, Morrissette asked for some discussion on it.

“This is not really about the Business Leaders individually, this is about the precedent that we’re setting and the requests we saw last summer,” Morrissette said. “We saw other requests for these types of closures and open containers and support by public works and different things.

“I think it’s important that we set the precedent here because while this fee may be nominal, it is a representation that the city is providing some service and needs to be reimbursed. I think it’s fiscally responsible of us to start that precedent and put in place the requirement that they pay the fee.”

Morrissette made an amendment to the resolution that would require River Falls Business Leaders to pay the fee of $1,659 per event to the city.

Alderperson Sean Downing questioned whether requiring them to pay the fee would impede any type of charity, while acknowledging the fees need to be looked at.

Mayor Dan Toland said the topic has been brought up numerous times by various council members.

“Every time something like this comes in front of us, afterward it’s always the same thing. Staff needs to come up with some kind of dollar amount for us to look at. Staff took the time, came up with this. It’s not perfect, it’s not even close. And it’s not even close to covering what it costs us. This is maybe a minuscule amount of money that we spend on these events and I think we need to remember that it’s more than just three or four events,” Toland said.

There’s 25 events every year city staff go and work at, Toland added, including police, public works, etc. He agreed with Morrissette this is a good place to start while city staff determine a more accurate fee schedule.

Morrissette said he was contacted by a well-known nonprofit in town that expressed concern over having to pay the city to use picnic tables in the future.

“But that’s what has to start happening,” Morrissette said. “We have to be fiscally responsible with taxpayer money here and this is a small amount, but it’s a step toward being judicious with those funds.”

Stephanie Johnson, a RFBL member, said she felt what council members were saying seems fair and that RFBL has budgeted to pay those fees, but she wants it applied across the board for all organizations, including the River Falls Area Chamber of Commerce events.

“The Chamber is a little bit of a different animal,” Morrissette said. “The Chamber is also the designated tourism bureau and in order for us to collect room tax, we have to have a conduit to give tourism dollars to them.”

Morrissette said the city collects a portion of the room tax and uses it to defray the costs of Chamber events. The city is working on making that process more transparent, he said.

“Transparent would be great and that’s why I think having the invoicing process with the Chamber,” Johnson said. “If it’s some sort of deal with the room tax exchange, I get that, but then it should be clear on the books and easy for everyone to see and understand, so then the River Falls Business Leaders doesn’t feel slighted by what’s happened or another nonprofit.”

Abdouch described RFBL as a “mini chamber” or “mini tourism committee,” with a focus on tourism and economic growth.

Alderperson Nick Carow said he didn’t like the resolution because to him, it’s like a policy decision being made without much time to consider the implications.

“I would be curious to know best practices in other communities, because I don’t think it’s unreasonable for us to look at this as an economic development event, and if that’s so, what costs are we willing to incur for these,” Carow said. “I understand we will have one-offs. I understand it’s a process we want to tighten up and make better for the future, but I don’t love trying to make the decision in seven minutes of whether or not they should have a full cost, because why not 50%, why not 75%?”

Carow also pointed out council members don’t believe the costs indicated are precise, so he prefers not to vote on anything unless he knows the true full cost.

The council voted 3-3 on the amendment, with Carow, Downing and Mueller voting no and Odeen, Morrisette and Alderperson Jeff Bjork voting yes. Alderperson Todd Bjerstedt was absent, so Toland broke the tie with a yes vote. The council then approved providing assistance to RFBL in the form of labor and materials, which the group will pay for at $1,659 each event.

Other business

• The council accepted the public improvements associated with Phase 1 of the Oak Hill development, which includes 29 single-family and 16 two-family homes. Street names are Apollo Road, Gambel Street and Compton Avenue.
• Toland appointed Michael Gardner to the River Falls Utility Advisory Board through December 2026.
• Right-of-way and temporary easement acquisition is complete, and plans were submitted to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) for review for the South Wasson Lane project. Pending approval, WisDOT is scheduled to open bids in May and expects construction to start in June or July. Project management will be performed by WisDOT. South Wasson Lane reconstruction includes constructing a new roundabout at the intersection of Cascade Avenue and Wasson Lane and reconstructing S. Wasson Lane from Cascade Avenue to Cemetery Road. This project was awarded a WisDOT grant that will fund 80% of the construction costs.