City Council on Tuesday adopted a new user fee schedule that reduces rental charges for indoor and outdoor parks and recreation facilities. The new schedule also sets one price for all rentals, eliminating pricing that distinguishes between usage by city residents vs. non-city residents and for-profit events vs. non-profit events.
In a separate vote, Council officially eliminated the annual $50 fee required for non-city residents to obtain a library card. A card is now free to anyone within 50 miles driving distance to the main library, temporary residents and employees of public and private schools in Danville.
Guest access for computers in the library will be available to all at no charge regardless of driving distance.
Council members have been debating changes in parks and recreation user fees and library fees for many weeks. Non-city residents have complained about the annual $50 fee for a library card since instituted in 2012.
Similarly, council members have swapped anecdotal stories of complaints from citizens who said rentals fees for facilities were too high and complicated.
In their vote Tuesday, council members expressed hope that the lower prices will increase usage of facilities by local individuals and groups as well as to better position Danville as a host site for athletic tournaments and other events.
For example, the new rental fee for the Community Market is $480 for a four-hour minimum, with a charge of $120 for each additional hour. Under the previous schedule, the charges were $600 for a four-hour minimum and $150 for each additional hour.
Council will review the fee schedule within the next 12 months to determine if the changes have resulted in increased usage and therefore offset the fee reductions.
In other action Tuesday, Council voted to:
• accept two grants for the commonwealth’s attorney office. The grants are for the domestic violence victim program and the victim witness program.
• accept a grant for food service operations at W.W. Moore Jr. Juvenile Detention Center.
• grant a special use permit to allow for construction of three additional bays for the service garage at Woodall Nissan.
• rezone property at 668 Arnett Blvd. to allow for a its use as a dry cleaning operation.
Council's meeting included a business session followed by a work session. In work sessions, Council reviews non-routine matters that will be voted upon in future business meetings.
In Tuesday’s work session, Council discussed food truck regulations and a resolution of support for the creation of the Danville Advanced Manufacturing Precision Machining Lab at George Washington High School.
River City TV airs live all Council business sessions. The first rebroadcast will be at 8 p.m. Thursday. Watch it on cable (Comcast channel 10 and Gamewood channel 122) or streaming at RiverCityTV.org. The taped broadcast is available now on the City’s YouTube channel -- DanvilleVAGov.
River City TV does not air work sessions, but they are open to the public.