GREEN RIVER — The Green River City Council unanimously approved a consulting contract with Denver-based company Adelska for Flaming Gorge Days, while a local committee will be heading up the event.

At the Jan. 7 meeting, a previous version of a contract with Adelska failed to pass, and the Council scheduled a workshop to further discuss Flaming Gorge Days and Adelska’s involvement in the event. During the workshop Tuesday night, a new contract was presented to the Council, which states Adelska would not participate in running the event but would rather handle the consulting side of it.

According to Communications Administrator Steve Core, the amended contract states Adelska will provide consulting, marketing, branding and advertising, an event playbook and training, and will keep track of the financing. Adelska will handle all payments and sign ups for different aspects of Flaming Gorge Days on a website they run. The new consulting contract amount is for $16,406, which is down from the previous contract amount of $21,500. This new amount is due to Adelska predicting that they will put in 131.25 hours of work into Flaming Gorge Days at a rate of $125 per hour.

Meanwhile, a local Flaming Gorge Days committee will be running the different features of the event, including the concert, parade, vendor fair, 3-on-3 basketball tournament, and more. A volunteer group visited the city last week to express their interest in taking on the event, stating they could do it all except for the things Adelska would provide according to the contract. The volunteer group will assign committee heads to the specific activities with the goal of returning Flaming Gorge Days back to the local level.

Resident Tom Niemic said he believes local community members will have more success getting sponsorships from local businesses than an out of state company, which Adelska agreed with. Last year, Adelska garnered around $35,000 in sponsorships, which Niemic believes a local committee can do better than that. Additionally, Niemic helps to organize Music for Vets through the American Legion, so he said he has contacts who can help the event get bands for the concerts.

Additionally, local band Zamtrip’s Cody Zampedri said he has contact information for agents for bands, and he has already been in contact with companies who can provide a stage, production, and lighting. Zampedri said they are expecting the concert to cost around $40,000, which would allow a good rock band to come to Green River. Niemic said a lot of this cost can be covered by sponsorships.

The volunteer group also believes having local control over the event once again will also help drive up attendance, as the event has struggled to gain momentum since the COVID-19 pandemic and the former Main Street administrator’s theft of Flaming Gorge Days funds.

“It just takes a few caring citizens to get on a committee,” Niemic said.

Ken Yeager, City of Green River Chief Building Official and local business-owner, said his businesses have always sponsored Flaming Gorge Days, and he does so knowing that he won’t see a return profit on that sponsorship. Instead, it’s his way of giving back to the community by ensuring residents have something to do here.

“It’s not always about a profit,” he said.

Council Member Sherry Bushman, Mayor Pete Rust, and Core all stated that to put on an event like Flaming Gorge Days, the city will have to put some money towards it. Additionally, they acknowledged that to build the event back up, it will require time and baby steps.