Unlike previous commission hearings, this one took place before a nearly empty chamber. The cause for the low attendance of interested parties may have been due to questions raised on the commission’s agenda as to whether or not the commissioners would get to the item because there were so many items to be heard, but when the meeting commenced, all the other items were either postponed or dealt with quickly, and the Reggae hearing began much earlier than anyone had expected.
In his presentation, lead Humboldt County Planner Michael Richardson noted that People Productions had come up with a professional to verify their attendance. The report was done by Thomas E. Smythe, a Registered Professional Forester in the employ of North Coast Resource Management. Smythe was necessarily working from information provided by People Productions and his report included a disclaimer that it “in no way reflects an
Documents received since last month’s hearing included laudatory and enthusiastic comments from the CHP and sheriffs of both Humboldt and Mendocino counties. The packet also contained a letter from the Regional Water Quality Control Board.
”I would note that while the Regional Water Quality Control Board accepted the application from the applicants for the use of their onsite gray water disposal system, they have not yet approved that system,” Richardson told the commissioners. “We will continue to stay in contact with the regional board to make sure that if in fact they don’t feel comfortable with that method of sewage disposal this year, that they revert back to what was done last year.”
He went on to explain that for the 2007 event, they had pumped all the gray water into a storage tank and had it hauled off to an approved location for disposal.
Commissioner Tom Herman asked Richardson to summarize the changes People proposed to make. Richardson said that a change of the ticketing procedures was the biggest change being proposed. The matter of wristbands in relation to attendance consumed a great deal of discussion. People Productions proposes to go to numbered wristbands for the 2008 event to simplify the procedure and reduce the level of confusion.
Joe Moran and People Productions owner Carol Bruno appeared on behalf of the festival. Moran said that in his view the attendance report demonstrated that there were up to 25 percent less people attending the 2007 event than had attended the 2006 event.
Bruno said that the toilets and the gray water disposal are under contract with B & B Disposal and that she believed the actual disposal was done in Eureka.
Commissioner Murguia had questions as to compliance with the requirements of the Department of Environmental Health. Richardson indicated that DEH had notified People that they could submit the same plan they developed for the 2007 event for the 2008 event.
Commissioner Hansis said he had noted in the report that the event went on past the mandated closing time. Musicians were allowed to play longer than allowed as a way of keeping the crowd happy. He asked Richardson if he had thought about some method of dealing with unforeseen contingencies to avoid the commissioners having to say “they didn’t do this right and therefore we’re not going to let them do it next time.”
Richardson said that the commission could set attendance levels and identify mitigation measures for following events, but he added, “It’s really difficult during the event to respond to those sorts of issues. If the music is supposed to end at twelve o’clock and the next band hasn’t come on, it would be difficult for us to get up there on stage and say ‘we’re sorry but you can’t have the next performance.’”
Hansis responded, “So, you’re saying to me it’s easier to beg forgiveness rather than get permission?”
Richardson said that there are some things affecting health and safety that would require an immediate response, such as people parking in a fire lane, but that other things were more difficult to respond to on the spot.
Commissioner Kelly asked Richardson if anybody from the county attended the event. Richardson said that he did make a point of checking out the water system, to take a look at the camping areas and make sure that everything is as it’s supposed to be and that the shuttles are running. He said he also checked on the dust in the air around the food vendors, something that has been a concern of the health department.
Bruno affirmed that Richardson does come to the event. She also said that over the years the producers had found that it was better to let the music go on past the mandated quitting time.
”People are excited to be there,” she said, “and they want to have fun and it’s better to keep them inside the bowl listening to music than have them all congregating on the beach.” She said the music is extended only on Friday and not on Saturday or Sunday.
”It’s mostly for security reasons,” she said.
Bruno also spoke about the non-profits and community groups who depend on the festival for their annual budgets. She said they had polled all the vendors and found business down about 30 percent in 2007. She said that this made the increase in attendance by 2,000 (about a 15 percent increase) necessary so that everyone could earn enough money.
”The food and craft vendors have been pressuring us,” she said. “It takes a lot of volunteers to do a food booth and they really feel that they need to have the extra 2,000 to get the money that it takes to put together the booth to make it worthwhile to do it.”
The Reggae Rising file contained correspondence from Peter Ryce of Beginnings, John Melanson of Acorn Independent Learning Center in Point Arena, and Wendy Oliver of Bali Isle Imports attesting to the need for higher attendance so that the vendors could make more money.
