Allison Farnham and Kim Keuhn virtually joined the Helper City Council on Thursday evening to give a report on the 2021 Helper Saturday Vibes as well as have a discussion on the 2022 season.
It was explained that Keuhn is passing the baton to Farnham, who will take over the day-to-day operations moving forward. Meanwhile, Keuhn will maintain a mentorship, leadership and financial role.
The estimated attendance for Saturday Vibes was 7,000 people over the course of the seven events. It was explained that 65% of the attendees resided in Carbon County while 21% resided out of Carbon County, but still in Utah, and 14% were from out of state.
It was also estimated that 280 pounds of compost was collected in the zero waste initiative and 1,220 pounds of recycling was collected by Recyclops. There were over 20 new member signups for Recyclops, a curbside recycling service, during the event and 100% of the recycling is done in the state of Utah.
In 2021, 24 part-time jobs were created throughout the event season and all employees, with the exception of one, were current residents of the area. For 2022, they wished to propose a city partnership and the first step would be adjusting the time. In 2021, the event ran from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. and the initial request was moving the event back one hour, starting at 5 p.m. and running until 10:30 p.m.
Farnham acknowledged that 10:30 p.m. is half an hour past city sound ordinances and they would like to address to sound ordinance at a future meeting. However, discussion began during the meeting about the times, possible negotiations about when the end would actually be, and how long it would take for vendor cleanup.
It was explained that 2022 aims to be a five-month operating season, starting in May and ending in September. Farnham explained that they would also like to put in place two events per month on the second and fourth Saturday. It is believed that the verbiage and language around the second and fourth Saturday would help create recognition and consistency for attendees.
Farnham also informed the council that they would like for the city partnership to be for the next six years. Due to the verbiage on the agenda and the wish for different possibilities to be explored and considered, it was decided that the 2022 Saturday Vibes topic would be tabled for the December city council meeting.