City Council - Regular Meeting

What? Open up the bottom. Open up the bottom of it, Brad. Open up the bottom of it. Tell me what's in it. I'll go get them. Looks like double A's. Two double A's. Yeah. How are you sir?

Telling them earlier it's the office the air conditioning runs all right on top after end up freezing in there. It's follow

at the battery top the noticed on there now.

Oh, that must be all yours. I think that was all stuff. Well, I think this was all stuff that was left over from last week contact. But anyway, they were just too busy, but it's been so that was left over from ZA meeting has a list of all kids that have helped out. Yeah, I think there was another group that didn't even get accounted for. getting there's some kind of credit they get. I'm not sure exactly how that works. They get they get credit for doing community service.

Yeah. Yeah. There was a I think it was a middle school group that didn't that their names didn't get listed on there. We had a lot of them. Some of them were helping with trash. Some were helping with vendors. Most of them helped down here in the kids court. helped them help the little kids do art projects and stuff like that. It really was a nice deal. Need me to say that real slow?

You're sitting.

You feel pretty good about yourself. Not as much as sitting. There you go. picture.

This be a little easier. man.

What I had for today or did you put those out? I sent it to you earlier today. I didn't know if you had a printed one. You will when you sign it and I need that one.

Okay. I didn't know if we needed to make a formal application for it.

They've got to cover the maintenance of the trail. So next year, what's that? Brad's gonna fire me.

They're encouraged to do that. They don't get so confused. have everybody. Well, that's true. You know, I called this morning and he said that November said the county and he did. He's been doing it all day. Wow. Say somebody out there cut stuff today.

We'll probably have it for a week or two. So, what did they do today? What part did they get started and go out around the garden and go around the point? He may have started at the point. I don't know. I told him to do the whole do the whole thing. We'll do that between Pearl and the bowling alley and all that down. You know, that's the messiest part right there 136.

So, you might want to go down and pick up and maybe he's doing that. I don't know. I did some of the trail games. Just the just the weeds. Yeah. the trimmer I had which is it's no match for those big no match for that. Oh no

this cleaning it up is a whole other Pearl Street. He said, "Yeah, we're looking at that to get a person and partner with the city and then have funding for that." That was nice because you wouldn't need any help. Exactly.

Well, well, I need help. help that I can't I can't afford.

We need to get some funding from help torn. So he's like did say that's

I think he looked over. They just caught out. Call the meeting to order. When do you have roll call? Mayor Crane here. Council member Copenhaver here. Bzer here. Easter here. Smith here. And Randall here. Are there any additions or corrections to the minutes from October 6th?

Yes. Just note in there that um because I didn't see it. If it's in there, I I missed it. But Randy had seconded the motion and I didn't notice that it was in there anymore. Which motion? The motion for the the ordinance that we're talk voting on tonight. And also

present and he wasn't on the list in the minutes. [Music] What was that? This is the six. I just didn't have him on there. I don't think we introduced you yet. Okay. I put in the minutes. I was at the end though. Listen. No. Okay. For what? For the

Okay. Tonight we are going to consider ordinance 202510 replacing ordinance 2025-7 Cington walking trail. This ordinance includes the Covington Circle Trail and Five Crossing Park. The Covington Circle Trail and Five Crossing Park were created to provide walkers, runners, and bicyclists with a safe environment free from the dangers posed by motorized vehicles. Motorized vehicles are strictly prohibited on the Covington walking trail. This includes but is not limited to ATVs, UTVs, motorcycles, golf carts, no class three b electric bicycles, mowers, and similar vehicles. Any violation of this ordinance will result in a $250 fine and the vehicle may be impounded at impounded at the owner's expense. In addition, the owner will be held liable for any damages caused by the vehicle while on the trail. Exemptions. The only exemptions to this ordinance are for police, fire, and EMS services one and two bicycles, groundskeepers performing regular trail maintenance. And then there is a list of proposed rules. I I'll go ahead and read them. Uh proposed trail rules are open from dawn to dusk only. Allowed uses pedestrians, bicycles, and class one and two bikes only. ADA approved mobility devices and

equipment are permitted to ensure accessibility for all users. No motorized vehicles or horses. Pedestrians always have the rideway. Cyclist and ebike riders must yield and slow when passing. Maximum trail speed 12 mph. Slower at corners, hills, and switchbacks. Stop at all intersections and obey posted signs. Travel at a safe speed for conditions. Keep right except when passing. Pass on the left side only when safe. Announce yourself clearly. Use a bell or say on your left. Writers may not wear earbuds in both ears. Walkers are encouraged to leave one ear free so warnings can be heard. If you stop, move completely off the trail to allow others to pass. Must be on a leash six feet or shorter.

That's for dogs, I assume. Pets. Yes, small kids. Small kids usually. Walk pets on the right shoulder of the trail. Clean up after pets. Helmets are strongly recommended for all cyclists and ebike riders. Trail etiquette. Leave no trace. Carry out what you bring in. Report problems to the city of Covington. Call 911 for emergencies. And this was proposed. The trail rules were proposed to us by the foundation.

