By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Non-residents of Bowling Green have long paid extra for using city park and recreation services. But those fees may be bumped up if city residents pass the 2-mill park and recreation levy on the November ballot.
On Tuesday evening, the Bowling Green Park and Recreation Board discussed raising the non-resident fees since city residents will be paying more through their property taxes if the levy passes.
“Our citizens are supporting us with property taxes,” said Kristin Otley, city park and recreation department director.
Currently, non-residents pay an extra $3 per child for a one-time event or program, and an extra $8 for a program that extends past one day.
“We may need to adjust that slightly,” Otley told the board.
Park and Rec Board President Jeff Crawford agreed that a fee increase would be reasonable for those people living outside the city. He asked that the staff come to the next board meeting with a recommended amount.
Otley mentioned the options of raising the $3 and $8 fees by $1 or $2 each. The park and rec department has never gotten any pushback about the extra fees since most non-residents realize city residents are already paying on their property taxes.
City residents also have the additional perk of getting priority signup status for programs. Some programs fill up quickly, so city residents are given first chance to register for those, Otley said.
At the same time the board is considering raising non-resident fees for youth services, Otley suggested they may want to decrease the non-resident fee for adult programs. She explained that in the past, the park and rec department offered many more sport options for adults. So the extra $40 non-resident fee for a year made sense.
But now only volleyball and men’s basketball programs remain, and the extra $40 non-resident fee is too steep for a lot of people considering the limited options.
“It’s hurting some of our programming,” Otley said, and isn’t conducive with the goal of attracting more people to the city’s community center. “The leagues have somewhat suffered.”
So next month, the board will also consider reducing those adult non-resident fees to the same as the new youth non-resident fees.
In other business, the board got an update from recreation coordinator Ivan Kovacevic on summer programs. The movies in the park were a success, he said, with the most popular being the Star Wars showing which drew about 230 people.
Lunches in the park this summer attracted 1,556 people for eight lunches. Concerts in the park drew 1,151 people for six events. And 54 different sessions of swimming lessons involved 596 swimmers.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the park board:
- Learned of a letter sent by a parent whose son was injured on the diving board at city pool. The parent thanked the staff at the aquatic center for handling the incident so well.
- Was reminded the ribbon cutting at the “Building on Nature” project at Wintergarden Park will be Thursday at 4 p.m.
- Heard from Crawford that levy preparations are going well, with several presentations planned to community groups about the upcoming levy.
- Got a report that the Park and Rec Foundation fundraiser at Sunset Bistro raised $700.
- Was reminded the annual Wine and Cheese Fundraiser will be Sept. 23.
- Learned the fence will be installed soon next to the athletic fields by the community center.
- Heard that the community center will reopen Saturday after being closed this week for annual maintenance.
