Council adopts fee schedule changes including parks swim option and cemetery price updates

The Enumclaw City Council approved Resolution 1879 on May 26, which updates the city's fee schedule for Parks and other services and brings enacted fees into line with an automatic CPI adjustment for school-impact fees.

Alina Hibbs, the city's parks and recreation director, outlined two parks fee proposals. She said the aquatic center's existing three-day-a-week EELS swim-team program costs $276 and staff proposed a more-affordable two-day-a-week option; the two-day option is intended to lower the barrier to participation while keeping swim-meet commitments intact. On cemetery fees, Hibbs said operational and maintenance costs and diminished lot availability prompted increases for infant lots, cremation garden lots and alcove mausoleum niches; sold-out north/south facing niches were removed from the schedule and remaining alcove tiers were re-priced.

Chris Vaseline (staff) explained the fee resolution also contains an automatic school-impact fee adjustment: "The fee resolution presented to you tonight represents a 3.1% adjusted school impact fee," he said, based on the consumer-price index for the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue area; staff implemented the change on April 1 and sought council confirmation so paperwork matches permit fees.

Council noted an email from Kyle Fletcher of the school district expressing concern about the city's not adopting a separately calculated school impact fee; staff said they would evaluate the district's capital facilities plan and bring recommendations if the council wished to deviate from the CPI-based approach. After discussion, council moved, seconded and passed Resolution 1879 by voice vote.

Staff said the cemetery pricing changes came forward without a committee recommendation only because the cemetery board lacked a quorum; the council moved forward to avoid delaying the vendor (Weeks Funeral Home). The resolution passed and staff will implement the updated fee schedule.