ThisWeek CW 02072013
http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2013/02/05/council-approves-rec-center-rate-changes.html
Groveport City Council approved changes to the recreation center membership passes at its meeting Jan. 28.
The new recreation center classifications and rates are intended to encourage additional membership by providing greater flexibility, according to City Administrator Marsha Hall.
Council suspended rules under an emergency vote to implement the changes immediately, instead of waiting for the usually prescribed three readings.
According to City Parks and Recreation Director Kyle Lund, this is the busy season for pass sales and the department hoped to provide the new options to residents as soon as possible.
“We’ve had requests from our patrons that started us looking at this and we did a survey of rec-centers across the state about their fees,” Lund said.
“We found that more and more of them are getting away from a strict ‘family’ classification and going to a ‘household’ basis that fits with the changing times,” Lund said.
“We’re really striving to make our recreation options more user friendly and less restrictive with these new passes.”
A slight increase to some non-resident memberships will help offset the additional options being introduced, which includes a brand new teen classification for youth ages 13 – 18 years old.
The updated classifications and rates are:
* Youth (3 – 12), $122 for residents, $210 for non-residents;
* Teen (13 – 18), $170 resident, $293 non-resident;
* Young Adult (19 – 24), $182 resident, $311 non-resident;
* Adult (25 – 59), $213 resident, $366 non-resident;
* Senior Adult (60 and up), $107 resident, $185 non-resident;
* Senior Couple (60 and up), $193 resident, $334 non-resident;
* Household of two, $362 resident, $626 non-resident;
* Household of three, $463 resident, $695 non-resident;
* Household of four and up, $580 resident, $869 non-resident;
* Active Military, Police & Fire; 10-percent discount based on selected classification; and
* Permanent Disability, 15-percent discount based on selected classification
Previously the Young Adult classification was only available to full time college students; the Senior Couple previously required that couple to be married and the Household designation has replaced the requirement that all members be in the same family.
The discounts available to service personnel provide for more flexibility in the classification of passes being purchased and the discount for the permanently disabled is new, provided in response to several requests of residents who would like to use limited services, such as the pool, for rehabilitation and relief from chronic pain, Lund said.
“We have a lot of people sharing homes that aren’t necessarily the traditional family, in part because of the economy, like with our senior citizens,” Lund said.
“We’ve also had requests for changes from our gay couples so that we could offer a shared rate to them,” he said.
The last time rates changed for the recreation center passes was three years ago, Lund said, however this is the first time for classification changes in several years.