Council adopts new gym rental rates, prioritizes local youth and club use

The Hurricane City Council approved a resolution setting updated rates and scheduling practices for city gymnasium rentals aimed at prioritizing youth programs and local teams while generating revenue from tournaments and nonresident club users.

Tiffany (last name not recorded), the city’s recreation staff lead, presented an updated fee schedule the council directed staff to draft at a prior meeting. The adopted schedule distinguishes priority users and fees by category: city-run programs have scheduling and use priority and are not charged; school-district uses will likewise not be charged; club and competitive teams will be charged $50 per hour per court; resident club teams will receive a reduced rate of $20 per hour per court; tournaments reserving courts for a full day or weekend will be charged $100 per hour per court. Staff will offer a 10% discount for bulk reservations by recurring or club bookings.

Council members discussed scheduling priorities, operational rules and resident access. Staff said the gym currently allows scheduling roughly three months in advance while construction finishes and that staff will develop an operational calendar that gives local teams an opportunity to reserve favorable times ahead of nonresident users. Council members emphasized youth athletics and noted the recreation programs serve more than 1,000 children inside city facilities each week.

A council motion to approve the schedule passed (motion by Councilman Hershey; second by Councilman Thomas). One council member announced an abstention on the vote citing a potential conflict of interest; the transcript does not record the member’s name in the roll call for the abstention. Staff will publish the new rates and implement scheduling procedures to prioritize city and local youth users.