There isn’t much of a system of submitting event requests to the Albert Lea City Council.

The new city manager, Chad Adams, would like to change that to decrease unnecessary approvals and paperwork.

In the spirit of efficiency and practicality, Adams said, there is a recognized need for an ordinance to regulate the approval of a variety of different special events.

“I realized a number of requests were coming to the council that didn’t necessarily need to be approved; there was no regulation,” he said. “The ordinance will make it clear to the public which events need approval.”

Special events require city services or equipment. Services include the presence of the police or fire department, closing off streets or disturbing the flow of traffic in general. Using a city park or even utilizing traffic cones could classify an event as special.

This means some events will need City Council approval, some will need administrative approval and some won’t need approval at all, he said.

The next question is which services and equipment should the city loan out and which ones should event organizers be charged for? That aspect of the ordinance, according to Adams, is going to dominate most of the discussion about the proposal at the next City Council meeting.

The council will discuss the proposed ordinance Monday, with a second reading slated for Jan. 23. If it is approved, the ordinance is allotted up to 30 days in which it needs to be published and could be in effect by late February.

If the ordinance is approved, the process through which a special event will be reviewed is simple. It starts with the event organizer submitting an application 30 days prior to the event, along with a processing fee of $25. Next, the request is reviewed by the staff, resulting in one of three actions: the request is denied, it is approved by the staff or it is passed onto the City Council for further review.