Forest Lake commission recommends City Council consider waiving field fees for Special Olympics and charter high school teams

The Forest Lake Parks and Recreation Commission voted to recommend that City Council approve fee waivers for two local programs seeking field use: a Special Olympics practice group and a charter high school baseball program combining North Lakes Academy and Leila.

Kyle Young, Parks and Recreation coordinator, told the commission the Special Olympics group requested 6–8 practices at Shilling Park and asked staff whether the commission would support waiving city field-usage fees. "They're just looking to know that they would have that dedicated space," Young said, adding the group did not require additional field preparation by city crews.

Commissioners discussed potential precedent and fiscal impact, with several members urging a written policy to guide future requests. "Anything that we can do to include Special Olympics would be a good idea," one commissioner said, while others cautioned about a ‘‘slippery slope’’ if waivers are granted without clear criteria.

Staff recommended waiving city rental fees for this type of low-impact, local program but emphasized the commission should recommend the waiver to City Council because the commission is advisory. City Clerk Jolene Tike noted: "The motion should be a motion to recommend City Council approval of waiver," reminding the group of its advisory role.

After a brief exchange about maintenance, trash pickup and potential cleanup costs, the commission approved a motion to recommend Council waive city field-usage fees for the Special Olympics practices provided the city would not incur cleanup costs (staff to include a contingency that the city should not bear additional cleanup expense).

The commission handled a similar request from a combined charter high-school baseball program (North Lakes Academy and Leila). Staff said the school teams typically do not pay practice rental fees but would pay a field-prep fee for games; staff recommended that city usage fees be waived while game-related field-prep costs be paid to FLAW or the organization that manages field prep.

Commissioner Karen moved to recommend Council waive city field-usage fees for the charter high-school program (with field-prep costs handled separately); the motion passed by voice vote after a second. Commissioners discussed safeguards such as damage deposits and clearer policy language to avoid misunderstandings about responsibility for repairs or cleanup.

Next steps: Staff will draft policy language and recommendations to present to City Council, and will include details about any expected fiscal impact so the council can evaluate the cost of recommended waivers.