I make a motion. I'll second. I don't know that we need it. We've got it on the floor. We already got it on was on the amendment on the amendment, right? Well, the amendment the original was there. 257 was there and then we voted to amend it at the last meeting and the second part of it tonight. So that's what we just read. Well, 25-10 is what I just read. We got to do one reading for that and then vote next meeting. No, tonight's the vote. I'm sorry. Have you said any has anybody said anything? I made a motion.

You made a motion. Okay. I have a motion. A second. Okay. Paula. No. And I'll tell you why.

The original intent of the walking trail was for a walking trail exercise um bicycling. Yes. I understand that ebikes weren't around back then, which is fine. Um, the ordinance says no motorized vehicles, yet we're giving an exception to motorized vehicles. The other reason I'm saying no is because our police officers have to police the trail. Are we going to purchase them an ebike, a class 3 ebike, so that they can catch up with these other violators on the trail? Um, we're talking about common courtesy and safety for our walkers, for the users. Um, again, last week I stated, I'm available. Anybody can contact me and ask, you know, share with me why you want ebikes on the trail or why you don't. The only people that I've talked to about it have been because I have reached out to certain people asking random questions, people who are frequent users who aren't frequent users, other communities. Like Dale said the last time this mics on there, police officers can't whether they're a class three, class one, or class two if I'm not mistaken. And um yeah, we can have a permit. system to come here and give stickers for each class. But if we have people coming from out of town on an ebike, do you think they're going to stop at the city building on the weekends to get their stickers or whatever when they come to enjoy the trail for the weekend or whatever? Um it's a like Dale White said last week, it's an amenity to our community to have a walking trail to slow down, exercise, enjoy it.

It's not necessarily an entitlement to anybody that lives here. And so, um, and for many other reasons, my answer is still no. That's why I'm voting against it. Chad, yes. Kathy, yes. Brad, yes. Randy,

yes. Motion passes 41 to approve or uh ordinance 2025-10. Um okay, start that down there. [Music] [Music] That's more

The next ordinance is number 2025-11. Um, it's replacing 2017-1 uh Coington City Park policies and procedures. The changes are the cost uh per camper went from $13 per day to $15 per day. I'm going to read the um just the soccer and the uh what affects soccer, little league baseball and um utilities and maintenance. Uh soccer tournaments. No, no soccer tournaments are to be scheduled without prior approval of the co city council. Any tournament other than one scheduled by the Covington youth soccer organization will be charged a users fee of $100 payable to the city building. I don't think this has ever happened. though uh coming to New Soccer League will be responsible for the upkeep and repair of the soccer area. The soccer organization will be responsible for the cleanup of the area during the soccer season. The area is to be cleaned up after the last game of the season and will be kept clean at all other times and suitable for mowing. Uh utilities and maintenance of the

field. The city of Covington will build a little league baseball organization for all utilities used. The girls softball league will be responsible for any water or electricity used in the softball diamond area or used in the concession stand. The baseball league is responsible for their field maintenance, including maintaining their own facilities. The softball league is responsible for their field maintenance and maintaining their own facilities. Covington youth, Covington girls softball, Covington Youth Youth Baseball League, and the Covington Youth Soccer League are required to file financial reports with the city council. These have all been in effect for some time. All baseball and softball tournaments charging a fee per team for tournaments will be required to pay a $100 fee to the city of Covington and $25 per team in advance of the tournament as voted on August 5th, 2019 at the city council meeting. Tournament schedule must be preapproved by the city council. And this is a first reading to consider this. We're not going to vote on it tonight.

So, are we up for amending that? We're up for discussing it. Yeah. Tonight, we can discuss it. Yeah.

Um, so I'll start. Um, I think those fees I think I think we need to I know there has to be policies and ordinances, but charging fees like that for reasons we really don't know uh other than it talked about uh dumping the dumpsters uh more frequently and cleaning bathroom more frequently, which is a flat rate. There's no extra charge for that. Uh, no matter how many times you clean the bathrooms or know how many times you dump the dumpsters, it's a it's a flat rate. Um, and with that being said, the toilet paper, uh, soap and trash can liners, uh, we buy that in such bulk that it's it's the bare minimum. I mean, you could you could charge each team five bucks and you'd have your uh for a 10 team tournament, it'd be uh around eight $8 and then that's for the whole the whole tournament. Uh we don't use that much. We buy it in such bulk that it's it's really no cost really. And uh but if they wanted to charge I mean they're already charging $100 per tournament and

well we really hadn't charged $100 per tournament. It was passed in 2017 to charge $100 per tournament. They paid $100 per tournament. Then then in 2019, the C council voted unanimously to charge $25 per team for the tournament and that was for in lie of the $100 or in addition. That's what I but after that was passed, we never charged the $100. We were supposed to but just never did. I So what have we been charging? $25 a team. Okay.

