The changes made by the Savage City Council to its meeting room reservation and use policy during its work session Nov. 14 weren’t exactly what 8-year-old Shrey Pothini was hoping for.
The City Council agreed to drop the rental fee for the Marion/Marietta room at City Hall, which has a capacity for 80-100 people, from $75 to $25 for a four-hour period. However, there will no longer be a fee waiver for nonprofit groups or the Savage Chamber of Commerce. The changes will go into effect Jan. 1, 2011.
The Oxford Room (capacity 12) and McHenry Room (capacity 10) will still be available to reserve at no charge.
After the meeting, Pothini said he was disappointed that the City Council didn’t agree to waive fees for individuals like himslef who wanted to utilize the room to collect items for a nonprofit agency.
“The reason I wanted the policy changed is so that other people would have a reason to help a nonprofit by collecting donations at their party,” said Pothini. “Even though the room fee was reduced for parties, I am not sure that people will use it to help others, but I really hope that they do.”
Pothini sent a letter to the City Council on Oct. 23 sharing how he has collected towels for a youth homeless shelter in Minneapolis for the last three years instead of receiving birthday presents.
“I’ve had my birthday party at the Savage City Hall community room for two years,” he wrote in the letter. “We did it there because I could use the room for free and could invite so many kids and they would bring more towels.”
This year, though, when Pothini was gearing up for his party, he learned that the fee was changed to $75.
“It doesn’t make sense to pay $75, because I could use that money to buy 25 towels,” he wrote in the letter.
Pothini also addressed the City Council during its Nov. 7 meeting, and urged council members to change the policy to not only offer the room for free to nonprofits, but also to groups having events that would benefit a nonprofit.
“I think if you change the policy, maybe other people might get inspired to help other people, maybe even other cities, maybe even other states,” said Pothini. “Savage is one of the best cities in America and I think it can be even better if you change the policy.”
City Administrator Barry Stock said that the city had talked earlier in the year about revising the policy, but chose to review it earlier in response to Pothini’s request.
Since the city began charging the $75 fee Jan. 1, 2011, use of the room has declined.
“Beyond that, I’m telling you that administering the meeting room policy is a nightmare,” said Stock. “Any story you could dream up, we’ve heard.”
Stock said that the carpet in the Marion/Marietta Room already needs to be replaced – to the tune of $15,000 – and the city doesn’t have money set aside in the general fund to cover that expense. The collection of the fee was intended to provide a funding source to offset the costs of repairs and maintenance to the room.
City Clerk Ellen Classen said that the scheduling, fee collection and issues of damage from users takes considerable staff time. And, many groups bring in food, which results in spilled coffee and cake ground into the carpet.
“I can tell you that the $75 fee doesn’t come close to covering the administrative fees,” said Stock.
The City Council agreed that it is important to offer the meeting room space as a service to residents; however, determining which groups qualified for free use of the room and which groups should be charged became too subjective and caused complications.
In the end, the City Council determined that a flat fee of $25 would be charged to all user groups for a four-hour block of time, except in the case of city-sponsored events.
“Shrey beat us to the punch,” said Stock. “Whether Shrey would have come forward or not, we would have looked at the policy.”
Shrey Pothini will collect towels again through the holidays for Avenues for Homeless Youth. Drop-off locations include:
- Family Vision Clinic, 4200 County Road 42 W., Savage
- Klein Bank locations in Savage, Burnsville, Shakopee and Lakeville
- IGM Gymnastics, 14305 Southcross Drive W., Burnsville
