The Metro Special Events Handbook and the Restroom Plan

The two tests in the handbook

The handbook sets two tests, an event on Metro property or an event that needs two or more city services, and a restroom plan belongs in the file when either test is met.

A park event is on Metro property. A street event with a closure, trash collection and a police presence uses several city services. Most public events meet at least one test, so the question is usually whether the event is large enough to need a plan at all, and the organiser answers that with the crowd figure.

Where an event is on private land and uses no city services, the Metro process does not apply, and the restroom plan is handled with the owner and the organiser instead.

The tests are simple to state and easy to misjudge, so the first step is to write down the Metro property and the services the event needs, and to show that list to the office if asked.

Costs and the city services a restroom plan may depend on

Because the handbook charges organisers for city services, the restroom plan should name any service it depends on, so the cost is visible in the file before the application goes in.

A restroom plan that depends on a closed street, a Metro waste pick-up or a police presence at a crowd point names that service. The organiser then knows the cost before the application is made, and the office can see that the service was considered.

The handbook's rule is that the organiser pays for the services supplied to the event. The figure is set by the office for each event, and this guide does not state a fee.

A plan that lists the services it relies on is also easier to change, because each change can be checked against the service it touches.

What the office reads in the restroom section

The office reads the count, the layout, the accessible units, the servicing route and the close-out time, and it reads them against the closures and the crowd figure in the rest of the file.

A reader at the office wants to see where each unit stands, how many there are, how they are reached and when they are serviced. A plan that answers those questions on one drawing is the easiest to read alongside the closures.

The count is shown with its basis, so the office can see how the crowd figure became a number of units. An unexplained number is the one most likely to be questioned.

The accessible units are shown with their route, and the drawing marks the hydrants, the fire access and the exits, so the office can see that the layout keeps them clear.

Which office handles what

The Office of Special Events confirms how the handbook applies to an event, and the other city offices are involved where their own services are used, so the file goes to the office that coordinates the event.

The Office of Special Events is the place to ask whether an event needs the process and how a restroom plan fits into it. Its contact details are in the handbook, and this guide does not repeat them, so the office is named rather than given a number.

Where a city service such as solid waste collection is used, the service's own staff may need to see the plan too, and the office can say who else should see it.

Questions about a Jefferson County town that is a separate city, such as St. Matthews or Jeffersontown, are answered by the same Metro office, because the Metro government covers the whole county.

Changes after filing

A change to the restroom plan after filing is agreed with the Office of Special Events in writing, and the drawing on the day is the version the office approved.

Plans change: a crowd estimate rises, a closure moves or a unit must be placed on a different spot. The change is recorded on the plan and sent to the office before the event, so the approved drawing and the one on the ground are the same.

A change made on the day without the office's agreement is the hardest to justify. The supervisor calls the organiser before moving any unit the office approved.

Each agreed change is kept with the file, so the record of what was approved and what was changed is complete.

Keeping the file in one place

A single file holds the restroom plan, the closures, the event facts and the cost of city services, so the office and the organiser read the same set of papers.

Papers scattered across several inboxes are slow to approve. One file with a contents page and the restroom plan near the front is the easiest for the office to read and the easiest for the organiser to answer from.

The file is dated and updated each time a change is agreed, so the version on the desk is always the one the office holds.

A copy of the final file travels with the organiser on the day, so any question on site can be answered from the approved papers.

A checklist before the application

A short checklist confirms that the Metro test is met, the services are named, the restroom section is complete and the file is consistent before the application goes in.

Confirm the test: Metro property or two or more city services. Confirm the services the restroom plan depends on. Confirm the count, the accessible units, the handwash stations, the servicing and the close-out in the restroom section.

Confirm that the crowd figure, the closures and the hours agree across the file. Confirm that the Office of Special Events has been asked whether portable toilets pass through the process, and keep the reply.

Worked outline of a Metro file

A Metro file follows a sequence: the test, the facts, the drawing, the application and the answers, and each step has a date worked back from the event.

The first step is the test: Metro property or two or more city services. The second is the facts: the date, the place, the hours, the crowd and the closures. The third is the drawing of the restroom layout, the count and the servicing. The fourth is the application, and the fifth is the answers to the office's questions.

Each step is dated against the event, and the list is kept where the whole team can see it, so no step is missed when the event is busy.

When a restroom question comes back from the office

A question from the office is usually about the crowd figure, the accessible units or the placement near a hydrant or an exit, and each is answered on the same drawing.

A crowd figure that differs from the application is the most common question. The plan uses the same figure as the application, or explains the difference. An accessible unit that is missing from the drawing is the next most common question.

The office also asks where a unit stands against a hydrant, a fire lane or an exit. A drawing with those distances shown answers the question before it is asked.

Keeping the restroom section consistent with the rest

The restroom section must agree with the closures, the crowd figure and the event hours in the rest of the file, so a single inconsistency does not hold the whole application back.

Before filing, the restroom section is read against the closure plan, the crowd figure and the hours, and every figure is checked against its counterpart. A mismatch is corrected before the application goes in.

Where two parts of the file genuinely cannot agree, the reason is written beside the mismatch so the office can see it was considered.