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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 10-09-2018 Item 2 - Permitting the Use of County Property and Facilities for Hog Day on November 3, 2018 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: October 9, 2018 Action Agenda Item No. 2 SUBJECT: Permitting the Use of County Property and Facilities for Hog Day on November 3, 2018 DEPARTMENT: County Manager’s Office ATTACHMENT(S): A – Proposed Access Management Plan to Board of Elections Facility B – Letter from the Board of Elections UNDER SEPARATE COVER C – Information on Hog Day – Only Available Electronically at www.Hogday.org INFORMATION CONTACT: Travis Myren, 919-245-2308 PURPOSE: To consider a request for the use of River Park, the David Price Farmers Market Pavilion, and other County property for Hog Day 2018 on November 3, 2018 which is the last day of early voting in Orange County. BACKGROUND: Session Law 2018-112 established early one-stop voting plan hours for County Boards of Elections. This law requires that all County Boards of Elections be open for voting on the last day of early one-stop voting, Saturday, November 3, 2018. Under Orange County’s approved voting plan, the Board of Elections building must be an early voting site. The last two days of early one-stop voting have historically experienced the heaviest voter turnout. This pattern of activity has been observed in all election cycles, regardless of the type of election. Based on previous voter turnout, the Board of Elections expects that one thousand (1,000) or more voters will vote on each of the last two days of early voting. Hog Day 2018 was originally scheduled for September 14th and 15th but was cancelled due to the uncertainty of the impacts of Hurricane Florence. Event organizers have rescheduled the event for November 2nd and 3rd which conflicts with the last two days of early voting. Hog Day typically runs from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM on Friday and 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Saturday. Early voting is open from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM on Friday and 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM on Saturday. The Hog Day event typically uses River Park, the David Price Farmers Market Pavilion, and County owned parking lots. Event information is available at www.hogday.org. Due to the size of the event, streets surrounding the Board of Elections Building have been closed in the past, and the Board of Elections parking lot has been used for vendor, band, and staff parking. 1 County staff notified the Town of Hillsborough of the conflict with early voting on September 27, and a meeting was held with representatives of the Town, County, and the event on October 1. Based on this meeting, the event organizers were asked to consider rescheduling the event or to develop a traffic plan that provides the most access and the least disruption for voters with the understanding that the Board of Commissioners may need to consider balancing the conflict between the event and early voting. The event organizers do not believe moving the event to a Saturday night and Sunday would be viable. They provided the following explanations for this position. • A large majority of volunteers have other obligations Saturday evening and Sunday. • The event will have less public participation due to conflicts with church services on Sunday. • Arts and craft vendors would be less likely to participate on a Sunday. • Nonprofit and business vendors promoting their services usually participate in events on Fridays and Saturdays, not on Sundays. • Fewer volunteers would be willing to volunteer on a Sunday. • Rental companies provide discounts or do not charge extra set up fees for items that are rented on Friday and returned on Saturday evening. • Local businesses in Hillsborough would lose the positive economic impact associated with a less successful event. • The event raises money that is donated back to local children’s charities and other nonprofit/ school programs and services throughout the County. Moving the event would result in a less successful event and, therefore, fewer donations. The organizers also explained that the event could not be rescheduled to another weekend and still remain within the calendar year due to other conflicts. As an alternative to rescheduling, the event organizers have offered an access management plan that would provide access to the Board of Elections building. A map of this plan is included as Attachment A. The plan would direct traffic to King Street through the use of signage and non-uniformed personnel at each intersection to access South Cameron Street and the Board of Elections Office. This plan also moves all event parking out of the Board of Elections Parking Lot and onto the grounds of Cameron Park Elementary to open the parking lot to voters. FINANCIAL IMPACT: Permit fees associated with the event are under $200. The County has not completed an economic impact statement on the sales tax generated by the event or other economic benefits to the hospitality industry in the County. SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: The following Orange County Social Justice Goals are applicable to this item: • GOAL: ENABLE FULL CIVIC PARTICIPATION Ensure that Orange County residents are able to engage government through voting and volunteering by eliminating disparities in participation and barriers to participation. