DARLINGTON — The Darlington Park & Rec Committee met on Wednesday, Oct. 23 and discussed switching from a first come, first serve system to an online reservation system for Pecatonica River Trails Park Campground (PRTPC) sites.
Park & Recreation Director Wade Berget had two widely varying quotes. Camis quoted $21,000 per year, with no whistles or bells.
RoverPass is charging $3 per booking, not per day — if the reservation is booked through the city’s website. PRTPC would also be listed on RoverPass’s website, AAA Reserve America and other sites, and if it was book on those sites, there would be an additional 15% commission that RoverPass would charge — this would come off the city’s portion of the campsite fee.
Committee member Jill Ringen asked, “Why do we need to change? We had eleven open spots during the Fourth of July weekend.”
The transition was discussed. If a camper that had been coming to the Darlington campground, thinking it was first come, first serve — they would need an online reservation or they would be asked to leave — most campers would be able to make a reservation on the spot with their cell phone. Deputy-Clerk Amy Johnson noted that the city has been saving the names and addresses of campers that have been coming to the campground and a mailing could be sent out informing them of the new system.
“When they can come to the campground and see the signs that say reservation only, they can get out of their vehicle and make reservation with their phone,” committee member Stu Vanstad said.
Berget replied that it made sense and it would still work like a first come, first serve system, “because they can make reservation at the campgrounds.”
“We camp a lot, and I hate going to a campground that is first come, first serve, like in La Crosse, thinking the whole way, I hope we get a camp site,” said committee member Leah Gollmer. “I know there are older people that camp here and they may have a problem figuring things out.”
Committee member Doug Lindstrom noted that the campground’s income has gone from $64,000 in 2021, $57,000 in 2022 and projected to be $47,500 in 2023.
“My point is revenue has been going down $10,000 a year, do we wait on this for a year or...?” Lindstrom said.
It was mentioned that the nine new sites the city will be building, that will have electric, water and sewer hookup will be charging a minimum of $40 a day, instead of the $25 a day for the current sites. The new sites will be open sometime next Spring.
“Because the revenue is going down, I think we need to do something different,” Vamstad said. “An online reservation system will get the word out and maybe we will attract more campers. I think we should do this right away.”
A motion was made by Vamstad to go ahead with the RoverPass reservation system, Park & Rec chair Joe Boll asked for a second and no second was given, so the motion died for lack of a second.
Other business:
● Berget will look into getting bids for seal coating the walking trail. Edging needs to be done and Berget will see if the City Workers can use the Bobcat to take care of that.