Taste of Park Ridge contract negotiation OK’d by slim margin

• Reprints

Updated: February 27, 2012 8:44AM

Park Ridge aldermen narrowly approved a motion on Jan. 23 directing the city manager to negotiate a contract with Taste of Park Ridge, Inc. for the operation of the annual summer food festival in Uptown.

The City Council voted 4-3 in favor of City Manager Jim Hock drawing up an agreement with the Taste of Park Ridge organization. Once drafted the agreement will go before the City Council for a formal vote, possibly next month.

Aldermen Sal Raspanti, Dan Knight and Marty Maloney voted against the city manager preparing the contract.

For the second time Knight attempted to get the City Council to throw out the proposal from Taste of Park Ridge, Inc., as well as a proposal from Absolute Production Services, another company that had expressed interest in hosting the city’s food festival. Knight called for the city to “start over again” by seeking new applications.

“The financial analysis we got on the two deals is just poor,” Knight said.

Sixth Ward Alderman Tom Bernick responded angrily to Knight’s motion.

“How long are you going to drag this out?” he asked. “I’ve had it with this. It’s crazy.”

Knight and Raspanti were the only aldermen to support the motion to start the proposal process again. Knight also accused the Taste of Park Ridge of failing to properly complete the application. Taste of Park Ridge representative Mel Thillens denied that was the case.

“We did submit a (request for proposal) that was in compliance with everything the RFP requested,” he said.

Taste of Park Ridge, Inc. has operated the Taste of Park Ridge since 2005. The proposal from the organization states that revenues from last year’s festival totaled $119,987, with expenses of $111,589. After setting aside $20,000 in an “event perpetuation fund,” the Taste plans to share half of any profits it earns from the 2012 event with the city of Park Ridge, according to the proposal. The Taste has also promised to fully reimburse the city for all expenses it incurs, a requirement the City Council had been seeking when it sought proposals from companies to operate the festival.

Plans call for the Taste to be held July 12-14, with events ending each night at 11 p.m. Under the proposal the surcharge for each food ticket purchased will be increased, though the amount was not specified.

On Jan. 23, Maloney expressed concerns about language in the Taste of Park Ridge’s proposal that if the city terminates its contract with the organization for any reason it must reimburse the Taste for “any unrecoverable expenses.” Maloney questioned whether the city would be “on the hook” if a storm required cancellation of the event.

“Our position all along is that we wanted no risk,” he said.

First Ward Alderman Joe Sweeney and 2nd Ward Alderman Rich DiPietro said language could be modified in the final contract to protect the city if “acts of God” forced the cancellation of the Taste. Third Ward Alderman Jim Smith expressed a different opinion, saying the city should pay the Taste of Park Ridge’s costs if the city cancels the festival.

Debates and, at times, angry exchanges involving the Taste of Park Ridge have been taking place at City Council meetings since August 2011. One of the main issues some elected officials had was that the city was not being reimbursed for police, fire and Public Works expenses it incurred during the event’s operation.

A copy of the Taste of Park Ridge, Inc.’s proposal can be found on the city of Park Ridge’s website, www.parkridge.us.