Parks commissioners worry facility rental fees too high

JENNIFER FIERRO • STAFF WRITER

MARBLE FALLS — After hearing some possible proposed fees for city park facilities, several Marble Falls Parks and Recreation Commission members slowed down those moves citing several reasons, including the impact on local families.

The commission reviewed two staff proposals during its regular Oct. 5 meeting.

One was a proposal to increase rental fees of some of the city’s parks, including the Johnson Park ball field and pavilions, and setting the rental fee of the new Westside Park Community Hall.

Parks and Recreation Director Robert Moss had hoped the commissioners would vote on the pricing so the recommendations could be proposed to the city council for first reading by its Oct. 20 meeting.

Instead, the four commissioners in attendance — Kendra Lewis, Leta Stevenson-Smith, Josh Parker and Mark McCary — voted to continue the conversation at the next regular meeting in November when more commissioners will be there.

The commission is holding a workshop 2-4 p.m. Oct. 9 in the council chambers, 800 Third St., regarding the fee schedule.

The proposed rental fee was $200, which included a four-hour minimum use of the facility with a $15 per hour additional charge and a $100 refundable cleaning fee.

Moss said he found two other facilities similar to Westside Park Community Hall in Luling and Round Rock to help him propose fees.

“We feel like it’s a very fair price for that facility,” he said. “We’ve already gotten so many calls (from people wanting to rent it).”

Commissioners also hoped Moss would be able to show the staff’s recommendation for new fees to rent Lakeside Pavilion. Moss added his goal is to recommend rental price changes for the facility in the near future.

It costs $500 or $100 for most nonprofits to rent Lakeside Pavilion without a minimum number of hours, but that doesn’t include a facility deposit and cleaning fee.

Stevenson-Smith said she believes the cost to rent Westside Park Community Hall was too much for the people it would help the most.

“Where is it located?” she said. “Near the poor and underprivileged. It’s too much. I’d scrape together the rest (to rent Lakeside Pavilion). … For families that have three or four kids, that’s a lot of money.”

Parker asked the commissioners if they felt better about having a discounted fee for residents and a higher fee for non-residents. He also wanted to make sure the fee wasn’t set so high that low-income residents couldn’t afford to rent the facility or so low that it costs too much to maintain.   

He added he would feel better about voting on a fee recommendation for Westside Park Community Hall when he could see the proposed rental costs for Lakeside Pavilion.

“If you’re going to change the fees, don’t piecemeal it,” he said. “It’s buying apples and buying oranges and comparing them to pears. I’d like to see it put all together.”

McCary, who also serves as the vice chairman, said he could see all sides of the issue.

“We need to care for individuals in our community,” he said. “People from Fredericksburg, they should be paying a higher rate.”

Other proposed changes include raising the price for renting the Johnson Park ball park and pavilions from $25 a day to $10 an hour with a $100 maximum; raising the tournament cost to use the park from $100 to $200 for three days; and eliminating the lighting fee of $7.50 per hour.

The alcohol consumption permit of $25 and alcohol sales permit of $100 was to remain the same.

Moss said one reason he was looking at rental fees is because the Westside Park Community Hall is very close to being available for use.

The other is because most of the rental fees have been in place for two decades, he said, the costs associated with maintaining the parks system have risen during that time.

“Generally overall, people believe our fees are inexpensive,” the director said. “They’re a deal. (The new fees) are more of an operational issue and an opportunity to offer more people a chance to use the facilities.”

He said the fee proposals are comparable to Boerne, Fredericksburg and Granbury.

Parker said he believes leaving the alcohol permit fees the same “is a missed opportunity. People aren’t going to say ‘no.’ You plan on making money off that.”

Moss told the commissioners the department entered into a rental agreement with the leaders of an adult soccer league to use Johnson Park ball park on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays to play their games. The league has 13 adult teams and eight older-player squads and agreed to pay more than $1,500 to use the facility, he said.

In 2007, softball leagues used the park Monday-Friday. But now, it’s used once a week.

“That gives us an opportunity to price appropriately,” he said. “We’ve outlined the responsibilities of each party. It’s a trial agreement. I saw an opportunity to utilize that facility.”

jfierro@thepicayune.com