Do You Use RM Parks?

[Maximus]

If you use RM parks, please watch Candidate's Night on Channel 5. There is a candidate who wants to charge you a seperate user fee when you use them: Mel Standard. On Candidate's Night, Mel specifically mentioned Little League and soccer at Stonehouse Park. He said the that users enjoy the amenities of the parks and should pay a separate fee for them.

What Mel fails to realize is that routine maintenance and upkeep of the parks is already paid for through our Regular Assessment. He also fails to realize a lot of us soccer and Little League parents do quite a lot of volunteer work on the parks. I have never seen Mel there so I understand why he wouldn't know that. He also compared park user fees to cable which exposes an incredibly confused understanding of that issue.

I also found Ted Ryon's position somewhat concerning. He wants to charge "outside" users for the Parks which would result in an increase of our fees for sports such as soccer and Little League.

I am hoping Judy can clarify her answer here.

There were two emphatic "NO's" on the issue of user fees and they came from Randy Jenco and Vicky Lentz.

[2112]

Thanks Max,

I know exactly who to vote for now. With a soccer and little league player and adult softball it's a no brainer.

[Martha]

I'm going to put on my "I already railed against this" hat.

For those of you out there on the www that don't know, I am a co-founder and former board member of the RM soccer club. The League (EGYSL) has to pay monies to EG CSD and EGUSD for use of their fields. To my knowledge, soccer (the League, not the Club, is the only sport that pays monies to RMA) At one time, it came to something that shook out to $2/player and gets rolled up in the "registration fees" so it's kinda "chump change" and it's not even noticed (EGYSL sets the reg fees, so we pay the same as Laguna Club, for example, and EGYSL pays user fees for the fields they use).

So, I argued my point to Greg Vorster when what we had out here was only Riverview, but Stonehouse was coming up. I did a little research and not only does EG charge for use of it's facilities, so does Folsom and other surrounding communities. Believe me, I get the "we're already paying for the park" argument. Already argued that! Those fields take a beating. They, literally, don't get a break. If the organized sports groups pay a little (soccer used to be $2700 and we "reserved" Stonehouse and Riverview from August to mid-December), that should help with irrigation, over-seeding, fertilizing, what-have-you.

Now with the lights, whomever is using the field, should be paying the bill.

There is the added bonus of having a paid contract to use a facility. You get "first dibs" on it, and I have had to go out to the park to shoo people off cuz whatever they were doing was impacting coaches and kids from using the field soccer had 'reserved' and paid for.

Compare park user fees to CalTrans...we already pay, thru taxes, "fees" to drive on California roads, but you still have to pay tolls to cross the bridge...when it's open!

A 'user fee' of a couple of bucks, rolled into the cost of registration (insurance, uniforms, pictures, administrative fees are also bundled and called "registration") ain't no thang. And we DO have the best facilities around!

[Maximus]

Martha I understand your point but doesn't the registration fee pay for the use of those parks. Do you really think the parent who wants to take his toddler to play on the swings at Stonehouse/Riverview should pay an extra fee for it? How about adult softball? Or the dad who wants to pitch his son baseballs (which is what I have done about 500 times) at one of the fields? An extra fee for that? I don't think so.

We pay for the use and enjoyment of our parks through our Regular Assessment and through registration fees. And we have very good private parks for a small community.

[BethB]

To answer your question - Do you use RM parks? Other than the ETC concerts, no.

I can see both sides of your comments Max & Martha. And I've often thought about it in relations to the cable argument. But it's one of those things, you knew what you were getting when you moved here. Cable was included in your dues and so are the parks.

But back to the topic of parks, I agree with Martha if the fields are taking a beating who is going to pay for the more frequent repairs to the grounds? The residents or the leagues who are using them on a regular basis? On the other hand, the cost when spread over every household may not amount to much. Thank goodness the members of the Country Club have to keep up those grounds, ouch!

[57 Karat]

Originally Posted by Maximus

Martha I understand your point but doesn't the registration fee pay for the use of those parks. Do you really think the parent who wants to take his toddler to play on the swings at Stonehouse/Riverview should pay an extra fee for it? How about adult softball? Or the dad who wants to pitch his son baseballs (which is what I have done about 500 times) at one of the fields? An extra fee for that? I don't think so.

We pay for the use and enjoyment of our parks through our Regular Assessment and through registration fees. And we have very good private parks for a small community.

Where were these fees in the budget, where were the contracts approved by the BOD? There were no fees from these collected going to RMA nor were the contracts brought up in Rec. Why do you want to let others use our fields and ask all the members to pay their way? Martha is right..... and so is Mel.

