Some upcoming improvements to a pair of baseball fields in Port Alberni have led to a discussion about user fees for city-owned facilities.
Port Alberni city council agreed during a meeting on Nov. 14, 2022 to set aside $240,000 in next year’s budget, which will go towards improving the Lon Miles and Recreation Park baseball diamonds for an upcoming national tournament.
The Port Alberni Cubs Oldtimers Baseball Club approached city council back in October about the possibility of hosting the 2023 Canadian National Oldtimers Baseball Federation Championship. Before the championship takes place, the city will need to improve the diamonds at Lon Miles Field and Recreation Park so that they will meet the requirements for the event.
Council approved the $240,000 last Monday, which will go towards work like scoreboard repair, painting and improvements to drainage, bullpens, fencing and base locations.
Willa Thorpe, the city’s manager of parks, recreation and heritage, says city staff are currently building a plan when it comes to annual maintenance of the city’s 19 outdoor fields.
“This is not a situation where staff wish to come repeatedly to council to talk about one-off initiatives,” she said.
The city has a reserve fund for these types of parks and recreation projects, but the reserve fund is made up from user fees that come from city-owned facilities like the Alberni Valley Multiplex and the aquatic centre. At present there are no user fees or rental fees for people using the city’s outdoor fields.
“Council may want to consider user fees in the future as part of maintenance and capital projects,” said city CAO Tim Pley, adding that, “it probably won’t be a topic that field users will want to entertain.”
One of these field users, Paul Robertson, is the executive director of Funtastic Alberni. He said the idea of what he calls a “pay to play” user fee came up at the city a few years ago, but the idea was dropped after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in early 2020. Robertson said he has drummed up some support from other local field users and is ready to revive a petition if council starts seriously looking at user fees.
“I was just totally opposed to it because of the economic situation here in Port Alberni,” he said. “You look around, there’s a lot of issues with homelessness, a lot of people who can’t pay for gas or groceries. A lot of people just don’t have that extra $20 to spend.”
Robertson is also worried that the implementation of user fees could deter out-of-town athletes from attending local sporting events, which is an economic driver for Alberni Valley hotels and restaurants.
“The economic spinoff every time there’s an event here in town is more than anybody ever realizes,” he said.
Along with hosting the annual Okee-Dokee slo-pitch tournament in Port Alberni, Funtastic Alberni also donates the proceeds from this tournament to local sports associations and charities, including to KidSport—a program that provides grants to help cover the registration expenses for kids’ sports.
“The need is always greater than what we have to give,” Robertson said.
During last Monday’s council meeting, the possibility of funding from the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District (ACRD) came up. Andrew McGifford, the city’s director of finance, says the regional district currently provides a “small amount” of recreational funding annually.
“It hasn’t changed in many years,” he said.
But Mayor Sharie Minions, who also sits on the ACRD board, says the ACRD currently doesn’t have a service for parks and recreation funding, so this would require a “long-term strategy.”
She said that she would like to have a discussion “in the near future” about user fees on city fields.
“Those are our assets, we have a responsibility to take care of them,” said Minions. “Longer term, I think we need to be looking at how to start recouping costs on the field, just like we do for any of our other assets and facilities.”
elena.rardon@albernivalleynews.com
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