Olivette City Council approves parks-and-recreation fee changes; ordinance adopted

Olivette City Council on Dec. 10 approved changes to parks and recreation fees, adopting Bill 3038 as Ordinance 2806 after suspending ordinary rules for an immediate second reading.

The measure, presented by Beverly Tucker Knight, parks and recreation director, raises the annual membership rate by 10% while keeping a relative annual discount for full-year payers, implements a $25 one-time startup fee for monthly memberships, and adds a $45-per-hour surcharge for rentals that continue after the center’s posted closing time. Tucker Knight said the measures are aimed at covering increased staff costs and improving cost recovery as facility use has outpaced early projections. “Any rental that takes place after the center is closed has increased staff costs,” she said, adding the after-hours fee will “help us address the issues of the increased staff costs, and it would also make it more enticing” to staff to work late.

The ordinance also standardizes refundable damage deposits for pavilion rentals: the $150 weekend deposit at Stacy Park will apply to all Stacy rentals, and Villa and Irvside parks will require a $100 deposit. Tucker Knight told the council rentals and membership levels surpassed expectations in the facility’s first year, noting 1,058 total annual memberships and heavy facility use from youth basketball and other programs.

Bill Hanson, vice chair of the Parks & Recreation Commission, described the commission’s review and said members debated annual versus monthly pricing before recommending the package to the council. “We tried to adjust that…If you were to add 12 months up, it ends up being 5% cheaper to do an annual than to do the monthly,” Hanson said, explaining the commission’s intent to keep full-year pricing advantageous.

Council members asked for clarification on which fees would change, how holidays are treated for rental fees (the presenter said holidays follow the city employee handbook), and timing. Tucker Knight said staff planned rollout for Jan. 1, 2025 and that existing promotional offers would encourage early renewals; during the motion to approve a staff member read a motion that referenced putting rates “in place for 01/31/2025,” a discrepancy noted on the record. The council approved the ordinance on a unanimous roll call (Council members Clark, Weil, Chairman Pro Tem Knox and Mayor Waldman voting yes). The measure was recorded as Ordinance 2806.

The council’s action followed the Parks & Recreation Commission’s review and a staff presentation that tied proposed fee changes to observed demand and higher staffing costs for after-hours events and holidays. Staff said members would be notified of the changes before implementation and that an annual rate promotion was running to encourage conversions from monthly to annual memberships.