As the process of securing an event coordinator continues to unfold, the City of St. Helens has canceled the Sand Island Sand Castle Competition, citing logistical issues and the lack of a tourism contractor.
The decision to cancel the competition was made by the St. Helens City Council and was discussed during the work and regular city council meetings on July 16. The council expressed regret over needing to cancel the event, but deemed it necessary due to the lack of planning time as the city negotiates with Treadway Events & Entertainment LLC.
City Administrator John Walsh detailed some of the issues with holding the event this year via email. Part of the issue stems from logistical problems created by the transition of event management services from E2C, which ended June 30, and the new contractor not being in place yet.
“The primary issue is that the city does not have an executed contract with a new event contractor yet and the Sand Island Sandcastle Competition was scheduled to occur August 2-4, 2024. The city does not have the logistical resources and staffing to organize the event, which is complex due to it being on Sand Island,” Walsh said. “Sand forms need to be built, restrooms and portable showers need to be transported to and from the island, equipment necessary to build the sculptures needs to be transported, a shuttle needs to be in operation to ferry attendees to and from the island, and sufficient lead time is needed to promote the event and sell tickets.”
The sand castle contest was started in 2021, and though the competition will not be held this year, the city and council hope to bring the event back next year under the management of its new event coordinator. During the council regular session on June 16, sand castle competition coordinator Brittany Lapp expressed disappointment about the late cancellation of the event.
Lapp helped coordinate securing “16 or 17” carvers for the event and described how hard it was to tell them the event wouldn’t be happening.
“They’re pissed. I feel like my integrity has been jeopardized. It’s been really tough dealing with the backlash. They know it’s not completely my fault, but they’re frustrated,” Lapp said. “This is something that we’ve really started to build and make.”
One disappointing aspect of the cancellation is that there was an Oregon Public Broadcasting special that was going to feature the Sand Island Sand Castle Competition and some of the carvers who partake.
“It makes me sick that this film’s going to be released and I’m one of the main spokespersons of it, all of our carvers are going to be so excited to share it, but it’s like, ‘Oh, by the way, it’s not happening,’” Lapp said. “It’s just very frustrating.”
Ultimately, Walsh said the city hopes to hold the event again in 2025 when “a new contractor is on board and there is sufficient lead time to plan and promote the event.”
Speaking at the council regular session, Scholl explained more about the logistical issues of holding the sand castle competition.
“Our contractor had signed agreements with the sand castle competition, and failed to pay the insurance on the boat, and give you the revenue source,” Scholl said.
Scholl apologized to Lapp, saying that that the sand castle competition’s cancelation this year was a result of the previous contractor.
“Brittany, I apologize that our old contractor signed an agreement with you, unbeknownst to us. She is an independent contractor, who is, through legally, jamming up a lot of stuff. And failed not just us, but you as well,” Scholl said.
Some of the reasons the council cited for cancelling the event during the council work session on July 16 were the inability to sell tickets to the event, and the inability to pay the $1,000 stipend to carvers. This was an issue born out of the city saying it does not have access to the Discover Columbia County website (where tickets were sold), or access to the tourism operational Wauna account.
“We can not do the event, it’s just not possible,” Council President Jessica Chilton said.
She also expressed that she doesn’t think the council should be making decisions about the event without an events coordinator in place.
Event coordinator update
During the July 16 work session, Walsh described the negotiation process with Treadway as ongoing and developing day by day. On July 22, Walsh told the Chronicle & Chief that negotiations are “proceeding and we anticipate having a contract with them soon.”
Coming to an agreement with Treadway is an urgent priority for the city as they prepare for Halloweentown this fall. During the July 16 work session, Mayor Rick Scholl expressed that there is still plenty of time to hold Halloweentown this year. Walsh and others emphasized that Halloweentown will look different this year because of construction in the Riverfront District and that the event will have a new manager.
The break with the city’s previous event coordinator has not been without issue. Previous event contractor Tina Curry of E2C Corp. had been the driving force behind much of St. Helens tourism and has contracted with the city in that role since 2017. Curry filed a protest to the city for its choice of Treadway Events as its preferred candidate. On July 8, the city issued a response to the appellant denying the protest.
One point of contention between the city and E2C Corp. is the city being unable to access social media accounts associated with the city’s tourism program. There has also been talk of a “Wauna [bank] account” that has funds associated with tourism. Discussion of the account has stirred discourse online and at council meetings over who the funds in the account belong to, between the city and E2C.
When asked about the city trying to recover access to the “Wauna trust account” and the social media pages, Walsh said, “the city is working with our legal counsel and E2C regarding the funds in the Wauna Account and the social media accounts. Under advisement of our legal counsel, additional details are not being disclosed at this time.”
Scholl offered some insight into ownership of the tourism account when speaking during the July 16 regular session.
“I can say we own all the assets, and the tourism account is ours. We own the entire tourism program. Guaranteed. But we have to go through the process,” Scholl said. “That’s all we can say about that right now.”
Message from City Administrator John Walsh
Though the city has been going through turbulence with its tourism program, Walsh emphasized that there are many other areas that the city is working on to support the “health, safety, and wellbeing” of the community. In addition to the ongoing projects in the Waterfront Redevelopment Project, Walsh referenced the city’s work to bring more industry back to town.
“The city has a Letter of Agreement (LOA) with Project Arcadia to negotiate terms to restart the paper mill and bring back jobs to our community,” Walsh said. During his report to the council during the council work session on July 16, Walsh described an agreement for Project Arcadia as “imminent.”
Walsh said that progress has been made on the new police station, and noted a variety of other programs and projects the city has been undertaking. Walsh said that the city is working to address sewer capacity issues identified in the Sewer Master Plan, updating the Transportation System Plan. Other items in process Walsh discussed are “securing additional funding to build a new water reservoir,” selling the city’s Millard Road property, and several departments working on code updates to address new state and federal legislation and ensure the city is "providing effective services to the community."
“While tourism is one component to the overall success of St. Helens, the City of St. Helens is working on many other important projects and services to support the economic health, safety, and wellbeing of our community,” Walsh said. “This is all being done while our staff continue to provide the day-to-day services that are necessary to preserve the highest possible quality of life for our residents, businesses, and visitors.”
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