REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
SUBMITTED TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
SUBMITTED BY: Oliver Chi, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Chris Slama, Director of Community & Library Services
Subject:
title
Direct staff to implement programming at Huntington Beach Pier Plaza and the surrounding area during the later months of the Year
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Statement of Issue:
During the past several months, staff has been assessing ways in which the City can activate Pier Plaza when our peak Specific Events season ends in October 2021. That planning effort has led to the development of a plan to implement a musical stage and an ice skating rink at Pier Plaza for the period between mid-November through early January 2022. After researching vendors, Seaside Ice, LLC DBA Ice-America (Ice-America) has proposed to install a portable outdoor ice-skating rink for the City, to be operated and managed by Ice-America, which will be supplemented with musical acts at a stage that will be installed in Pier Plaza. This will be a special holiday season event for city residents and visitors. The initial term of the agreement is three years with two possible one-year extensions.
Financial Impact:
If approved, the overall program will cost $150,000 to implement. Funding is available in the Specific Events 101 Fund for the current fiscal year.
Recommended Action:
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A) Approve and authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to execute an “Service Agreement Between the City of Huntington Beach and Seaside Inc, LLC DBA Ice-America for Huntington Beach Pier Plaza Outdoor Ice Skating Rink”; and,
B) Authorize the appropriation of $150,000 from Specific Events Fund 101 for FY 2020/21 to account 10145101.695.05.
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Alternative Action(s):
Do not approve the recommended actions, and direct staff accordingly.
Analysis:
As the peak season of Specific Events at the beach comes to a close at the end of October, there is a need and opportunity to activate Pier Plaza and the surrounding area during the later months of the year. In particular, staff researched several options to offer our residents and visitors a healthy, family-friendly, and fun Pier Plaza environment during the holiday season. Our event team learned that several cities have had great success with temporary ice skating rinks and began to look for possible opportunities for this upcoming winter season.
Upon further research with our Finance Department, staff was able to identify that the City of Temecula had recently contracted with Ice-America for the provision of an ice skating rink (Attachments 1 & 2). Since the City of Temecula had contracted with Ice-America through a competitive bid process, the City is able to use that process in recommending award of the contract to Ice-America. This process is authorized through Huntington Beach Municipal Code section 3.02.190(C) 2.
Ice-America has been providing ice rink services since 2008, and has worked with many municipalities to offer community oriented ice attractions during all seasons. Additionally, their partner, Ice-World has been operating ice rinks since 1996. Ice-America is the exclusive distributor of the Ice-World aluminum ice rink system in the U.S.A. and Canada and partners with several major vendors for the installation and operation of the ice-rink event. This highly engineered system by Ice-World is installed annually in over 600 locations worldwide.
Ice-America will designate an experienced project manager for the Huntington Beach Pier Plaza Ice Rink, in addition to a General Manager and Ice Technical Director remaining on site during the operations term. Ice-America will provide all necessary technical information to the City and support City efforts to identify, and obtain the required permits marketing and sponsorship opportunities. Ice-America will provide professional on-site management, customer service, liability-prevention and public safety as their turnkey management and day-to-day operations.
The portable ice-skating rink dimensions are 82’ x 50’ or approximately 4,100 square feet. The capacity of the rink is 164 skaters. The dates and hours of operations are proposed to be November 26, 2021 - January 2, 2022, from 2:00 pm - 10:00 pm, Monday - Thursday; 10:00 am - 11:00 pm on Friday and Saturday; and 10:00 am - 10:00 pm on Sundays. Weekday hours would be expanded while schools are out of session for winter break. This will provide ample time for residents and visitors alike to enjoy an amazing ice skating experience amidst our vibrant downtown area with the back-drop of our world famous Huntington Beach Pier. Individual admission to the rink will be $12.00, and ice skates will be available to rent for $5.00 per person.
As proposed in the agreement, the City’s share of this cost is a fixed production fee of $150,000 for year 1. Further, once Ice-America has been fully compensated for its costs, surplus event revenue will be a shared percentage of 65/35 between Ice-America and the City, respectively.
The City will retain sponsorship rights and related revenues and compensate Ice-America at standard rates for sponsorship related deliverables such as private ice time, admission tickets, signage design and production, and audio announcement design and production. Ice-America will retain a 20% commission on any Ice-America derived sponsorship sales approved by City.
Ice America’s detailed scope of work is included in Exhibit A of the contract (Attachment 3). Specific elements include designing and building the ice rink and substructure, providing a rink manager during the entire term, two ADA compliant portable restrooms rental skates and skate change area, as well as professional on-site management.
Environmental Status:
Not applicable.
Strategic Plan Goal:
Community Engagement
Attachment(s):
1) City of Temecula Agenda Report
2) Agreement for Contractor Services Between Temecula Community Services District and Seaside Ice, LLC DBA Ice-America
3) Service Agreement between the City of Huntington Beach and Seaside Inc, LLC DBA Ice-America, for Huntington Beach Pier Plaza Outdoor Ice Skating Rink