Civic center rental fee increased by council

Citing problems with people failing to clean up the civic center after use, the Henryetta city council increased the rental fee to $150 Tuesday night.
“We are having issues with people leaving it trashed,” said mayor Jennifer Clason. “People have figured out that we can’t close the partition walls. They rent one section for $30 and use the entire building.”
When built, the civic center had sliding dividers that would close off the facility into four sections. Those dividers have worn to the point where they leave deep gouges in the floor. The rental fee was based on using one of those four sections. The $30 rental fee has been charged by the city for several decades.
This past year, the entire floor was refinished but already is showing some signs of use. “We have spent hundreds of dollars in there and have bought special tips for the chairs. Two weeks ago we found melted candle wag and gold and silver paint on the floor,” said code enforcement officer Jody Agee.
He went on to say that more work needs to be done on the room including repairs to the wall where the sheetrock has been damaged by tape used to hang decorations. “People tape things there and they are not supposed to,” he said.
The council agreed to charge $150 per day for rental as well as $300 for a cleanup deposit and $200 per microphone if people wanted to use the new wireless microphones.
That rental fee can be waived in special cases but must be approved by the city council.
At the Tuesday night meeting, the council approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation for resurfacing of two roads within the city limits. One of those would be a 1.9 mile stretch on Aikman Drive and the other less than half a mile on Choctaw Street.
The MOU would allow tribal workers to resurface the two roads and the city keep it maintained. No date was set for that resurfacing project to start.
Council members appointed Clason to the Henryetta Economic Development Authority. She will be replacing council member Christy Jeffcoat who resigned last month due to family issues.
The popularity of dissc golf at nichols Park was brought up by Joshua Craig.
He told the council there is currently a nine and 24-hole course at the park and would like to get some help from the city to improve it.