The Barrington Town Council approved a number of changes to the town's fees and fines schedule at its meeting on Monday night, March 4, but postponed its vote on the proposed increase to field use fees.

Increases, such as those for mooring fees and room rental rates at the public library, were approved unanimously, but council members said they needed more time before deciding on the proposed recreation fee increases. 

Some council members suggested that the town should wait until it drafts a clear plan for improving its athletic fields or possibly wait for more fields to be brought on-line before revisiting the fee increase proposal. Others suggested they need more information on a couple of issues, such as the costs to host the Barrington Invitational Soccer Tournament each November, before settling on a final set of fees. Council president Michael Carroll said he would like to vote on the recreation field fees at the next meeting in April.

In addition, the council approved the formation of a new "Ad Hoc Advisory Athletic Field Committee," which will be charged with drafting a report that discusses how the town can improve and maintain athletic fields, acquire more field space, and also explore the possibility of constructing a new artificial turf field in town. 

The ad hoc committee will include two members of the town council, two members of the school committee, three members of the parks and recreation commission, one member of the conservation commission, one member of the general public, five members that will be selected by the school committee, the director of athletics and student activities at the high school, the superintendent of the department of public works, and the director of the town's recreation department.

The council voted 4-1 in favor of forming the committee. 

Councilor Kate Weymouth cast the lone dissenting vote, stating that she wanted to see a better balance between the number of parks and recreation commission members and conservation commission members appointed to the ad hoc committee.

Field fees

Council members shared a number of perspectives during the discussion about the proposed increase to field use fees.

Councilor Steve Boyajian said he did not see anything inappropriate with the idea of charging a fee to the town's youth sports leagues, as those organizations will have the right to periodically exclude others from using public fields. 

But Mr. Boyajian also spoke about how the leagues are good tenants for the town in using the fields, and even if the leagues did not exist, the town would still have to maintain the open space. 

Mr. Boyajian said the town, serving as the landlord in this relationship, would not raise the rent first and then later make improvements to the property. He said the landlord should first make improvements to the property (the fields) and then increase the rent (field fees). 

Mr. Boyajian said that raising more money for the fields right now would not do much to improve the condition of the fields immediately. He also said that the town should not be charging a per player field use fee for boys and girls who are receiving need-based scholarships from the leagues.

Council member Joy Hearn agreed with Mr. Boyajian's recommendation to delay the vote on the field fee increase. She said she had attended the fields workshop held by the council in February and remembers someone asking what the town's overall plan was for improving the fields. Ms. Hearn said it might be a good idea to push pause on the field fee increase proposal and first decide on what the town's plan is.

Ms. Weymouth said she supports the idea of having a per player field use fee administered for each season the youngster plays a sport on town fields, as opposed to a once-a-year charge. 

Ms. Weymouth also said the timing of the proposed field fee increase was not ideal and suggested that the council wait until the condition of fields has improved before revisiting the fee increase. 

Barrington Town Manager Jim Cunha told council members that his proposal to increase field use fees was done in an effort to better balance the cost of maintaining the fields. He said currently, the leagues only pay a small percentage of what it costs annually to maintain the fields. 

Barrington Council President Michael Carroll asked how the fees would work for the adult sports leagues and also questioned how much the town charges the Barrington Youth Soccer Association for its annual Barrington Invitational Soccer tournament in November. 

Councilor Jacob Brier said he had spoken with a BYSA official who said the proposed fee increase would result in a $7,000 charge to the league for the tournament.

Barrington Recreation Department Director Michele Geremia told the council that the town does not currently charge the league a field fee for the tournament. 

A few minutes later, however, DPW Superintendent John Renquinha told the council that the town does bill the local soccer league for services provided for the tournament. He said the bill has been between $2,000 and $3,000 each year for the last two or three years.

Mr. Carroll suggested that it might make sense to keep with the current approach for billing for the tournament.

Eventually council members decided to delay their vote on the proposed field fees as it seemed there was still some missing information or unanswered questions surrounding the topic. 

Mr. Carroll said he would like to address the issue at the council's next meeting.

Councilors then spoke about whether the town should be charging a per player field use fee to boys and girls who were receiving financial scholarships to participate in youth sports leagues. All council members appeared to agree that the town should waive the fee for those families. 

Mr. Cunha said he was not sure any of the leagues were hurting for money, but agreed the town should help out with those boys and girls receiving scholarships. He suggested that it might be easier to have the leagues send an email to the town each season showing the number of children receiving scholarships.

Ms. Geremia said the town currently uses the honor system with the leagues when calculating the per player field use fees.

New committee formed

Mr. Carroll made the recommendation that the town form a new ad hoc advisory athletic field committee which would include members of the school committee and the town council. He said having that committee draft a comprehensive report would be very helpful for town and school officials.

The composition of the committee was debated at length. Ms. Weymouth said there needed to be a better balance of membership between parks and recreation members (three) and conservation commission members (one). 

Mr. Brier suggested the committee include one or two youth sports league officials. 

Mr. Boyajian said the town studied the fields issue in 2001, which eventually led to the passage of a recreation bond that helped improve some fields in town. Mr. Boyajian was concerned about how long it might take for this committee to complete its task.

Ms. Hearn said she supported the formation of a committee that brought the town and schools together, and allows for a deeper dive on the fields issue. 

Resident Tom Rimoshytus told the council that the town did not need another ad hoc committee, and that it had plenty of information from its 2001 study and the comprehensive plan. 

After a lengthy discussion, the council voted 4-1 to approve the formation of the new ad hoc committee. The council then appointed Mr. Brier and Mr. Boyajian to serve on the committee. The council will interview interested applicants for the opening for the member of the general public.