St. Paul Park has a festival, but there is no one to run it

St. Paul Park's Heritage Days will go on in 2011, but it's still uncertain just who will plan and operate the annual summer shindig.

On the advice of its insurer, the League of Minnesota Cities, the St. Paul Park City Council voted last month to stop overseeing the summer festival's finances and instead have a nonprofit assume that responsibility.

The council expressed its gratitude to the Heritage Days committee for its dedication, but disbanded the volunteer group that has put on the town's annual celebration for the past 25 years. As a result, there is nobody yet in charge of planning next August's party. And there might not be until sometime in January.

The City Council is expected to craft and adopt a "Special Events" ordinance before it begins soliciting applications from interested parties. The city will then select a nonprofit to run the festival, said City Administrator Kevin Walsh.

Walsh said the city is not backing away from Heritage Days. It will continue to be a sponsor. The new measure will just change who is in charge of the money.

In the past, the Heritage Days Committee organized and ran the event but the city handled all the finances. If the festival made a profit, the money went to the city. If there were a loss, the city covered the expenses.

Going forward, the nonprofit will assume responsibility.

"It comes down to good risk management," said Walsh, who pointed out that neighboring cities such as Woodbury and Cottage Grove have nonprofits administering their festivals. "The City Council thought this was the best solution."

The move took Greg Langbehn by surprise. As chairman of the defunct Heritage Days Committee, he learned that his committee was no longer needed when he got a letter from the city in the mail.

"We had no clue this was coming," he said. "They didn't say anything like, 'You have one more year to get a nonprofit formed.' "

Langbehn said he's now scrambling to get something organized. He hopes to win the right to administer the festival and build on the momentum he began last year when he instituted several changes that drew large crowds and helped the event turn a profit.

There is at least one other group that has expressed an interest in taking over the job, Walsh said.

Regardless of who is chosen, Langbehn said he hopes the decision is made quickly.

"We need to get something done by Jan. 1 so we can start getting letters to vendors and soliciting contributions from donors," he said. No matter what, "the festival will go on."

Tim Harlow • 651-735-1824