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1 RESOLUTION NO. 05-18244 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF BILLINGS ESTABLISHING A FEE TO BE CHARGED FOR ATHLETIC FIELD USE PERMITS; AN ATHLETIC FIELD USE POLICY; AND ESTABLISHING AN EFFECTIVE DATE WHEREAS, The City of Billings provides certain services to the public through the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Public Lands; and WHEREAS, It is in the best interest of the citizens of the City of Billings that the City provides said services and that the City Council establish a fee for said services; NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BILLINGS, MONTANA, AS FOLLOWS: The Athletic Field Use Policy shall be used to govern the issuance of city park use permits relating to athletic field usage requests. The intent of the policy is to maximize the use of existing city athletic field space and provide guidelines for the organizations using the facilities. 1. The fee for all use permits for city athletic field use shall be $50.00/field/contiguious season for primary users, and $25.00/field/contiguious season for secondary users. 2. When additional new requests for a specific size/type of field exceed the field resources available, the inventory for that size/type field will be examined by the PRPL staff for maximum use (Game schedules/# of teams). If field use is not at maximum (7 days/week), new user requests will be scheduled by PRPL staff to maximize usage. In order to accommodate new users, they may be scheduled in any area of the city using multiple fields rather than scheduling everything at one field to minimize the impact on existing users. If all fields are being used to the maximum, new applicants will be instructed that no fields are available rather than making existing users give up field time to accommodate their needs. At this point PRPL will work to try to develop additional fields to meet the community needs. 3. Existing users will be designated as “primary users” of the field since in most cases they have used the field long term and have been responsible for most field improvements including extra amenities. New users, or “secondary users”, shall be in charge of providing their own necessary equipment, supplies and infield maintenance for game preparation. Fields shall always be left in a playable condition by either user group when their event concludes. This shall include policing the area for litter and restoring the infield area to the condition it was prior to the event. 4. Basic ball field amenities, if available, such as bleachers or dugouts can be used by all groups. Special amenities provided by the “primary user”, such as concessions stands; PA systems; electronic scoreboards; etc. may only be used by “secondary users” when a written mutual agreement is established between the two groups. Any costs contained in ---PAGE BREAK--- 2 such agreements such as for repairs, loss, and usage must be reviewed and approved by PRPL staff prior to implementation. Whenever possible, any costs involved should be paid in advance. 5. Secondary users will be required to share costs with the Primary user for ongoing consumable materials and expenses incurred to keep the field in a safe playable condition including, but not limited to, infield fill material; backstop, fence, bleacher or dugout repairs; or any repair concerning a safety issue. Any item being disputed will be reviewed by PRPL staff that will then make a final determination on the cost sharing status of the item in question. Any disputes over costs will also be determined by PRPL staff equitably by the number of teams and amount of seasonal use by each organization. Shared costs are payable when items are purchased. Co-users must both be involved in any organized volunteer field work parties involving major field cleanup or projects. Failure to comply with this section may result in future field requests being denied. 6. Groups are encouraged to mutually share costs for field improvements beyond normal daily field maintenance (such as fertilization; aeration; or construction of other extra amenities), but are not required to do so. Each user may have different needs or levels of expectations, and if shared costs cannot be agreed upon for extra amenities, the provider in proceeding to do so must realize that their organization is still benefiting from any improvements that they undertake regardless of other users. 7. If a long time primary user’s program declines to the point where their usage requirement is less than half of the field’s available usage time, a new primary user may be designated based on overall needs as shown by # of teams; game schedules; years of use; etc. 8. If a field is shared to maximum use and the primary user’s needs increase, additional usage will be granted to the primary user and PRPL staff will work to accommodate the secondary user’s needs elsewhere in the field inventory if available. Term of Fees. Said fees shall continue in full force and effect until changed by the City Council by subsequent resolution. PASSED by the Billings City Council and APPROVED this 14th day of March, 2005. CITY OF BILLINGS BY: Charles F. Tooley Mayor ATTEST: By: Marita Herold, CMC/AAE CITY CLERK