Everett council raises rates for water activities

By Theresa Goffredo

Herald Writer

EVERETT — With temperatures dipping toward the freezing point, it’s not really the time of year to be thinking about swimsuits and bikini wax. But the cost of splashing around in the water was on the minds of Everett City Council members Wednesday when they voted to increase fees at the city’s swim center.

The council also agreed to raise rental fees on picnic shelters at city parks.

Council members, in a 6-to-1 vote Wednesday, approved general admission fee increases for the swim center at Forest Park to take effect Jan. 1, with council member Dan Warnock voting against.

Fees for adults, youths, seniors and handicapped swimmers rose by 25 cents, or 17 percent. The new fees: youth admission, up from $1.50 to $1.75; adult fees, up from $2 to $2.25; senior admission, up from $1.50 to $1.75; and handicapped fees, up from $1.25 to $1.50. The family admission fee goes up $1, or 22 percent, from $4.50 to $5.50.

The council also raised fees for 10-swim resident discount passes. The fee increases: up 14 percent for youths, from $10.50 to $12; up 11 percent for adults, from $13.50 to $15; up 14 percent for seniors, from $10.50 to $12; up 42 percent for a family pass, from $24 to $34; and up 25 percent for handicapped swimmers, from $8 to $10.

Renting the pool for private gatherings also goes up 36 percent, from $55 to $75.

The council agreed to increase rental fees for picnic shelters from $35 to $50 a day. The rental rate for Floral Hall at Legion Memorial Golf Course will rise by $13, up from $77 an hour to $90 an hour during prime time.

For the first time next year, the city’s parks and recreation department will offer an annual $60 boat launch pass and a semiannual $35 pass. The city decided to make that offer after receiving numerous requests from fisherman who wanted to pay one time for a pass so they could get out on the water early in the morning, said Susan Francisco, the department’s assistant director, after Wednesday’s council meeting.

The parks department asked for the fee increases to help offset increasing repair costs and to bring Everett’s fees in line with other area pools and facilities.

You can call Herald Writer Theresa Goffredo at 425-339-3097

or send e-mail to goffredo@heraldnet.com.

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