Youth sports leagues hurting from fee hikes.

Byline: Michael Kane 

WEST BOYLSTON - The economy, and West Boylston's own budget issues, have begun to reach the wallets of parents whose children play youth sports. Representatives from the town's major youth sports groups attended Saturday's meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission to ask for reductions or full waivers of fees that the commission increased last year.

While much of the discussion was about the quality and quantity or work provided by the Department of Public Works, much of that involving safety and flooding concerns raised by Little League Coach Tim Duplin, a philosophical discussion revolved around the high costs being passed on to parents whose children play in youth leagues.

"We don't want to make this so pricey that parents have to decide `do I want to fill my gas tank or sign my kid up for softball?'" Little League official Christopher Rucho said.

Rucho, a former parks commissioner and current selectman, acknowledged he was on the parks board when fees were instituted. However, the fees have risen from $5 to $15 over the past five years, and the leagues are expected to do more, such as line their own fields prior to games.

Much of the youth leagues operate at times when public works employees are not available, Rucho said, such as nights and weekends.

Duplin pointed out several minor repairs he made to fill in holes or bend back jagged fences at the field, fearing for children's safety.

Additionally, Rucho objected to what he said were times when he spoke to commissioners about the issue, and was told the leagues have the money to cover the fee increases.

"Just because people in this town run good leagues and set themselves up for the future doesn't mean it should all go to the parks," Rucho said.

Commissioner John Milewski pointed out that, in many communities, the groups that use the field are responsible for maintaining them. Worcester, he noted, holds a "pride" day when all of the players work on the field early in the season. Those types of days are not organized in West Boylston, Milewski said, outside of the high school baseball team, which does community service in town parks.

Rucho countered, however, saying that most leagues would be willing to approach parents to help with more involved maintanance, like mowing and repair work, but run into barriers because the fields are maintained by the town.

"Last year, we had a parent bring down his mower to mow the field and all we got were e-mails telling us that whoever mowed it, mowed it wrong," Rucho said. "We have people willing to volunteer, but they can't. If you want us to put up the fence, we will, if you waive the fees."

Youth Softball President Julie Taylor said she would be willing to rake and line the field, if the equipment was available.

"All I'm looking for is a rake and a lining machine so that when we have home games we look like a good league and have the proper things that should be there," Taylor said.

Mulryan said one item the commission already has on its agenda is to discuss a long-term, comprehensive plan with the Department of Public Works.

That plan would include what work can and will be done by groups using the field, and what work will be done by public works, Mulryan said. For example, regulations already require youth baseball leagues to rake the dirt for games.

Fee fairness

Also raised in the discussion, but cut short by commissioners, was a contentious issue from last year: Should the commission's fees include the schools?

Last year, when the fee was increased, the commission approved by split vote to include all athletes who use the fields, including those playing on school sports teams. The School Committee objected, claiming it was a charge from one department to another in an attempt to make up a budget shortfall.

After several public meetings involving parents and members of both boards, the two sides agreed to work together to solve the problem the Parks Commissioners said they were attempting to solve, safety issues on the fields. Those included worn fencing and backstops, as well as large cracks in the track that made running dangerous.

Town meeting approved $30,000 toward addressing those safety issues, and the commission waived the school fees for last year.

Rucho said the commission cited to safety issues when increasing the fees last year, noting the commission's position when making that decisions that it was not a charge against the schools, but a fee for all users.

By Mulryan's admission, the actual list of safety repairs totaled about $45,000, not $30,000. Therefore, Rucho argued, the school fees were waived while safety issues still existed.

"You waived $1,200 and you are telling us now you needed more," Rucho said.

Parks commissioners would not discuss the point however. Peter Desy, the School Committee's liaison said it was not germane to the request from the youth leagues and Mulryan said he was not interested in discussing the actions made last year concerning school fees.

As far as work quality, Mulryan noted that the commission, all part-time volunteers, are not available to supervise, nor do they have authority over the work done at the field by public works employees. Instead, they develop a list of items that needs to be done and pass it on.

He suggested that coaches and parents who were upset about the work send him everything by e-mail, so a "paper trail" is created. He passes those e-mails on to the Department of Public Works and Town Administrator Leon Gaumond Jr.

We're all volunteers," Mulryan said. "We all have real jobs and are not there monitoring everything that goes on. When we see issues, we convey them to the DPW."

A recent example of that, Mulryan said, concerned heavy amounts of poison ivy around the Mixter Field on Prescott Street. Duplin noted the league loses many balls on the field, because of the growth.

Gaumond said he was made aware of the problem, but upon investigation discovered the poison ivy is growing on private property that abuts town property. The town cannot spray chemicals, nor would he recommend physical labor, on private property, Gaumond said, due to liability issues.

Larger issues

Gaumond, while staying out of the debate over fees, cautioned that the problems the town faces this year will be worse next year, when he expects about a $1.3 million dollar deficit for the town.

Earlier this year, the shortfall for next year's budget was expected to be around $700,000, which should have been closer to $1 million, but the town factored in a one-time revenue source to lessen the impact.

This year's budget includes several hundred thousand dollars in revenue from the Massachusetts Electric project last year. Newly taxed property is considered new growth, and the more than $40 million dollar project was a boon to the town coffers this year. Next year, however, the property will already be on the books, and part of the Proposition 21/2 formula.

The issues, Gaumond noted, are townwide. In addition to using the new growth from Massachusetts Electric, most of which typically would have gone toward capital needs, the town trimmed several budgets, including the Council on Aging, library and School Department.

"I don't think I've heard of a town that spends as little as we do on parks and recreation," Gaumond said. "But we have significant challenges ... when we have to go to town meeting and beg for $30,000 just to do safety repairs, we know we have a problem."

Monday, Gaumond cited a report prepared by Public Works Director John Westerling for this year's budget discussions. That report shows that the amount of money used to fund public works is not near the same $500,000 level it was at in 1996. The same report shows the Parks and Recreation line has gone from around $31,000 in 1996, to $0 in 2005. The line was refunded in 2006 to $20,000 and now is at $17,000.

"Next year is going to be a lot worse, and that means for everybody," Gaumond said.