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Council refines community-center rental rules, raises weekend rate to cover cleaning
Summary
Council directed staff to revise the community-center use policy to preserve public access while allowing limited testing by small businesses. The council agreed on a 6-month standard booking window with staff discretion for exceptions and set a higher weekend cleaning rate of $75 for initial four-hour rentals.
The Josephine City Council debated how best to balance community access and recurring rentals at the city’s new community center and gave staff direction to revise the use policy.
Staff outlined complaints about recurring long-term rentals that can reduce public access, and described cases where daytime usage overlapped with staff workspace. Council agreed on keeping a default booking window of six months with staff discretion to approve longer reservations for special events such as weddings. To balance public and nonprofit needs, council asked staff to reserve Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for open public time and to consider limiting the number of recurring days for profit-oriented classes while allowing nonprofits reasonable access.
Because weekend events incur cleaning overtime, council approved a higher weekend charge: the first four hours on Friday–Sunday will be $75, with additional hours billed at the regular weekday rate. Council also directed staff to draft language clarifying that ‘daycare-style’ drop-off programs require proper licensing and insurance and that staff will not permit recurring unlicensed childcare operations.
Staff will return with a revised policy incorporating the council’s guidance and clear enforcement provisions regarding damages and misuse.
