Sylva proposes changes to fee schedule
The Sylva Town Council will vote next month on changes to its fee schedule regarding costs for renting out Bridge Park.
“I think it still keeps the fees reasonable for renting that facility,” said Town Manager Paige Dowling.
As Bridge Park has grown and undergone significant upgrades, town staff say that the quality and quantity of events at the public park have changed.
“We realized that that space is being used as more than a picnic shelter for birthday parties like our other parks,” Dowling said.
The park has been the site of major upgrades over the last year after the Town of Sylva received a grant from the Jackson County Tourism Development Authority. The town paved the parking lot and added ADA parking spaces, constructed concrete walkways and an ADA-compliant fishing pier and put in benches, picnic tables and bioretention areas that help clean water and runoff that drain into Scotts Creek.
The fee for park rental will remain the same — $30 for two hours, $50 for four hours and $100 for eight hours for town residents; and $50 for two hours, $75 for four hours and $125 for eight hours for non-town residents.
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But the town is now proposing additional costs for food trucks and alcohol vendors. There will be a flat fee of $75 for up to six food trucks, and a fee of $25 per alcohol vendor. Previously the town had charged anywhere from $30 to $65 per food truck depending on the type of event, and a flat fee of $50 for events with alcohol vendors.
“Every rental has a sort of permit holder and then they can pay those fees and collect from their vendors accordingly,” said Public Works Director Jake Scott.
Requiring a flat fee for food trucks will streamline the process for town administration.
“Then we’re not waiting on, if somebody wants to have two different food trucks come, for them to come and pay their own fee,” Dowling said. “We’re not waiting on each food truck to come here to do it, we collect the money up front.”
Tent rentals will now cost a flat fee of $100 for up to 30 vendor tents.
“We feel like that’s really all that we have the space for, to feasibly fit on the grass,” Dowling said. “These fees would help offset the maintenance costs and electricity, but it’s more to reflect the type of events the park is now being reserved for.”
The proposed changes to fees for renting Bridge Park also list the cost of officers, if applicable, under fees for alcohol vendors.
Changes to the fee schedule will not go into effect until approved by the Sylva Town Board.
