Are private parties able to claim public facilities? What is the policy regarding reservations?
In the coming year, Winnemucca city council members will review these and other questions when they investigate current allowance of public facilities to be reserved for private parties, along with the process for special events held in public areas.
At the last city council meeting, City Manager Alicia Heiser identified an ongoing issue in which members of the public have reserved the covered areas near the parks and other recreational areas, resulting in conflict amongst other individuals as to which areas are reserved and who has the area reserved.
Heiser said this has not historically been an issue until recently with the splash pad and covered area adjacent to it. Individuals can call the city and reserve the covered area near the splash pad for a private party but not the splash pad. She said there has been some confusion as to what can be reserved and a few instances after hours that dispatch has even been called to involve law enforcement in resolving disputes.
In the future, Heiser recommended that public facilities be utilized on a first-come first-serve basis to avoid conflict and confusion with the reservation process. She said that it may be an option to allow companies to reserve an area for a private party with a fee, but that the public recreation areas will still be available to everyone.
Heiser said that historically the covered areas began being allowed to be reserved at some unknown point in the past. There is not a fee for reserving a public seating area.
City council members agreed to review the process and determine changes needed after this season has concluded to avoid additional confusion for areas that have already been reserved.
With regard to events held in public areas, many times they are annual events and officials agreed that it may not be necessary to publicly review an event that is held each year.
Heiser presented special event applications from neighboring municipalities and recommended a first-time public review before city council for special events, and an administrative review for recurring events after the first approval; both with a completed application for each event.
Both topics will be reviewed at a later date to be determined at a city council agenda, with the ability for members of the public to comment on the topic.
