Christian County sets fees, insurance and staffing rules for courthouse lawn events

The Christian County Commission voted Feb. 5 to finalize a special-event permit process for use of the county courthouse grounds, approving a $100 application fee, a requirement that applicants provide proof of insurance listing Christian County as additional insured, and a $50-per-hour charge for a county employee when an event uses county utilities.

County commissioners said the changes are meant to protect the county from liability and to create a predictable, uniform process for nonprofits, businesses and other groups that reserve the courthouse lawn.

Commissioners discussed four options earlier in the meeting, including keeping the existing rules, adding an addendum to allow use of utilities with a staffing charge, making use strictly first-come-first-served with no contract, or a revised contract that requires utility requests and staff coverage. "If you use the utilities, it has in here that you would have to pay for an employee to come in," Employee Services Director Amber told the commission. She described the staffing charge as calculated to cover wages, taxes and workers' compensation costs plus a 35% overhead factor.

The commission focused much of the discussion on electric and water hookups at the courthouse site, where some receptacles are below grade and power feeds run to basement breakers. Richard, who supervises grounds and building maintenance, told commissioners that exposed cords and wet ground can create trip and shock hazards and that breakers sometimes need to be reset when vendors overload circuits. "You got cords, you got trip hazards, you got wet grounds, you might have a potential shock hazard," Richard said, urging a county employee to be present when utilities are used.

Commissioners also discussed fees for routine food-truck visits. Recorder Hall and commissioners described the food-truck sign-up options the county will continue to offer: a $10 per-visit fee for casual vendors or a $40 four-pack (four dates) option for vendors to reserve multiple dates. Commissioners said that fee helps recoup electricity use for vendors who plug into county power.

After debate over insurance amounts and staffing minimums, Presiding Commissioner Lynn Morris moved to approve the permit framework with the parameters discussed (a $100 application fee, $50/hour county-staff charge when utilities are used, and a 45-day lead time for paperwork). The motion was seconded and passed with two ayes and one abstention from Commissioner Bradley Jackson, who said he would abstain because of his involvement with charities that use the grounds.

The approved process requires applicants to supply a certificate of insurance naming Christian County as an additional insured (county staff noted standard minimum limits of $1,000,000 for food-truck vendors and $3,000,000 for larger special events), submit a site plan and checklist, and complete all paperwork before a date will be reserved on the county calendar. Amber said the county will publish a shared calendar and a checklist on the county website and will require that the application and required documents be submitted at least 45 days before the proposed event.

Commissioners and staff said the goal is to balance community use of the courthouse lawn with protection of county property and taxpayer exposure to liability and increased insurance costs. "If you are going to allow them (to use utilities), we just have to make sure that if we're going to allow them, that we're covered," Presiding Commissioner Lynn Morris said.

NEXT STEPS: Staff will finalize the contract language with the county attorney, post the permit and application materials to the county website, and begin scheduling events under the new rules. Amber said staff will also maintain a shared calendar of reserved dates and will require payment and insurance before a date is held on the calendar.

Votes at a glance: Motion to adopt special-event permit parameters (application fee $100; $50/hr county employee for utilities; 45-day paperwork lead time) — Mover: Presiding Commissioner Lynn Morris; Second: Commissioner Johnny Williams; Vote: Lynn Morris — yes; Johnny Williams — yes; Bradley Jackson — abstain; Outcome: approved.