Lance Martin, Herald Senior Staff Writer

TODD WETHERINGTON | DAILY HERALD With recent proposals for a cutback in hours and increased fees in the city Recreation Department, pools like this one at T.J. Davis Recreation Center may see fewer swimmers than in previous summers. The pool is usually open by now but isn't scheduled to host its first swimmers June 14. Advertisement

ROANOKE RAPIDS - While building contractors would be hit the hardest by proposed city fee increases, the proposed cutback in hours and increased fees in the city's Parks and Recreation Department may have more widespread impact.

If the proposals, which are part of the city's effort to hold expenses down, are approved by the city council, the hours at T.J. Davis and Chaloner recreation centers will be scaled back as of July 1, as will the hours at Davis and Chaloner pools and the Aquatic Center. Fees for using these amenities, along with fees for using Kirkwood Adams Community Center, will also increase.

“I am anticipating this to be short-term,” Parks and Recreation Director Chris Wicker said Wednesday. “I've been doing this 30 years and it is only the third time in my career we have seen the need to have those (hour) reductions. I've seen it restored.”

While 2007 figures are still being compiled, 2006 figures show 8,487 people used the T.J. Davis pool, while 1,448 used the Chaloner pool.

Some 622 residents used the Aquatic Center in 2006, as well as 504 non-residents.

In 2006, those attending free play at T.J. Davis was 11,331, 1,119 used the game room and the walking track was used by 4,053 people. About 27,639 people used the Chaloner Recreation Center that year.

Because of the proposed changes in hours, Wicker predicts a 10 percent decrease in pool usage.

“I think most people will adapt,” he said. “It's hard to know. We paid attention to attendance statistics and tried to schedule it to work where we could get the most folks and serve the greatest need.”

(See related story on this page for proposed schedule.)

Wicker is also proposing to scale back the number of weeks of FLIP Camp, a popular program for children ages 4 to 6 in which 895 participated in 2006.

“We usually have eight weeks and now there will be six weeks,” Wicker said, explaining a week would be cut off at the beginning of the summer and one at the end.

FLIP Camp - an abbreviation for Fun for Little Interested People - is one of the activities Councilman Jon Baker wants to see preserved. “The children of Roanoke Rapids need somewhere to go to be entertained and things to do in the summer when they're not going to school,” he said Wednesday. “If you've never taken your child, the kids get a lot out of it.”

In the Planning and Development Department, which works with building contractors, Director George Gurley said the proposed fees are some that have been needed for a long time.

“Some of the things we're getting in line with other communities,” he said Wednesday. “Some of the things we've never charged for.”

One of the things the city has been doing for free is conducting plan reviews, Gurley said. “It's something we should have been (charging for) all along.”

Studies have shown the city's permit fees are too low, Gurley said. “They should pay for basic administrative services.”

The fee increases for site plan reviews are costs that are passed onto developers, Gurley said. “Residential customers won't see much of this.”