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  •                     Selectmen’s policy for the use of the Meeting Room located at the   
                                                      Southwest Harbor Fire Station

    The Southwest Harbor Fire Department meeting room is available to be used to enhance the educational, cultural and community life of the residents of Southwest Harbor Maine.  The Meeting room is
    available for Municipal use in accordance with this policy daily from 0800 hrs until 2200 hrs. Except as follows:
    On the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month, the meeting room will be reserved for the Fire Departments regular training session. 
      On the 2nd Tuesday of each month, the Meeting room will be reserved for the Southwest Harbor Fire Associations monthly business meeting.

    The Meeting room may be used beyond the above regular hours with the permission of the Fire Chief or his designee after determining that such use will not interfere with any other activity scheduled for the Room.

    The  Fire Department’s meeting Room is available to  the Fire Department, it’s members and sponsored association,  and for Town sponsored meetings and programs, including The Town of Southwest Harbor departments, boards, commissions and elected bodies as well as meetings and programs sponsored by groups and organizations affiliated with the Town, State and Federal government. The Fire Department, for its own purposes, shall have first priority in the use of the Fire Station meeting room in the Fire Station. The meeting room is designed to meet general informational, educational, cultural, and civic needs including activities such as discussion groups, panels, lectures, conferences, and seminars. The Fire Department meeting room and restroom facilities are handicapped accessible. It is the responsibility of the group holding meetings to provide ADA compliance for their programs.  The facility also has a sink and restrooms available.

    The meeting room may be used for civic purposes on a case by case basis as determined by the Town Manager when it is deemed to be for the benefit of the community at large.  Subject to First Amendment rights, it may not be used for any purposes deemed to be inimical to the interests of the residents of Southwest Harbor.  No fee will be charged for the use of the meeting room.

    All meetings and programs must be open and accessible to any member of the public. All meetings held in the Fire Department meeting Room are to be considered open to the general public and free of any admission charge. There may be no closed meetings. Any meeting may be visited by the Town Manager, Fire Chief or by their designated representative.                                                

                                                    APPLICATION FOR USE

     Authorization to use the Fire Station meeting room by any organization does not imply Town or Fire Department endorsement of the aims, policies, activities or affiliation of any such group or organization. Permission to meet at the Fire Station does not constitute or imply an endorsement of the user’s beliefs, policies or programs by any Municipal or Fire Department official. Use of the Fire Department meeting room does not constitute the Town of Southwest Harbor’s endorsement of viewpoints expressed by participants in any program. Advertisements or announcements implying such endorsement are not permitted. Reservations for the use of a meeting room must be made in writing at least thirty days in advance of the date requested, but no more than four (4) months in advance of that date unless such a meeting is determined to be of an emergency nature by the Town Manager or the Fire Chief.  

    Requests can be made via email addressed to bgaiser@swhfire.org, by Regular Mail addressed to “Fire Department”, PO Box 745, Southwest Harbor ME  04679, or by contacting the Public safety dispatcher at 26 Village Green Way,  (207) 244-7911.   Approval shall be at the discretion of the Fire Chief or his authorized representative when it is determined that the room will be available for use on the date and time requested and that the use meets the requirements of this policy. No reservation is officially confirmed until the requester receives written or verbal authorization from the Fire Department.  In case of inclement weather (or changes in the Status of the Meeting room such as emergency uses) a Fire Department Member will contact the user to cancel or reschedule.

    Each user shall name a contact person to be responsible for seeing that Town policies regarding meeting room use are followed. The contact person for each group will be responsible for seeing that lights are turned off, the heat turned down to minimum and that all the doors to the meeting room are closed after an evening meeting, and  to address any other issues that may arise either before, during or after any use.

    The Town Manager, Board of Selectmen or the Fire Chief can pre-empt any group or organization which has reserved the meeting room provided, however, that an attempt will be made to find the group or organization that is “bumped” from the meeting room an alternative meeting place. The Fire Chief or his designated representative on duty is authorized to deny permission to use the Meeting Room or terminate any meeting in progress to any group which is disorderly in any way, or which violates these regulations. Failure to abide by the Fire Department meeting room policy and rules of conduct may result in the cancellation of or refusal of future use.

     

     Regulations for the usage of the fire Department Meeting Room.

