Council OKs sports agreement

Published 11:35 pm Tuesday, March 10, 2015

FILE PHOTO | DAILY NEWS   NEW AGREEMENT: A revised recreational sports program agreement used by the city and area youth sports programs was approved by the City Council on Monday, It applies to leagues that use city sports facilities.

FILE PHOTO | DAILY NEWS
NEW AGREEMENT: A revised recreational sports program agreement used by the city and area youth sports programs was approved by the City Council on Monday, It applies to leagues that use city sports facilities.

Washington’s City Council, during its meeting Monday, approved a new recreational sports program agreement.

The council voted 4-1 to change the current agreement between the city and area youth sports leagues. Council members Larry Beeman, Richard Brooks, William Pitt and Bobby Roberson voted for the new agreement. Councilman Doug Mercer voted against it.

Mercer voiced a concern over wording of a specific part of the agreement.

“In exhibit B, item number three, states that in the event it is brought to the attention of the sports program official that any sports program (adult) … has subsequently been charged with a criminal offense other than a minor traffic offense, the sports program should take the steps necessary to confirm should charges and, if confirmed, should consider whether suspension of such person from that position to a time that conviction is resolved. Should is a very weak word to me,” Mercer said. “I think it should be shall in both cases, because if an individual is charged with a crime that’s more than a minor traffic offense, I don’t think it’s an (option) to leave should, they should.”

Mercer said an adult with charges pending should not be involved with a youth sports program.

City Manager Brian Alligood responded: “In that exhibit, we do note that these are recommendations for best practices that we would ask the leagues to do. Stepping in to accusing, making them do something, I think we take on a little more responsibility than we would we rather do.”

City Attorney Franz Holscher said, “I just also say because it’s a recommendation, I wouldn’t have a problem with changing that to shall because they’re not obligated to follow the recommendations in exhibit B. I wouldn’t mind the change of those two words from should to shall, understanding that’s just a recommendation for them to follow.”

Mercer responded: “Are you saying these are recommendations they don’t have to follow?”

Holscher replied: “Yes. This is the language that’s been in your agreements for a few years. This isn’t new language, as far as exhibit B is concerned.”

Mercer said he believes parents would be concerned if someone working with their children is charged with a significant crime and “no action was taken and he continues to interface with your children.”

Mercer also said, “I personally think we should look at this document and rather than that being a recommendation it be a requirement.”

“That would be necessary to rework the entire agreement. If we want to do that, that’s fine. I don’t think this is the meeting to do that,” Roberson said, who then called for the vote on the issue.

The new agreement takes effect July 1. It requires each sport program to pay to the city a fee of $30 per participant regardless of residence. The agreement was revised to allow each sport program to charge any fee in its discretion without financial penalty (imposed by the city).

The agreement requires each league to carry general liability insurance coverage (minimum of $1 million per occurrence and $1 million aggregate) and accident insurance. Under the agreement, the city is responsible for all maintenance at its facilities (fields, press boxes, restrooms and concession stands and the like) and the cost of providing utilities to the facilities when used by the leagues.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About Mike Voss

Mike Voss is the contributing editor at the Washington Daily News. He has a daughter and four grandchildren. Except for nearly six years he worked at the Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va., in the early to mid-1990s, he has been at the Daily News since April 1986.
Journalism awards:
• Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service, 1990.
• Society of Professional Journalists: Sigma Delta Chi Award, Bronze Medallion.
• Associated Press Managing Editors’ Public Service Award.
• Investigative Reporters & Editors’ Award.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Public Service Award, 1989.
• North Carolina Press Association, Second Place, Investigative Reporting, 1990.
All those were for the articles he and Betty Gray wrote about the city’s contaminated water system in 1989-1990.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Investigative Reporting, 1991.
• North Carolina Press Association, Third Place, General News Reporting, 2005.
• North Carolina Press Association, Second Place, Lighter Columns, 2006.
Recently learned he will receive another award.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Lighter Columns, 2010.
4. Lectured at or served on seminar panels at journalism schools at UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Maryland, Columbia University, Mary Washington University and Francis Marion University.

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