Park Board approves membership rate hike

PRINCETON — The Princeton Park Board voted Monday night to raise its annual membership fees to the Bureau County Metro Center by 5 percent, effective Jan. 1.

Monday’s decision follows a couple months of discussion by the board on a proposed fee increase. In September, Elaine Russell, executive director of the park district, had presented two options for the board to consider, either a 3 percent fee increase or a 5 percent increase.

At Monday’s meeting, board president Gene Englehart said any size increase was not something the board wanted to do but that a fee increase was necessary to help cover expenses. The board does not want to have consider cutting staff, maintenance or programs, Englehart said.

Board member Carl Pacunas said he did not feel comfortable asking taxpayers for more money to pay for someone else’s child to use the Metro Center. Any increase should be the responsibility of the user, he said.

Pacunas then made the motion to go ahead with the 5 percent rate increase, saying hopefully the board would not have to consider as large an increase next year.

Russell said she would present a proposed fee increase to the board each year for discussion. Englehart said the board will consider any proposal but may or may not approve an increase each year.

After further discussion, the board unanimously approved Pacunas’ motion. However, board member Dick Volker said he voted in favor of the motion but felt the board would be hearing from the public about it.

After Monday’s meeting, board member Bob Halberg Jr. said the park board hasn’t raised annual membership rates since 2001. Even at the 5 percent increase, that would have figured out to about .555 percent in each of the last nine years, which is well below inflation rates. The board needed to make the rate increase, he said.

In other business at Monday’s meeting, the park board discussed the on-going Zearing Park expansion project, including a $38,360 payment to Liebhart Constructiin Inc. for the construction of the new fishing pier at the expansion site.

The fishing pier is completed and is a marvelous addition to the site, Russell said. The payment for the pier was about $3,675 more than originally planned because of additional earthwork needed because of the wet soil conditions, she said.