Irwin council sticks with boost in ballfield rental fee

An Irwin councilman struck out again in an attempt this week to roll back a 100% increase in fees to rent ballfields at the borough’s two parks.

Councilman Mike Yunn on Wednesday had proposed reducing the ballfield rental fees for each session — 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 4 p.m. to dusk — to $12, rolling back the increase to $20 that council had approved last year.

None of the other council members offered to support his resolution, so it never came to a vote.

Yunn previously sought to eliminate the fee hike and return to the $10-per-session rate the borough charged last year. Yunn was the lone member of council who voted against the 2023 budget, which contained the hike in ballfield rental fees.

“They had no intention of trying to help the nonprofits,” Yunn said after the meeting.

Council President Rick Burdelski said the issue had been thoroughly discussed over the past month.

Representatives from Norwin Community Athletic Association, which expressed opposition to the increase in rental fees, did not offer any comments during the meeting. The community athletic association is the primary user of the ballfields at Penglyn Park and Irwin Park.

Derek Kassimer, treasurer for the community athletic association, said after the meeting that they were hoping council would extend the 2022 rates for another year, or at least to raise it to only $12 or $14 per session.

But “we expected it,” Kassimer said, referring to the decision to hold to the previously approved rate hike.

Several representatives from the athletic association had spoken at a council meeting last month, objecting to a rate hike that would increase their estimated field rental fees from $6,500 to $13,000.

Burdelski said after the meeting that the athletic association rents the ballfields at the parks for 650 timeslots, but there are times when the fields are rented, but no one is using them.

Council rejected a request from the Steel City Maulers, a traveling baseball team, to rent a ballfield at Penglyn Park, where the community athletic association has a monopoly on renting the fields.

Councilwoman Leslie Savage suggested allowing teams to rent the ballfields on Sundays so that more people could use the fields, but Yunn reminded her that past practice has been that the fields were not rented on Sundays. The baseball organizations were permitted to rent the fields on Sundays for special events, such as tournaments.

The fields will remain available on Sundays use by the community, said Zachary Kansler, borough solicitor.