BottleRock: 'If We Can't Figure Out How to Protect Residents, Then We Shouldn't Do It'

Napa City Council vowed Tuesday to do a better job on all fronts if BottleRock Napa Valley music festival returns next year.

The inaugural five-day event ran May 8 through 12 this year at the Napa Valley Expo, a state-owned and regulated facility within the city limits near downtown Napa.

Because of neighborhood problems this year, City Council members said they would strive for earlier and more detailed advance planning, extensive networking with the Expo Board and hiring professionals to monitor noise levels.

"Neighbors feel that they came out as losers this time, and we have to deal with that," said City Councilwoman Juliana Inman.

"Keep in mind that we are here to protect and serve the residents of the city of Napa," she added. "If we can't figure out how to do that, then we shouldn't do this."

Inman's comments came after Napa Police Capt. Steve Potter told City Council that more needs to be done to regulate the special events permit process to avoid problems that occurred during the event.

"We need something like an environmental impact report," he said. "Something that details all the impacts of noise, waste and traffic."

Recommendations include limiting the festival days to three instead of five, engaging professional state regulators to monitor amplified sound levels, and working more closely with the Napa Valley Expo Board on the timeline for the application process.

"Businesses want more face-to-face contact with the city," Potter added. "Residents said they had problems with sanitary waste -- such as concert-goers urinating and defecating on their lawns -- and with parking, traffic and late-night noise."

Other recommendations are to build a structural sound barrier and to eliminate police patrol helicopters used in the evenings to monitor the traffic flow.

"It would be nice to have the noise impacts addressed in advance," Potter said.

Potter said the festival still owes the city $106,729 for the services of city police and firefighters and other city staff. Other BottleRock debt to unpaid workers, vendors and sub-contractors now totals almost $2.5 million, according to published reports

"Napa Police are investigating one instance of a check to a business that bounced due to non-suffficient funds," Potter said Tuesday. "There were two checks with non-sufficient funds investigated last week, but one of those has now been paid."

BottleRock co-founder Bob Vogt told ABC7-TV News in a quote broadcast at 6 p.m. Tuesday that the music festival is "very close to partnering" with "someone who will allow us to honor all our obligations."

Vogt did not identify that benefactor or partner.  At least two businesses have so far filed lawsuits in Napa County Superior Court against Vogt and co-founder Gabe Meyers seeking to be paid for their services.

The Expo Board, which met Tuesday afternoon, has not yet approved a new contract for BottleRock 2014, although the festival is already promoting next year's event.

"What I find terrifying is that they're already selling tickets," said resident Lance Burris, who attended both Tuesday's Expo Board and City Council meetings. "Where do you think that money's going to go? It will go to pay the debt for this year's event."

Burris and other residents at Tuesday's City Council meeting said their main problem was the noise levels.

"We had 14 hours of amplified music and noise," said Expo neighbor Pam Barker, referring to sound checks starting at 9 a.m., festival music until 10 p.m. and helicopter noise until midnight. "Our windows were rattling."

Barker said her research shows that it takes 110 decibels to rattle windows, and "OSHA says that people should not be exposed to more than 30 minutes of 110-decibel noise at a time," she said.

"What about our school children and their hearing?" Barker said. "I think the Expo is the wrong venue." She suggested other spots, such as the Napa Airport.

Burris agreed, pointing out that the nature of rock concerts was to make loud noise.

"It is not possible to accommodate a mega-rock concert in a community facility without doing violence to the surrounding neighborhood," he said.

But resident Charlie Eckstrom, a BottleRock volunteer, said City Council should "not forget that a lot went right" with the festival.

"It brought in a lot of people to Napa who had never been here before," he said. "In my opinion, the behavior of people after the concert was better than the behavior of people after the (Napa County) Fair."

Eckstrom, however, said he agreed with another speaker who recommended turning the main stage speakers around 90 degrees so that the sound focused more on the downtown area rather than on the neighborhoods.

"I like the idea of reorienting the sound," he said. "I also think reducing it to three days would improve things dramatically."

The timing of BottleRock was also a matter of debate. Potter said hotel owners would prefer it to occur between December and May 1, and not on Mother's Day as it did this year.

"But that's our rainy season," said Vice Mayor Peter Mott. "How can we promote that?" Mott, however, said he agreed that "five days was a crazy excess; three days would be better."

According to the BottleRock Napa Valley website, next year's event will be Friday, May 9 to Sunday, May 11.  Other dates have also been mentioned publicly, but it was not immediately clear whether any dates have been confirmed.

"We've got to start these discussions with the Expo Board a lot earlier," said Councilman Scott Sedgley. "It looks like it's going to happen in some form next year."


























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