Pomona council postpones decision

City leaders this week decided to postpone a discussion and vote on a proposed fee schedule for sports field lighting.

 

Before leaving the meeting after feeling ill, Councilman Tim Saunders asked City Council members to move the item to the Oct. 4 meeting. 

 

This past summer a proposal was presented to council members that called for setting an $18 per hour fee for city athletic fields equipped with lights. 

 

Representatives of the city's youth athletic programs told the council their programs were not prepared financially to pay the fees. 

 

The fees would drain the organizations'limited funds, some said. Other groups said the programs could pass the cost to the parents of their young athletes but it could make it hard for some families to participate in the organized sports programs.

 

Council members at that point referred the matter back to city staff member who in turn brought the item to the city's Youth Sport Council.

 

The Youth Sports Council, which includes representatives of various youth sports programs, suggested setting fees ranging from $10 to $12 an hour, according to a city staff report. 

 

When the matter went before the city's Parks and Recreation Commission earlier this month its members recommended the fees be set at $5 an hour, a rate that would not cover the costs associated with running lights at night, the staff report said.

 

City administrators estimate it costs the city about $100,000 a year to light sports fields.

 

City staff members are recommending setting the fee at $15 an hour, a rate mirroring a fee for use of athletic fields equipped with lights that Pomona Unified School District administrators are considering, the staff report said.