For six years. That's the part I'd like to have amended is to remove that. Um, and you know, if you charged them $100 or say $50 per turn, uh, city, you know, it goes back to the park. I realize that,

but they're doing their fundraisers and they're doing all their they do all the cleanup. I have very little trash over there, if any. Um there's they've done a really good job last year. Uh and I expect it again this year. Um but I just I just don't think that's necessary to do the $25 per team for that fact. We it goes into park and wreck non-reverting. I'll just tell everybody that. Which we buy things for the park. We do upgrades. We spent $15,000 two weeks ago on electrical upgrades for little league baseball. We buried the lines go went um to the lights. Um we ran um put in new control transformers to operate the lights, put in new services, and um

how much of that was grant money? 7,500. We're we we hope to get back 7500. So we spent7500 on it, but in the last since 2019, uh softball and baseball paid out to Cington right around $7,000. So for for their tournaments that they tournament fees $25 per team per tournament ran to $7,000. They It was from 2019 to to present. Oh, okay. Over over six years. It wasn't last weekend. No.

No. So that I mean I'm I'm saying they've they've paid their fees. They, you know, they pay, but I just don't think it's fair to them if they're going to do fundraisers to take care of Well, let me finish. Yeah. They they take care of their field. They pay their they pay their concession people. They pay their uh uh groundskeepers, I think. Uh and then they pay also to run the tournaments. During the tournaments, we pay kids to pick up trash and then we stay after to pick up trash. And I've stayed after every day fall pick up all the trash and put it in the dumpster

and and umpires aren't free either. So, we got that cost and you got you got several costs that's coming out of that those tournament fees that these guys have to cover. Yeah. So my thing is that we just need we just need to amend that to where if you're going to charge them 50 bucks per tournament at least that would cover you know paper paper products soap can light that's my thing are you making a motion

I'm just I'm just you said we could it's for discussion right yeah so I'd like to hear from the others as I kind of agree with Randy on that. I mean, I I did the little league board for three years and and it's a lot of work and and you you have to gather every penny you can. Yeah. For it. So, I'm I'm kind of with Randy on that. That That's I'm not I'm not against Little League. I did girls softball coached for nine years. I'm not against that. And I wasn't insinuating that.

No. Um, and we didn't do tournament. We didn't do eight tournaments a summer like girls and boys do. People won't rent pavilions because they take the pavilions over. They're they're taking eight weekends in the summer. We don't take what, Chuck? We don't take No. No. Not you. No. People that come to the tournament. Very self. Very self. Most of them are are down from this street towards the east. That's where most people stay. Nobody hardly goes into the big pavilion and very seldom where we want by the bathroom. Anything else we're not down there. And when I did it, Donnie Crowder, you know, oversaw the parking. He maintained the field. Yeah.

I mean, we we lined them and whatnot, but as far as the mowing and everything, it was done by the park. Whereas now, these guys put in I I mean, I I sit there and watch them from my back door. They put in a lot of time and hours. water in the baseball field down there. Excuse me. Have you seen water in the baseball field? I haven't seen it during the day because I'm gone. But I mean, I saw, you know, I I've seen the work you're doing to the infield of the major league field and that that's a big project. I have one quick question, Brad. Yes. So, the ordinance you just read is to replace the 2017, it was 2017 or one. Okay. So, to replace that ordinance, that means that's the ordinance that's in force. Correct. Correct. Plus plus the the Oh, hang on.

At the meeting, Mr. Pal can look at the minutes of the August 5th 2019 meeting where you guys discuss the $25 extra team and you were talking to softball.

The word baseball is not in in minutes of that meeting and it's not a change to an ordinance. It's a motion brought up in a meeting and voted on, but the word baseball doesn't exist in there. If you were to go by that 2019 minutes of the meeting, at that moment, the city should have start started charging the girls $100 per tournament plus the 25 extra per team because that's what was voted on in the meeting. When you read the ordinance, you read the ordinance to where you were going to go back to 2019 and backdate it. So, everybody had to be brought up. I thought when you read it, you said had to go back to the August 5th, 2019 Mhm.

Everybody had to pay $100 per tour, $2. When they vote, when the council voted on it, that put that in effect. No, no, no. I mean, what you just read for the new ordinance, wasn't there a part in there about everybody had to be paid up back to the August 2019? That's not in here. That's not Okay. So if if the word baseball is not in the motion and the voting at that meeting, I don't think you can come back years or weeks later and say that you meant to have baseball included in that. Would you make a motion to vote on the 25 extra?

It was referring to tournaments. I It didn't specify little league or softball league. It just said it said that the representation from the girls softball league and board member, but then when the council addressed it, it was regarding tournaments. Terms. Yeah. So then it should have been according to that if that's legal, it should have been $100 plus $25 per That's what it should have been. We never charged the hundred. We just charge $25. And what started this is I paid you the 100 per tournament this year because that's what's in the ordinance which is

the ordinance is now being changed. Were you proposing to change the ordinance? We're we're clarifying it because the council voted on it August 5th, 2019. So we're putting it into the ordinance. It wasn't the ordinance they voted on. It was what was brought up in the meeting. Exactly. And when the council votes on something at in the meeting, it's you know the same as Is that correct, Taylor? Are are the tournament fees the same for both boys and girls tournaments? I believe so. Very close.

