Do You Want to Rent a Town of Ayden Facility?
AD-001: Rental and Use of Town Properties and Facilities is provided below.
Rental Packet: Please print, complete, and bring this completed packet with you when you visit the Town Hall and submit your reservation.
Five steps for renting a Town of Ayden property:
- Read carefully the policy information shown below, or click the link above for an electronic copy.
- Contact the Town Clerk at (252) 481-5826 and confirm your event’s activities are not prohibited, and that the property is available for your proposed dates.
- If your event activities are not prohibited, complete the rental agreement, rental application, and obtain a certificate of insurance for your event.
- Visit the Town Hall, submit your completed documentation, and pay all associated fees and deposits. Confirm your event is scheduled.
- Get busy preparing for your event, and have a great time!
If you are interested in having your meeting or special event in Ayden, please reserve your date and venue by visiting the Town Hall to fill out a lease application, provided by our Customer Service Department. (If you want to see the rental space before you reserve it, a brief tour can be arranged by requesting one at Town Hall.) Once you sign the application, the Town Manager and Police Chief will need to approve it (this is so you can borrow a key and gain access).
The Governing Board of the Town of Ayden does hereby set forth the following rules and regulations governing the rental and use of Town properties and facilities.
1. To lease Town properties and/or facilities for any event, function, or activity (hereinafter “event”), the Lessee must be at least twenty-five (25) years of age and must present a valid government-issued identification card (e.g., North Carolina driver’s license). The identification card must show their photo and identify their age, and residency address. The Lessee may request the use of Town properties and facilities for their own purposes, or, if acting on behalf of an organization or agency, they must be a bona fide member of that organization or agency with the authority to enter into a rental agreement on its behalf with the Town.
2. The Lessee will be required to pay all past due bills, fees, and fines due to the Town of Ayden, in full, before the agreement will be executed by the Town.
3. When leasing the Arts & Recreation (A&R) Community Center (including the auditorium), West Ave. Stage, or the Second Street Community Building; or when the event requires the use of off-duty Town personnel, you must complete a hardcopy lease agreement. Lease agreements are available at the Ayden Town Hall each weekday from 8:30 am and 5:00 pm. The Town Hall is located at 4144 West Ave., Ayden, NC 28513.
4. When leasing Town parks or shelters, you may visit the A&R Department’s online reservation website at https://aydenartsandrec.recdesk.com/Community/Member/Login. Using this method, Lessees will be required to create a profile, login, and complete the reservation process online. Additionally, Lessees may visit the Town Hall to complete a hardcopy of the reservation. The A&R Director shall review all reservation submissions. If the A&R Director believes the event does not meet the guidelines of this policy, the reservation will be forwarded to the Town Manager, or their designee, for final review and determination. The Town Manager, or their designee, shall make the final determination on whether to approve or reject the reservation. The A&R Director will notify the applicant if the reservation is not approved.
5. The Town Manager, or their designee, shall review and approve all proposed events that involve leasing the A&R Community Center (including the auditorium), West Ave. Stage, or Second Street Community Building, and all events requiring the use of off-duty Town staff. The Town Manager, or their designee, shall have the authority to authorize and enter into all lease agreements.
6. Long-term Rentals: Should a Pitt County religious organization be displaced from its permanent facility due to a disaster, the Second Street Community Building and the A&R Community Center auditorium is available for rent, long-term. The “Long-term” rental of space is defined as the sooner of six months or as soon as repairs to its permanent space are complete. Should the religious organization need more than six months of long-term use, they must resubmit an application requesting additional time. The granting of additional time shall be considered on a case- by-case basis. The Town Manager is the only staff member authorized to approve the long-term rental of Town properties by religious organizations, and he/she shall have the authority to reject a rental agreement that does not meet the standards defined in this policy, and/or if he/she decides it is not in the best interest of the Town.
7. Attendance by off-duty staff: If the Town Manager determines that the event, because of expected attendance, event type, or location, presents a potential safety or security risk, he/she may require off-duty Town personnel to attend and monitor the event. The off-duty personnel may include members of the Town staff, the Police Department, or its appointed or contracted representatives. In the event the Town Manager determines off-duty personnel are necessary, the Lessee shall be responsible for compensating the off-duty personnel. The current rate is $50 per hour, per individual, and payment must be made when submitting the rental agreement.
a. If, after receiving an approved rental agreement, the Lessee wishes to change the time of the event, they must get written approval from the Town Manager, or their designee.
b. If the event is underway and the Lessee makes a request to extend the time of the event to on-site off-duty Town personnel, the decision to grant the extension rests with the Town personnel present at the event, or their direct supervisor. If Town personnel decline Lessee’s request to extend the event’s time, Lessee shall ensure the event ends as described in the agreement. The decision of Town personnel is final.
c. If the event is extended beyond the time approved in the agreement, the Lessee shall be responsible for any additional compensation required to cover the continued staffing of their event.
d. All additional staffing costs shall be deducted from the Lessee’s security deposit. If the deposit does not cover the additional compensation, Town staff shall bill the Lessee for the difference, and the Lessee is required to make payment to the Town within ten (10) business days.
