Baldwin County Commissioner Frank Burt is urging his fellow commissioners to reconsider a plan to charge new rental fees at two North Baldwin County parks and a historic church, arguing the potential revenue isn’t worth pricing out the families who use them.
The Baldwin County Commission appeared close to a vote on the proposed fees during a recent work session, after months of delaying the decision. The fees would apply to Live Oak Landing and Bicentennial Park, both located near Stockton, along with the historic Montpelier Methodist Church situated at Bicentennial Park.
Under the proposal, renting the church for events such as weddings would cost $300 plus a refundable $200 security deposit, with the deposit returned after a post-event inspection. Pavilion rentals at both Bicentennial Park and Live Oak Landing would run $75 each.
Burt noted that one of the pavilions in question was built with donated funds, and the Montpelier church itself was donated to the county in 2012. He argued that charging fees on facilities the community effectively gave to the county sends the wrong message, particularly to lower-income families who rely on the parks for gatherings.
Other commissioners have pushed back on that framing, noting the properties still belong to the county and come with real costs. Commission Chairman Charles “Skip” Gruber pointed to the expense of air conditioning the church, which regularly hosts weddings. According to an analysis from the county’s Archives Director, Felisha Anderson, electricity costs at Montpelier Methodist Church run about $2,445 annually.
Burt countered that the parks serve an important community function beyond their dollar value. “It does us older souls and parents and others as well, good … there is no music like hearing happy children up there and enjoying the place,” he said, adding that he would rather see the commission examine its reservation policies than impose new fees.
The debate follows accusations from David Peterson of the Save the Mobile-Tensaw Delta advocacy group, who has suggested the fee proposal amounts to political retribution against North Baldwin County. County officials have not addressed that claim directly.
Fees are already common at other public facilities across Baldwin County, including the Bay Minette Civic Center, the Daphne Civic Center, the Erie Meyer Civic Center in Gulf Shores, and several county-linked churches and pavilions in Foley and Bay Minette, according to the county’s own analysis. Burt had earlier asked commissioners to delay a vote on the new fees until he returned to his duties, having been absent for much of June while mourning the death of his wife, Joyce. The commission was expected to take up the fee proposal again at its July 21 meeting.