DEENA WINTER / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Wednesday, November 16, 2005 6:00 pm
The annual holiday lighting ceremony has been canceled this year, and one of several reasons cited by organizers is increased fees the city charges to close streets and sidewalks and cover parking meters during public events.
Normally, the lighting ceremony is held the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The mayor traditionally lights a tree in the Wells Fargo Bank plaza and surrounding buildings at 13th and O streets, kicking off the weeklong Star City Holiday Festival, Nov. 27 through Dec. 4.
But that won’t happen this year.
Deb Johnson, executive director of the Updowntowners, said the lighting ceremony was canceled for several reasons: Due to popular demand, the Downtown Lincoln Association is lighting up the downtown earlier this year, so by the time Nov. 27 rolls around, it would be a little anti-climactic to have the mayor flip the switch, since downtown will already be lit up. Also, staging the lighting ceremony has become increasingly difficult logistically, to close streets for the fireworks and so on.
Normally 13th Street would be closed from O to P streets and O to N streets for the fireworks display, but city officials wanted to keep the streets open as long as possible, Johnson said. And another factor is Updowntowners is trying to budget to prepare for fee increases the city plans next year for public events and street closings. All of those factors make the lighting ceremony more challenging to produce.
Scott Opfer, manager of the city’s traffic engineering operations, said the fee increases were called for in the 2005-2006 public works budget to avoid cuts and recoup the city’s costs for doing things like closing streets and hooding meters. Public works officials recently compiled a list of proposed fee increases for the mayor’s perusal, Opfer said.
In the past the city charged a $3 daily fee to hood a meter, to make up for the lost revenue, plus a one-time $10 administrative fee. Opfer said it takes about an hour, start to finish, to hood a meter, and the old fee doesn’t cover the cost of wages and gas to drive to the meter, cover it and return.
Public works is proposing that the new fees be $5 per day to hood a meter, plus a new $6 labor fee per meter, plus a one-time $30 administrative fee.
Fees will also be increased for:
* Providing traffic signal information to people, most commonly attorneys, after a car crash.
* Putting up temporary “no parking” signs.
* Installing street signs in new developments.
The Building and Safety Department is also looking at increasing the fee for sidewalk events, he said. Johnson said the Updowntowners have been told by city officials to expect a $100 fee for each block that must be closed for events, $50 for sidewalk closures and $32 to put up “no parking” signs.
Opfer said the fees haven’t been updated in several years and the current rates don’t offset the cost of providing the services. The city covers parking meters an average of 100 times a year, Opfer said, and most requests are for 10 meters.
The Updowntowners take 64 parking meters out of commission during July Jamm and Celebrate Lincoln, and have been told to expect to pay an extra $3,800 in fees per event next year — which Johnson said is a lot of money to the Updowntowners. Their events don’t pay for themselves and are supported by sponsorships.
Opfer said right now taxpayers are subsidizing the cost of covering up meters for events and individuals.
“We’re not trying to make money,” he said. “We’re trying to recoup our costs.”
Johnson said the Updowntowners hope to bring the tree lighting event back — perhaps if a civic plaza is built at 13th and P streets, as recommended by the new Downtown Master Plan.
“We value the fact that people have always celebrated this holiday lighting ceremony and we will do our best,” she said, “but we need the funding to fund our events.”
Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.