CYPRESS : Non-Residents Won’t Face Sports Fees

City Council members last week decided to retain a policy that does not impose fees on non-Cypress residents who participate in the city’s youth sports leagues.

Councilwoman Gail H. Kerry said she was disappointed with the action.

She had proposed that non-residents pay to join the city’s sports leagues in an effort to raise revenue for the programs.

“We’re talking $5,” she said. “That’s not going to make or break anyone. . . . I think we have to offer (youth sports programs for residents), but I don’t think we ought to offer them for everybody else.”

Kerry’s colleagues on the council disagreed.

“If you’re going to waste money, you might as well waste it on” youth sports, Councilman Walter K. Bowman said.

Added Mayor Richard Partin: “Amen to that.”

Bowman said sports keep kids out of trouble and “it’s going to cost more money to be reactive than to be proactive.”

Nevertheless, the Parks and Recreation Commission will be reviewing Kerry’s proposal next year, said Marvin C. DeCarlo, the city’s director of recreation and parks.

But he said he does not expect the policy to change.

During its recent annual review, the commission voted unanimously to keep the current policy on sports league fees in tact.

One aspect of the policy, though, does favor Cypress residents.

Under its rules, any athletic organization whose membership is at least half composed of Cypress residents is given preference in using city facilities to play games.

Most of the city’s sports leagues, however, have less than 5% of their membership made up of people who do not live in Cypress, DeCarlo said.

“The city doesn’t charge (sports teams) any fees other than lighting,” DeCarlo said. The organizations “do provide a service to our citizens. . . . I’d rather see kids running in a field than running from police on the streets.”

The city charges $9.40 an hour for lighting, DeCarlo said.