Beginning on New Year’s Day, reserving shelters in the Emporia Public Park System will no longer be free.
The park shelters will now cost $15 for one time slot, $30 for two slots and $40 for an all-day reservation, the city announced in a letter to park patrons on Wednesday. The park will accept reservations for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. time slots, 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. slots and 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. slots.
City Manager Matt Zimmerman said Emporia was one of the few major towns left in the state that didn’t charge a fee for park shelter reservations for a specific date and time.
“The larger towns in Kansas, almost all of them have some sort of reservation fee,” he said. “We had the program, just not the fee.”
Zimmerman said the reservation charges are part of the move to a fee-based program in the city’s budgeting model to help balance the general fund, which projected a loss for 2007.
The fees will apply for nine shelters: Eastside Memorial Park, Hammond Park Kiwanis, Hammond Park Toadstool, Jones Park Johnson, Jones Park East pond, Jones Park Middle pond, Jones Park West pond, Las Casitas Park and Soden’s Grove.
With city offices closed on Jan. 1, reservations will be taken beginning Jan. 2 at 8 a.m. Reservations won’t be final until payment is accepted at the city park office, 75 Soden Road. Those reserving shelters may pay by cash, check, debit card or credit card. For questions, contact the park office at 341-4365.
Also, beginning Jan. 6, the city’s transfer station, recycling center and construction/demolition landfill will be closed on Sundays, as was decided earlier this year.
Zimmerman said that move would save the city about $28,000 for its solid waste fund, which has been operating at a deficit for the past two years.
The transfer station, recycling center and landfill, including the yard-waste area, will still be open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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4Jayhawks (anonymous) says...
Peter Pan Park is not listed, was it forgotten or does the fees not apply to these shelters?
December 28, 2007 at 7:09 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )