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Policies For Fire Station Rental Halls
Have other fire companies had to make policies for use of their rental halls? What local laws are part of the policies?
Recently there was a mis communication of what would be allowed during a private party at our station. We either had or not have someone from the dept to monitor food brought in from the outside if it met health dept regs? If we had to have a alcohol license if beer was brought in by the the people renting the hall? The one thing is nothing is being sold if its a private party.
We have had problems with some rentals where police have had to be called for fights which cause injuries to attendees or damage to the building.
Bingo have also been a problem on who can be sitting in the room. If children can sit with their parent and not play Bingo because there is no where in our building for them be entertain while there. Our officers got together to discuss that there was one person saying one thing and another was saying something else.
One person said they would take control of all the problems but also discussed was putting together a list policies to cover what had been problems and have it in writing to go over with a renter or posted for anyone to see.
Hopefully we will get the ideas together, compare and work them to meet what we want as rules and regulations for our hall use so we meet local laws and dept requirements to cut down on people questioning something.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Derek J Sinesi on
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We don't rent our hall out; but we do rent out the use of our fair grounds. We have worked with our Village board to put a policy or rental agreement together. To rent the space there is a application that needs to be filled out and the rental agreement must be signed. We also require a $100.00 refundable deposit for any damage that may be caused. They are also notified that someone from the fire department will show up at some point to make sure that they are in compliance with the rental agreement. If not they will be asked to leave. We have never had a problem. I hope this helps.
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Permalink Reply by ashfire on
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We have talked about a money deposit for refund if for damages or cleaning. Even saying if security has to be added that they pay either for a off duty county police officer or sheriff deputy.
One thing we found was missing items that belong in our hall that could have been mistaken for other people's property that a deposit would pay for replacement.
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Permalink Reply by Marc Hansen on
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most of the departments around me have some type of contract that spells out exactly what the rules are for the renter. Like everything else in this day and age you have to have it in writing!
As far as food and alcohol I dont believe you have to monitor these so long as the renter supplies the food and drink. It would be pretty much the same as them hosting a party in their backyard. If your department is catering or serving the alcohol then you would need to meet the regulations (and get appropriate insurances).
Things you need to cover in your rental agreement would be:
->building access: where in the building the rental allows you to be, when you will be allowed in to decorate and when all of the renters stuff will need to be out of the building.
->deposit: how much and what is required to get a refund. Heres a tip call around to other places and find out what their deposit is, if you set yours too low your members will always be cleaning up the hall for next to no money- too high and you wont have any rentals
-> alcohol/food: spell out your policies on these. Some examples I have seen is no outside food (department has contract with a caterer to provide all food served in the hall), department members cater all events, or they are free to bring what they want. For alcohol you may want to have different rules for an individual renter having a party and an organization hosting a fundraiser. If alcohol is being sold or is included in the price of admissions then you can require security and/or insurance.
Check with your attorney to make sure the lease you come up with is enforceable and your insurance company to make sure you are covered for accidents, thefts and anything else that may arise.
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Permalink Reply by Robert Bates on
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Fire Halls should never be rented out. They are a building for the members and to provide a service to the community (public safety) and should in no way be rented out for the use of the general public. Especially the use of alcohol on the premises (by renters or members of the department) should never be condoned.
Allowing non-department personnel to utilize department property is dangerous and will probably lead to liability issues that no one shoul dhave to deal with.
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If you mean the fire station as a Fire Hall then we are talking about something else. Some depts have large rooms of their buildings where they rent or use for fund raising. Before we added on to our building we were using our apparatus room for BINGO, Vegas, dinners to make money. At the end of the event we had to break down tables and chairs and put them away and back the apparatus back in. I seen one dept in our area still does it everyweek. We were able to make enough to build a new apparatus room, office space, storage area and TV and kitchen area. We ended up turning our old apparatus room into a activity hall which could be rented out or for our own use of fund raising. One reason we did it was because new apparatus wouldn't fit in the old room and we didn't have drive through bays.
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If the space being rented out is considered to be part of the fire department then it has the same liability issues no mater what it is called....
At no point should there be any use of alcoholic beverages or free access by the public to any building associated with public safety. This is a facility that is used for public safety concerns, not a drunken local wedding or a gambling hall to raise funds. These events should take place in public venues not public safety buildings.
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Well we have been doing it for years as a volunteer service with some problems but like everything things change and so do the people running things and ways of running things are forgotten, so I asked what others are doing about their use of their halls.
There have been dances, banquets and parties. We have also had blood drives, classes, church and public meetings in our building but we needed to raise funds to have apparatus and fire gear and with the economy we need the extra money we don't get from the county or the state.
Most companies separate these rooms from the rest of the station. We have a locked door to the area to keep people out the rest of the station.
But we do have the right to ask that police be on site to keep things under control.
I think its bad when there is a wedding reception at a church hall and someone gets drunk and cause problems but thats a story I have run a call for.
The use of alcohol at a private party which was beer we had a question because one officer of the dept said one thing and another said something else so we had to decide how to make a rule to handle the situation next time it comes up. So we have to check with county and state laws and go from there and see what others do about it..
Alcohol is not allowed anywhere else in the station and no one on duty or could be called to duty is allowed to drink or have had been drinking to be in the station.
I believe that we will ask that any drinking at any function be kept under control and not be allow to go overboard and that someone to step in to stop it.
Most alcohol has been beer, no hard liquor or mixed drinks. I don't drink but I can't tell other people how to run their lives unless its use of our hall.
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Permalink Reply by Oldman on
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We charge a nominal fee to non-profit group meetings, home owner association meetings, and birthday or anniversary parties etc. They are allowed to bring in and consume their own food, plus they are required to clean up after themselves, and they must be out by 10pm. Alcohol is expressly prohibited.
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