Nonprofit groups would pay less than others to use the parking lot at the Dabney Drive armory under guidelines discussed by the City Council’s Land Planning and Development Committee on Wednesday.
The guidelines put the burden on the renter to make all arrangements before applying for permission to use the site, which Henderson and Vance County jointly own.
The committee meeting was just the beginning for an official policy on the rental of the armory property. The committee will take its suggestions to the full council, which will send whatever it produces to the county Board of Commissioners. When the commissioners are done discussing the policy, the two governing bodies will meet to hammer out any differences, then both will approve the policy.
Only the outside of the armory site is available to the public, the City Council reiterated Monday night. Because of safety concerns in the decaying structure, the city and county closed the building in the fall, and the council Monday blocked an effort by the Vance County Humane Society to hold a fund-raising dog show inside.
The council did vote unanimously Monday to allow the Henderson Shrine Club to continue tradition and hold its annual fish fry at the armory as long as all operations and dining remain outside.
The ARC of Vance County has a chicken-plate sale set for the armory grounds May 6, Fire Chief Danny Wilkerson said Wednesday. Because the armory is next to the Central Fire Station and because the chief works for the city and county, he manages armory rentals.
The pending policy won’t affect arrangements for those two events. The Shriners will have to pay a $75 rental fee and a refundable $75 cleanup fee; the information available Wednesday indicated that the ARC will get to use the grounds at no charge.
Committee Chairwoman Elissa Yount laid out the guidelines County Manager Jerry Ayscue suggested to her:
* Rentals would be allowed from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday.
* Nonprofit groups would pay $75 for four hours and $25 for each additional hour, plus a refundable $75 cleanup fee. Other groups would pay $100 an hour and a $100 cleanup fee and would have to make a $200 deposit toward those costs.
* Port-a-johns would be required, placed in back of the building. To get a rental agreement, a group would have to have a contract in hand for the portable toilets, including the dates of delivery and removal.
* Any Health Department approvals for food sales would be required before the rental agreement could be completed.
* Security and traffic control would be required from a half-hour before the event until a half-hour after. A contract for security and the police chief’s approval of those arrangements would have to be in hand to get a rental agreement. The chief could waive the security requirement if the safety of the event satisfied him.
* The city noise ordinance would be enforced.
* Fire and emergency vehicles may not be impeded, so all activities must stay on the armory side of the ditch line between the armory and the fire station.
* All money would be paid to the Fire Department at the time of signing the rental agreement.
* The deadline for a rental agreement would be two weeks before an event.
* Groups would pay a $20 administration fee to the Fire Department.
* The facility would not be reserved without a rental agreement, and such an agreement would require all of the other paperwork and the money upfront.
A church group or Relay for Life team, for example, would need to pay $170 upfront to hold a four-hour yard sale on the armory grounds and could get $75 back if the group cleaned up after the event.
Wilkerson will be responsible for getting comments on the proposal from Police Chief Glen Allen, and the committee will present the guidelines to the full council April 11.
Also Wednesday, the committee:
* Discussed potential locations for a station if Henderson gets a stop on the planned high-speed rail line running from Washington through Richmond and Charlotte to Atlanta.
Planning Director Grace Smith said David Foster from the state Railroad Division liked what he saw of a city site on Montgomery Street but found problems with Doug Falkner’s property along an uneven, curved area of the track.
Yount also suggested the former First National Bank building and Chase Development’s Garnett Street Station, which was the old train station. Chamber of Commerce President Bill Edwards proposed the former Harriet & Henderson Yarns complex at the northern edge of the city.
* Asked for information about the enforcement of storm water rules at excavation and construction sites.
* Reviewed the list of 14 burned-out houses the Fire Department compiled at Yount’s request. Code Compliance Director Corey Williams said he has to use the usual abandoned-structure procedures to take down fire-damaged houses unless they’re reduced to rubble, in which case he can apply the ordinance on trashed lots and have the debris cleared within 10 days.
Council member John Wester asked why the county building inspector couldn’t condemn and remove the destroyed houses, but Williams and Wilkerson said the county either kicks the houses back to the city for fire-code inspections or wants to charge the city more than it cares to pay.
City Manager Eric Williams noticed that the Fire Department list excluded a Rockspring Street house that Andrea Harris had said was still standing 10 years or more after burning. Corey Williams said the house just looks abandoned, not burned, after all these years, but it’s still there.
Wilkerson told about a Rowland Street house that was destroyed by arson last year. He was able to get it demolished in days, despite a State Bureau of Investigation probe into the arson and the involvement of insurance adjustors, because the structure was so badly damaged.
The led Yount to a conclusion: “It seems like the time to go after them is right after they burn.”
“It is,” Corey Williams said.
“It’s the easiest,” Wilkerson said.
Corey Williams said he will report back on the city’s options to tear down burned-out buildings more quickly, and Wilkerson will help on the Fire Department side.
* Decided to arrange a meeting with Idaho Timber and its neighbors to mediate disputes over the plant’s operation. Council members Mary Emma Evans and Lonnie Davis did not want to meet with each side separately first.
The committee will seek a report from City Engineer Frank Frazier on the water runoff in the area before the meeting.