What I mean what do you charge per tournament or does it depend on time of year and how many teams? I mean, I mean, the thing is is we turned in our tournament dates for next summer, I think a month and a half ago to get the okay so we could advertise them to try to get, you know, six, seven teams, eight teams. We've had tournaments this year, we only had four or five teams show up. We've had one where we only had three show up. So, it's kind of hit and miss with travel ball and everything like that. But, we spend money on the field. We put new grass down, new dirt. We've got uh What's your average fee approximately? 350. 350.

And for tournaments, we pay it's $90 per field per game for umpires. So we have certified umpires to umpire during the tournaments. During tournaments, it's 50 and 75.

Yeah. 50 and 75. So $125 per game in a tournament to have official certified umpires down there to run the thing. We try to have all adults during the tournaments because it's a lot different than wreck ball or fall ball. Fall ball, if it comes down to it, it's all about the kids getting extra reps. So, us coaches will tire. All right. But we take care of the fences. We got French drains put in to keep the water off the field. We got new dirt. We just spent $4,500 on redoing the big field. We're redoing all the other three fields. We're going to paint the fences. Um catchers equipment, batting cages, TE's, uh 16 dozen baseballs. We bought this last summer in hopes that we can start having buckets of used balls that don't walk away with the coaches and stuff like that. Uniforms, you know, hats. And

do you charge for the do you charge the kids to play? Yeah, they have a registration fee during wreck ball. And and that usually just about covers charge them for the summer league. Yeah, we charge for our summer. That's How much do you charge them? What? 70 75 for boys and girls. We don't do the girls. So major minor is 75. The pee-wee t is 50. Okay. And then we have

and that breaks even with buying their jerseys and their hats. There is no maybe on the t-ball there might be a couple hundred left over. All of that money goes straight to their jerseys, socks, hats. um for tournament the 350 that is charged that sounds like a lot but by the time that you've paid concession for an entire 8 to six day the um umpires for the field the field workers and trash kids that go through and pick everything up trash in the bathrooms everything we're usually breaking even our only money that comes in that is actually profitable to put back in to then turn around is concession

did you say you paid the kids to pick the stuff up. So, the ones who go around and do the trash, they bag up all the trash cans, put it to the dumpster. They go through and actually pick up trash off the ground when they see it. And then they also go through um normally we go with them for the women's bathrooms, but they're constantly changing out the trash bathrooms um and everything else, too. They do that. We don't rely on the park for any of that. And and I'm sorry, are you talking boys only or you girls? Boys only, but we use the girls fields for those, right? For the tournaments. The girls are running on the same, right? I'm sure. But concessions, are they contracted out or do you just hire workers to work with um the teams from last year? Um very little is there ever volunteer work outside of the board.

Okay. And it reaches more than just the kids that are playing because like the high school kids, we hire them to be that the field umpire. So we have an adult behind home plate. So these kids little league sets up classes for the kids get certified to be umpires. So, it's a part-time summer job for some of the kids. So, I mean, it's it we're here for the kids. That's all it is. It's all about the kids, you know.

We've also been able to leave our allstar our tournament team for Cington, the Allstars, we've been able to leave that as a free entry because we know with rack ball and other sports, it's another draw for parents to not let them come out and do it, but it's hard to host a tournament when you don't have a team. So, we often they enroll and try out for free. The coaches obviously practice with them and then we cover their jerseys. Um but the years past we've actually used reusable. So they get them the day of they wear them. They use them the next day. We wash them and then they get them for the next tournament. Did do they go to other tournaments the all-star teams around the area?

Yeah, we go to we went to Catlin this year. We played in five tournaments. And the other thing is is what we try to do with the little league program is travel ball has turned into something completely a skew from what it started to be because parents are paying, you know, three $4,000 and then monthly fees and traveling all over. We try to have the allstars here and tournaments here that brings people into this community. So everybody comes to the tournaments on the weekend is going to Riley's and Casey's and McDonald's and they're used to the restaurants here in town. They're in town. There's a lot of grandparents that come in. Randy probably had numbers on it that would come and camp the whole walk over with the chair and watch the grandkids play. So, it helps the community. It helps the youth. It gives you something to stay focused on so that they're doing the right things.

If you if you look at today's Facebook Middle School page, they listed their sixth, seventh, and eighth grade honors. If you look at every one of those between the boys and girls, 90% of those kids play softball. Do you cover the fees for the Catlin tournament then for the kids to where it's free for them? Our literally paid for that fee to play and that's probably 300

and the tournament took it over because we had a an issue with the tournament dates we were going to use because the Fourth of July festivities were still going on. So, we had to move our day. Well, Catelyn, because we had enough teams to have a tournament. Cat said, "We'll tell everybody, come over here, and we'll play over here." So, that's why we ended up adding another tournament. And like I said, the kids enjoy it. The parents enjoy it. I mean, it's it's all it's all about the kids having fun. And none of these kids are going to play with the New York Yankees, but it's about being 40 years old and having memories of playing in buddies and having fun. That's what it's about. This will be my fourth year on the board and this is the first time that our allstar team has gone outside of Cington to actually pay for a tournament. Um most of the time if we have extra like when we were doing Pony League instead of doing Pony League since there wasn't a huge we ended up funding um with some of the profit from tournaments for middle schoolers to enroll in a couple extra tournaments while they were still under the little little league. So that way we could get them more exposure. Since we don't offer as much time on the field,

is there a pony league still? Not currently. We're hoping there's enough signups for next year. Would they play at the complex? If so, yeah, that's where they usually play. Do you have to pay the school to use that field?

