City changes parks fee schedules

Revised city fees for public works and community services were reviewed and approved Monday night by the Newton City Council.

Every year, the various fees charged for rentals and passes at Westwood Golf Course, Maytag Pool and the city parks facilities are evaluated by staff and council members.

Rental fees for shelters at Aurora, Sunset, Woodland and Maytag Park shelters, as well as the log cabin and pool pavilion at Maytag Park have been increased by $5 each. City staff have also added an optional $50 large event fee and $25 water surcharge to shelter rentals.

Shelter rental fees are now as follows:

• Aurora Park shelter: $35

• Sunset Park shelter: $30

• Woodland Park shelter: $40

• Log cabin at Maytag Park: $30

• South shelter at Maytag Park: $35

• West shelter at Maytag Park: $40

• Pool pavilion at Maytag Park: $45

Field lighting fees at the softball complex and Woodland Park are also being changed from a per hour fee to a $40 per day fee.

Field marking charges have been added to baseball, softball and soccer fields, which are optional for those parties renting fields and “do not apply to youth sports groups who have a field use agreement in place,” city documents said.

Softball and baseball field marking will be $50 per field. Soccer field marking will be set at $200 per field.

Cemetery fees have also been updated. Baby lots are clarified to their specific section and have increased in price to $425 per lot.

Cremation spaces for sale in a narrow section of older areas of Union Cemetery and Memorial Park Cemetery will not be available for sale in 2020. City staff said this is due to the undetermined, limited number of those spaces still available.

Apart from a small, one-time range fee being added to the municipal golf course’s schedule, city staff have not made any other changes to Westwood’s fees. This particular one-time range fee has always existed but had been omitted from other recent schedules.

Last year, city staff implemented substantially reduced base prices for the golf course, and those remain unchanged; as does the fee schedule at Maytag Pool, which was changed and approved by council in 2018.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com