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Council debates whether to charge nonprofits for park reservations, moves to approve four spring events
Summary
Council members debated a policy for charging nonprofit groups to reserve park assets, raised liability and fairness concerns, and after discussion a motion was made to approve four upcoming events; council agreed any events after July 1 would follow a new fee schedule to be set in the budget process.
Council members debated whether nonprofit groups should pay to reserve park facilities after the manager (S9) presented multiple park-event requests, including a free public "wellness day" proposed by the Allegheny Wellness Coalition and Chamber partners.
"If we let certain groups do this for free and other groups don't do it for free, then we're basically saying, we decide which nonprofits the citizens are supporting," Council Member S5 said, urging a consistent policy. Other members said a clear fee schedule would avoid ad hoc decisions and that community-wide events organized by nonprofits could be treated differently from exclusive private uses.
Manager S9 said past practice sometimes allowed nonprofit events to use park assets without charge, while specific reserved uses (shelters/stages) historically carried fees. Council discussed tabling a permanent policy until the budget workshop; S9 recommended establishing an application and fee procedure during the budget process so staff could approve routine public events without returning each item to the council.
S11 moved to approve four events scheduled through June; S6 seconded. Council recorded that events approved before July 1 would be grandfathered through the current fiscal year, with events after July 1 subject to a fee schedule to be adopted during the budget cycle. The meeting record did not show a formal roll-call vote on the motion; staff and council discussed attaching a liability release and insurance verification for organizers (staff volunteered to draft a release form).
Next steps: staff will draft a proposed fee/reservation policy for council consideration during the budget sessions and circulate an indemnity/release form for event organizers.
