Parks Board lays groundwork for non-resident fees

During its regular July 24, 2019 meeting, the Forney City Parks Board met to consider park utilization, non-resident fees and Spellman Amphitheater usage by higher-profile acts.

• Park Facility Utilization For Fair And Equitable Usage Of The Park: approved fee for Special Event Applications of $50 for Non-Profit organizations, $100 for anyone else. These fees may be waived for certain events. The city will not rent equipment, due to liability issues.
  
• Approved using a single, city-provided scheduling platform for field registrations.
      Earlier in the year, board modified Use Agreements by reserving fields Wed. & Sun. for city/public use. Mr. Curry recommended using one software platform for scheduling, to be implemented over the next 1-1.5 years. There was some discussion with youth sports association representatives who were present regarding various scenarios they have with registering children for teams. Mr. Curry said the package available with city website, Rec-One (now CivicRec) will handle them; there will be a learning process. There was also discussion about how the associations would get paid, as the city would process registration payments, as well as handling birth certificates and other documentation required by League Associations.
  
• Park Utilization For Residents And Non Residents: Approved a non-resident
  fee (for sports registration) of $15 for a person outside city limits, but living within FISD boundaries, and $25 for someone living outside FISD boundary.
      Mr. Curry said each Forney household pays $116 / year on park bond; a park district is not currently feasible, due to problems with state legislation. Once the single software platform is in use, collecting the fee will be feasible.
  
• Took no action re: Amphitheater Usage. Ms. Beasley said staff has updated special events policies, they are under legal review. They are working on higher-profile acts for the Amphitheater. They have contacted production companies, who would manage the event and pay the city a percentage. There are too many unknowns at this point to take action. The current concerts cost $2.5k, "known" talent concerts would cost $35k.
  
• Approved Proposal For Alcoholic Beverage Service At Special Events, pending legal review.
      Ms. Beasley said changes from the city attorney were received today. This will cover only City of Forney Events. Ms. Lawrence suggested several changes, based on her experience in this field.
  
• Adjourned at 2008.