The renovations to Bloch Park and Memorial Stadium may have been made possible through a voter-approved bond issue, but a move by the Selma City Council Monday is aimed at ensuring the city doesn’t lose any more money when renting out those facilities to groups and schools.

In a unanimous vote during its regular meeting, the council approved an increase in rental fees for Memorial Stadium, Bloch Park and the sports complex effective immediately.

“The charge for the stadium had been $250,” Selma Mayor George Evans told the council. “Just one hour of those lights being on eats up that money right there.”

For the past few months, the city’s parks and recreation department, along with the mayor, have been reviewing the pricing structure for use of the facilities, and Evans said the ultimate rental fee may be a lot higher.

“Initially we were looking at increasing the stadium fee to $500, but decided against that rate for right now,” Evans said.

In the end, the council approved the fee structure that increases the Memorial Stadium rental fee to $375 per game.

“Keep in mind, that is the only fee that we charge,” Evans said. “The schools get all of the concession, and, if they choose to charge for parking, they get all of that, plus they get the gate money.

“Next year we might phase in another increase, but we wanted to make sure we got some of it back this year.”

The new rental rate for Bloch Park is now $75, compared to $50.

For track events with lights, the charge is now $200, while track events without lights is $150.

The new rate structure also increases the per field rate at the softball complex, with those field rates moving from $50 to $75 per field.