GREEN RIVER — Denver-based event company Adelska has been granted a one-year service agreement, pending legal review, to put on Green River’s beloved Flaming Gorge Days this summer.

The Green River City Council unanimously approved a service agreement with Adelska to host the event for a total cost of $26,625, which is in the ballpark of how much the city has paid in the past for the event. Half of that amount will be paid upon the signing of the contract, which is still under legal review. Adelska was the only company to put a bid in for the event with no local groups throwing their hat into the ring.

The 2023 Flaming Gorge Days was cancelled due to lack of funding, and the city recently sought after bids to take over the event for the upcoming summer. The city’s end goal is to be completely removed from the event. With the city announcing they were seeking proposals for the event in January, and accepting a bid just this Tuesday, interested parties were left with just three months to plan and execute the two-day event.

City Administrator Reed Clevenger said they placed the contract approval on the agenda just a few hours before the council meeting, as they are trying to push it through so the company can schedule their visit to Green River and get to know the event. Staff members with Adelska will be in Green River as early as next week.

“I think it’s something that will be good in the long run,” he said.

Legal Concerns

Council members Ron Williams and Gary Killpack expressed concerns with portions of the contract as it’s currently written, and wondered why they couldn’t work out the contract’s legal terms first before getting council approval.

“So why can’t we just let you look at it for the next couple weeks, let you do your tweaking on it, and then take a look at it next council meeting and we can vote on it then?” Williams asked. “I don’t like the idea of voting in the blind here.”

City Attorney Galen West said it is standard procedure to work out legal issues after the services agreement has been approved. While Killpack was uncomfortable with the contract not coming back to the council after legal changes are made, Mayor Pete Rust said that the city has legal professionals for this very reason.

“We rely on our city attorney to make those decisions,” Rust said.

Some of the legal issues to be worked out in the contract includes the following statement in the contract: “Under no circumstances will GR be entitled to recover any damages including but not limited to lost profits, incidental damages, or consequential damages from Adelska.”

“This really concerns me,” Killpack said.

Clevenger said that is one of the statements in the contract that will be reviewed with Adelska. Additionally, Killpack pointed out that the contract implements an 18% interest rate if a payment is late. “That’s terrible,” Killpack said.

“That’s typical,” Clevenger said. “I don’t foresee us being late.”  

Liability

Killpack also noted that the contract makes it sound as though the city will be completely liable if anything goes wrong with the event.

“It sounds like to me that 100% of liability is on the city, so if they mess up and damage something or hurt somebody, or something goes wrong, we are stuck,” Killpack said.

“And that is one of the things we’re working through with them right now,” Clevenger said.

The last issue Killpack discussed was that the contract states the city will still have to pay Adelska even if the company backs out, which they have the option to do so within 60 days of the event.

“You’re pretty good at going over contracts real quick,” Clevenger said, confirming that the services agreement does currently state that. “That is another one that’s being reviewed.”

Despite his concerns, Killpack voted to approve the contract.

“Time is of the essence and I’ll put my trust in you guys,” he said.

The event dates are not yet decided, however, Flaming Gorge Days will take place in June for two days. To view the full services agreement with Adelska, click here.