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Hooksett parks volunteers and staff debate field fees, maintenance and options to reduce overuse
Summary
Advisory members reviewed comparisons with neighboring towns, discussed field overuse and potential rental fees, and agreed to invite municipal staff to a future meeting to clarify budgets and maintenance options.
Members of the Hooksett Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee reviewed how other towns manage and fund athletic fields and discussed options if town maintenance budgets cannot cover repairs and rest periods for overused fields.
The committee’s discussion focused on benchmarking data gathered from Pembroke, Candia, Goffstown, Bow, Ware and others, which showed a range of rental fees, resident privileges and strategies for resting high-use turf and grass fields. Committee members said those examples could guide Hooksett if town funding for field maintenance proves insufficient.
“Some towns rent other fields to allow their fields to rest while being repaired,” a committee member summarized after reading comparative notes gathered from neighboring municipalities. The materials included examples such as Pembroke pavilion rental at $15 per hour for residents and $30 per hour for nonresidents, youth softball team fees of $100 per team per season, and turf rentals ranging from $90 to $125 an hour depending on season and lights.
Committee members repeatedly emphasized they lacked reliable numbers for local programs’ budgets. “It’s kinda hard for us to make any decision of not knowing any of the numbers,” one member said, urging staff to provide clearer accounting of what revenue HYA/HYAA (the youth athletics group referenced in the meeting) collects and what is available in the town maintenance budget.
Rob Hebert, listed in the meeting as crew chief, and other staff were discussed as responsible for direct field repairs; committee members described small repairs they can fund but noted larger projects would require line‑item budget support or outside revenue. One member cited previous field repairs paid for by a user group last year and said town crews had smaller repair budgets.
The committee directed outreach to municipal staff: the group agreed to invite “Ben” (referenced as town staff) to the next meeting to review field conditions, maintenance budgets and possible fee structures. The chair said she would email Ben to request his attendance so members can discuss whether fees or alternate arrangements (renting alternate fields, staggering schedules, or gating tournaments) are feasible.
Committee members also described operational steps they are taking: adjusting field layouts (moving infields to spread wear), trying to limit early-season use to protect new turf, and coordinating with league organizers to reduce the number of tournament days that reserve fields long blocks of time when few teams actually show up.
On minor park projects, the committee said the swing set purchase is covered and installation materials already bought; a member said matting and cement will come from her budget. The committee also discussed moving a barbecue pit and rotating horseshoe pits for safety once spring cleanup work begins.
Administrative items included approval of minutes and routine operational updates; the group closed by confirming the plan to invite staff to the next meeting to provide budget and maintenance clarification.
