Riverhead parks official: Town should charge fee for beach wedding photos

Riverhead Town should charge brides and grooms a fee to use town beaches and parks for wedding photos, according to the town’s recreation superintendent.

“What?” Supervisor Sean Walter was incredulous when parks and recreation superintendent Ray Coyne made the suggestion during yesterday’s town board work session discussion of facility use fees.

“If somebody wants to take pictures at the gazebo I’m not going to charge them to do it,” Walter said.

“If a professional photographer—” Coyne began.

“No way. Absolutely no way,” Walter cut him off.

“Brookhaven does it. Southampton does it,” Coyne said.

Brookhaven charges $500 per day for use of park facilities by professional still photographers, according to copies of a permit application packet distributed by Coyne at the work session. Southampton Town charges $350 per day for still photography at town beaches and parks, according to the town’s website.

But the Riverhead supervisor and town board wouldn’t even entertain discussion of the idea.

“Next,” Walter said waving his hand.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Coyne said.

The suggestion came in the context of a discussion of the adequacy of fees charged by Riverhead Town for the use of town parks, beaches, facilities and public streets for the many special events held in Riverhead throughout each year.

Councilman John Dunleavy asked the town board to reconsider what the town charges for special event permits and use of the town’s showmobile. He says the town should change its policy of reducing or waiving fees for nonprofit organizations.

“We have to start charging. We’re givng a lot of money away to these not-for-profits,” Dunleavy said.

In particular, the councilman said the town should look at imposing a surcharge on the hundreds of vendors that sell their wares at fairs held on town streets and properties, such as the Polish Town Street Fair and Festival and the Country Fair.

“People come to the town, take the money out of the town and leave,” Dunleavy said. “We should charge vendors 20 percent of whatever the fair charges for a booth.” He said the surcharge would help pay costs incurred by the town for set-up and clean-up, as well as for extra police and public safety costs.

He also advocated increasing the fees charged for special event permits.

“You want to know why we have so many events in Riverhead?” Dunleavy asked board members. “It’s because we’re the cheapest town around to have them. If you want to give the Town of Riverhead away to everybody, go ahead. I’m trying to protect the taxpayers,” he said.

Councilman James Wooten, who said he’s been “involved with the country fair for 30 years,” said the event’s vendors “bring a lot of people into the town to shop.”

Councilwoman Jodi Giglio said Townscape, which runs the country fair, “donates a lot of money to the town.”

Coyne pressed for the town should charge a facility use fee for events like a mud race held at Veterans Park in Calverton.

The organizers of the L.I. Adventure Race “did right by the town” and donated $6,000 to the recreation department for playground equipment, Coyne noted. “But why should the town allow them to choose how much to give back to the town?” he asked. The town should set an appropriate fee for use of the facilities, he said. He said in its first year the race organizers were even charging participants for parking, which the town put a stop to this year.

The supervisor said he’d like to see the town do a request for proposals for use of the site for a mud race. “You say, these are the dates we’re offering. What are you willing to pay the town for use of the site?” Walter said.

After looking at a schedule of actual costs to the town for providing the showmobile for events in 2013 and 2014 — which totaled about $13,000 in 2013 and $17,000 in 2014 — Walter suggested charging $100 per hour for the portable stage. It has to be towed from the town garage and set up by the buildings and grounds crew. The supervisor also told town engineer Ken Testa not to assign two buildings and grounds crew members to the man the showmobile during events.

Dunleavy and Giglio agreed to a $100 per hour fee, but Wooten said, “You’ve got to consider the public benefit.”

The board then agreed to put the discussion over until the next work session, when they will consider showmobile, special event and facility fees along with other parks and recreation fees for 2015.