Town banquet and hall rental policy under review
By Chris Simon

There should be plenty of room for everyone, according to Innisfil council.

Council passed a recommendation asking staff to review the town's current Banquet Hall and Public Community Meeting Room Policy, in hopes of giving community groups better access to space in the New Town Hall.

If the plan were adopted as proposed, it could include the use of space after regular office hours.

"Council requests (staff) to revisit the current policy, having regards to the possibility of increasing the availability of the community rooms in the town hall for use by local non-profit community groups beyond the regular office hours, having consideration for cost, logistics and staffing," said deputy mayor Gord Wauchope.

Once the Cookstown library and community centre is complete, there will be about 12 publicly-owned community rooms available within the municipality.

In December, council passed the rental policy, including provisions which waved user fees for nonprofit organizations that benefit the town.

The policy was developed after council noticed a non-profit organization was being charged a different user rate than all other groups.

The town currently charges $26 per hour for meeting room rentals, with a mandatory three hour minimum booking.

However, the review is meant to help non-profit organizations best utilize the town's meeting rooms, said Wauchope.

"Council wishes reconsideration of the policy, in order to provide local community groups more flexibility of using the community rooms in the New Town Hall," he said.