The City of St. Helens has taken the next step in trying to select a new events coordinator, with the council voting to approve a notice of intent to award for Treadway Events & Entertainment LLC.
The notice of intent to award begins the negotiation with the selected contractor candidate and also opens a seven-day “objection period.” The council made the unanimous decision at a special session on June 17 after hearing presentations from two finalists who submitted proposals as part of the city’s request for proposal (RFP) process.
To clear up controversy surrounding the tourism contract, the city put out an RFP for event management services on Apr. 22. The closing date for the RFP was May 22.
“The intent of this RFP process is to award a contract and have an event management services contractor on board to plan and execute 2024 Spirit of Halloweentown events,” St. Helens Communications Officer Crystal King said.
Current event contractor Tina Curry of E2C Corp. has been the driving force behind much of St. Helens tourism and has contracted with the city in that role since 2017. Community members and councilors have credited her with making the Spirit of Halloweentown the large scale event it is today. The contract is set to expire on Jun. 30.
During the presentation, the council heard and asked questions of Portland-based Treadway Events and local company Cascadia Glamping, who were the finalists of the RFP process. The council scored the presentations using a points system: 50 points for the presentation and 10 points for each of the nine questions the council asked. The maximum points would be 140 points.
The final scores for each
councilor were:
Brandon Sundeen
134 for Treadway Events, 131 for Cascadia Glamping
Jessica Chilton
132 for Treadway Events, 120 for Cascadia Glamping
Mark Gundersen
140 for Treadway Events, 140 for Cascadia Glamping
Russell Hubbard
113 for Treadway Events, 120 for Cascadia Glamping
Rick Scholl
121 for Treadway Events, 66 for Cascadia Glamping
The notice of intent to award was given to Treadway Events. The totals for both presentations were 577 points for Cascadia Glamping and 640 points for Treadway Entertainment.
During its presentation, Treadway Events President Brandon Treadway said the company started in 2015 with a focus on “all things Holloween.” With an eye on being sustainable year-round, the company became an event planning production and promotion agency. The company is based in Portland but serves communities in Washington, including Longview, Kelso, and Seattle.
Each of the councilors thanked Cascadia Glamping and Treadway Events for their submissions, but ultimately, the scores pointed to Treadway Events being selected. The reasoning was primarily that Treadway Events was more equipped to handle large-scale events, while Cascadia Glamping is still a young company with less experience with big-scale events.
Scholl said he wanted to wait until the June 20 council meeting to make a decision and ensure they weren’t rushing things. Chilton responded that she doesn’t think the process has been rushed, that the finalists were “good candidates,” and that they can take on the project and “do fine.” After discussion, the council voted to approve the notice of intent to award.
Questions on continuity
During its presentation, Treadway Events said they spent time familiarizing themselves with the signature events the city puts on, which are included in the contract.
The contract includes events such as 13 Nights on the River, the 4th of July Celebration, Spirit of Halloweentown, and the Christmas Tree Lighting. Treadway said that he feels that each of the events falls in the scope of what their company has done in the past, but that they also want to improve the events wherever they can.
When asked what concerns or questions Treadway has about accepting the contract, Treadway posed several questions.
“In general, is Treadway Events, or any contractor, required any out-of-pocket expenses, to cover them, without reimbursement in advance?” Treadway asked.
“The way it’s set up now, is that the contractor is paid their fee, and they have to produce the events and generate revenue,” City Administrator John Walsh said.
As a follow-up, Treadway asked, “In terms of the event budgets in particular, are there funds available to take care of AV or talent? Or is that coming out of our pocket, and then getting reimbursed?”
Walsh said the way it is set up now, the money for those expenses would be out of pocket.
Treadway then asked what the transition plan would be for the 13 Nights concert series as the city changes from its current contractor.
“That’s a good question. We’re going to talk about that at our council meeting in a couple days, because we are coming up on the end of that contract and coming into the new July that has no contract,” Scholl said.
Walsh said bands have been lined up, but it’s not under contract because the “contracts overlap.”
Treadway then asked about downtown construction, noting that it’s a “huge concern” and about the timeline for hosting Halloweentown.
The council said they are trying to nail down an exact timeline, but Scholl said the city has “other city parks,” and Chilton said there are other city assets that can be reconfigured, like the “UFO museum.”
Another important note Treadway brought up was seeing figures for last year’s events to set expectations.
“In terms of accepting the contract, one thing that we would absolutely love to get eyes on is the 2023 event budgets, for each one, just to see where some of that money went, make sure that it’s within our scope, and we don’t see anything odd about any of that kind of stuff,” Treadway said.
No comment was offered in response by the council.
Funding events
The Columbia County Chronicle & Chief reached out to Walsh to see if there is an operating budget for tourism events, and he said the current RFP “does not propose an operating budget for the new event contractor.” In an email to the Chronicle & Chief, Walsh detailed what the structure looks like for the coordinator to fund events.
“Under the new proposed contract, the contractor selected is responsible for financing events with whatever business model that they chose. The city gives the contractor a negotiated contractor’s fee, and the contractor is responsible for making up the difference of any additional capital needed to successfully run the events,” Walsh said. “This could be through a combination of capital that the event contractor’s business brings to the table, securing sponsorships, and ticket sales.”
There has been discussion of a Wauna account that E2C uses to fund events, when asked if this could be an operating budget for the new contractor, Walsh clarified.
“Per the city’s contract with E2C, the Wauna account is managed by E2C for the payment of budgeted and approved tourism expenses, including any fees,” Walsh said. “Upon termination of the contract, the remaining funds are turned over to the city. The current RFP process does not propose an operating budget for the new event contractor.”
Community members speak up for Tina Curry
Though two finalists were the focus of the council’s questions, community members who spoke during the public commment portion of the meeting focused on current event contractor Curry and E2C Corp.
Many of the public comments were made in support of Curry and E2C, with questions for the council about why she is not in consideration for the position.
With the contract is set to expire on Jun. 30, members of the community expressed concern that the short timeline ofonboarding a new contractor starting July 1 may put events like the sandcastle competition, 13 Nights on the River, and Spirit of Halloweentown in danger.
Brittany Lapp works on the Sand Island Sand Castle Competition, and she expressed concern about there being enough time to plan this year’s event if Curry is no longer the events coordinator.
Another community member raised concerns about how much time a new company would have to plan the Spirit of Halloweentown in just a few months. He also mentioned that whichever company is selected will need to raise funds for a large-scale event.
Other public comments honed in on Curry’s experience in the community and the way E2C has supported local nonprofits.
Community member Brady Preheim raised concerns over the committee and councilors who graded the proposals from contractors. Preheim said the new contract seems to be for a “micromanaged employee” instead of an independent contractor. Preheim emphasized that the scoring and selection of the finalists have not been transparent to the public.
“I want to see what the scores look like, I want to see how it was biased, and I want to know whose scores we should be eliminating that have a clear bias against Tina,” Preheim said.
After hearing public comments, the council deliberated about tourism and the new events coordinator. Chilton credited Curry for her service to the city but said that Treadway Events may be the ticket to expanding the event.
“As we’ve heard in this room, this is a passionate topic. It’s been the baby of the city for a very long time, and it has really grown thanks to E2C. They have really grown it from a pumpkin, to a huge festival,” Chilton said. “Some positives from Treadway is having that big event scale. That’s where I see Halloweentown transforming to, that’s my vision for it.”
Follow this developing story at thechronicleonline.com, thechiefnews.com, and in the Wednesday print editions of the Columbia County Chronicle & Chief.
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