City council approves higher recreation fees
The cost for a child to play youth sports in a program managed by the Rockmart Recreation Department is going up slightly after looking at how much it is to keep the programs running.
The Rockmart City Council approved the increase at its March meeting on Tuesday, March 14, at the recommendation of council member Joe Henderson, who heads up the city’s recreation committee.
The new fees are $75 for the first child in a family and $65 for each sibling per sport. Rockmart Recreation officials had been charging $65 for the first child and $45 per sibling.
Henderson explained that the increase in cost for officials and overall operations prompted them to look at what nearby cities charge for their youth sports programs. Recreation Director Kevin Wigley told the city council the updated fees put Rockmart in line with other cities of the same size as Rockmart or smaller.
Henderson said there will still be opportunities for scholarships to help those parents who cannot afford the fees, adding that they would not turn away any child.
Council member Lucille Harris added that she would like to find a way for those parents who receive financial aid to help the recreation department by volunteering their time and keeping them involved in the department.
The council agreed to look at what the options for that would be.
Also during the meeting, the council approved the new city ward map created as a result of the findings of the 2020 U.S. census.
The new map expands Ward 3 to include everything inside the city limits south of Nathan Dean Parkway and west of Euharlee Creek. Ward 4 now includes all of the Goodyear Village, while Ward 1 dips into the area around North Marble Street and just to the east.
The new map, designed by the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission, is meant to have each ward include an equal number of residents. Each ward has one representative on the city council, with the mayor still elected by all residents.
The city council also honored the Rockmart 10U Girls All-Star basketball team at the meeting, presenting them with a proclamation recognizing their state runner-up finish in the Georgia Recreation and Park Association Class B state tournament earlier this month.
The team, coach by Don Baines with assistant coaches Colt Deems and BJ Gloyd, finished second at the GRPA District 5 tournament in February to earn a spot in the state tournament in Calhoun. They won two games to make it to the championship game.
Players honored were BG Baines, Canaan Deems, Zoey Deems, Arianna Davenport, Shiloh Gloyd, Emery Harrison, Ella Miller, Oakley Payne, Molly Sargent and Alexis Vanzant.