Mayor Mitchell Responds To Park Fees Criticism

Park fees have become a controversial issue after the City of New Bedford announced that it would be charging fees for events that are held on city property, and for events where city resources need to be used.

Representatives of the Fort Taber-Fort Rodman Military Museum have been amongst the most outspoken to the fee proposals says that the fees, which include a $500 park use fee, cost prohibitive possibly forcing them to cancel some planned events.

Mayor Jon Mitchell addressed the issue on his weekly radio program saying that the museum, and other groups in New Bedford, are giving a far better deal than similar groups in other cities get.

"The Military Museum operates in a city building and they don't pay rent," said Mitchell "they don't charge a fee and that's great, we want to promote the city's military history, we're proud of that place, but understand that the city does provide tremendous support to that organization and many others around the city."

In addition Mayor Mitchell said that the city is offering a substantial price reduction for the services it provides to many of these groups.

"We're giving the event organizers an 80 percent discount, so if it costs the city $1,000 to provide a service, which happens all the time in many events around the city, and far more than that, we're discounting down, in that example, to $200," said Mitchell.

There will be an open meeting sometime next month to discuss the fees.