Watchung Borough Council — Fees for special use of gazebos discussed

WATCHUNG The Borough Council will take up again at its meeting tonight, Thursday, April 25, proposed increases in rental fees, and proposed new fees, for the use of borough parks and recreation facilities.

At its meeting April 11, Councilman William Nehls, chair of the councils Public Works Committee, said the fee increases are intended to bring fees more in line with the actual costs of maintaining the facilities.

Nehls said time was of the essence to finalize the fees, because people tend to book facility use now for the spring, summer and fall.

After a lengthy discussion, the council agreed to finalize its proposed new policy by next weeks meeting, after further clarification about the proposed new fees for use of the boroughs two gazebos.

Council president Debra Joren said she didnt see how a fee could be charged if a wedding party just wants to take a battery of wedding photos either at the gazebo on the Village Green with the Watchung Lake Dam and Spillway in the background, or at the gazebo on Mountain Boulevard, with the Watchung Lake and its aerators in the background.

Borough Clerk Michelle DeRocco clarified that the fee was not intended for those situations.

Rather, there are times when people want to have exclusive use of the gazebos, or other borough open spaces, for an extended amount of time, to, for instance, actually hold the wedding ceremony there.

A more formal permit system for that kind of use, perhaps requiring a certificate of insurance, understandings about legal nearby parking spaces, requests for grounds grooming before the ceremony, the use of music or amplified sound, and access to electrical sources, is what might be covered as part of the permit and fee-assessing process.

The council will take the matter up again next week.

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Watchung Borough Council -- Fees for special use of gazebos discussed