City Wants Pool Fees To Increase for 2013 Season

The Avon Lake Parks and Recreation Commission is recommending an increase in fees by $1, for most individuals, for the 2013 swim season. City council must approve the increase for admission to the Ellen Trivanovich Aquatic Center in Bleser Park.

The daily admission fees, if approved by City Council, would increase by $1 with the exception of children under the age of 2 and adults over the age of 60.

Councilman Rob James, the Chair of the Public Service Committee, is sponsoring the legislation after the increase was recommended by the Parks and Recreation Commission.

The increase was initially recommended in November of 2012 after the recreation department was looking to cut the pool's financial losses.

"Without much more than better management, we nearly cut 2011s loss at the pool by 50 percent, from $25,000 in '11 to $13,000 in 2012," Recreation Director Gary Gerrone said. " We would be hard pressed to cut our loss much further this year without something changing. As we looked at similar facilities throughout the state, we found that our admission fees were at the bottom of the list."

Gerrone noted that even by raising the resident child admission fee from $2 to $3, it will still be the lowest in the state for a similar facility.

Similar attendance this year as last would result in an additional $25,000 in revenue.  

"Our pass-price-to-admission-fee ratio was the highest in the state," Gerrone said. "A $1 increase at the gate puts us close to average."

James said the city considered the operations and admission fees of 31 different pools. The new fees would be comparable.