Park and Rec board reviews fee schedule

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- After a lengthy discussion, marked by some sharp exchanges, the New Ulm Park and Recreation Commission approved and sent to the City Council its 2002 park and rec fee schedule.

Meeting Monday afternoon in the headquarters building of the Sioux Valley Gun Club at Trap Range Park, commissioners debated the method by which fees are set -- and increased -- and whether the department could come out in the black on the fees it charges. The answer from Parks and Recreation Director Dave Bechtold: It can't.

"There's no way to determine what the charge should be, based on whether we're covering our costs," Bechtold told the commission. "It's because we're dealing with hypothetical numbers here."

Another reason is that while costs are going up, the department is dealing with declining figures in usage, he explained.

Bechtold also said that if fees were raised too much, then usage would decline even further.

The fee increases recommended by the Park and Rec Board amount to a three percent increase in total revenues, but not all fees would increase.

The fee schedule covers a wide range of activities and facilities. Most individual use fees for use of the swimming pools and arena facilities would remain the same next year, under the proposed schedule.

But swimming lesson fees would go up $3 in most cases.

Rental of the arena for shows and for hockey games would increase various amounts -- the cost of renting the arena for a day (without ice) would rise from $400 to $425, and the cost of renting the arena for high school hockey games would increase from $300 to $325.

Another significant change was going to an hourly rate on facilities like the Senior Citizen Center and Rec Center meeting rooms, rather than a four-hour block.

Picnic shelter rentals would go up a dollar over the current fees.

Renting Johnson Field for football games would increase from $300 to $310 for day games, and from $300 to $325 for night games. Baseball field rental would increase only slightly.

Commissioner Clark Tuttle, who is also a City Councilor, suggested that in the case of the city's football fields, "we'd be better off if we just leased the fields to the three area schools for a dollar a year and let them handle the maintenance and lining of the fields."

Bechtold said he'd have no problem with that if they wanted to do that, but other commissioners noted the schools "would be crazy" to do that.

"All the athletic directors I've talked to say they're getting the fields for less than they could it themselves," said Commissioner Dennis Jaspersen.

Bechtold noted that the real problem exists in handling the schools' spring baseball needs.

"I've sent a letter to all the schools telling them that they're limited to nine regular games," Bechtold said. However, he and Staffing/Events Coordinator Cheryl Kormann agreed the biggest problem is staffing for their baseball tournaments.

"We have to send our guys out on overtime to get the fields ready," Kormann said, "and if there's a rain-out, then they have to go back out and do it all over again. It gets expensive."

At which point, Commission President Mary Hussman chided the commission for debating the fees at length.

"We've been talking about this for an hour. I'd like to remind the commission that you're all welcome to sit in on the committee meetings we held in June to discuss the fee structure."

The commission also approved plans for a stairway/walkway and placement of a flag pole in German Park. Denis Warta said the stairway with offset landings would come off of German Street 20 feet south of the monument.

He also reported on details of the Kinder Castle which has already been approved by the commission.

Pat Novak and Tracy Clark appeared for the commission to push for city help in making improvements at the BMX park.

Novak and Clark said their committee's primary concern was improving the drainage. Another concern is electrical access to the site. Eldon Vath, president of the gun club, brought the commission up to date on where his group is in planning the moving and renovation of the trap and skeet ranges, as well as building a new club house.