Sparta officials raised concerns about cleaning costs and rental fees for the newly purchased Christpoint Church facility during Thursday night’s meeting.
Sparta Mayor Jerry Lowery said the city is preparing to take ownership of the building June 1 and is beginning discussions about how the facility will operate. Lowery said those discussions include evaluating costs tied to maintaining and renting the space.
“It’s costing us more to pay for the cleaning than it is the rent,” Lowery said. “And one thing I’ve thought about, is I think we need to, even if we waive the rental fee, I think we need to start charging, this is just me, now this is just me talking, I think we need to start charging the clean fee.”
The former church will be used as a conference center. Officials have started considering both exterior improvements and operational planning ahead of the transition.
Lowery said the issue of rental pricing will likely be addressed during a future work session focused on fees across all city facilities. The goal is to ensure the city does not absorb unnecessary costs tied to public use.
“So we might could waive the rental fee but the cleaning fee I think needs to be paid by whoever’s using it,” Lowery said.
Sparta Finance Director Tonya Tindle said current pricing shows little margin between rental income and cleaning expenses. Tindle said the existing structure highlights the need for adjustments as the city adds another facility.
“$100 to rent and $100 for clean,” Tindle said.
Alderman Doug Young said rental pricing should reflect the value of the facility and encourage proper care by users. Young said setting appropriate fees could help protect the building over time.
“But it’s a nice building and it needs to, to me we need to charge something make people want to keep it up,” Young said.
Officials said the topic will return for further discussion as the city moves closer to taking control of the property and finalizing how the space will be managed.