At its Oct. 2 meeting, the Hollister’s city council heard comments and received a letter from Rob Dixon, Director, Operations and Member Relations, Hollister Chamber of Commerce. Dixon made comments about Hollister’s Grape and Fall Festival held on Sep. 27 and presented the council with a letter of thanks from the Chamber.
The letter expressed the Chamber’s “Sincere gratitude for the City of Hollister’s participation in the 2008 Grape and Fall Festival” and its appreciation of “the significant amount of labor, material, and other support that the City contributed to the effort.” It went on to acknowledge that without the city’s help and involvement the event would not have been the success that it was.
The letter went on to say, “The 2008 Grape and Fall Festival was a success by many measures. The event attracted approximately 4,500 people to the Downing Street area, and a significant number of those visitors were new to our community. Our food and craft vendors benefitted from the large turnout, as many reported that they had high sales and that they want to participate in next year’s festival and any others that take place in Hollister. Downing Street merchants benefitted from increased traffic through and in front of their shops, and we worked with them in order to maximize their exposure to the large crowd.”
In other business the council approved the first reading of an ordinance to amend Chapter 245 of the city code by adding a new section 245.035 entitled “Temporary Health Permit Fees.” Rick Ziegenfuss, Hollister City Administrator said the amendment is intended to to cover the cost of inspections and other administrative fees associated with the serving of food at temporary events such as Hollister’s Annual Grape & Fall Festival.
Under the new ordinance it is the responsibility of the Event Organizer to complete a Temporary Food Event Organizer Application, make sure each food vendor completes a Temporary Food Service Operator Application, and submit all required applications and designated fees to the city 30 days prior to the event. The Event Organizer Fee is $50.00. The fees for for each temporary food vendor is based on a sliding scale fee based on the number of food vendors participating in the event with a fee of $25.00 each for 0-10, $20.00 each for 11 to 20, $15 each for 21 to 30 and $10.00 each for 31 or more vendors.
Kelley Beets, Senior Loss Control Consultant, Missouri Intergovernmental Risk Management Association (MIRMA) announced MIRMA is awarding Hollister a $6,500 grant toward the $10,000 purchase of new video surveillance equipment for the Hollister Police Department to replace the older equipment currently being used in the jail. The city of Hollister will pay the $3,500 difference. MIRMA is an alliance of governmental entities, of which the city of Hollister is a member, providing comprehensive, competitively priced insurance and risk management services to its members.
The council had the second and final reading amending Section 401.070 permitting more flexibility for sediment and erosion control plans and requiring their submission with the grading permit application and required fees. It also heard a report on some of the progress being made in the Ashley Square Subdivision including the installation of new stop sign, area cleanup, increased police monitoring of traffic, and a request to Empire Electric for additional subdivision lighting.
Furnished Courtesy of the Branson Daily Independent.
