GREEN RIVER — A contract between the City of Green River and Adelska, LLC, for the Flaming Gorge Days concert failed at the Green River City Council meeting Tuesday night due to a lack of a second on the motion, and three council members took the Oath of Office.
Council Members Robert Berg, Sherry Bushman, and the newly elected Jessica Maser took the Oath of Office Tuesday night. Former Council Member George Jost was also honored for his 20 years of service to the City of Green River.
Later in the meeting, City Administrator Reed Clevenger said that event company Adelska ran the concert for Flaming Gorge Days last year, and this year they are wanting to do the same, plus more. While this contract, which totaled $24,656, was for the concert, Clevenger said this year they are hoping to do all of the marketing, branding, and social media for the event, the parade, provide volunteers and risk management, and have their team help with ticket sales and beer banding, in addition to the concert.
The city would also help run the event, but City Communications Administrator Steve Core said that Adelska would centralize the sign ups for the parade and all events, as well as handle all payments through the Flaming Gorge Days website.
New Council Member Jessica Maser questioned if the concert was profitable last year, to which Clevenger said it was not. Additionally, Flaming Gorge Days overall was no profitable, but Clevenger said it was within the budget they set up for the event. Clevenger also said that if the event is profitable, the city will reap the rewards of that, just as if the event is a loss, the city will have to eat that cost.
The event takes place in June each year, and Clevenger said that they are trying to get the contract approved as soon as possible to give Adelska and the city plenty of time to organize the event and get the musical acts lined up. Council Member Ron Williams asked if they already had bands in mind, as he researched it and found that to get a good band for an event you need to book them at least a year in advance. Clevenger said that Adelska has some bands in mind that they’ve been communicating with, however they cannot book anyone without a contract.
AprilDawn Berg, assistant manager at Arctic Circle, expressed some concerns with working with Adelska as Arctic Circle had some issues with the company last year. The restaurant was one of the sponsors for the concert, and Berg said she felt Adelska promised some things that weren’t kept, such as providing concert tickets to her staff in a timely manner, which she said they use to incentivize their employees.
She also said they were supposed to receive t-shirts for the event which also act as advertising for Arctic Circle, and they never received the shirts. However, Clevenger said that all of the tickets and shirts were shipped to the city, so he said it must have been city staff who did not deliver the tickets and shirts to Arctic Circle in a timely fashion, or at all.
Additionally, she said they were supposed to receive social media shoutouts from Adelska, but they were improperly tagged on Facebook. She also said the communication with Adelska was disappointing. Lastly, she noted that Flaming Gorge Days is usually the busiest weekend of the year for Arctic Circle, and last year it was not.
Maser asked if any other businesses have shared this same sentiment in regard to working with Adelska, and Clevenger said this was the first he’s heard of any complaints.
Council Member Mike Shutran made a motion to approve the contract but the motion failed to get a second. Shutran said he would like a workshop to discuss Adelska’s involvement in Flaming Gorge Days further. Mayor Pete Rust requested that the workshop take place as soon as possible so they can try to get the contract figured out and get moving on organizing the event.
Volunteers Will Be Needed
Before the vote took place, Core outlined some of the things that are being planned for the event which includes the return of the 3 on 3 basketball tournament, cornhole, a volleyball tournament, and more. He said to successfully run all of these activities, the city will need people from the community to help out.
“We will need volunteers,” he said.
He suggested groups who need fundraising help with the event, including serving beer on Saturday, as the absence of beer during the day on Saturday was one of the biggest complaints against the event last year.
Core also said resident Alishae Blazich is organizing the vendors for the Festival in the Park, and she already has 72 vendors signed up. They plan to cap it at 80 due to space. Blazich also volunteered to help organize other aspects of the event including the concerts, suggesting getting some local bands to play.
The workshop to discuss the contract further has not been scheduled yet, but the conversation regarding Adelska’s involvement in the event is ongoing.
In other news, Council Member Gary Killpack announced that he has been diagnosed with cancer and has had some operations and will have some more. He said he has appreciated everyone who has reached out to show their support.
