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Mostly Cloudy Civic group can’t use meeting room
Lawrence Association refuses to pay fee to gather in traditional Clubhouse chamber
The Lawrence Association had its longtime tradition of holding monthly meetings at the Lawrence Village Country Club's Clubhouse room locked shut on Dec. 16 under orders from the village government. The 80-year-old civic group was not allowed to use its traditional meeting spot after deciding to hold to its guns on not paying a newly required $200 fee for use of the country club facility, believing that the decision by the village trustees was "politically motivated" to avoid having a watchdog for the local government.
On the day of the meeting, Lawrence Association president Rochelle Kevelson said she was presented with an ultimatum from Lawrence Country Club general manager Frank Argento to pay the $200 by 4 p.m. or face a lock-out for its scheduled 8 p.m. meeting. Kevelson refused to authorize payment since she said she had received no written invoice though one was requested.
The civic group held its meeting in the country club's downstairs restaurant instead.
Argento declined to comment. Lawrence mayor Simon Felder and village administrator David Smollett did not return calls seeking comment.
The Five Towns civic group getting locked out from holding its scheduled December meeting at the Clubhouse room came six days after their request to have the new village fee policy waived for the Dec. 16 meeting was not approved by Lawrence lawmakers, even though the newly adopted policy does allow exceptions for not-for-profit groups. Village trustees Joel Mael and Michael Fragin abstained from voting on the request, and Ed Klar was not present for the vote. "It is a disservice to the community," said Kevelson of the village trying to make a not-for-profit group pay a hefty fee to hold meetings.
The new Lawrence village fee policy is $200 for four hours of usage of the Clubhouse meeting room. The Lawrence Association meetings typically last no more than an hour and a half.
Kevelson described the abstentions by Lawrence village trustees Mael and Fragin as "vindictive" and an effort to derail the civic watchdog in the community. "I don't want to see the Lawrence Association go down because there needs to be somebody to watch our government," said Kevelson.