     

    The conduct of meetings and those attending meetings must not disrupt Fire Department operations or official business. The Fire Chief reserves the right to deny the use of meeting rooms for purposes deemed to be disruptive to Fire Department operations.  Entry into any area where Fire Department equipment or apparatus is stored is strictly prohibited unless expressly authorized to do so by an officer of or accompanied by a member of the Southwest Harbor fire Department.  An adult leader shall be present at all time and be responsible for the supervision of any groups of children under the age of eighteen using the public meeting room. The Fire Department telephones are not available to meeting room users. Police Department or Fire Department personnel will deliver phone messages for meeting attendees only in case of emergency.

     

    Attendance shall be limited to the room's capacity as determined by the State Fire Marshall and the Fire Department. The applicant shall be responsible for adhering to capacity limitations.  The meeting room capacity is about 60 people.  Meeting attendees must park in marked spaces within the fire stations parking lot. For meetings with 50 or more anticipated attendees, special parking arrangements must be arranged at the time of request from the Fire Department so that other parking areas may be designated. Motor vehicles parked on Main Street, which is State property, are subject to ticketing and towing.

    Candles and other open flames are prohibited within the Fire Station unless such use is authorized by the Fire Department Officer of the Day. The consumption of alcoholic beverages or controlled substances in or on any part of the Fire Station Property is strictly prohibited.  Smoking is prohibited within the Fire Station.

    The Fire Department meeting room shall not be used for religious services. The Fire Department meeting room shall not be used for the purpose of assisting the campaign for election of any persons to any office, or for the promotion or opposition of any ballot issue. The meeting room may be used for general political purposes, when sponsored by the Town, such as information sharing, organizational meetings, election issues, or candidate introductions, forums, and will be available on a non-discriminatory, equal-access basis.

     

    The Fire Station Grounds in general and the meeting room/rest rooms and Kitchen area specifically are cleaned and maintained using volunteer labor provided by the members of the Volunteer Fire department and the Fire Association.  Where it would be unfair to burden these members with additional tasks not directly related to their chosen volunteer program, the following will ensure that continued volunteer participation in the operation of the Fire Station will occur. The Meeting room users are required to leave the room as neat and orderly a condition as it is found. Cleaning of these spaces will include the removal of all trash, the sweeping of any debris from the floors, the cleaning of dishware and the Return of any furniture used to the condition found prior to occupation.  Arrangements will be made to have the folding chairs and tables if used made available to the user for their program and returned to their storage area.  Equipment, supplies, materials, or other items owned by a community group or used by them on the Fire Department grounds are not the responsibility of the Fire Department, nor can they be stored in the Building.


     All groups or organizations using the Fire Departments meeting room shall be responsible and liable for any damage to the room or its contents. Group activities involving more than normal wear and tear will not be permitted.  No items shall be attached to wall surfaces.
    If any type of abuse or vandalism occurs, groups or organizations may be held liable for any damage and may be precluded from any future use of the Meeting room or other town facilities. Users shall be responsible for the cost of any additional services Incurred by the Fire Department, such as custodial services, staff overtime,  or police detail.

     Simple refreshments (coffee, doughnuts, punch, cookies, hor d'oeuvres, etc) or box lunch may be served at meetings however, pre-approval for the use of the kitchen facilities must be obtained. The entire contents of the station’s kitchen, including the appliances, cabinetry, cutlery and dinnerware as well as the supplies and consumables and the tables and folding chairs found throughout the station have been provided by and are the property of the Southwest Harbor Fire Association Inc.   The usage of the tables and chairs is assumed, however, should a user desire to use the kitchen facilities, the Fire Chief will secure such permission from the Association leadership to do so.  Donations for the use of these facilities would be appreciated and replacement of any consumables will be required including food stuffs, propane and disposable dinnerware. 

     

                                                               Liability

     The Town of Southwest Harbor is not responsible for the loss or damage to any equipment or materials owned or rented by an individual, group or organization while using the public meeting rooms.

    Any individual, group, or organization holding a meeting in the Meeting Room must fully release and discharge the Town of Southwest Harbor, its officers, agents and employees from any and all claims from injuries, including death, damages or loss, which may arise or which may be alleged to have arisen out of, or in connection with the meeting or program.

     


                                                      RIGHTS RESERVED

    This policy supersedes and replaces any prior policy related to reserving the meeting room at the Fire Station made by or on behalf of the Town of Southwest Harbor.


    1.  The Board of Selectmen reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to waive any provision contained herein, and to modify or revoke any permission for use previously granted by the Fire Chief or his representative.

    2.  The Board of Selectmen reserves the right to amend or cancel any or all of these provisions at any time.

     

    Adopted  by the Southwest Harbor Board of Selectment   28 July, 2009