The price of season passes at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course is going up by about 12 percent, with another price hike likely in 2010.
Baseball and softball players will see some family passes eliminated at Harlan and Hazel Rogers Sports Complex, but registration and field rental fees there are to increase.
Also, an $80 fee for reserving the Fort Dodge splash pad in Oleson Park as a site for birthday parties is being instituted.
All of those changes are included in a fee schedule approved Monday by the city's Parks, Recreation and Forestry Commission. The fees will be included in the 2009-2010 budget proposal that will be submitted to the City Council later this month.
Lori Branderhorst, the director of parks, recreation and forestry, described the fees as ''fair to consumers as well as our commitment to the budget.''
Commission members Mark Campbell and Steve Daniel were absent from the otherwise unanimous vote to approve the fees.
The proposed Lakeside fees generated the most discussion before the commission voted.
Branderhorst said those increases average 12 percent. She said a 13 percent increase is planned for 2010.
''City Hall basically wanted bigger increases, but we broke it in half,'' said commission Chairman Larry Calvert.
He said the price of season passes hasn't been raised in three years.
The biggest increase is in the price of season passes for adult couples, which will rise $69 to $644.
Senior couples passes will have the next largest increase, a $63 jump to $588.
A new $575 unlimited cart pass will give golfers the right to reserve a cart owned by the city-owned course.
At Harlan and Hazel Rogers Sports Complex, family passes and recreation daily admission fees for adults and children are being scrapped.
Field rental fees, however, are going up $10, to $50.
The $27 fee for recreation girls softball programs is being restructured. The fee will now be $35 for T-ball and $40 for softball.
The $27 individual fee for baseball is being replaced with a $150 per team fee.
The price of reserving a cabin in a city park is also increasing sharply from its current $30 level. To reserve a cabin, a $50 reservation fee and a $100 refundable deposit are now necessary.
Branderhorst said money received from cabin reservations will be set aside to pay for maintaining them.
''We are really taking the time to improve our parks structures,'' she said.
Contact Bill Shea at (515) 573-2141 or bshea@messengernews.net