Nov. 23—EAU CLAIRE — Increases planned for the city's drop-in youth recreation activities and daily admission to Eau Claire's outdoor pool were stopped Tuesday by the City Council.
Councilman Joshua Miller pushed for the amendments to the city's 2023 fee schedule during Tuesday afternoon's meeting.
The daily admission rate for Fairfax Park Pool is currently $5, but would've gone up by 50 cents based on the fee hike as it was originally planned.
Admission to drop-in recreation activities for youth, which include indoor swimming, hockey and ice skating this time of year, currently cost $4, but were set to rise to $5.
The drop-in activity fee increase for youths was only expected to generate the city an additional $200 next year, according to Kitzie Winters, finance director. But the higher daily admission to the outdoor pool would bring in an estimated $17,300 next year.
Though the fee increases were proposed to help pay for rising costs, Winters said the recreation budget could still make do without them next year.
Axing the drop-in youth recreational activity fee passed unanimously in a 9-0 vote (two councilmen were absent Tuesday, Andrew Werthmann and Charlie Johnson).
Eliminating the daily pool admission passed in an 8-1 vote with council Vice President Emily Berge being the lone dissenter.
Berge explained her vote by saying she believes the city does provide really good service with the pool, but it does come with costs.
"We do subsidize a lot of this," she said.
Miller's amendments did not prevent increases for adult drop-in recreation programs including open gym volleyball and basketball. Those fees will go from $4.25 per person to $5 next year.
Seasonal passes for youths, families and adults to Fairfax Park Pool will also increase in price by a few dollars next year.
Landfill talks' end celebrated
An agreement with terms for the expansion of Seven Mile Creek Landfill gained the City Council's unanimous endorsement on Tuesday after four years of negotiations.
GFL Environmental agreed to hold its vertical expansion of the landfill to 33 feet higher than what it was previously limited to pile refuse there, even though the state Department of Natural Resources would allow it to grow by 64 feet.
The waste management company will also make payments ranging from $500 to $2,200 to 111 owner-occupied properties within a mile of the landfill to compensate them for the odors and visual impact of the added garbage there. The amount of those annual sociological payments varies by homeowner depending on how close they live to the landfill.