Editor’s Note: At the end of this article, please also view three attachments that are related. We also have a response from the City of Wetumpka which was posted around Noon on their Facebook page.
Elmore/Autauga News
The City of Wetumpka has notified the Wetumpka Youth Baseball and Softball League that access and restrictions have been imposed by the City of Wetumpka, concerning the Wetumpka Sports Complex. We are just learning of this, and will be follow up with all sides as soon as possible for any updates.
The following information is a letter that has been sent out to players and parents involved in the Wetumpka Youth Baseball and Softball League.
Letter from the Wetumpka Youth Baseball & Softball League to participant’s families:
The Wetumpka Youth Baseball & Softball League regrets to inform our families of the current field access restrictions imposed by the City of Wetumpka.
This is the exact wording we received in an e-mail from the City at 4:30 pm Friday afternoon.
Parks are recreation has been directed to close the Wetumpka Sports Complex beginning Sunday at 8am and to keep it closed indefinitely, unless and until we have signed written agreements from the league and financial disclosures which shall include bank statements from the last 24 months and all the monthly treasure reports from the last 24 months.
If we don’t receive those signed agreements and the required disclosures the fields shall remain closed for league play. Once I have received, reviewed, and approved the disclosures and signed agreement, the counsel has directed the fields to be re-opened.
Background:
The City of Wetumpka sent the Wetumpka Youth Baseball & Softball League 2 agreements for the League to sign. As you read the agreements, you may notice the vague wording that gives the City full access to the funds of the youth of our community. The League Board of Directors cannot with clear conscience agree to sign these contracts giving the city full access to our funds. The League has no issues with providing the City with yearly financial statements. The League actually has an annual public meeting that we encourage any family member, player or City official to attend. During this meeting, the League openly discloses the previous year’s decisions and financial information.
In February 2021 the WYBSL board agreed to go in halfway with the city to resurface the infields of all 5 softball fields. The cost for this project was $20,000, the league paid $10,000. In the Fall of 2021 we provided FREE Fall Ball to 564 kids in this community, the cost to the league for this was approximately $17,000. We then helped the city with a list of projects they needed to get done before Spring ball started, that totaled $8,500. That is $35,500 invested in our fields and our families in 1 years time.
Prior to 2021, the League has many times had to operate with losses each year and based on the information we have the League has never been in a financial situation to be able to help with projects like these in the past.
We are extremely grateful to the city for allowing us to use this amazing complex rent-free for all of these years. In gratitude of what the City has done for us as soon as we were financially able we were excited to finally be able to contribute to some much needed upgrades to our ballpark. We are committed to continuing this relationship and reinvesting any excess funds back into our Youth, Families, and the BASEBALL & SOFTBALL fields but not OTHER complexes.
As you can read in the League’s response to the City’s initial contracts, we agreed that a contract was necessary and beneficial for both sides (and even encouraged the contract), but we just did not want to give the City total control of the League and unrestricted access to the funds from the families of our area. The League replied with an offer to sign the agreement without the wording that gave the City access to our Kids’ funds, but the City returned with a response that our proposal was unacceptable. The League even offered to sign a short-term liability-release contract through the end of the Spring All-Stars to allow for the completion of the 2022 season.
The League board members proposed a time that worked best for both parties to meet and develop agreements to continue the 2022 spring season uninterrupted. In response to our request the city proposed a meeting for Wednesday, April 27th @ 6:00pm. We were trying to work it out for all board members to attend this meeting.
When you read the recent ultimatum sent from the City to the League you will see that the City has chosen to forgo the proposed meeting and chose to instead shutdown the ballpark indefinitely.
The Wetumpka Youth Baseball & Softball League board of directors is made up of hard-working parents and coaches that are UNPAID volunteers spending much of their precious time working to make this league the best it can be for the youth of our area. The League believes that the money collected from the players, sponsors and families should be used to provide the best experience for our youth.
We apologize for the interruption in our spring league season, but we hope our league families understand how difficult the position is that the City has put us in, and agree with the concerns that we have with giving the City Government complete control of our league and unrestricted access to the funds of our youth.
The timing of this ultimatum will shut down the already scheduled Baseball Mid-Season Tournament with our sanctioning body (USSSA) that involves 7 cities with 121 teams. We are asking you to reach out to your City Councilman and/or the Mayor to express your concerns. We are optimistic that the City of Wetumpka will modify their demands and meet with us to discuss and come up with an agreement that makes sense for the City and for our Youth and Families.
Sincerely,
The WYBSL Board of Directors
Wetumpka Youth Baseball & Softball League
[email protected] • (334) 472-4771
http://www.wetumpkayouthleague.com
Attachment 1 – https://attachments.se-assets.com/attachment/0ce37f0e-946f-47d7-98d1-be0f5a617e55/Contract%201.pdf
Attachment 2 – https://attachments.se-assets.com/attachment/2fa171e3-7b9f-43d4-b395-62ebfc471fbc/Contract%202.pdf
Attachment 3 – https://attachments.se-assets.com/attachment/79c179c3-8d7d-41fa-835c-c32e3ad11bcd/WYBSL%20Initial%20Response.pdf
Response from City of Wetumpka, posted on their Facebook page at Noon today:
City of Wetumpka, AL Government
In the past several months, the City of Wetumpka has been working with the youth baseball and softball league to secure agreements for the use of the city fields at no cost to the league. We have requested along with an agreement, audited financials.
We have the responsibility to oversee operations on city public property which requires transparency from the league. The city DOES require financial accountability. This is consistent with all public services in all municipal forms of government, including when those governmental services are outsourced to non-profits. All the agreement requires is the league retain operational funds and the remaining proceeds go back into the upkeep of the facility.
The city does not receive any of the registration money or sponsorship money nor do we wish to. We want the league to succeed for the benefit of our children but also have a responsibility of being accountable with funds made on public property.
The same requirements are on all public facilities, not just softball and baseball fields . At this time the league has left the city no choice but to close the fields until a resolution beneficial to all parties can be reached.
The EAN will follow up on this information as able.
