Albion boosts price to rent pavilion at Bullard Park

Photo by Tom Rivers: The Village of Albion has increased the price to village residents and non-village residents.  

ALBION – It will cost $10 more to rent the pavilion at Bullard Park for parties and events. The Village Board voted on Wednesday evening to increase the cost for village residents to $35 while non-village residents will have to pay $60 to reserve the space.

This is for Bullard Park only, where the new pavilion is next to bathrooms and has electricity.

The Village Board may also add a cleaning/damage deposit in the future, said Trustee Tim McMurray. He said the village Department of Publics Works employees often come in on weekends on overtime to clean up after parties and events.

He said the fees are in line with what many other communities charge to reserve pavilions.

The village may include a charge to rent pavilions at other parks once those facilities are upgraded, board members said.

Tracy VanSkiver, the village clerk and treasurer, said the village office has been getting several requests to rent out the pavilion at Bullard Park in 2023.

In other action at the meeting:

• The board approved taking $20,013.94  from the police equipment reserves to purchase a 2022 Durango patrol vehicle for the K-9 unit.

• Appointed Susan Oschmann to the Historic Preservation Committee, with a term expiring in April 2026.

• Voted 4-0 to post employee contracts and salaries on the village website. Trustees said that information is already on the SeeThroughNY website. Putting them on the village website will make it easier for the Albion community to see the information, trustees said.

• Voted to advertise for two part-time clerk positions.

• Deputy Mayor Joyce Riley said she has spoken with the state Department of Transportation about the closed off Brown Street canal bridge. That bridge has become unsightly, she said. It has been closed to traffic for about a decade.

Riley and the board would like it to be fixed and reopened, but that isn’t in the short-term plan for the DOT, Riley said.

She said the village will continue to advocate that the bridge be reopened to traffic. If the DOT doesn’t have plans to fix it, the state should consider removing the bridge while looking at an option for pedestrian access, Riley said.

County Legislator John Fitzak said if the bridge was removed, the DOT should regrade the approaches, and could create more parking spaces for the former Crooked Door Tavern which is on the south side of the bridge. The Crooked Door is being turned into a café.

“Don’t just leave it this way,” Riley said about the bridge. “It is an eyesore just sitting there.”