New Fee Approved For Renting Stage At Livingston’s Central Park

The fee for renting out the stage at Livingston’s Central Park has increased to $200 for the first four hours of use.

Aldermen David Langford and Ronald Dishman voted against the measure. Langford said he couldn’t support the measure because it doesn’t allow certain groups to be excluded from paying the fee.

“The nonprofit organizations such as VFW, Shriners, and rescue squad, I don’t think we oughta charge them,” Langford said. “Religious groups…if somebody wants to come down there and use our place for a revival, I’m not for charging them.”

Downtown Revitalization Committee Chairman Ray Evans said the board put that rule in place in order to put everyone on a level playing field. Mayor Curtis Hayes reminded the aldermen that collected fees help pay for the services the city provides during events.

“We have a sound engineer that we do pay. We have one person that is in charge of the equipment, and we have about $50,000 or $60,000 worth of equipment,” Hayes said. “Also, we have city employees that come in and clean the place up. So the fees…what we are seeing is almost just a wash where the city services are kicked in. I just want to make sure that we understood that is where the fees are going. There not just going in the city coffers so we can be making money.”

Under the new fee, renters would be required to pay $50 for each hour of use after the first four hours. Previously, the city charged$200 for six hours of stage use and an additional $25 for each additional hour.

The board of aldermen approved the new fee during Monday’s meeting.