8. Keys for access to the Second Street Community Building and the A&R Community Center must be signed out and returned to the Ayden Police Department by the Lessee, and the Lessee must show receipt of payment prior to the keys being given to the Lessee.
9. The Town does not provide sound or light technicians as part of any leasing agreement. At the Lessee’s request, and pending Town approval and functioning equipment, the Town may provide a key to the A&R Community Center Auditorium “tech room,” which is where the sound and light boards are housed. The Lessee is responsible for any damage to the tech room equipment.
10. Smoking, possession of firearms, and alcohol consumption are strictly prohibited on any leased Town property or facility.
11. The rental of the Second Street Community Building or the Doug Mitchell Auditorium grants the Lessee and their event attendees the use of the inside of the facility only. No event activities are permitted outside these buildings.
12. The Lessee shall ensure that all Town properties and facilities under their agreement remain open to Town of Ayden personnel for inspection during the entire rental period. The Ayden Police Department may make a periodic inspection during the rental period to ensure that the use follows the approved rental agreement.
13. All events conducted on leased Town properties and facilities shall be completed by 10:00 p.m., and shall not occur on Sundays prior to 1:00 pm, unless specifically approved by the Town Manager.
14. The Lessee must submit payment at the time of the reservation, and payment for 100% of all fees, deposits, staffing, and other associated costs must be received by the Town before the rental agreement is approved and signed.
15. Applications for reservations must be submitted, approved, and paid for a minimum of three (3) business days in advance of the proposed activity. Events at the A&R Community Center, and any event requiring the use of off-duty Town personnel, requires a thirty (30) day advance notice. This minimum advanced reservation requirement may only be waived by the Town Manager.
16. The Lessee is responsible for setting up and taking down any stage sets, decorations, and/or equipment necessary for their proposed activity, including:
a. All existing tables, chairs, and other Town property shall be returned to their original location.
b. No items shall be taped, tacked, or otherwise secured to any walls, ceilings, or fixtures without the approval of the Town Manager, or their designee.
c. All kitchen areas and equipment shall be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized; with equipment being properly stored.
d. All floors, tables, chairs, and so forth must be swept and cleaned, as needed.
e. All trash and garbage shall be secured in plastic bags and placed in the roll-out carts directly behind the building. DO NOT use the private dumpsters or roll-out carts of other businesses or residents.
f. All windows and doors must be closed and locked.
g. All cleaning materials and equipment shall be stored as originally arranged.
17. The Lessee shall contact the Ayden Police Department at the conclusion of their event. The Police Department will conduct a preliminary inspection of the facility while in the presence of the Lessee and they will collect the keys to the building. The Town’s Facilities Maintenance personnel shall perform a final inspection on the next business day following the event, prior to any subsequent events on the property. Failure to return the keys to Police Department personnel will result in the loss of your deposit. (See attached checklist)
18. If the Town property is free from damage and there is no need to perform a cleaning of the property, the Town shall return the security deposit to the Lessee within ten (10) business days.
19. If the Town’s Facilities Maintenance personnel determine repairs or cleaning needs to be done to the property, and the work required is a result of the Lessee’s use, they will notify the Town Manager.
20. The Lessee shall be responsible for any damage to Town property or equipment, and the Town shall withhold an amount of the security deposit necessary to pay for the costs of repairing such damages, which may include any necessary cleaning. If the security deposit is sufficient to cover the necessary repairs, the Town shall make the repairs and shall refund to the Lessee any balance remaining within fifteen (15) business days after the Town’s Facilities Maintenance personnel provides notice to the Town Manager that the repairs have been made.
21. Should the cost to repair or clean the property exceed the Lessee’s deposit, the Town will send a detailed billing of all expenses to the Lessee, via certified mail, within ten (10) business days. The Lessee will have ten (10) business days to make payment against the detailed billing.
22. Town staff only clean Town facilities and properties on weekdays; therefore, it is vital that any facility or property rented on a Saturday or Sunday is cleaned by the Lessee prior to returning the property to the Town. If a property is found to be unclean by the Ayden Police Department during their inspection, they will direct the Lessee to clean the facility prior to collecting the keys. If the Lessee fails to properly clean the property, the rental obligation will remain open, and the Lessee will be responsible for all additional rental fees incurred.
23. The Town shall be responsible for repairing any damages or performing additional cleaning not otherwise performed or required by the Lessee, through Town staff, or through contracted services at its sole election.
