DUNDALK, Md. — As we approach spring and the sports that come with it, recreation councils in Baltimore County have raised concerns over a new plan from the county's Recreation and Parks department.
At a budget town hall, where county residents lined up to talk about a wide variety of topics, some were interested in the new initiative, titled "Reimagine Recreation and Parks."
READ MORE: Concerns about changes to Baltimore County's rec sports programs
"Leave it alone, you know, leave it as it is," said Robert Averella, a Baltimore County parent in attendance Wednesday night, sharing his thoughts with WMAR-2 News. "Stop trying to add on to it and make it worse for everybody. It's making it harder for these kids."
When Baltimore County parents and coaches heard there could be notable changes to sports at their local parks, it started a frenzy on social media. An online petition to challenge the new initiative now has over 2,000 signatures.
Recreation council leaders raised concerns about fees to use fields, as well as changes to permitting and liability insurance.
"I think like with any change, it's difficult, it's a 75 year old system," said Bob Smith, director of Baltimore County Recreation and Parks, in an interview with WMAR Wednesday night.
Smith said they won't charge fees for rec sports, but for others, like travel, they are on the table.
"The only fees that we were discussing charging were travel, club select programs, or adult programming. So I just want to be kind of clear - the recreational level, the bulk of what these groups do, we're not anticipating charging them any new fees," Smith explained.
Changes to permitting also raised eyebrows in the plan.
"I think there's a misconception that we were going to bring in outside groups long before we allowed recreation and travel programs. And that's not the case," Smith said, "The outside groups are still the last category of groups that come in after both recreation level and recreation travel programs."
Still, some folks haven't been happy with recent changes.
"While county motives may have been pure, its implementation has been ham-fisted and secretive," said one speaker.
Smith said he'll continue to meet with recreation councils as they move the project forward.
One more budget town hall this budget season will be held at the CCBC Catonsville Center for the Arts Building on Wednesday, March 27 at 6:30pm.
