Saint John council to re-examine proposed increase to sport field fees

Saint John Common Council is asking its staff to take another look at a proposed increase in the fees it charges to use local sports fields.

A recommendation to council would have increased some fees by up to 200 per cent as part of an effort to come up with $93,000 in revenue for the city.

The proposed increases did not go over well with many were crying foul.

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“Our concern is we’re paying a premium rate, probably one of the highest rates in Canada, and we don’t have the best fields in Canada,” Lancaster Minor Baseball Association president Greg Flynn said. “We don’t think it’s fair to the kids to have to pay that much of an increase in one lump sum.”

Flynn said there was real concern some kids would have to simply miss out.

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“We have kids that play that we keep it private. They don’t pay registration because they can’t afford to.They don’t qualify for Pro Kids or any other subsidies,” he said.

Saint John Councillor John MacKenzie supports re-examining the issue and recognizes some of the proposed increases were steep.

“We live in a city with 30 per cent poverty rate, the highest in Canada,” he said.

“You know if Fredericton is renting a field out for $15 an hour and we’re going to rent the same field for $40 an hour…we’re not being competitive.”

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It falls upon Tim O’Reilly, the city’s deputy commissioner of parks and public spaces, to figure things out. He said he understands the big increase would have been a tough pill for some to swallow.

“So definitely what we’re going to do is go back and look at what the changes need to be for 2016, but perhaps look at a phased approach,” he said.

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It’s a solution that appears to be more palatable for the people affected.

“If we want to do some incremental increases over time over a five-year period where we increase the rates five or 10 per cent, you know, we’re open to that,” Flynn said.

MacKenzie said if a phased-in increase is communicated clearly, the organizations affected by it “can built that in.”

O’Reilly said he is hoping to have new proposals on the issue at the next council session in two weeks.