Luzerne County Government

April 29, 2010

Leagues cry foul when fees hiked

Costs for youth teams to play at Luzerne County’s Forty Fort complex have risen.

By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.com
Luzerne County Reporter
Jennifer Learn-Andes on Facebook   |   @TLJenLearnAndes on Twitter

Increased fees have driven away some teams that used to play at Luzerne County’s Forty Fort recreation complex.

Bob Zanicky said many of the 190 youth in his United Soccer Training Academy can’t afford to pay more, so his league found space at other fields until July 18. He’s not sure where the group will play after that.

Ken Powley said the popular Whitewater Cup Soccer Tournaments won’t be held at Forty Fort if the fees remain the same.

Roughly 30 teams in the Luzerne County Recreation Softball League also found fields elsewhere because of the fees and the county’s delay in deciding whether the Forty Fort complex would remain open, an organization representative said.

County officials had announced in March that the park would reopen April 3, despite budget cuts. Commissioners also approved a new fee schedule, though it didn’t spell out the amount of increases.

“The rates for the fields were almost tripled, and for an organization like ours, which is made up of working-class families and a lot of families who struggle to make ends meet, it became cost prohibitive,” Zanicky said.

County Engineer Joe Gibbons said the fees were designed to recoup the county’s costs to cut grass and maintain the turf.

The Wyoming Valley Soccer Club has agreed to pay the fees, and three other athletic leagues have submitted applications, Gibbons said.

Gibbons did not readily have a list of the previous fees but said he has learned that those fees were not consistently applied to all field users in the past. All fees will now be standard for all organizations because the county cannot give preferential treatment, he said.

All organizations are also required to meet the same insurance specifications, which was not the case in the past, Gibbons said. Insurance is required so the county is not held liable, he said.

Gibbons said he will review field usage after the first of this year’s three seasons wraps up around May 31 to determine if the fee amounts are causing a negative impact. If adjustments are warranted, Gibbons said he would make a recommendation to commissioners.

The fee is now $1,440 to rent a full-sized field for each season. Seasons generally run from April 3 to May 31, June 1 to Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 to Oct. 17.

Organizations must pay $100 to rent a field for a single game, $300 per day, $450 for a week and $950 for a month.

The fee for a softball field is $100 per day or $250 for a season.

Gibbons said he and another manager offered to get involved in calculating fees and setting up a procedure for booking fields because they wanted to ensure the park was used.

County Chief Clerk/Manager Doug Pape said commissioners are still reviewing a proposal from an outside entity interested in running the park. The 35-acre complex includes seven soccer fields, three softball fields and picnic pavilions.

Powley, who owns the Whitewater Challengers rafting company, said he is discussing options with county officials to set up a public-private partnership for the Forty Fort complex.

“We’ve been very successful in a public-private partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources with the Lehigh Gorge State Park, and that gives me every reason to believe those partnerships could be really successful in serving the public,” Powley said.

The Whitewater Cup youth soccer tournaments held three times a year attract 400 to 500 teams from eight or nine states and Canada, he said. These 6,500 families -- an estimated 15,000 people -- spend an estimated $2.5 million in this area each year on lodging, food, shopping and entertainment, he said.

The first tournament is held on Memorial Day weekend.

“The event is going to happen, but where it’s going to happen is still up in the air,” Powley said.

Zanicky said the nonprofit Earth Conservancy is allowing his organization to use its field space until it’s needed by other players on July 18. His organization had paid the county about $4,800 for space at Forty Fort last year but would be required to pay more than $12,000 this year with the new fees, he said.

“That’s a ridiculous fee, and we didn’t even get warning that it would be so high,” he said. “We can’t be held hostage by these local politicians.”

Javier Rodriguez, of the Wyoming Valley Soccer Club, said his organization isn’t pleased with the increased fee but opted to pay it because teams would likely face scheduling difficulties at other fields used by multiple groups.

His league, which has more than 150 players, is paying $4,320 for a full-sized field and $2,160 for a smaller field for three seasons at the Forty Fort complex.

“We have to do what we have to do,” he said.

Jennifer Learn-Andes, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 831-7333.

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