Greater Sudbury to formalize field house operations

Volunteers across Greater Sudbury will have to change their ways if they want to keep field houses going.

The city is looking into enforcing set user fees for the venues — and having their own payment process to collect that money. The move comes after their finance department reported shortfalls since amalgamation, according to the city's recreation department.

But Mike Morelli says taking away price flexibility and making locals go through the city for nearby venues might hurt communities, rather than help them.

Morelli handles the scheduling and fees for the Twin Forks field house. He says the venue's popularity is due to the low fees he charges — around $40 per use.

"We're booked about five or six days a week now," says Mike Morelli, the president of the Twin Forks Park Association.

"I would hate to see the fees kill this place and make it dormant again."

Set fees already in the bylaws

Right now, volunteers ask for donations from renters for use of neighbourhood field houses. The volunteers collect that money, and the cash is meant to be used for improving the park or building.

According to the city's recreation department, there are a few problems with the way things operate.

The first is that there are already set fees for field house rentals in the municipal user fee bylaw. According to the recreation department, they're as follows:

• $75 per day
• $150 per month (for five uses)
• $310 annually (12 times per year)
• $410 annually (unlimited)

The next problem is volunteers shouldn't be handling the money. The municipality owns the building, so technically the cash is the city's to process.

The recreation department is hoping to develop a payment collection process that takes cash-handling from volunteers' hands and into those of citizen service centres. This removes liability for volunteers and the municipality, according to city documents.

The plan is to have the money remain in the communities and continue to be used to improve the area.

Keep it local: volunteers

​Morelli says he's been running the field house for just over three years. By charging such low fees — and sometimes cutting non-profit groups a break — his venue has become part of the community.

Morelli also attributes the popularity to the local handling. That's why he says he's unsure about the city handling the fees.

"I'm not sure how the city plans on doing this," Morelli says.

"Would they make a local person drive downtown to drop money off, and then come back and meet me for the key? Will they do electronic transfers, or do people physically have to drive downtown to a building and pay. And is that building going to be open late at night or early in the morning?"

Councillor Evelyn Dutrisac sits on the community services committee, where the issues was discussed earlier this month. She has a handful of field houses in her community and says she's worried about the change.

"We need to have a system that won't be cumbersome," Coun. Dutrisac says.

"If you get too much bureaucracy, you might discourage people from using the field houses."

'Up to us to make this park vibrant'

While Morelli says he understands the city's worries about liability, he wants to guarantee all the money his group gets goes back into Twin Forks Park.

"It's truly up to us to make this park vibrant," Morelli says.

"The more money we have, the better products we can bring back to the park — be it the free barbecues, fun days or winter carnivals. The city doesn't fund those, so we'd like to ensure that comes back to us in one way or another."

The city says they're set to consult with community groups on the new process, and a report should be ready sometime in February.