Princeton commissioners debate rental rates, hours for new community center; discussion tabled

Princeton commissioners on Sept. 8 reviewed a draft rental agreement and proposed rates for the town's new community center, discussed weekday and weekend time blocks, security and custodial logistics, and asked staff to revise the proposal for consideration at the next meeting.

The discussion matters because the rates, hours and rules will shape how accessible the new facility is to residents, nonprofits and out-of-town users and will determine how much revenue the town recovers for custodial and maintenance costs.

Town staff presented a draft that used neighboring towns as comparators and proposed a refundable $200 damage deposit held as a credit-card authorization, with refund within 14 days if the post-event inspection passes. The draft also included rules prohibiting paint, chalk, tape or fixtures on walls and limiting certain activities such as skateboarding and rollerblading. A staff member said cameras would be available to review incidents but that staff would not monitor events live.

Staff laid out several fee and scheduling options. For weekdays the board discussed three three-hour time slots (morning, afternoon and evening) and an illustrative hourly rate of $60 per hour for in-town users and $70 per hour for nonresidents. For weekends staff proposed two half-day blocks (for example, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.) or a six-hour block priced at $300; staff and commissioners also discussed a full-weekend package that was described in the draft as Friday noon to Sunday noon.

Michael King, the town staff member presenting the draft, said the numbers were provisional. "These are not set in stone," he told the board, and recommended the $200 deposit practice: "for deposits, they would, pay a $200 deposit that would be refunded, put it on credit card for hold. And should the inspection pass, we would refund them, within 14 days of their event." The packet included one local cleaning quote of $100 for a single cleaning and staff said they planned to keep at least two custodial vendors on call to cover multiple same-day bookings.

Commissioners debated trade-offs between higher rates that reflect the new facility's amenities and lower introductory pricing to encourage early use. Commissioners raised concerns that too-high weekend fees could discourage local use for typical family events (birthdays, reunions) and suggested offering a temporary introductory discount for a defined period after opening to attract users.

The draft also included a clause restricting use of the center's TVs, video screens and Wi-Fi unless board-approved. Staff said the town can implement a limited "guest" Wi-Fi and a controlled way for users to access the building's display equipment; staff recommended including language in the rental agreement that would allow board-approved access to audio-visual systems with appropriate safeguards and a damage deposit.

The board did not adopt a final fee schedule. Instead, commissioners asked staff to revise the draft to reflect the board's weekend and weekday slot preferences, to circulate the updated proposal by email for review, and to return the item for final approval next month. Staff said the building would be available to book beginning in January and that deposits could be accepted before the rate schedule is finalized if the board approved the revised draft.

Plans discussed in the meeting: a $200 refundable deposit, a custodial flat-rate quote of $100 for cleaning (one vendor), prohibition on adhesives/painting on walls, controlled use of TVs/Wi-Fi with board approval, and an initial outreach period or discounted introductory pricing to build awareness. The board directed staff to rework the draft and circulate it to commissioners ahead of the next meeting.