Earlier this month, the Hernando County Board of Commissioners held a regular meeting where they discussed potential changes to the county’s Special Events Policy No. 17-01. All five of the commissioners agreed that some adjustments must be made to aspects of the code.
They workshopped some of the ideas at the August 13 meeting and issued direction to County Administrator Jeff Rogers to modify the code. Private properties that are hosting special events will no longer be required to have additional insurance, and a “point of contact” will need to be identified through the Tourism Department.
“The purpose of this policy is to protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Hernando County as well as to provide a uniform method of processing requests for all special events, which require assistance by the Hernando County Public Works Department and the Sheriff’s Office,” Rogers quoted the county’s events policy.
The code defines such events as those that require the help of Public Works and the Sheriff’s Office to ensure the safety of the county’s citizens. Special events can be anything from marathons to bike-a-thons, block parties to art festivals, and any others that “will use any right of way, (roads, sidewalks, etc.) within Hernando County outside the City limits of Brooksville.” The policy continued.
The county has various guidelines and requirements that must be met for businesses to be allowed to hold their festivities. These include submitting an application form and paying an accompanying $35 application fee among others, but Chairwoman Beth Narverud and others took umbrage with certain parties needing insurance for these events especially considering how expensive insurance has become.
According to Administrator Rogers, this is to cover liability issues so that lawsuits would first go to the event holder before going to the county. Multiple commissioners had questioned whether this was “proper,” especially considering how events like these help tourism in the county grow.
The discussion ultimately came to a head thanks to the Hernando Beach Front Porch Art Walk. This celebration of artistic expression, which takes place on the first Saturday of every month, began with a few businesses on their own properties and has now expanded to attract an average of 500 visitors.
“This is a standing event; it has grown, and it brings tourism into our county,” Chairwoman Narverud said. “I know we have tourism grant funding, stuff like that. With regard to the majority of the event is on private property. We have citizens walking down the sidewalks every day when they are going to restaurants. Why, just because they are walking between art venues, do we charge citizens for walking down the sidewalk to an organization who is benefiting our county by bringing people here?”
Commissioner Champion was one of the members who brought this discussion to Rogers in the first place, and he also felt that this was government overreach. Since events like these are taking place on private property, he feels it is not the county’s business. If it were on public property, that would be another thing. He was on board with notifying the county and sheriff’s office of the festivities as well as the $35 fee, but “if I am going to contain it to my property or my neighbor’s property and we’re all insured, the county should not be involved,” said Champion.
Commissioner John Allocco agreed with Champion, noting that if someone gets injured walking to and from the event, the insurance should be handled by the owner of the property where they were injured as opposed to the event holder. “They can sue no matter what,” said Allocco. “The more policies there are, the more people are going to want to sue.”
Instead of having an extra insurance policy in the mix, he added that the event holder should designate a “point of contact” who can direct the injured party to the property owner. His plan called for the event holder to notify the county of the point of contact when going through the Tourism Department.
County Administrator Rogers will take the board’s direction and return with an amended Special Events Plan at a later meeting. The entire discussion with the entirety of the commissioners’ remarks can be found on the county’s website. For more information regarding the county’s current special events policy, the full list of procedures that must be followed when requesting such events can be found in this issue.
Hernando County’s Current Special Events Policy:
“The requestor must complete an application form for a Special Events Permit and submit it to the County Administrator’s Office for review along with a check in the amount of thirty-five ($35.00) dollars for processing the application. This fee is nonrefundable.
In order for the application to be processed, said application must be submitted thirty (30) days prior to the scheduled event.
Upon submittal of the application, it will be forwarded to the Sheriff’s Office and Public Works Department for review and recommendation. The Sheriff’s Office and Public Works Department may suggest an alternate route or site for the event to ensure the health and safety of the citizens of Hernando County.
Next, the application will be forwarded to the Risk Management Office for review and determination of insurance coverage requirements. Proper proof of liability insurance, if required, must be provided and list the Hernando County Board of County Commissioners as an additional insured in the amount of one million dollars ($1,000,000) per occurrence.
After receipt of the application from the Sheriff’s Office, Public Works Department, and Risk Management Office with their comments, the County Administrator will either approve or deny the permit based upon such comments. Those permits issued will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
If the permit is denied, the applicant may submit a written request to the Board of County Commissioners for an appeal of the County Administrator’s decision.
If the permit is approved, on the day of the event the Sheriff’s Office and Public Works Department will provide manpower and equipment in accordance with the terms of the permit to provide adequate traffic control and assistance to ensure that the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Hernando County are protected.
If the permit is approved, the applicant will be required to execute an Indemnity Agreement holding the County, and the Sheriff’s Office harmless for any and all accidents, claims, etc., which may occur as a result of such an event.
If the permit is approved, the County Administrator’s office will submit a Notice of Issuance to the newspaper for publication, pay for publication of the ad, and obtain the affidavit from the newspaper, prior to issuing the permit.
Permit holders are on notice that if situations develop that effect the health, safety and welfare of residents, the Sheriff’s Office or the Public Works Department are authorized to cancel the event at any time.
On the day of the event, the permit must be available and ready for display upon the request of the Sheriff’s Office and/or Public Works Department. In the event that the applicant has not paid the appropriate fees and picked up the permit, or if the permit is not at the scene of the event, or a permit was not applied for, the event will not be allowed to occur.
The permit holder is not authorized to place signs in County right of ways. Should this occur, the Code Enforcement Department is authorized to remove such signs. Continued placement could lead to revocation and cancellation of the Special Events Permit.”
