Babylon Town hikes summertime recreation fees at beaches, parks, marinas

The Town of Babylon is hiking fees on a host of recreational activities this summer, increasing everything from beach entry costs to boat docking charges by as much as 40% for residents.

The five-member town board voted unanimously to institute the increases after a public hearing earlier this week. Fees on more than 40 activities at beaches, parks, pools and marinas are rising anywhere from $5 to $65, depending on the activity.

Among the increases for those without a town beach pass: Daily beach entrance fees will go from $20 on weekdays and $40 on weekends to $25 and $50, respectively. Entry costs for pools and spray parks will remain the same.

Parks and Recreation Commissioner Eva Rodriguez-Greguski told Newsday the increases were necessary after more than seven years of fees remaining the same while operating costs have risen. Minimum wage increases along with chlorine, electricity and water hikes all play a part, she said.

“It’s just more expensive to operate facilities,” she said. “Unfortunately, user fees have to be commensurate. We really, really try to keep our fees affordable for every resident.”

But two residents who spoke at the hearing Monday said the increases, while some only several dollars a day, represent significant percentage hikes.

“I believe that a 33% increase is absolutely outrageous,” Lindenhurst resident Michael Legutko said of the Cedar Beach Marina daily docking fees, one of which climbed from $33 to $44.

Rafael Nieves, of North Babylon, told the board the increases are significant for campers and boaters. “And there haven’t been really many upgrades,” he said.

Rodriguez-Greguski said the percentage sticker shock is because fees “were so artificially low for a long time for a lot of things.”

“I realize it might be a shock but it’s 33% of what was a really small number,” she said.

In addition to the marina, athletics instruction and camps will see varied increases, with tennis going up $5 for residents and nonresidents while adult golf lessons are spiking from $100 to $140 for residents. Swimming lessons for residents will see an increase from $60 to $75.

Some camp and program fees are also climbing, with full-day children's camp jumping from $385 to $450 for residents. 

For Legutko, 45, who told Newsday he has been boating at the Cedar Beach Marina for a decade, the fee hikes mean he’ll spend almost $500 more this season to spend the same amount of time there.

He said he also feels there was a lack of advance notice to the boating community and that having an afternoon hearing right after the holiday was not fair to residents. “Maybe it is warranted,” he said of the price bump. “But to go up 33% in one clip ... "

He said the sudden increases will prove a hardship for many of his fellow boaters and campers amid other rising costs. He said his own “constant” presence at the marina with his wife and children may be reduced now.

“Maybe instead of pulling in Friday at 11 a.m. and leaving Wednesday or Thursday, we’ll be coming home Monday or Tuesday,” he said.

Rodriguez-Greguski, who was hired as deputy commissioner in 2022 and promoted in 2023, acknowledged a gradual increase in fees might have been a better approach.

“A better policy decision maybe would have been to raise a dollar or two every single year, but they didn’t do that,” she said.

Rodriguez-Greguski said that even with the price hikes, many of the town’s programs remain available at costs that are a fraction of those for the county or other nearby towns. She also noted the town has not reduced hours for any facility.

“I probably should have raised these fees a year or two ago,” Rodriguez-Greguski said. “But I needed some time to see how these things were functioning and what the budget was.”

Legutko said the price hikes come with deteriorating infrastructure at the facilities. He said the Cedar Beach Marina parking lot is riddled with “trip hazards” in addition to security concerns, insufficient Wi-Fi and regular blackouts.

Rodriguez-Greguski acknowledged that electricity is an issue at the marina. She said visitors are using power at unprecedented rates, “plugging in multiple refrigerators and televisions” with circuits being blown regularly and the town having to send an electrician there “almost every weekend.”

She said people are trying to re-create the comforts of home, but the electricity provided there was “not meant to generate a home.”

Rodriguez-Greguski said other infrastructure issues will be addressed, including coming up with a repaving plan for the parking lot.

“We weren’t trying to nickel-and-dime everybody," she said. "We were trying to be very reasonable.”

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.