by Nicole Bradford
Pearland city staff are weighing sweeping changes to athletic field policies that they hope will strike a balance between supporting local programs and improving what council members say is a poor cost recovery.
The City of Pearland currently has about 46 percent cost recovery for athletic fields, which will number 35 when the latest phase of Hickory Slough is completed.
“We have a long waiting list of people wanting to rent our fields that we turn away regularly,” Parks and Recreation director Carry Capers told the city council during an April 8 discussion of proposed changes.
“We have a long waiting list of people wanting to
rent our fields that we turn away regularly.”
-Carry Capers, Pearland Parks and Recreation
Another goal is to free up fields for sports tourism, she said, which would have a positive impact on the local economy.
“(Fields) are all of our assets, and we need to make sure we are maximizing those assets,” Mayor Kevin Cole said.
The next steps, Capers said, are to hold discussions with local sports organizations.
“If they tell us something we never considered that’s going to significantly change or interfere with their ability to run their program we need to be mindful of that and revisit that,” she said.
Recommended changes seek to bring the city’s cost recovery from 46 to at least 75 percent.
Under the changes, a per-player fee, deposit, and utility fee would be eliminated, and sports organizations would instead pay an hourly field use fee.
“By moving away from the per-player, per season (fee) and charging actual by-the-hour, it’s going to create an incentive for (sports associations) to give us back the field space that they’re not using,” Capers said.
The proposals cover everything from residency requirements for board members and players to mandating organizations submit specific play schedules.
“We’re not at the end of this; we’re at the beginning,” assistant city manager Victor Brownlees said. “There will probably be people who are current users of our facilities who will not like these changes.”