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends the Board consider and take action on a request to use River Park, the David Price Farmers Market Pavilion, and other County property for Hog Day 2018 on November 3, 2018 which is the last day of early voting in Orange County. 2 Early Voting Access s ' E ,N 1N TRY ON ST TRYO ST r` .t 7,40W D CO ter' N >a� ` low Y z - " .: Non-uniformed Personnel Directing Traffic z - `E KING ST W KING ST _- Non-uniformed Personnel r Directing Traffic W MARGARET LN E RE ITJ LN Non-uniformed Personnel N T' Directing Traffic ,- - f- 0 l D O v INZ r fA N y NASH AND KOLLOCK ST x k� ► ► 4 z BURNSIDEDR N 1 in=200 feet ORANGE m Feet Y :w,' COUNTY 0 100 ', ,.._ sI� rge County Planning and Inspection D Closed Road BC 10i5i2018 Attachment B Kathy Knight, Chair Jamie Cox, Vice Chair Elvira Mebane, Secretary Bob Randall, Member Rachel B. Raper, Director October 4, 2018 VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL Orange County Board of County Commissioners Town of Hillsborough Town Commissioners RE: HOG DAY Dear Honorable Members of the Board of County Commissioner and Hillsborough Town Commission The Orange County Board of Elections (OCBOE) has recently been made aware that the Hog Day festival which was cancelled due to Hurricane Florence has been proposed to be rescheduled for Friday and Saturday, November 2 & 3, 2018 in and around River Park and downtown Hillsborough. We are delighted that this long-standing celebration of food and community will return to Hillsborough and we personally welcome the opportunity to enjoy local crafts and outstanding BBQ! However, we are deeply concerned that the organizers have chosen to reschedule this festival for a time that conflicts with the last two days of One Stop Early Voting. As you know, the Board of Elections office on Cameron Street must serve as an Early Voting site, as mandated by state statute. The site has been designated as such in the One Stop Early Voting Plan adopted by the State Board of Elections for Orange County, and the One Stop Early Voting Period begins in a matter of days. We are therefore unable to relocate this voting site to accommodate the festival. Even if relocating the site were within the power of the OCBOE at this time, we would not wish to do so, as this site has been an Early Voting site for every election in recent history and relocating it would cause confusion for voters as well as create administrative difficulties for our staff and poll workers. We have observed that in the past that the Hog Day festival brings a very large number of people into the downtown area, requires blocking streets and re-routing traffic, generates high volumes of vehicular traffic, and makes parking scarce. Given that voting must take place at the OCBOE office on these days, we believe that the festival will cause confusion for voters, increase the amount of time required for voters to get into and out of the BOE office, and has the potential to dissuade some from casting their ballot. In addition, the congestion around the festival will make it that much more difficult for our election crews from other sites around the county to return ballots and equipment to the BOE office after the One Stop period closes and they shut down their satellite sites Saturday afternoon. ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS 208 S. Cameron Street Post Office Box 220 Hillsborough, North Carolina 27278 4 You may also be aware that the last two days of One Stop Early Voting are the very heaviest in terms of turn-out. Often on the last Saturday in particular we observe a huge spike in the number of voters per hour, often four or five times above the average voter turnout for the rest of the period. This has been true for all election cycles, whether presidential, municipal, primary, second primary or midterm, and whether we have all sites open for the full One Stop period or staggered hours over the course of the early voting schedule. Holding a festival that will generate heavy traffic, block streets and cause confusion for voters during our very busiest days merely exacerbates the problem and increases the chances that voters will choose not to wade through the chaos to cast their ballot. Our task is to ensure that all voters of Orange County are able to exercise their franchise to vote, and so this would be an unacceptable result. We have asked the organizers to consider shifting the event to Saturday afternoon/Sunday to avoid the conflict. We understand there are objections to that proposal, and would suggest that if that is not a possibility, they consider another weekend. Since they are rescheduling the event from when it was previously planned, we believe they have enough flexibility to choose dates that will not interfere with the busiest days of Early Voting. In the alternative, perhaps they could consider holding the event at another facility, such as Blackwood Farm Park, which recently hosted a very successful regional event and would be convenient for citizens of both Northern and Southern Orange. As much as we want to see the Hog Day festival succeed, our first priority is to the voters of this county, and we must therefore respectfully request that your respective Boards decline to issue permits or grant approvals for this event if the organizers will not agree to shift the time, dates, or location to avoid the conflict with the One Stop Early Voting period. We welcome the opportunity to discuss this with you further. Sincerely, ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS Katherine Knight, Board Chair Jamie Cox, Board Vice Chair Elvira Mebane, Board Secretary Bob Randall, Board Member cc: Orange County Manager Hillsborough Town Manager 5