FORT FRANCES — The draft for a new town policy covering special events is heading back to administration for further adjustment after council provided feedback to ensure parades in town aren’t negatively affected.
The Town of Fort Frances recreation and culture manager, Nathan Young, presented the draft of the town’s special events policy, a document intended to help streamline the organization and approval of special events on Town-owned land and facilities, according to the document, which will help to ensure compliance with local laws and safety standards while enhancing community engagement, tourism, and economic growth.
During this week's meeting, following some discussion between town staff and councillors, it was made clear there are still kinks to be ironed out in the draft policy, particularly around the section detailing requirements for local parades.
Town CAO Marcel Michaels noted that while he supports Young’s report, the fact that council spent so long on certain items suggested more time was needed to make sure that everyone would be happy with it when it was finally passed.
“Although I do support manager Young’s report, I do want to caution council, if there’s reservations on certain elements, I would encourage to table this and then it would give administration an opportunity,” Michaels said.
“I want to make sure that there our insurance protocol isn’t inhibitive of having events. We do not want to be a community that makes you jump through hoops. There’s a lot of debate and questions that came out tonight, and there’s no sense in rushing this if there’s uncertainties.
"We could have another look and make sure that we’re following all our internal practices. If we’ve overlooked something, we don’t want to pass anything.”
The matter in question was found in an appendix of the draft plan, specifically Appendix C – Parade Rules and Regulations.
Council members brought forth some reservations about particular passages in that appendix, which they felt could have a significant impact on those who organize parades throughout the year, as well as the residents who enjoy them.
Within the draft policy, a regulation for parades reads that those who wish to enter floats into a parade, be it Santa Claus, Canada Day, or even the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship, must obtain an insurance certificate with a minimum of $2,000,000 in public liability insurance policy which also names the Town of Fort Frances under “Additionally Insured.”
This insurance would be applied to the vehicle that would be pulling the float, but according to Young, the organizer of the event would also be required to hold additional insurance for liability as well. Upon questioning from Coun. John McTaggart, Young explained that the event organizers would thus be responsible for making sure that each participating vehicle was adequately insured.
“The town would not need to see proof of that insurance of each individual vehicle that’s in the parade,” Young said.
“However, the event organizer signing off on the permit is agreeing that each vehicle in the parade would hold their insurance.”
Coun. Steven Maki expressed some concerns over the rule, noting that no drivers in town would have the Town of Fort Frances included on their insurance even if they did already have a $2,000,000 policy.
Young noted that in his time working for different municipalities and helping organize parades there; he’s found it’s not a difficult task to get that insurance requirement sorted out.
“The process to get the town listed as ‘additionally insured’ is a quick phone call to an insurance provider and no additional cost to the name holder of that policy to get that listed on,” he said.
“That’s just a forewarning that the insurance provider is aware that this vehicle is taking place in a parade for a municipal event. That’s what the ‘additional insured’ is, and it’s put on just for the date and time of the parade.
"And so there has been, in my experience, sometimes where we’ve had to assist with the administration of that and making that phone call to the insurance providers on behalf of floats that are registered into a parade. But it has never been an issue that I’ve come across.”
Another issue brought up regarding the draft policy was around wording of a regulation that would require floats to be assembled and disassembled at the staging areas for each parade route, namely the Shevlin Woodyard and Church Street, where both of the town’s officially approved parade routes will begin and end.
Coun. McTaggart again sought clarification from Young, noting that many residents, organizations and businesses construct fairly elaborate floats that are then driven to the starting point for the parades, something that would no longer be possible in the new policy.
Young confirmed that would be the case, as it already is in violation of traffic safety laws, and the policy would additionally seek to restrict floats from driving outside of the registered parade route during the parade with any items attached to the vehicle or with individuals riding on the float or in the back of a truck.
Monday’s agenda called for members of council to provide feedback on the plan in order for administration to incorporate it and return with the final review and adoption. In addition to discussion of parade rules and regulations, administration also sought to receive feedback from council on the Town-owned properties it would or would not like to see be made available for special events, such as parks or other facilities.
However, Michaels stressed to council that it was not necessary to follow the report’s suggested timeline of adoption if there were significant concerns with any of the items within, as he interpreted council had.
“It’s the will of council, but there’s been a lot of conversation,” Michaels said.
“We want to get this right, because this is a policy that if it’s not right, it’s going to affect user groups that are going to go straight to you.
"So I do recommend council, based on the conversations I’ve heard, to maybe take two weeks and bring this back, and then I can spend time with manager Young, and we could just dot I’s and cross T’s for this. So don’t feel compelled that we must do this tonight.”
Council elected to send the policy back to administration for further review and editing. The draft special events policy will return for additional council input at their next regular meeting on November 12, 2024.
Fort Frances Times / Local Journalism Initiative
