Arts, Cultural, and Entertainment Committee Meeting – September 11, 2025
Arts, Cultural, and Entertainment Committee Meeting – September 11, 2025
The Arts, Cultural, and Entertainment (ACE) Committee of Johns Creek met on Thursday, September 11, 2025, at 6:31 PM at City Hall. Chair Zach Hahn called the meeting to order with a quorum present. The committee discussed a draft Volunteer Committee Policy, received a city update on upcoming events and projects, and approved the minutes from the July 10, 2025 meeting.
Reports & Presentations
- City Update: Staff provided updates on several city initiatives: a bond referendum for a Performing Arts Center (community meetings held Aug 21 and Sep 3, next on Sep 18 at 6 PM); successful summer concerts (The Remakes and The Purple Experience); a boardwalk sneak peek at the new park behind City Hall on Tuesday, September 30 at 5:30 PM (open to the public); and events at Autrey Mill Nature Preserve.
Discussion Items
- Approval of Minutes: Committee member Scott Braynard motioned, seconded by Cynthia Green, to approve the minutes from the July 10, 2025 meeting. The motion passed unanimously.
- Volunteer Committee Policy: Recreation and Parks Director Erica Madsen presented a draft Policy for Cultural Events and Event Committee Responsibilities. The policy formalizes the roles of volunteer event committees, including recruitment, sub-committee responsibilities (performance/entertainment, vendors, sponsorship, marketing, décor/set-up, volunteer coordination), staff oversight, and alternative dispute resolution. The committee provided feedback:
- Chair Zach Hahn suggested adding a path for conflict resolution between committee members (not just between staff and committee) and a requirement for committee members to self-identify conflicts of interest regarding vendors.
- Several members requested wordsmithing to clarify that not all six sub-committees are mandatory for every event (e.g., Literary Fair may not need a Décor sub-committee).
- Feedback on sub-committee responsibilities should also include input on the overall event, not just sub-committee performance.
- A member asked about using alternative communication channels (e.g., GroupMe) for event coordination; staff agreed to explore options.
- Chair Hahn noted the feedback will be incorporated, and the revised policy will be presented to City Council at a future work session.
Key Outcomes
- The committee unanimously approved the July 10, 2025 meeting minutes.
- Staff will incorporate the committee’s feedback into the draft Volunteer Committee Policy and present it to City Council.
- Staff will consider additional communication tools for event committees.
- The next ACE Committee meeting will be scheduled per the adopted calendar.
Meeting Transcript
Thank you. And we are recording. Calling the meeting to order at 6 31. Thank you. At this time, I'll call roll. We have Azure. Present. Matthew. Here. Zach. Here. Minakshi. Yes, here. And Scott. Present. Thank you. We have a quorum this evening. And on to public comments. Next up, reports and presentations. If it pleases the chair, I'll give a couple updates on city happenings since your last meeting. Covering some arts, culture, and entertainment related things since we've met last. The Performing Arts Center, the mayor and council have called for a bond referendum for potentially funding construction documents for a performing art center and the construction thereof. We have done, we've started a series of community meetings to help people understand what that is and what that would entail. We've held two so far, one on August 21st and one on September 3rd. The next one will be next week on Thursday, September 18th at 6 p.m. So the board is welcome. If you know anyone else that has questions, if you look at the city's website, there's an image of a performing arts facility. Click that, you'll get to the frequently asked questions. The presentation is an opportunity for us to review the basics and then answer any questions from the community. So would love you guys to attend or invite your neighbors. Also, since our last gathering, we've had a couple of great summer concerts, including the remakes and REM cover band and the purple experience, a prints cover band. And our partner Autry Mill did the singer songwriters and stories concert at their facility. So a lot of great music happening in our city. And then wanted to invite you all to we're doing a boardwalk sneak peek. So the big park we're building behind City Hall on Tuesday, September 30th at 5 30 p.m. We're gonna invite people up to the third floor to get the view from the balcony. The park is on schedule for a grand opening next summer, but we've made some really significant progress that if you're standing on the back balcony, you get a really great view of that. So we're gonna have a brief presentation and then opportunity to answer questions about the park and our progress. So a lot of great stuff going on. But I'll leave it there unless you have questions. Um is that RSVP only, or is that open to anyone? Nope, our boardwalk sneak peek is open to the public. So we're gonna have folks down in the lobby to get you up through the elevators, and then we'll have staff team members upstairs. So 5 30, Tuesday, September 30th. Unfortunately, I have to miss the I'll be out of country. Okay, well, yeah, some other time. Some other time. Next time, yeah. September 30th is the boardwalk sneak peek. September 18th, next Thursday night at 6 is the next performing arts center community meeting.
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