Beaver Creek Park fee change proposal released

Correction: The chart included in Friday's version of this story included an incorrect fee for youth groups.

The committee that has been reviewing fees at Beaver Creek Park has released its proposal for fee rates at the park, which will be on the agenda for the Hill County Park Board's meeting Monday, Nov. 4.

The proposed fees raise most of the rates that were left out of increases approved in 2102 effective next year, and raised most of the other park fees in 2015.

The fee increases in 2012 brought highly vocal complaints from some park users when the increases were discussed in late 2011 and approved in early 2012. A small percentage of the cabin owners at the park and some cattle grazers protested that the rates were being raised too quickly and too high.

Earlier this year, the board approved one change, increasing the amount cabin owners pay to have the Unified Disposal Board that serves Hill, Blaine and part of Chouteau counties remove the trash from the park, and having it assessed on their annual taxes rather than in park fees, again with some vocal opposition.

The committee proposal includes increasing in 2014 the cost of park use permits, which were left out of the 2012 increases, from $7 a day to $10 a day and, for seasonal permits, from $30 to $50 for in-county residents and from $45 to $75 for out-of-county residents.

It increases the cost charged for people to harvest hay on the park from $12 a ton to $15 a ton, also in 2014.

That also is the year the proposal would raise the rates for reserving large camp sites from $50 a night to $75 a night for Hill County residents and $100 a night for out-of-county residents. That rate was raised from $40 a night to $50 a night in 2012.

The rate for using the lodge at Camp Kiwanis would increase in 2014 from $500 for one night and $400 for each night on multiple-day use to $700 for one night and $600 each night for multiple nights. The proposal keeps the rate for youth groups at $300 a night.

The proposal also increases the rates for cabin leases and cattle grazing starting in 2015.

The 2012 increase raised cabin-site lease rates from $300 a year to $350 year, while the new proposal sets $400 a year as the rate.

For grazing, prior to 2012 the rate was graduated depending on the month. Ranchers were charged $10 an animal for each of September and October, $9 for November and $8 for December, again per animal unit month.

The 2012 rates raised that to $11 per animal per month.

The proposal would raise those rates to $12 per animal per month.