Summer Camp Fees Could See Increase

Fees for Manchester summer camp programs are set to rise should an amendment pass at a future Township Council meeting.

The Manchester council on Monday introduced an amendment to the recreation fees ordinance. Fees would increase for all three of the summer camp programs, which serve children ages 3-14, if the council passes the amendment during its Feb. 28 meeting.

Councilman Brendan Weiner said that he worried the fee increases could discourage participants from signing up for the programs.

“I noticed that some of these fees are almost doubling and one of the things I wonder about, or worry about, is if we increase the fees significantly we might not have the attendance that we currently have, and we know that some of these programs fill up immediately,” he said. “My concern is, if we raise the fees too much, we won't fill up.”

But Business Administrator Elena Zsoldos said that should fewer participants sign up, staff will be reduced to ensure that the programs are not costing the township money.

“It's all relative. If we don't have the number of participants, we wouldn’t hire the additional staff,” she said.

A three-week summer Day Camp session for children ages 5-12, which includes three trips, is set to rise from $100 to $175 for residents and $125 to $200 for non-residents. The six week session, including six trips, would rise from $200 to $350 for residents and $250 to $400 for non-residents.

Fees for the ages 3-5 pre-school camp for residents would rise from $50 to $75 per two week session, $100 to $150 per four week session and $150 to $225 per six week session. For non-residents, fees are set to increase from $70 to $100 per two week session, $140 to $200 per four week session and $210 to $300 per six week session.

Camp Adventure, which serves children ages 12-14, would see fees increase from $200 to $275 per three week session and $400 to $550 per six week session. For non-residents, fees would increase from $250 to $325 per three week session and $500 to $650 per six week session.

According to the township Department of Recreation website, the 2011 spring/summer brochure will be available in May. The brochure will contain registration dates for summer camp programs.