Usually works with us on that. Unless the kids play because it's it's a feeder program for the high school. Every kid that plays little league and you know gets your skill level up. They're hoping to play in high school. So the school recognizes it's a feeder program. I just have a question on all the money that you've taken in. I believe Randy said $6,000 that goes into the park. So, it came from the little league. How much of that 6,000 goes back to the baseball league? Well, we we we spent 35,000 our money on the new restrooms and we just spent7,000 on new lighting for the little eight. And I think we spent I think it was 6,000 putting the girls um electric underground and six or seven on the lights for the girls. And the the underground lights, that's the that's the DNR program from 2019 that got put on hold because of CO. Correct. That's the whole park getting done. That's not just doing the little league. That's the entire park buring all the way.

Yeah. I'm just saying our part of what we spent on the little egg was 7500. But the whole program covers the entire park, not just little. No, I'm saying I'm saying just the part the part we spent on the little egg was 7500. Not not the whole park. But if but if there was no people no kids using those fields, you still have to do we didn't have to do it by the DNR. Huh? We We didn't have to, but we chose to. So the DNR said if you do it, if you don't do it,

if you do it, you'll get you'll score more points. And and that made it better. because of that. Yeah. Yeah. But even then that was match. It wasn't they didn't pay all of it. We still you know. So those are some of the things we've done. And I bet if you talk to every parent in here that has kids in those baseball and softball, they'd say that's okay because it's taxpayer money. So they would say, "Yeah, sure." You know, let's let's let's help our kids out and and do that. No. Sorry, I got here a few minutes ago. Okay. Um I've been down there. This is my 18th year down there. Yeah.

Um there's only one key phrase that I I I just don't like to hear. And you just said it and somebody else said it. You guys said we and you said our. It's not you. It's ours. It's all the taxpayers. Yeah. It's all the taxpayers. So I hear a lot of the we mentality for some reason. I hear that a lot. We did this. No, I meant the city. The city paid. The taxpayers. The taxpayers paid. I just want to make that quick correction. The taxpayers paid. If I said we, I meant taxpayers. Yeah. I meant that because that is our part. Yeah. Ours. Exactly. It is our little league program. Yeah. That is all volunteer.

Yeah. I mean, raise your hand if you've been down there pulling weeds in the last six months, year, two years. I know you paid your dues. you were down there. I know a lot of you have. I just I I struggle with taxing children in our community in a taxpayer funded facility that is bought and paid for by us and then we're going to tax little kids to come enjoy it. I don't We're not taxing little kids. We're not asking $25 for these. per tournament.

But it's a recon converting fund that goes back into it that we reinvest back into it for the upkeep of it for the taxpayers. If you guys if you guys are utilizing it to maintain it to do everything that that the city is paying for that the ordinance order I misspoke wrong word don't mean maintain okay what did we what did the city spend the money on for the burying the lights doing all the different things 7500 the trash, the supplies, whatever. Yeah.

But here's the thing, too. If we if we don't have something, if we aren't invested in it, if we don't teach our kids to invest in it either, you know, then again, they become entitled or we all become entitled. Yeah, it is ours. It's the taxpayers. Absolutely. But I don't think it's unreasonable to support our city too for the use of the facility, of the park, of the land that this that the city that the taxpayers own. Because that money isn't going in to make the city money. It's going in to go back into the use of the park, whether it's for the facilities or whatever. But I would rather them decide what they're going to do with it rather than we decide what to do with it. And I said we I meant this council. So

I just I just don't think it's it's fair. I don't think it has anything to do with the kids bringing money into the city, putting in the park fund, and then doing it out and then saying, "Oh, well, you know, we we allow." Let them keep that. We need to get our noses, I think, out of the park. Baseball, soccer, softball. Let them handle it. And they've done it for not this group, but they it's been around for longer than we've been alive. Do we pay insurance on the fields and everything, too?

Well, I know you have insurance for the kids, but what about liability and insurance and everything else for for public property? every team that comes in there has.

So, I want to add in also that with me, this being my fourth year, for the last two years, if not three, I made multiple calls about getting paint to match our new door that we put on. And I was put off and put off and told that they would find us paint. We were willing to fund that paint. And as you've said, our tournaments have paid the $100 per weekend. I didn't think it'd be too hard to come across paint. And then this season, it was just taken off from underneath us and the entire concession stand was painted without any notice to any of the board members. Um, and then we were expected to pay it. If we paid in $6,000 and then we were told that we had to pay that without any notice, like where is the city helping our youth if the city wasn't willing to just take that on? Wait, let me let me say the city put new restrooms down there. That was a grant, too. But we paid 35,000.

Softball help with that. We paid softball did. I honestly don't. Softball did. The foundation did. Softball helped. Baseball didn't. They didn't want to help. We put $35,000 in. We we buried the lines at at softball and baseball. We spent $64,000 on the big pavilion to renovate it. So don't say, you know, we don't do anything. That's not what I was saying.

