DRIPPING SPRINGS — At its April 2 meeting, Dripping Springs City Council unanimously approved an ordinance to protect the city’s logo and seal, alongside updating the Non-Profit Event Triangle Banner Program. The purpose of the ordinance is so that the city council may properly protect its logo and seal from unauthorized use to avoid confusion among residents and consumers alike, according to agenda documents. “We’ve been talking about protecting our logo for quite some time. Some of them have already been service marked, we are working on service marking newer ones so they are protected by state law,” said Dripping Springs City Attorney Laura Mueller. “One of the things that we’ve been discussing is protecting it through ordinance, so this would protect the logo and the seal. It defines what those logos are; we have a lot of logos here for our different entities.” The city logo and additional city logos — including Dripping Springs Night Sky, Dripping Springs Fair & Rodeo, Dripping Springs Farmers Market and more — may be used by city employees and elected and appointed city officials in connection with the performance of official city business or city-sanctioned events, as stated in the ordinance. The city secretary, the city secretary’s designee or the interim city secretary is authorized to use the city seal on any ordinance, resolution, proclamation, commendation, certificate or other instrument approved by the city council or executed by the mayor, or other city officials, and to use the city seal to authenticate official documents in the conducting of official city business. Other approved uses include: • Any organization or person wishing to use the city seal, city logo or additional city logos shall make an application for a license for such use to the city council. The use may only be authorized for events in which the city is an active participant, including but not limited to, staffing, event planning, funding or compensation for which the event’s organizing entity has an executed agreement. Rental of city facilities alone is insufficient for logo and seal use. • All political or artistic expression, or non-commercial editorial expression for purposes of education or history, whatever the medium, that does not have the tendency to confuse reasonable members of the public as to the city’s endorsement of said expression. In her presentation, Mueller explained that third parties that are wanting to use the city logo need to apply to the city council. “We’ll look at the type of organization, whether the city is an active participant in the event and it has to be by written agreement,” she said. The following unauthorized uses of the city seal, city logo and additional city logos were also approved as a component of the ordinance. • No person, including any elected officer of the city, may use the seal, logo or any additional logos in any correspondence or other printed materials distributed in favor of or against any ballot measure or in favor of or against any candidate for public office if such use has the tendency to cause public confusion on the city’s position in favor of or against any ballot measure or candidate. • No person, corporation or other similar entity shall use the seal, logo or additional logo for commercial purposes without obtaining express consent. • No person, corporation or other similar entity in active litigation against the city may use the seal, logo or additional logos. Mueller said that the city has been working on drafting and adopting this ordinance for “quite some time” and that it’s very common for other entities, like cities, to protect their logos.
Banners at the Triangle Also during the meeting, council approved the updated Non-Profit Event Triangle Banner Program. This comes after the council considered repealing the Co-Sponsorship Policy on May 2, 2023, and then readdressed it on Aug. 1, 2023, but ultimately did not take any action. “This came about because we have a Co-Sponsorship Policy, but it really wasn’t a co-sponsorship as much as [it was] a way for people to get banners on the Triangle,” Mueller said. “We came up with something that was more simplified for staff, but would also have some additional benefits.” In the current Co-Sponsorship Policy, nonprofits and 501(c)(3) organizations would be allowed to place banners on the Triangle, the city would be recognized as a sponsor, city ordinance compliance would be required and the city would not discriminate against who could put a banner on the Triangle and who could not, as the organization would just need to complete an application. Some of the alternatives to the Co-Sponsorship Policy include: having a Dripping Springs Ranch Park banner for events held at the facility; use agreements related to the use of city facilities that could include signage; placing one banner for $25 per sign on non-commercial property with permission from the property owner; a Parks & Community Services sponsorship gives an entity or individual the ability to advertise on a city banner/city event; and the ability to apply for nonprofit discounts for the use of city facilities. “One of the reasons why we are trying to simplify this is because there are so many other options for people to get signs, if that’s really all they are looking for,” Mueller said. The practical effects of changing the co-sponsorship agreements to Triangle banner agreements are the following, according to Mueller. • Fewer banners on the Triangle — they will mostly be for city events • Discounts are still available • City logo use restricted and protected by separate ordinance • Banners at DSRP are still available for events at DSRP • Banners on any non-residential property with agreement of property owner • City council and staff do not have to make content-based decisions on what banners to put on the Triangle, other than city events For an applicant to participate in the Non-Profit Event Triangle Banner Program, the applicant needs to agree to provide all information requested, including the rental agreement with the city in order to ensure eligibility. Other requirements include: the event must use a city facility; the applicant can not be in active litigation against the city; only nonprofits can apply; and the use of the city logo requires a separate application, Mueller said. “If they meet all of that criteria, if there’s room, the city will display a banner for an event for up to 30 days on the Triangle,” Mueller said. “City banners will have priority. If someone comes and moves a banner, we will remove it.” To watch the full meeting, visit
bit.ly/43Ny9Zq . Dripping Springs City Council will consider repealing the Co-Sponsorship Policy at its next meeting on April 16.
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