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Lowell subcommittee debates higher tournament fees, insurance and bathroom access after private organizers use city fields
Summary
A Lowell City Board of Parks subcommittee reviewed a proposal to standardize tournament fees, require liability insurance and tighten permit rules after out-of-town organizers booked McPherson Field most weekends; the city solicitor said any fee change must be adopted by ordinance and go to a public hearing.
The Lowell City Board of Parks subcommittee on Monday reviewed proposed changes to how the city charges and manages tournament use of municipal fields, including higher fees for synthetic turf, a requirement for liability insurance and clearer rules on bathroom access and subcontracting.
Kiki Roody, a Parks board member, told the subcommittee the board’s proposal would replace the current case-by-case approach. “Right now tournament fees are decided, to be determined by the board of parks on a case to case basis,” Roody said, and presented a draft that would set fixed daily rates instead of the existing $150-per-field rate used by the city.
The proposal compared Lowell’s practice with Worcester’s and recommended new rates: $500 per day for non-synthetic fields and $1,500 per day for synthetic fields. Roody and other speakers said Worcester charges roughly $950 for non-synthetic tournament use and $2,200 per day for synthetic fields, and that Worcester’s application requires a certificate of insurance for tournaments.
The change aims to capture more revenue for Lowell and to cover extra costs that tournaments impose, speakers said. Councilor Eric Gittier and others emphasized custodial and trash costs, noting overtime custodial rates and trash-removal charges cited during the meeting. “If you multiply that by three if it rented out every day for 365 days a year, we'd still be in the red,” Gittier said about synthetic-field upkeep and replacement costs.
City Solicitor Corey Williams advised the subcommittee that the city’s fee schedule is part of the municipal ordinance code and that any change would require an amendment and the normal ordinance process, including public hearing. “So this would be an amendment to the fee schedule, which is an ordinance. So we would have to amend that and go through the normal process that we do for any other ordinance,” Williams said.
Members of the City Council and Parks board also raised equity and access questions. Several councilors said out-of-town organizers have booked many weekend dates at McPherson Field, leaving fewer opportunities for local youth and neighborhood groups. Councilor Belanger said tournament organizers from outside Lowell have tied up fields “all summer long, for basically a for-profit business running little leagues and getting it at a completely discounted rate.”
A resident who identified himself in the meeting as an organizer of tournaments at McPherson — referred to in the record as Gil and described during discussion as a longtime volunteer who helped build and maintain on-site facilities — objected to sudden changes and said he had performed maintenance and kept bathrooms operable. Councilors acknowledged his contributions but said city liability and fairness required clearer rules. “If something happens to someone in that bathroom… it's us,” one councilor said, referring to municipal liability.
Officials discussed several practical elements to include in revised policy: a clear tournament definition (the draft defines a tournament as a series of contests with at least three competitors or an invitational that charges an entry fee), a requirement that the permit holder be the named insured on any liability policy, custodial staffing and overtime charges when bathrooms are opened for events, and trash-removal fees for large weekend tournaments. The city solicitor and recreation staff also suggested codifying caps on how many weekends a single organization can book, or setting a numerical limit so the board would not need to exercise ad-hoc discretion for every permit.
No ordinance was introduced or voted on at the meeting. The subcommittee agreed to revise the draft policy with additional board input and have the city solicitor prepare a formal ordinance for the Parks board and then the full City Council and public hearing process. The meeting recessed for continued work; a final motion to adjourn was moved and seconded and carried at the close of the session.
The next steps identified were for the Parks board to finalize recommended language on rates, insurance and custodial/trash fees, the city solicitor to draft ordinance text based on that language, and for the item to be brought back for public hearing and council consideration.
