FAIRHOPE – Increased demand for sports sites, such as soccer and softball fields, is leading Fairhope officials to look at raising fees for some facilities.
The Fairhope City Council voted June 8 to impose temporary fees for some fields while officials study a plan to set up a permanent fee structure.
Pat White, Fairhope Parks and Recreation director, said travel teams and private instructors are using city sites intended for public use. He said other municipalities have restricted use by for-profit agencies so some of those groups are coming to Fairhope.
“We’re going to have our work cut out to police this stuff because obviously they know that my workforce goes home at 3 o’clock, 3:30 in the afternoon, so that’s when everybody comes out,” White said.
White said the proposed fees would include a charge of $50 a day for each field used. Events such as softball tournaments that require city staff members would also be charged $30 for each employee hour and other fees as well as a $250 deposit.
He said the charges are not intended for local recreation league teams.
“This would apply for anybody that would classify as a travel organization or any league that has paid staff or personnel,” White said. “We’re not talking about recreational leagues that have solely volunteers running them.”
White said officials are also looking at charges for the use of lights.
Bob Keyser, Fairhope Recreation Board member said the Fairhope plan is based on a model created in Auburn and supported by the Alabama League of Municipalities. Keyser said Fairhope sports supporters do not want to discourage the use of local facilities.
“What we were trying to work toward was how do we get ourselves in compliance, and not price ourselves and run everybody off,” Keyser “We built a $5-million soccer complex and we could real easily chase everybody away and have nobody playing. So, the idea is how do we provide the services that our community deserves, which is recreation programs, an academy program and a club program? How do we make that accessible to the residents of Fairhope and do it so that it’s not so cost-prohibitive?”
