Parks director outlines membership fee changes; public commenter presents petition opposing fees

Elise, director of Parks, Recreation and Culture, told the advisory board the department proposed adjustments to membership fees following Commission feedback: a single membership tier (neighborhood rec center rate), youth access free for ages 17 and under across Douglas County, and elimination of a separate qualified discounted rate so financially qualified residents would be served through a free-access policy. She said those changes reduce projected revenue by about $50,000 and that the commission was considering reallocating previously approved mill levy funds to offset that reduction.

Elise said, "Once the commission approves this, or if they approve it and there's no change, we would be looking at starting registration prior to January 2. Registration would be in effect January 2... we're probably looking at about a 60 day rollout of it. So starting in November, we just need to make sure that this is moving forward, make sure that the system is configured to do that." The department also proposed a $5 tournament spectator fee; staff told the board they were discussing logistics with tournament organizers because organizers collect fees in different ways.

During public comment, resident Carol Comer presented a petition opposing the proposed Lawrence fees. She told the board, "I've sent you my petition against the Lawrence fees that had almost 2,000 signatures... The petition has now 1,900 and 83 signatures. Again, 81% of our 2,600 community survey respondents were against the fees." Comer asked when preregistration would begin and requested the advisory board and PRC codify a commitment to keep facility fees at the adopted rate for a minimum of 10 years.

The board did not take a final policy vote at this meeting; staff said the commission must approve the fee changes and that implementation steps (system configuration, fob issuance, and outreach) would follow commission action.