Mason County amends Memorial Hall rental policy, extends nonprofit reduced-rate window

The Mason County Commission on March 3 approved an amended rental policy for Memorial Hall that extends the reduced-rate window for 501(c)(3) nonprofits from two hours to three hours and directs staff to pursue contractual funding to cover nonprofit use.

The change followed a public-comment period in which community volunteers and civic groups warned that new fees would make the hall unaffordable for recovery meetings and small nonprofits. Richard Quirk, who said his group holds a Sunday Morning Recovery meeting at Memorial Hall with about 35–40 attendees, told commissioners that volunteers collect roughly $20–$80 per month for literature and coffee and urged the county to preserve low-cost access: "We've been faithful to pay that...we're just asking that you guys give us a chance to keep going," he said.

Other speakers, including Jack Huggin and Rotary member Dennis Leverage, described Memorial Hall as one of the few spaces large enough for civic and recovery gatherings and said higher rental fees would burden groups that rely on volunteer labor and limited collections.

Commissioners and staff acknowledged the county must cover labor and facility costs. Kelly Fraser, the facilities manager who oversees Memorial Hall, clarified that internal discussions had proposed increasing the nonprofit time allowance to three hours but that paperwork still showed two hours. In deliberations, commissioners agreed to adopt the three-hour window for 501(c)(3) nonprofits and to have staff work with affected groups.

Dave Windham, director of public health and human services, told the commission the department could contractually use opioid-settlement and drug-intervention accounts to pay for meeting space for recovery groups, subject to standard contracting procedures: "We have funds through both opioid account and other drug intervention accounts that we could probably use to pay for those groups to pay for the meeting space," he said.

A motion to approve the updated policy with the nonprofit-hour amendment was moved and seconded; a voice vote carried. Commissioners instructed staff to pursue the funding and contracting steps necessary to permit nonprofits and recovery groups to continue using Memorial Hall at the reduced rate.

The commission’s action alters the policy language to reflect the three-hour nonprofit window (501(c)(3) designation) and leaves other fee and prioritization details as presented; staff will follow up to document funding arrangements and finalize administrative updates.