Nobody said that. All they're ask All we say is why do you keep want this money for this $25 for each of these teams I bring in? People pay the community gets it. If I don't go to Subway, McDonald's, every place before I list these tournaments out, they got to know they don't make enough bread for Subway. They don't make have the cool stuff, Benjamin, CVS, all these places are benefiting from everything. All the antique stores, every place.

And how is it I can I can take a day off of work and walk around Cington and get $100 from each business owner in town to sponsor fall? $100, not even thinking about where kids take it. And then those same businesses sponsor Wreck Ball in the summertime. Five, $600 to put a banner up and all that. The fields are being redone right now by field sponsors. We had field sponsors come along and sponsor the fields. So the whole community is involved with Little League program.

Absolutely. So, if all that money is going to maintain the field, the fence, the safety barriers, the dugouts and everything so the kids can play baseball, I don't understand why one, you order by law, by ordinance that the kids are responsible for the field and then you want to dictate and have government overreach to regulate when and how long they can play on the grass that they have to take care of. Hold it. Noah, you've been on the board enough. Did you ever complain about the $25? Say we shouldn't have to pay $25. I was you asked a question, so let let me answer. Don't call me a liar before I speak.

I've been to several meetings down here. I was down here with Scotty Holy Cross. This came up and it was $100 to start was the initial proposal. Um we negotiated that. So for starters did complain about the hundred bucks and when we realized you weren't going to move on it, you weren't going to tax these children. We got it to settle on 25. We got it to settle on $25. That was the settlement. It got to a point to where we said, "We're going to have to take a loss on this." And that's where the loss was settled. So, I was down here. I And and I can call multiple board members that have been down here to these city council meetings over and over when this all started.

I'm sorry if you don't recollect. I I that's a you problem, not a me problem, but I knew I sat in this building with the exact same issue with multiple people, multiple board members. Some of you that don't know me, I'm the guy that makes these trips. I run these both these things. Been doing it for 20 something years. Been on the board of soccer, baseball, and softball for 20ome years. And this is the only way for these kids to have. We stop doing candy bar sales door to door because of pedophiles and BS. We stopped all that. All we do is say, "Let's have a tournament, invite people in our community, and make a few bucks to put back in next year." That's all we want. We just want to eliminate the $25 any fee charge. It's crazy.

Well, we're going to vote on it next meeting. So, my only everything we do is for the kids. So, are you guys offering saying that this you guys should just handle it as we have up until a couple years ago and there be no accountability or anything to the city? I didn't say that. Came out of my mouth. All I'm asking is That's what I'm asking. You're asking for $25 for every team. Every team that I bring in here to help both softball and baseball. Every team I bring in here. We have a 20 team tournament. Multiply 20 by 25. How much is this? 500

$500 and the kids don't get it now. $500 that we can't buy new equipment. We can't do this or that for because we have to give it to you for stuff that we already maintain the fields. You guys no longer mow. You no longer do anything inside those paw fields. I think it was just $500. We put grass seed on the infield. Just the infield of the big field was $500. And the the financials are always open to the county council. That's always good enough. And so the proposal is you guys are saying there shouldn't be any fee whatsoever. If we're paying $100 then the 25 per team. So just you guys would be good with $100 a tournament.

Mr. Pal, did you read that your take on the 19? Yes, I read the 19. How do I interpret what it said? Yeah. What's your interpretation of it? This is why everybody including you.

It depends. I mean it does say the only people that showed up or at least mentioned here is hey softball league showed up. We're talking about tournaments but it does address the fees that are already being charged for each of the leagues. And so like Brad asked earlier, I would just have to look at the the question of hey, it's voted on. Is there not an ordinance to support it? Which one is controlling? I can't answer that for you. So if the 17 ordinance has been voted in promagated in the city law, then that would stand above that unless the argument was made. Correct. That's what I'm saying. I'm saying it's clear that they there was this motion was carried. So at the end at the end of the day, you know,

the baseball fields are given to the kids and then the kids are ordered to take care of or maintain them. So it's it's city city city businesses, volunteers, parents, and everybody that takes care of the fields for little. So at the end of the day, if it's $100 a tournament, which is what you got paid this year, because that that's what's in ordinance ordinance, I mean, we'll have to pay it and we'll just have to figure out how to work with it on that. We'll vote on it next meeting. And then at the end of the last meeting or the last meeting, you made mention to me that the city was going to reimburse the little league for the 2,000 for the concession. We may pay you back part of it or all of it.

Did you ever find out who who hired the painter to paint the building? Dulan called me and I said, "Well, who's going to pay for it?" And he said, "Well, Randy had mentioned it to him." And I and I said, "Is Bob going to pay for it?" He said, "Well, I don't I'm supposed to give the bill to him, so I don't know." I told him, "Go ahead and paint it then." So, I have a question. I I have no authority to do that. No. I thought you said this chair right here. I thought you said to do that you wanted you asked him for a price. I you sent him down to do a a quote and so did he give you He didn't even give me a quote.

