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Meeting date: 1/26/94 Agenda item: P 5 ITEM DESCRIPTION: Discussion of city policy governing use of all community facilities SUBMITTED BY: City Council Park Commission Staff EXPLANATION /DESCRIPTION: At the January 12, 1994 city council meeting, the council was asked to consider clarifying and broadening the city's use policy for its community facilities. The intent is to provide free facility use to encourage more informal Falcon Heights neighborhood or community related activities. In order to proceed with this discussion, staff prepared a memo summarizing the city's procedures and policies for its facility use as well as a summary of actual use. The following points are key to the discussion: 1. The policy cannot be exclusionary. If a user is willing to pay for the facility, the city cannot deny the use unless the user has proven to abuse the facility or the space is not available. 2. The city charges some groups for use of its facilities because the labor and maintenance costs for the facilities are paid out of the city's general fund. The rental fees cover some or all of these costs. Church groups must be charged due to the separation of church and state. Political parties must be charged to maintain political neutrality. 3. The policy (free use or charge) should reflect the city's ideas about what community means and how facilities relate to and promote this. (Councilmember Gehrz provided a chart that describes responsibilities that different institutions can define for themselves. Cities are missing from this list.) 4. The policy should require one phone call to implement. Typically callers are contacting several places about facility style, availability and fees. Both the caller and staff want to get and give the information quickly. 5. The current policy is first come and first serve. This has not been a problem for users except occasionally when the city council or commissions try to schedule a special meeting. 6. Over the past year staff received three requests from groups that didn't clearly qualify for a no -fee rental. Two groups were informal, one -time users (a parent /child group and a neighborhood group) who were not charged. The third is a quilting group with some local members. This group is waiting for a decision. Few current users that pay fees would become non -fee users under the options described in the report.