DATE: Wednesday, October 8, 1997            TAG: 9710080488

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   69 lines

NORFOLK CONSIDERING RECREATION USER FEES

A new plan that charts goals for the city's long-range recreational needs raises the possibility of charging user fees to fund more programs and build new facilities.

The City Council on Tuesday received its first briefing on the so-called recreation master plan, which has been eight months in the making and will cost at least $50,000. Much of the information presented to the council Tuesday was based on citizen input from two public forums, focus group meetings and a 400-household survey.

Figuring out how to fund the needs and wants identified by residents is expected to be central to the debate. But whether user fees ultimately will be adopted remains a question.

Mayor Paul D. Fraim said the council had broached that idea before and ``we got scorched.'' He added that a lot of residents couldn't afford to pay.

Leon Younger, general partner of Leon Younger and Pros, the Indianapolis consultant that presented the plan, said the trend nationwide is for cities to develop pricing formulas geared toward programs and demographic groups, such as youth and adult sports, senior programs and fitness and arts programs.

Norfolk residents may be willing to pay the recreation fees, according to Younger.

Surveys of Norfolk residents, he said, indicated strong support for the idea of paying a fee for activities that directly benefit them or allow for expanded hours and programs. Of those interviewed, Younger said, 69 percent said new recreation centers should be funded through a combination of tax dollars and fees on people who use the facilities.

Besides user fees, other possible funding sources identified in the plan include establishing a parks and recreation foundation, creating a dedicated revenue fund for any earned income and offering more opportunities for private business investment in recreation centers.

Another key question is how to provide services to residential areas of the city and specific age groups identified as being underserved by recreational facilities. The age groups targeted in the plan include families, children under 6 and young adults. The geographic areas ranged from Ingleside and Poplar Halls in the east to Wards Corner and Cottage Line in the north and to Titustown, Lamberts Point and Ghent in the west.

Fraim said council members need more time to study the issue and that it will be several weeks before they consider making policy decisions, such as how to fund recreation improvements.

``This is a big, big issue for us,'' Fraim said. ``Council is going to have tough decisions to make.''

Fraim said community gathering places have been disappearing in modern times and the city ``has got to make more public places available for people to gather, even if it's just rooms and halls for people to meet, whether it's for civic leagues or clubs having a picnic.''

According to Younger, 65 percent of residents surveyed over the past eight months rated the overall quality of recreational programs in Norfolk as excellent or good. At the same time, however, 96 percent said the city should improve existing facilities, build new ones or do both.

Residents identified a bevy of interests:

More bike and greenway trails.

More outdoor soccer, baseball and softball fields.

New programs focusing on such things as fitness, in-line skating and aquatic centers.

More opportunities for youths, families and senior citizens.

New or renovated recreation centers, and expanding their hours of operation.

In other action: The City Council Tuesday appointed Lois Martin Simons, a retired educator, to fill a vacant seat on the city Planning Commission. She replaces the Rev. Anthony Paige, who resigned his seat in June. Simons spent more than 30 years in Norfolk's public schools, retiring as an assistant middle school principal in 1995.

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