City of Mason
Parks & Recreation Department
Non-Community Center
Athletic Complex Usage Policy

The City of Mason currently schedules and maintains numerous athletic fields within the park system and by mutual use agreement with several Mason area sites. Because the athletic complexes are under constant use and demand this policy has been established to offer everyone an opportunity to submit usage proposals and have them assigned per the policy.

Request Procedures & Policy
Groups requesting the use of the City of Mason Park athletic complexes (including non-school district joint use areas) must utilize the following procedure to be considered for scheduling on City areas:

1. Athletic complex/field request will be accepted only in writing on the “Request Form” provided by the Parks & Recreation Department.
2. Request for the calendar year will be accepted anytime in November and must be received at the Recreation Manager’s office by the first Friday of January for all field requests to be considered.
3. The Parks & Recreation Department will hold scheduling meetings on the third Tuesday of January for all fields scheduling each year. Lottery pull will be done the following Tuesday. A minimum of two weeks prior to the meeting the Parks Department will distribute to all past & new requesting groups the following items:
• A copy of this policy
• Closed dates for the calendar year
• Park rules & regulation
• Field rain-out policy
• Youth Sports Policy Manual (Youth based organizations and teams under the age of 18)
4. Athletic complexes will not be available for request prior to March 30 of each year. Earlier request will be handled on a case-by-case base.
5. All organizations and teams are required to submit the following two week prior to scheduling meeting:
   • Verification of City of Mason residency percentage. Complete rosters of all participants’ address and phone number need to be submitted.
   • Liability Form
   Packets must be complete to be included in the facilitation of fields. Failure to do so may result in no field assignments.
6. Any requests for fields not related to regular seasonal play such as camps and tournaments may have additional fees assessed.
7. Priority in scheduling of City of Mason Park facilities & non-Mason School District joint use facilities will always be given to groups with at least 65% of its participants and coaches that are City of Mason residents. Groups that do not meet this requirement will not receive priority and are subject to usage fees. Usage fees may not apply with considerations outlined at the end of this document. City of Mason Parks & Recreation Athletic complexes & non-Mason School District joint use facilities will be scheduled using the following priority list:
1. Parks & Recreation Department acquired activities and events.
2. Mason School District Interscholastic and Intramurals Request. (prior to 6 p.m., M-F)
3. Recreational organizations with 350+ participants.
   Recreational defined as:
• All participants registered are accepted.
• All participants play 50% of each game.
• Initially all participants assigned to teams randomly or by equally distributed draft.
4. Youth competitive organizations with 350+ participants.
5. Adult competitive organizations with 350+ participants.
6. Recreational organizations of less than 350 participants.
7. Competitive organizations of less than 350 participants.
8. Single teams.
   (Depending on availability and demand, a lottery system for single teams may be required.)
8. Priority in scheduling of City of Mason/Mason School District joint use athletic complex sites (not associated with the internal Mason Community Center facility or City of Mason Parks) will always be given to groups with at least 65% of its participants and coaches that are Mason School District residents. Groups that do not meet this requirement will be subject to usage fees. City of Mason Parks & Recreation/Mason School District joint use athletic complexes will be scheduled using the following priority list: (Fields shared are HS1 and HS 2 only)
1. Parks & Recreation Department Programs and Events. (priority after 7 p.m., M-F and weekends)
2. Mason School District Requests. (priority to joint use before 7 p.m., M-F)
3. Recreational organizations with 350+ participants.
4. Youth competitive organizations with 350+ participants.
5. Adult competitive organizations with 350+ participants.
6. Recreational organizations of less than 350 participants.
7. Competitive organizations of less than 350 participants.
8. Single teams.
   (Depending on availability and demand, a lottery system for single teams may be used.)
9. The City of Mason Parks & Recreation Department reserves the right to determine the “recreational/competitive” status of groups requesting park space.
10. Any request not received prior to the scheduling meeting will be considered on a space available, case-by-case basis.
11. Groups utilizing park facilities for games must provide the Recreation Manager with complete game schedules weekly prior to game start dates. Failure to do so will lead to the group being invoiced for extra manpower cost incurred by the City for field preparation, or un-prepped fields.
12. Abuse and/or damage of park areas may lead to groups being ejected and banned from further use of park and joint use areas. All volunteers expecting to assist with fields must sign a Volunteer Application form and return it to the city before volunteering. Field improvements or changes must be pre approved by the Parks Supervisor, if damages occur the organization will be responsible.
13. Violation of park rules & regulations and/or rules of the joint use areas may lead to groups and/or individuals being ejected or banned from further use of park areas. Use of alcoholic beverages is strictly prohibited. Signs and banners must be approved by the City of Mason prior to posting. Permits may be required.
14. The department does not provide field lining and/or field equipment. If non-city owned field equipment is not removed/serviced within two weeks of department request the group responsible will be invoiced at the rate of $75 per man-hour for the work performed. If department personnel are required/requested to perform maintenance duties on non-city owned equipment placed on city-owned athletic complexes the organization responsible will be invoiced at the rate of $75 per man-hour for the work performed.
15. Each approved request will be required to enter into a facility license agreement that shall include a release and indemnity agreement.
16. Proof of required NAYS certification must be available if requested by the City of Mason. (School district exempt)
17. City of Mason Parks and Recreation Youth Sports User Group Application form must be reviewed and completed with field request.
18. Required: Recreation Manager: agardner@masonoh.org and the Parks Supervisor: dallen@masonoh.org be put on each organization's e-mail list for updates, schedule changes and information for each organization. (Additional staff names may be added to this list to assist with field preparation)

