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Session 1702, Minutes July 28, 1997 AGENDA ITEM NO. 7 - FAIR IN THE SQUARE: The City Manager said that the board of directors of the Fair in the Square wished to address the Council with some concerns that have arisen in recent meetings. Mr. Adrian Sulser, 527 Green Ridge Manor Lane, wished to thank the Council and City staff for their support with the Fair in the Square over the past. Mr. Sulser said that Fair in the Square, Inc. was established as a not-for-pro~ corporation about live years ago and that they draw their board members and officers from the community at large. Presently, they have about seven people who loyally participate every year. They would like to try and draw a larger number of individuals to participate, which therein lies the problem. They are concerned about the potential personal liability of the of~cers and the directors of the Fair in the Square. It has impacted the willingness of some people to continue in their capacity as board members or as officers and they also feel it may have a deterrent effect on an individuals willingness to volunteer in the tirst place. Their request to Council is to consider their problem, possibly allocating resources, either in terms of the City's legal counsel or monetary sources to help them ligure out how the Fair in the Square can continue in an effective fashion, with people that are willing to participate in the community but do not want to have all the personal liability associated with it. They had considered approaching Council to possibly create a separate commission for the Fair in the Square which may allow their corporate status to last. They received a very lukewarm or negative response. They have also approached other commissions to lind out if it was possible for the Fair to come under their umbrella and also received a lukewarm response. One of the alternatives that the board came up with was to try and lind somebody that might underwrite a policy of directors and officers coverage. They do not know howto go about and do this. They do not have the resources to pursue this. They are hopeful that the City could possibly pursue this for them. The City has agreed to indemnify any property owner who might suffer damage in the Fair, and to include them into some of the personal injury that might occur, but there are other things that the board undertakes that would not be encompassed under the City's liability policy. These are the decisions dealing with who can participate and what activities are allowed. They do not envision any problems, but anything is possible. They do not want people penalized for doing good deeds. Mr. Lieberman said that the Arts and Letters Commission did discuss this at their last meeting. The idea of a separate commission being instituted did receive a lukewarm response as Mr. Sulser described. The idea of it operating under the scope of the Arts and Letters Commission, on the other hand, did receive some interest. From his perspective, it seemed like it was something that they would welcome and be glad to do. Right now they have the Photography Show and the Sculpture Series under their umbrella. The Arts and Letters Commission is under the City's umbrella of insurance liability and consequently, if the Fair in the Square would become a subgroup within the Arts and Letters Commission they would also be covered. Arts and Letters is tallking about it some more. Mr. Sulser said that he apologized if he interpreted the Commission's response incorrectly. They would be very delighted to work under the auspices of this commission. He said that at least three different people on the board have said that they would be reluctant to continue with the Fair unless some arrangements could be made to protect them. Mr. Wagner said that the Fair in the Square had been around for many years and more years than not it was unincorporated. He does not believe any issues had ever come up about liability, but it seemed to him that if you incorporate yourself and have a name and officers and a legal standing, you are painting a target on yourself. He asked what the thinking was behind the need to incorporate. Mr. Sulser said that there were many reasons why and that he could not enumerate them all, but one was so that they could represent the participating organizations in the Fair as tax-exempt, in order to provide them the same beneft. The participants would not have to worry about the revenues that were generated which would have a taxable consequence. The second reason was that as a corporation, if suit ever arose, then the assets of the corporation would be all that would be available to satisfy it rather than the individuals who would be involved in the enterprise. This has created a different problem, in that individuals will not be sued, but directors and officers can be.