24. If the Lessee desires to promote their event or provide directions to the event by using signs, the Lessee shall first receive permission to place signs from the Town’s Planning office. If granted permission, signs are to be placed only for a specified period and must be removed within 24 hours after the event concludes. Failure to remove any signs placed about the Town related to the event/rented use will result in forfeiture of the entire security deposit.
25. If a reservation must be cancelled, the Lessee must contact the Head of Customer Service to request an official cancellation. The Town will refund the fees and deposits for the reservation based on the guidelines shown below:
26. If a rental agreement is subsequently rejected by the Town after initial approval, then 100% of all reservation and/or rental fees, security deposits, and staffing costs paid shall be refunded within ten (10) business days of the rejection.
27. If inclement weather prevents Lessee from using the desired rental facility, the Lessee shall call and either select a new available rental date, at no additional cost, or request a refund of the rental payment. If a rental payment refund is requested, 100% of the payment shall be refunded within ten (10) business days of the request.
28. It is the expressed desire of the Town of Ayden that the rental and use of the A&R Community Center be limited to those activities and events that are recreational, cultural, civic, and arts related in nature, and the Governing Board authorizes the Town Manager to deny rental for any purpose not in conformity with these intended uses.
29. The Town of Ayden, through its Town Manager, reserves the right to deny the rental or use of any Town property as deemed necessary to protect the public health, safety, and general welfare of the Town and surrounding community, or for any other reason that the Town Manager deems is not in the best interest of the Town of Ayden.
30. Active religious organizations and non-profits located in Pitt County, NC, may request to have the rental fee waived. To have the rental fee waived, the religious or non-profit organization must demonstrate the event “benefits the Ayden community,” and they must complete the following steps on their first rental agreement submission:
a. The Pastor or Secretary (or anyone with appropriate management authority) must visit the Town Hall.
b. They must present acceptable documentation that identifies their tax-exempt or religious organizational status.
c. The documentation must identify the organization’s Pitt County address.
d. The documentation must name the active Members and/or Managing Members.
e. The Town Hall must receive (or make) a copy of this documentation and a copy of at least one of the Member’s government-issued identification cards.
f. Acceptable documentation may include: an IRS 501(c)(3) Public Charity Approval letter, an active Articles of Incorporation, or active By-laws.
g. The Town Manager, or their designee, is responsible for determining if the event activities “benefit the Ayden community,” and their decision to approve or reject the waiver request is final.
31. The process identified in #30(a-g), above, is a “one time” process that only needs to be repeated when/if the organization’s personnel change, and if those newly added personnel will be executing a lease agreement on behalf of the religious or non-profit organization.
32. For those religious and non-profit organizations that do not provide acceptable documentation, the rental fee will not be waived.
33. Religious and non-profit organizations will still be required to pay any associated deposit, insurance, and/or staffing expenses with all rentals.
34. As of 03/10/2025, the Lessee is required to obtain event insurance when renting any Town property, and the following conditions and requirements apply:
a. The minimum amount of General Liability insurance required for all property rentals is $1 million, or $1,000,000.00.
b. The Town does not endorse or recommend any insurance carrier, and a properly completed certificate of insurance (COI) will be accepted from any insurance carrier authorized to conduct business in North Carolina by the NC Department of Insurance.
c. The COI must name the Town of Ayden as an Additional Insured, and the Town must be listed as shown in the address information here: Town of Ayden, 4144 West Ave., Ayden, NC 28513
d. A properly completed COI must be provided when submitting the rental application.
35. As a way of grouping together events with similar risk criteria, the Town adopted event classes and exclusions. We encourage you to review the lists when attempting to identify the risk that may apply to your event. The lists are not exhaustive, and the Town Manager, with guidance from the NC League of Municipalities and the Town Attorney, is the final authority regarding risk class assignment.
36. The Town reserves the right to reject a rental application for any event that intends to engage in an excluded activity, regardless of whether the Lessee can obtain a certificate of insurance from an approved insurance carrier. Should the Town reject the application after the rental fee, deposit, and COI was provided to the Town, the Town will immediately notify the Lessee and return all funds received to the Lessee.
37. The Town is not responsible for any fees associated with obtaining the proper event insurance. The Lessee should contact the Town Clerk to determine the risk class for their event, before obtaining the COI.
38. Should the Lessee subcontract the activity for their event, the subcontractor, vendor, or third-party, is required to name the Town of Ayden as an Additional Insured on their COI, and the Lessee is responsible for providing the subcontractor, vendor, or third-party COI to the Town at the time of application.
Outdoor athletic fields and gymnasiums are NOT available for rent.
Off-duty Town Hall staff is $50.00/hour/staff member. Example: two (2) police officers for a three (3) hour event is six (6) total man-hours of staffing costs.