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Commission Meeting February 11, 1998 Page 2 Approval of Minutes: Mrs. Hayes asked the members to review the minutes of the January 14, 1998 meeting. A motion was made, seconded and passed unanimously to accept the minutes as distributed. Visitors Opportunity to Address Commission: Mr. Bouman stated that because of the Clague Park renovation last year two other ball diamonds had to be constructed by North Olmsted Hot Stove Baseball (N.O.H.S.B.) at a great expense to that organization. The members were assessed higher fees to pay for these fields through a fund raising program. This year N.O.H.S.B. is aSSessing the parents $86.00 per child to participate. In 1997 a total of 675 children played in Hot Stove but this year only 342 have registered. Mr. Dolansky asked Mr. Morgan what the costs were for some of our sports leagues and they were comparable to the prices charged by the N.O.H.S.B. Mr. Bouman also stated that N.O.H.S.B. is trying to make changes to the constitution which may not be in the best interest to the organization and their participants. He felt that the Commissioner of the Parks and Recreation should attend the N.O.H.S.B. meetings on a regular basis and the special Participants’ Meeting on Saturday, February 14, 1998. Mr. Dolansky replied that either he or Mr. Morgan tried to attend a number of the N.O.H.S.B. meetings annually and he was slated to personally attend the upcoming special meeting. Mrs. Kasler stated that the types of issues Mr. Bouman was presenting are typically not within the auspices of the Parks and Recreation Commission. Rather, the Parks and Recreation Commission serves as a sounding board for the public and may possibly offer the expertise through helpful suggestions to community based organizations. The Parks and Recreation Commission cannot enter into the governing of an independent, community based organization that is managed by volunteers. However, in response to some of the issues that Mr. Bouman presented, Mr. Dolansky stated that he would invite N.O.H.S.B. to the next meeting so they can address these concerns and provide an overview of their organizational goals. Report by Recreation Commissioner: Mr. Dolansky stated that due to the number of issues slated for New Business he would not be reviewing the Administrative Report at this time. There were no questions or comments on the Administrative Report. Report by Safety Director: Mr. Jenkins stated that he and Mr. Dolansky met with representatives from N.O.H.S.B. They are interested in seeing some baseball fields developed within the community. They are also interested in seeing the City purchase land on Bradley Road or developing the property behind the Recreation Center or at Root Road landfill so the City has more baseball fields. N.O.H.S.B. has accommodated over 700 kids in their baseball program in the past. Their registration is down from their anticipated numbers but apparently some kids are joining travel and competitive teams instead of participating in N.O.H.S.B. The N.O.H.S.B. is a pretty significant part of our community and they contribute quite a bit of money to field development each year. 2