PRIOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION:

Council received a briefing on combining the Parade and Tree Lighting in March of this year.  No action was taken at that time. 

BACKGROUND:

The Cibolo Holiday Parade was started back in 2014. The City Secretary worked with one of the Councilmembers at that time to get the City Council on board to start this event for the city.  It has grown over the years and people look forward to the event. We get approximately 2500 to 3000 people attend this event in the last few years.  The City Secretary's Office takes the lead on the parade. We are responsible for registration, line-up, grand marshall, trophies, getting all the parade entries in place the morning of the event, providing a theme for the parade, and taking all the phone calls. Public Works blocks streets and provides help at the streets, Fire provides first aid, and Police provides officers at all major intersections. The Public Works director along with the Fire Chief have notified Southern Pacific of the date of the parade.  It is only July and I'm already being ask about the Parade for this year. 

The Goal is to bring the community together with local organizations and partners spreading holiday cheer along Cibolo's main thoroughfare. 

The Tree Lighting for many years was also started and taken care of by the City Secretary's office.  Approximately five years ago this event was taken over by the Parks Department. When the City of Cibolo upgraded the Downtown area the Tree Ceremony was moved from City Hall to that area.  

If City Council would like to combine the Parade and Tree Lighting the Parade would start a little later than previous years.  The Parade normally started at 10am we would move the start time to 11:30am.  The Parade takes two hours from start to finish. The Parade would end sometime around 1:30 p.m.  There will be vendors and craft booths that will setup immediately after the parade.  The Tree Lighting will begin around 6pm.  

By combining the event staff would only have to work one Saturday for a holiday event instead of two events.  It could save staff time by only having to setup for one event instead of two which could be a cost savings.  There could also be a savings to the Police and Fire Departments on having one event in December instead of two. 

STAFF RECOMMENDATION:

Staff has no recommendations. 

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

N/A

MOTION(S):

N/A