[Maximus]

Karat, the "fees" for upkeep of the parks are in our Regular Assessment. As a little league parent, I know that I didn't have to pay a special "user only" fee to play games at other parks in other cities.

Please answer this as directly as you can. At the north Gazebo, kids play in the playground in the morning before the bus comes to take them to school. That playground area takes a "beating" as a result. Should those kids' parents pay a special user fee for that?

[Martha]

Originally Posted by Maximus

Martha I understand your point but doesn't the registration fee pay for the use of those parks. Yes, it does. Re-read my post Do you really think the parent who wants to take his toddler to play on the swings at Stonehouse/Riverview should pay an extra fee for it? How about adult softball? Or the dad who wants to pitch his son baseballs (which is what I have done about 500 times) at one of the fields? An extra fee for that? I don't think so. I'll bet you, whatever you want, this scenario isn't what's meant by "user fees".

We pay for the use and enjoyment of our parks through our Regular Assessment and through registration fees. And we have very good private parks for a small community.

To carry out my previous post a little further, it's the youth sports that give the fields a workout simply because the fields don't get a break. When the adults go out there to play they, typically, go once a week for whatever sport (unless they've had an injury and are out for the season ...and someone knows who that comment is directed at!). The kids are on 'em every day.

Now, you might argue that little knock-kneed Johnny plays baseball and softball so his mom and dad already paid their "user fee". (Go ahead, argue it, cuz I know you like to argue with me about that stuff!) The difference is that KKJ is on two different parts of the park. Let's say he signs up for lacrosse, cuz it seems everyone else is doing that. They use the same field as soccer. So what. Lax should pay their share too, cuz that's part of why that big field is a mess (we'll leave out the part about it not being done right to start with, cuz that's a whole 'nother rant for another day). The fields, especially what we call "the large soccer field" doesn't get a break. Somebody is on that nearly year-round. Which, really, is an awesome thing! I'm happy to pay through my dues (and user fees...'cept my boy doesn't do sports) for the maintenance of our facilities. Unlike some in the community, I have seen first-hand how involvement in sports has kept some kids that were about to go down the wrong road from doing just that. (oh, so my point here, cuz I got off-track, let's charge user fees for the organized youth sports, but the adults that go out for a little weekend warrior? Fageddabout it...their couple of hours, once a week isn't the same...we can call it their reward for volunteering to bring the youth sports out here for our community's kids)

Did I mention that ALL YOUTH SPORTS that we have out here is brought to you by volunteers? (so any of you reading this that don't like what you see in youth sports, put your money where your mouth is and get involved!)

[Maximus]

Martha, one of the nice things about RM is our parks which is what we saw and liked when we decided to move out here. Why charge extra for those who take more advantage of it than others. Compare this to any street in RM. Should I pay for that street maintenance even though I never use it. Should I pay for the street lights on that street?

If your standard is to charge a user fee based on the amount of time spent on the field, (i.e. organized sports use it more than weekend warriors) then maybe you can answer my question about the north Gazebo playground. On average, that small area gets more use than any one part of the fields at Stonehouse or Riverview.

[Martha]

Originally Posted by Maximus

Karat, the "fees" for upkeep of the parks are in our Regular Assessment. As a little league parent, I know that I didn't have to pay a special "user only" fee to play games at other parks in other cities.

Please answer this as directly as you can. At the north Gazebo, kids play in the playground in the morning before the bus comes to take them to school. That playground area takes a "beating" as a result. Should those kids' parents pay a special user fee for that?

You weren't asking me, but when has that ever stopped me?

Gazebo play area is mulch. Not turf. The equipment there was meant to be used with little to no up-keep. Can't compare apples and oranges or, in this case, Stonehouse fields with a tot-lot.

What I've already said, and will say again, "user fees" should be for the organized youth sports. Not the use of the park in general (like an "entrance fee" if you will).

I can't speak for baseball, but I can tell you when you signed your son up for soccer, you paid a "user fee". It was rolled into the EGYSL's budget, then sent down to the player level in the form of "registration fees". Had Maximus Jr. signed up for football, same deal (I know a little about how the Pleasant Grove Jr. Eagles work too...just sayin' )

So, we do need to have a definitive answer from the BOD about who is subjected to "user fees." I can tell you that if they wanted to charge ALL to help offset the costs of maintenance due to youth sports on the field, I'd get on board with an emphatic "absolutely not." But if the user fee is for the organized sports, then I say yes.

Oh, and as for Ted Ryon and "outside users". Once again, he doesn't know WTH he's talking about. In the case of soccer, ALL THREE THOUSAND +/- players in the League paid RMA. Remember, it was rolled into their over-all budget...just like our kids paid to use EGCSD and EGUSD fields...it's a "cost of doing business" deal even though many of those kids never set foot inside the gates.