Athletic Complex Fee Structure
The following fee structure will be utilized for the City of Mason park athletic complexes:

1. No user fee is charged for the following:
• Any City of Mason sponsored function.
• Scheduled functions of the Mason City Schools.
• City of Mason based sports organizations meeting stated residency requirements for regular seasonal play.
2. $75 fee per field per day for the following: (excluding Mason Sports Park)
   • Leagues or tournaments operated by a local company for its employees who are paying the 1% earnings tax.
   A minimum of $1,000,000 liability insurance is required for any event in this category. Named as additional insured on the certificate will be the City of Mason, its agents, officers, employees and volunteers. This certificate must be provided to the City of Mason for review no less than 30 days prior to the event.
3. Maximum $110 fee per field per day or $25 per hour for the following (excluding Mason Sports Park) Fees may be less for turf-based fields (soccer, football) depending on request.
   • Non-Mason teams or organizations as determined by stated residence requirements.
   • Any Camps and tournament requests for Mason or non-Mason based sports teams.
   • Any commercial programs running program for profit and open to anyone.
   • Private companies or organizations or individuals from outside the City of Mason utilizing fields for the exclusive use of them, their employees or others related to the company.
   A minimum of $1,000,000 liability insurance is required for any event in this category. Named as additional insured on the certificate will be the City of Mason, its agents, officers, employees and volunteers. This certificate must be provided to the City of Mason for review no less than 30 days prior to the event.
4. Mason Sports Park field fees:
   $50 per field per hour (Fees may vary for tournament requests, refer to fees chart)
   • Non-Mason teams or organizations as determined by stated residence requirements.
   • Camps and tournament requests for Mason or Non-Mason based sports teams.
   • Any commercial programs running any program for profit and open to anyone.
   • Private companies or organizations or individuals from outside the City of Mason utilizing fields for the exclusive use of them, their employees or others related to the company.
   A minimum of $1,000,000 liability insurance is required for any event in this category. Named as additional insured on the certificate will be the City of Mason, its agents, officers, employees and volunteers. This certificate must be provided to the City of Mason for review no less than 30 days prior to the event.
5. The rental/paid use (including any request for the use of lights for practice time(s) by any organization) of lighted complexes will have an additional daily charge of $75 for the first field and $50 for each additional field used at the same time. Lights will be turned off no later than 11:15 p.m.
6. Additional charges may be levied for extra work including but not limited to: concession operations, drying of fields using staff and materials, or repairing excessive damage to the facility caused by the use of the organization.
7. All requests must be submitted in writing on request form, and may be subject to change by the City of Mason.
8. Groups not meeting the 65% residency requirement that do not want to pay usage fees may consider the following:
   • Any players with a current VIP Mason Community Center membership may be added to the resident percentage.
   • For groups choosing to use the Mason Parks & Recreation Department for their registration process, a 15% fee discount may be applied to VIP Members.

PDFs

2008 Field Policy

Parks Indemnity Agreement

Youth Sports Policy Manual

Last Updated: June 9, 2010