Council weighs cost of fee waivers at Copper Sky

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Nearly every member of the city council had a different idea of how the Copper Sky Recreation Complex should handle fee waivers.

During a Jan. 20 meeting, the council stitched together a workable guidance for a staff trying to find balance in how it accommodates nonprofits. The council also considered additional park rental fees at its Feb. 3 meeting.

Community Services Director Kristie Riester requested a “fair and consistent” waiver policy that would “ensure all requests are properly considered.”

She said there was a high number of requests this year to waive the use fee or at least reduce it for a variety of functions. The policy would cover rental of facility space, the ramada, playing fields or courts and the portable stage. It also involves use of lights and the city’s special-events fees.

“The reason for developing a policy, in part, is because we still need to pay for the facility,” City Manager Gregory Rose said.

Mayor Christian Price called Copper Sky an “astronomical consumer of dollars from the general fund.” Though the park is a “crown jewel” for Maricopa, “we have to recover costs,” he said.

Riester said costs to the city add up from labor, utilities and materials.

For residents, rental of the large ramada is $50 per hour with a two-hour minimum. The cost is the same for the great lawn. Residents can rent half of a gymnasium at Copper Sky for $100, or $200 for the whole gym. Renting a baseball or softball field is $5-$15 for resident youth and $10-$20 for resident adults.

The proposed fee-waiver policy would have required a 60-day advance notice, with no more than one event allowed to have fees waived per 12-month period.

Riester said staff wanted to limit it to one event “so we’re not inundated with several requests from the same organization.”

But the council picked apart the details of the proposed policy.

Councilmember Vincent Manfredi, referencing Little League, suggested raising the limit to two events. Councilmember Peggy Chapados said organizations could put similar events on the same application and make them one multi-date event. Manfredi said that could apply to Little League hosting the same event for both of its seasons.

“Based on the proposed policy, there is no such thing as a totally free event,” Chapados said.

She said she would like to leave much of the decision-making to the discretion of staff and the committee. She said the Parks, Recreation and Libraries Committee (PRL) does a thorough job of vetting the proposals and making applicants accountable.

The fee waiver is meant only for programs and events that are open to the general public. They must also have cultural, educational, entertainment or recreational value to the public. There are exceptions and special cases.

Riester said she takes unusual or large requests to the city manager, and he decides whether it should go before the council. The lowest request that has come to the department was $120. The highest was almost $4,000, she said.

Rose described one event, a hastily arranged baseball tournament to raise funds for a cause, in which he used his own discretion to lower the use fees for the organization. The council agreed to maintain that latitude for the city manager.

Councilmember Nancy Smith said she advised the Relay for Life Committee, of which she was an organizing member,  to plan “in one vision what do you want to ask for, for the entire year.” She said she was not in favor of limiting the number of events per organization.

One application laying out a nonprofit organization’s plans for the year would stop the influx of applications, she said. That would minimize the impact on the PRL and staff, Smith said.

Price said the 60-day requirement was “too onerous.” Many organizations do not plan a year out, and some event fee waiver requests come last-minute from a reaction to something that has happened in the community. He said he would recommend no longer than 30 days. Councilmember Bridger Kimball agreed, saying only events that need a special-event permit should have the 60-day requirement.

Riester said 60 days was requested so staff could go through the special-event process and get the request to the PRL committee in time and, if necessary, the council itself. A special-event permit is required for large-scale event and those involving alcohol.