Palestine Council reviews rules for community center

The Palestine City Council recently discussed rules for the new Palestine Community Center, which will be located in the former Wheely T's skating rink building. During the meeting, the council reviewed a tentative list of rules and prices for the new community center as presented by Palestine City Clerk Valerie Parker. Parker told the group that she and the Palestine Police and Fire Departments reviewed rules and regulations from nearby communities to combine the list. "These all kind of come from Wheatley, Caldwell and Marianna," said Parker. "The fire chief and police chief have both looked over them. If you all see something and think it needs added or taken away we can do that. It is just a combination of different ones." The list shows that a weekday minimum rental of three hours would cost $150 and a weekday that third they paid towards the rental goes toward their balance," said Garner. rental of six hours would cost $300. A weekend minimum rental of three hours would cost $190 and six hours would cost $375. Events where alcohol is present would incur an additional $100 fee, and one-third of the rental price would be have to be paid as a deposit when booking an event. Council member Dena Poteat said the wording regarding the one-third deposit was confusing and should be rewritten. "I am just looking at the front page and maybe I should go on back, but when we are talking about rentals, it says one-third of the rental price will be used for a deposit and applied to the balance," said Poteat. "Will people know what that means? Typically, is a deposit not given back to somebody?" "No it is applied to the balance," said council member Michelle Garner. "Applied to what balance?” asked Poteat. "For instance, if somebody wants to rent it, let’s say the total is $150, they have to pay a third of that in order to hold it and then that third they paid towards the rental goes toward their balance," said Garner. "It needs to be worded differently," said Poteat. "That is totally confusing." "We can word it differently," said Parker. "One third of the rental is due upon the day of booking." According to Parker, Palestine Fire Chief and Assistant Police Chief Zakk Jumper had worked out a plan for securing the new building. "Zakk has a really good plan that will cost us $4,500 a year. It will put a camera inside the building and two cameras outside of the building," said Parker. "We will have someone go up and check it after somebody rents it to see how it is left after people use it. They will be charged extra if it is left in disarray. This is all new, so there is going to be a learning curve here." Parker explained that the $4,500 charge would cover the cameras for five years. "Zakk told me that he has gotten a quote for $4,500 to get these cameras," said Parker. "These three cameras would help to keep a city employee from having to go up there. Let's say we rent it five times in a week. There will be a code key sent to people’s phones where they can unlock it for their usage and we can lock it back remotely after they leave. It is similar to when you visit an Air BnB. That way, no city employee will have to keep running up there all week. The $4,500 covers five years for the cameras. "This was just put together and it can be changed," continued Parker. "We will have an agreement or contract or something for renters to sign upon booking as well. But, this is something you all can review and get back on it." The tentative rules and regulations paperwork also states that renters would have to pay for security if security is needed. Security is required if events involve alcohol or juveniles between the ages of 13 to 17 years old. Only officials from the Palestine Police Department, St. Francis County Sheriff's Department, Arkansas State Police, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and Arkansas Highway Patrol will be allowed to work security and would renters would be required to pay those security officers $25 per hour. The council gave the rules to city attorney Hoshall Reeves to review and amend before they are officially voted upon by the council.

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