He said it'd be around $2,000 and I said, "Well, that that's your call." Yeah. So, I sent him back your way. So, we don't know who approved. I told him to paint it. You know, we know who didn't. Yeah. Andy, I just want to get clarification for everybody because I'm sitting here and my head is spinning. Okay. So, you guys are going to vote on this next next meeting. Yes. What are you voting on? What is the question? Are you going to vote on $100? I think it's whether to whether to charge fees or not charge fees. Is that what you're talking about?

Yes. But should we amend it tonight and then vote on it in two weeks? That's what we would have to do in order to do that. But what is the amendment for that? Well, that's still up in the air apparently. I mean, for everybody's sanity, that's why I asked what I asked. Are you asking? Clarify. Are you asking $100 a tournament? Are you asking $25 per team? Or do you just give you guys $100 a year to buy toilet paper for the bathroom? Uh

as we when we have tournaments, we hire kids out of the money that comes in to clean the bathrooms, to put new toilet paper up, to pick up trash, to go around the whole park and pick up trash when it's over. And we make sure all the trash goes to the dump, which blows my mind that you're paying the kids to do that instead of teaching them responsibility and commitment. You're right. 198. I'm aware. Same reason we can't find anybody to volunteer to work the concession. It's gone. I understand

what we mean too by pick up trash is it's not just walking around picking up trash off the ground because there's honestly not super amounts of that unless it's blown from full trash cans. So we paint the kids to make sure that the trash cans never get that full. They take them at 3/4 that way. There's not a chance of it being super windy and blowing out. That's most of the trash cans been picked up. Our community and the people that come in really are mostly very very kind to our park. Um it's it's the fact that they're open cans so stuff blows out and then that's what the kids are doing. So they're staying busy and they are constantly on routine filling like from down over the hill on minor up to major. Both girls are on concession over by the bathroom and putting in the dumpster. We're just staying busy.

You you have a man in charge of the park that you trust to be there. He's telling you it's good to be 100 plus if you want an exact quote. I mean, I went to Cington, so I'm not I don't do math. Well, so I'm sorry that wasn't very nice. No, it wasn't.

Anyway, I I can't add. So, I mean, I can get you exact figures on what it's what it would cost, but when I figured it the last time, it was around between five and eight dollars for supplies that if you push that one time and get soap, that's a penny. So, if you want take it further than that, I I I mean, you know, I could do that. So, what's the ball part that covers? I I uh I said on a 10 team tournament, it's about $8. on a 20 team tournament it's about $5. Depends if they wash their hands or not. That's what he's saying.

Or use toilet paper. So, we know there's they're using the trash can liners. And I do appreciate the the people that or the kids that change out those big bags cuz sometimes they get a little full. They pull them out, they put them in the dumpster. I don't have to do that. I I appreciate that. And to keep the park cleaned up on that end. boys baseball, softball, uh, just got through a soccer. They put all their stuff in the trash cans. They may be packed full and I got to go get the tractor to dump it, but at least it's in the trash can. It's not scattered all over the place. But I do appreciate that.

And those boys hustle. They hustle. I mean, it's it's 6 a.m. to 900 p.m. Yeah. plan for that. So before you guys are done and then you're going to talk about it and make a decision next week. We turned in our proposed tournament dates for next summer. Two dates in May, one in June, one in July. You know when we'll be able to find out if those dates are I never saw that. Is that two meetings ago? I believe

was on September 15th. The dates May 2nd and 3rd, May 16th and 17th, June 20th, 21st and July 11th and 12th. We were well away from 4th of July weekend. Does anybody have a problem with those dates

if there's not already any conflicts on the park calendar why we why they couldn't have those dates? Do we have anybody from softball here that their tournament I can text you guys I can call We're having a meeting on the 27th. So dates on the 27th. Okay. 28th. Well, that was special. You said softball. Yeah. November 3rd. November 3rd.

Yeah. Right now, the way this ordinance says, if we if the ordinance is defeated, the only thing we really defeated was increasing of the camping fee because everything else is still the same as what it was in 2017 if I'm not mistaken. Is that right? Except for

$25 a team which was voted on at the city council meeting in August 5th, 2019. Okay. Okay. So, yeah. So, it doesn't change right now other than the camping fee. If this is if the voting on this is defeated, the only changed is the camping fee, right?

Okay. Because I don't think this is necessarily right either. Um, and even then, what the city makes or doesn't make on fees is nominal. It's not like it's going to make or break the city if we do. Now, we're not tax also though to clarify, we're not taxing our kids. This would be a fee for anybody coming in from outside the community. So, I understand you're having a problem with the word tax and Yeah. Okay. It's not a tax.

No, a fee. whatever. But the fee is to anybody coming in from out of the community. But I don't necessarily think it's right. I think we need to encouraging the use of our facilities all we can. But I think some fee is is appropriate still. I would I would propose that this be amended to go back to the original $100 per tournament flat. And that goes back to 2017, I think, if I'm not mistaken. But I also and that would apply to baseball and softball obviously. Uh I do have an exception. It's never coming into it as far as what you said with uh soccer, but also the way this is written. If our youth soccer decides to have a tournament, they wouldn't pay a fee. Is that right? The way I'm reading this,

I don't think that exception should be made. I think it should be applied to them as well as baseball and soft. I have a question for that. When we have tournaments, it's always pretty because baseball and softball bring in from an hour and a half to two hours round. soccer just all local. So their tournaments are all city kids, but you might have some kids that are coming from there.

