Mokena baseball officials question park fees – Chicago Tribune

Members of the Mokena Baseball/Softball Association (MBSA) said their park board may be “pricing kids out of town” as it charges them more for the use of park district fields.

In addressing the park board during Tuesday’s meeting, Alex Vecchiet, treasurer of MBSA, said last September the group, which has 600 to 700 youths on its teams, was “forced” to sign a contract requiring them to pay 20 percent of their registration fees to the park district, plus $60 for two-hours of field time.

If they didn’t sign the contract, they could not use the fields, he said.

Previously, the association made a donation of about $30,000 annually to the park district and specified how the money was to be used for field improvements, he said.

“Now, we don’t know where our money is going,” Vecchiet said, adding that they are paying about $15,000 to $20,000 more.

He said the fee increases allegedly were “vindictive” because the children of two park board members did not make the association’s travel team and are now playing on teams outside Mokena.

Park Board President George McJimpsey refused to comment.

Vecchiet said the park district cuts the grass, but parent volunteers have maintained the ball fields.

The relationship between the association and the park board has been “damaged,” he said, urging them to meet to discuss these issues and improve their relationship.

Rob Esquivel, an MBSA coach, said the fee increases “almost killed the program,” and the $60 field usage fee is significantly more than neighboring park districts charge.

Both Veccheit and Esquivel said they feared the MBSA’s money was being swallowed up in the park district’s budget and not being used to improve the fields.

“This is bad management,” Esquivel said.

According to Esquivel, Frankfort Park District fields are free, and Frankfort Square charges $35 for two hours. In the off season, the association pays Lincoln-Way High School $30 for two hours use of its gym, he said.

Parents are being “tripled taxed,” he said, explaining that Mokena parents pay taxes to the park district, then pay another fee for each child to participate in baseball/softball and a third fee for field usage.

“Why are they getting so money-hungry? Why are we being priced out of Mokena?” Esquivel said in an interview after the meeting. “This is a big slap in the face. We are trying to create a baseball program for kids of every level.”

According to Esquivel, the association had to raise their registration fees to cover the costs.

In January, he sent an email to park board officials regarding the fees but when he failed to get a response he came to the meeting seeking answers.

Executive Director Jim Romanek said the fees are based on the cost to maintain the fields and on what surrounding areas charge.

Patrick Markham, who was recently sworn in as a park board commissioner, said he wanted to know how the park board justified those fees, and asked to see copies of the contracts and all fees being charged to the various athletic associations.

“We have to use legitimate costs,” he said.

slafferty@tribpub.com