Keith Bowman, owner of Patriot Gas and several other businesses in the Piercy area, said that his business had been down by as much as 50% during the 2007 event.
Commissioner Kelly asked Bruno if they had sold out at the 2007 event. Bruno said that they hadn’t, but attributed the lack of ticket sales to the lateness of the permit last year. She said this didn’t give them enough time to promote the event. She said they had given tickets away in order to increase the size of the crowd.
”We could have sold more,” she said, “but by the time we got approval, it was really late.”
When Commissioner Emad asked if the 2,000 extra tickets would go to their “bottom line” and not be given away, Bruno said that it would go to the bottom line and that they were working on ways to reduce the number of volunteers required to put on the festival.
”We’re basically reorganizing,” she said.
Emad went on to say that he thought they could improve the festival by looking at their wristband system.
”It really sounds archaic,” he said.
Emad also took Bruno and People Productions to task for their response in addressing the impact of the festival on the Southern Humboldt Community Healthcare District.
”The one area I’d like to stress,” Emad said to Bruno and Moran, “is your relationship to the hospital. In this day and age, with the health care system as impacted as it is, and you nitpick over $5,000 or $7,000 -- it just doesn’t bode well for your reputation and your sense of community. My advice to you is that you personally go over there, sit down with the hospital administrator and make the deal.”
He recommended against returning next year with a doctor to make a case that Dr. Leer made.
”That was embarrassing,” he said. “I think it would be really nice if you dealt with the hospital and helped them. They are also a nonprofit organization and they need your help.”
Commissioner Kelly raised the issue of whether or not People had made an agreement with the hospital district. Richardson said there was a “little bit of a tug of war going on and that the people at the hospital seemed to be unwilling to provide adequate documentation of those unrecovered costs.”
Richardson referred back to testimony from Dr. Lee Leer suggesting that the hospital was being adequately reimbursed through various insurance programs and in fact was benefiting from the extra business generated by Reggae Rising.
Moran said that they had “ongoing” communication with the hospital but went on to suggest that the hospital had been lax in pursuing the issue. He said that when they did hear from the district it was asking for more than People was willing to pay.
When the hearing was opened to public comment, Chairman Smith said that the commissioners would stipulate to their understanding of the economic importance of the event, so it would be unnecessary for more testimony in that area. Less than a handful of people were present to give testimony.
Charles Hanson, who identified himself as a resident of Humboldt County, was the first to testify. He said he hadn’t come to be a spoiler and had missed out on the environmental impact report for the event.
”The thing that got me here tonight,” he said, “was that I see that this is an eight-year permit.”
Hanson said he thought the southern part of the county was hurting because the resources had been “shut down,” but that he was bothered by the fact that the South Fork is an “impaired water body.” He went on to say that the South Fork has about 25 percent less water in it now than it did a few years back. He said he had looked through the Reggae file and felt that the reports did not address the impact on the river.
The health of the river was also raised by Joe Hiney, a board member of the Mateel Community Center, who said that there had been a 1.0 change in the ph level of the river during reggae. He said that this was due to urine and alcohol consumption and that it was a serious matter.
This caused some concern among the commissioners, especially when they realized that they had never seen the results of testing done on the river during the festival. Richardson said that he thought that the health department tested for colioform bacteria, but he was not certain whether or not they tested the ph level of the river.
Under questioning he said that the producers had supposedly done testing, but that he had never seen the results.
Stipulations set
When all the questions had been asked and answered, the commissioners announced their intention to approve the increased attendance. However, Commissioner Herman proposed two stipulations for 2008. The first stipulation requires that the producers hire an outside expert to verify attendance and that the plan for hiring this expert and verifying the attendance be pre-approved by the planning director before the festival takes place. He said he wanted to see a plan of action as to how they are going to verify attendance, and the acceptance of this plan will be a condition on the permit. He said that although he respected the integrity of the registered professional forester who did the after-the-fact attendance verification, he didn’t think that was the right professional for the job.
He also requested that, in regard to the water monitoring, that a plan be developed beforehand for doing the water monitoring and that plan also needs to be presented for approval by the planning director prior to the event. The producers will also be expected to turn the test results over to the planning department.
Chairman Smith also reminded the applicants that their credibility was at stake.
That said, the commissioners voted to approve the increase in attendance, dependent on the pre-approved attendance verification and water quality testing.
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