The Wright City government has increased the fees required to rent and reserve city park facilities, citing increased costs for managing, setting up and cleaning the parks after rentals.
The …
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The Wright City government has increased the fees required to rent and reserve city park facilities, citing increased costs for managing, setting up and cleaning the parks after rentals.
The fees apply to anyone who wants to put an exclusive reservation on pavilions, ball fields or buildings in Wright City’s parks. The changes were approved by the Wright City Board of Aldermen Jan. 14.
Liz Schubert with the Wright City Parks Department said the biggest change is a substantial fee for renting out the entirety of Diekroeger Park, which is becoming increasingly common.
“When we have a group that wants to come in for a whole day and rent the park, those prices have increased greatly, because we have been losing a lot of money on those,” Schubert said. “It made sense to bring that price up to where it should have been all along ... (because) it used up a lot of our resources.
For whole-park rentals, the city will charge $500-$600 per day for residents, and $600-$700 per day for non-residents. There will also be a refundable cleanup deposit of $200, plus another refundable $100 if alcohol will be present.
Schubert said the city tried to adjust its other fees for renting pavilions and facilities to what other surrounding cities charge. The city also added a discount for rentals on weekdays and rentals for city residents.
To reserve the Heiliger Building at Diekroeger Park for special events, city residents will now be charged $35 per hour on weekdays and $45 per hour on weekends, with a two-hour minimum for reservations. Rentals will also require a $100 refundable cleanup deposit, along with an extra $100 refundable deposit if alcohol is involved.
Non-residents will have to pay an extra $10 per hour to rent the building, while professional organizations will receive a small discount.
For pavilion rentals, Wright City residents will be asked to pay $35 to $45, depending on the day, for a four-hour time slot, or $65 to $75 for an all-day rental. Non-residents would again be asked to pay extra, and all renters would be required to place deposits of $50 to $100 depending on whether there’s alcohol.
The new fee structure includes discounts for non-profit organizations, as well as adjusted rental rates for sports fields, and also sets the charges for commercial vendors who want to set up booths during park gatherings.
Beyond just setting rental rates, the board of aldermen also codified two broad new rules for park activities.
• Tobacco — Wright City has prohibited the use of tobacco and vaping products at the parks except in the parking lot areas.
“We want to promote healthy lifestyles, being a park,” Schubert said of the board’s decision. “We didn’t eliminate smoking completely, but we’re asking people to move to the parking area to do it.”
• Security — During any private event consisting of more than 100 people, or where alcohol will be present, the event organizer may be required to provide security staff. If Wright City police need to provide security, the event organizer would be required to reimburse the city for the officers’ pay.
