Decision on park fees is delayed

Facing stiff opposition over proposed fee increases for city park use, the Whitefish City Council on Monday opted to postpone a vote until it can meet with the Park Board in February.

Supporters of popular summer events such as the downtown Farmers Market and Whitefish Arts Festival pleaded with council members to reconsider what they feel are exorbitant fee increases that could jeopardize some of the resort town’s most popular events staged in Depot Park.

The city’s Parks and Recreation Department has proposed a new $500 event support fee plus a public use sliding fee of up to $500 per event, depending on the number of vendors.

Under that scenario the Farmers Market usage fees would increase five-fold for the 19-week season, from $1,140 to $5,985. Some market organizers maintained a truer estimate would be close to $12,000, figuring in higher numbers of vendors.

The market could not continue to operate with those kinds of fees, market organizer Rhonda Fitzgerald said. She believes the Farmers Market, which operates for a couple of hours every Tuesday in the summer, shouldn’t be bundled with other big events.

The proposed rate structure was driven largely by the heavy use of Depot Park, where a dozen major events were held last summer.

“Depot Park is our crown jewel and the most-used facility,” Parks Director Karl Cozad said at Monday’s public hearing, adding that the wear and tear on the park was substantial.

His department drafted a Depot Park management and maintenance plan aimed at finding a balance between scheduling big events and minimizing impacts to the park.

That plan puts limits on the use of Depot Park, allowing only one multiday event monthly and keeping one weekend a month open with no scheduled event.

Cozad offered an alternative fee schedule at Monday’s meeting of charging a $25 hourly fee that he said may be more equitable. The alternative would charge the vendor fee once per year and sets a maximum charge of $2,05w0 for the Farmers Market season.