Yeah, it's a soccer league. Cington for having a baseball tournament. If the exception is for our kids exclusively, then I I get it. That wasn't the way I read that. I have a question. I read it to be the same as your tournaments where kids are coming in from outside of the community, but they organized it. They don't have tournaments. I know. So, it really has it's a it's a point, but I I have a problem with an exception being made. So that you said it's, you know, more for the out of town. I get that. I kind of know where you're coming from.

I don't know what they charge. No. No. No. They're all fundraisers for the the nursery school, for the office. Yeah, that's

so you guys are non not profit.

So with that being said, Why are we charging the $100? Just a question.

I mean, they use the facing all of them. I thought it was a reasonable um take it back to something from eight years ago. with that.

My when I said a flat $100 is all we should charge and I'm going back to something that wasn't already in place back eight years ago. I'm talking about doing it that they're looking to get a horse in the mouth and say, "Oh, well, if that's the case, we should be charging everybody else." I think I think this is being reasonable. I think this is being reasonable. At the end of the day, whatever you guys decide next week, whenever you guys vote on catch on, okay? But it needs to make sense because the sponsors of the community, businesses, community sponsors, all of us volunteers, all parents, we're doing it for the kids. Nobody's stealing nickel.

I think we've always done it for the kids. I I coached girls softball for the kids. ain't enough for me.

Well, I'll just say too, as a parent who had a daughter on travel ball, I invested in my daughter paying those fees and I didn't mind paying those fees because she got so much more because people like you invested in my in my kid and our communities. That's what builds our communities. That's what builds people understanding that it is a team in a community and not just out for self out for the taxpayers that we represent. So I don't have a problem investing to pay those fees. I'm not saying that we should be charging a fee, but when you start picking it apart for the different events using city property, we're we're still investing in supporting our community. We're still investing in supporting the park. We're still investing supporting the city. And so

that potential $500 profit to buy new equipment. Yeah, I understand. I understand. If it's 100 bucks, we're fine to take the bucks. I think it sounds like it should be to 10 bucks, but we'll take the 100 bucks just eliminate the $25 per team because $100 is a whole lot better than $350. If you have 10 teams and you're charging them $25 on top of the 100, that's mean they're having to pay 350. And another thing is there's no gate fee in Cington, right? We haven't been paid every time. And I get that.

And we haven't been paid for as many teams every time. So, let's not let's not be too harsh on us, you know, like we're we're we're taking all your money because we've been pretty lenient, Chuck. You know that.

I don't know. I I I've never been the person that signed a check, handed cash to somebody in this department and cover those. That wasn't my responsibility. I was on tournament director. I don't have I'm a contracted person in a sense for these two baseball and softball. They just asked me to help build because a lot of them work and don't have time to do that. I'm a retired individual now. I've been doing these for 20ome years and that's all we that's what we do for the for the kids. I believe you're for the kids. I believe you are. But travel ball. I got to play travel ball. It's it's crazy now. It's crazy now. But now, so you ascribable parent comes in here and plays one of these tournaments. They've invested,500 games for the dogs to pay more.

I'm I'm sorry to ask this, but you said you're contracted. Do you make money per tournament? You don't. Okay. I'm not I'm not a board. I got on the board this past year, so I guess I'm a board member, but I haven't been on the board for the longest time. My daughter's 29 years old, right? I mean, you just said you were contracted. That's why I asked that. So, okay,

help them out. I think the big difference is a lot of the My son's in travel ball. Um, he doesn't play down here anymore. I still help out. I still volunteer down here because I have a passion for I have a passion for it. The big difference is all these other travel ball places are forprofit. They are forprofit. I go to Morrisville and, you know, it's costing me five, six hundred bucks. That's for profit. We're not doing it for profit. We're doing it to keep the program running and the bing to help our kids make sure they have nice uniforms to upgrade fence to put concrete pads down there on our batting cages so our kids aren't twisting their ankles blowing out knees and coaches aren't falling over. We don't run it as for we run it as a for the big difference that I see today. Cington's not a for

Okay, we'll vote on it next November 3rd. Right now, we don't have a second yet. Yeah. Let's We're just going to vote on No, we're just We're just gonna I'll give you a choice of two of them on on November 3rd. One with no fees or one with fees. Yeah. No, I I make a motion that we pay the little back for the painting of the concession stand. If the city if the city made a an approval to paint it, you guys have already paid it. You're out that money. I make a motion the city pay it. Second. Okay. Paula, yes. Chad, yes. Kathy, Brad, yes. Randy,

yep. Okay. Motion passes. 5. There you go. Bob, tell the Could you do me one favor and bring me in a bill? The bill you paid so I have something to do. Thank you. [Music] Is there anything else? Go ahead. Okay. Go ahead. Pardon? Did we get a clear okay on the dates? Will that be voted on in two weeks?

We Well, no. November 30th. Meetings adjourned. an hour,

you know, very patient on the too. Um,