POLICY
While the Facilities of the Cottekill Fire District are maintained to house the equipment used by the Cottekill Volunteer Fire Company to protect the lives of the people and the property within the district, the Fire District deems it appropriate that the residents within the district be allowed to use the facility. This policy spells out the conditions under which the facilities of the Cottekill Fire District can be used by residents of the district.

DEFINITIONS
RESIDENT – A person who lives or owns property within the geographic boundaries of the Cottekill Fire District.

FACILITY USE AGREEMENT - The document used to request use of the District facilities which spells out the type of event, dates and times of the event and conditions and restrictions for its use.

RESPONSIBLE PARTY – The person who signs the Facility Use Agreement and assumes responsibility for use of the District facilities.

USE OF THE FACILITY
1) A resident 18 years or older may apply to use the firehouse for a private non-business event.
2) A Facility Use Agreement form will be filled out and signed by the responsible party.
3) The agreement will include name, address, contact information of the resident/responsible party, conditions and restrictions for use as well as appropriate insurance and a deposit amount. It will also contain a hold harmless and indemnification clause.
4) The number of people attending the event can be no larger than the maximum capacity of the facility.
5) No smoking is allowed inside any building and no alcohol is allowed on the property.
6) Events will not be allowed December-March due to possible equipment damage from cold weather.
7) Events will be no longer than 4 hours and will only be allowed between the hours of noon to 6 PM.

8) The Fire Chief or his/her designee will assign a contact person(s) for each event. The contact person will coordinate with the applicant to meet the conditions of the agreement including, collect the deposit, issue an appropriate receipt, collect the proof of insurance information and insure that all conditions on the agreement are met.
9) The deposit amount will be held by the Fire Company. Once the event is over and conditions have been met, the deposit will be returned to the responsible party as soon as possible but no later than 30 days after the event.
10) Members of the fire company are exempt from the deposit as long as they meet the conditions in #1.
11) The Board of Fire Commissioners may waive the residency and deposit conditions if they deem the event beneficial to the community.

ENFORCEMENT
1) If the conditions of the agreement have not been met, the contact person will inform the Chief who will take appropriate actions. 

EFFECTIVE DATE
This policy will take effect as of January 10th, 2017