But borough retreats from earlier rate proposal.
By: Jennifer Potash
The cost for community groups to use the refurbished Suzanne Patterson Senior Center will increase, but not quadruple as had been proposed earlier.
Tuesday night, the Princeton Borough Council unanimously approved a fee schedule and use policy for the center, located behind Borough Hall.
The refurbished Suzanne Patterson Center will reopen next week and Borough Administrator Robert Bruschi said he wanted a rental fee schedule and use policy in place before the opening day.
A preliminary fee structure, later reduced, proposed a $100 weekday fee and $200 weekend fee for the large multipurpose room for non-senior citizen groups. Other proposed fees included $50 for weekday use and $75 for weekends of the new lounges, conference room, classroom and small activity room. The kitchen had a $100 use fee.
The "aggressive" fee schedule was intended to encourage graduated use of the facility, which will now provide space for youth activities and increased use by the Recreation Department, Mr. Bruschi said.
But several longtime users, such as the Princeton Country Dancers, feared the higher rates would cause those groups to raise membership fees and could cause declines in attendance or membership.
Norman Eiger of Moore Street, a participant in the weekly folk dances at the center for 35 years, said he "danced over here with great trepidation" over the fees and thanked the council for agreeing to a more moderate schedule.
"We invite you to participate, too," Mr. Eiger said to the council. "It’s a wonderful intergenerational event."
Mr. Bruschi said fees of $25 for use of the smaller rooms and kitchen and $50 for the large multipurpose room are acceptable. The old schedule had a $25 fee for use of the facility.
For organizations using the facility on a regular basis, a $500 annual damage fee will be charged, Mr. Bruschi said.
Princeton Borough Councilman David Goldfarb suggested the staff report back to the council in six months on the effectiveness of the fee schedule.
The center will not be available for weddings or similar social functions as the borough does not have the staffing to handle such events, Mr. Bruschi said.
In other action, the council agreed to proceed with the reconstruction of Alexander Street and University Place without placing utility wires underground. The council had delayed the project for about six months while awaiting a consultant’s cost study on burying the wires. The study, jointly funded by the borough and the Mercer Hill Historic District Association, placed the estimated cost at $25 million.
Carolyn Robertson, president of the Mercer Hill Association, in a letter to the council, thanked the borough for studying the idea. She also said the association never asked the borough to pay for putting the wires underground, only to study the cost as a first step in seeking state or federal funds for the project.
Mr. Bruschi said the borough’s grant consultant investigated possible funding opportunities but found very little available grant money.