Keizertimes., November 05, 2021, Page 3, Image 3

NOVEMBER 5, 2021, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A3
BALK: ‘It felt like there was a lot of nitpicking’
Continued from page A1
For the Love of the Game's contract,
in regards to termination, states that
“this agreement may be terminated
upon a two-year written notice given by
one party to the other party. Notice can-
capital improvements in less than two
years. We need time to do these things,”
Walker said.
Despite his reservations, Day said
that he would support the contract if
Hopefully it will be
passed in a timely
manner. We will make
adjustments to the
contract to make the
council more comfortable
— MICKEY WALKER
CEO, Mavericks League
not be given prior to Nov. 1, 2023 and
notice must be given between Nov. 1
and Nov. 30, in any calendar year begin-
ning in 2023.”
The contract states that For the
Love of the Game would have to make
improvements to 14 specifi c items in
the park by April 2023. If those improve-
ments aren't made, the city could termi-
nate the contract, but For the Love of
the Game would still be managing the
park in 2025.
Day took issue with the termination
language in the contract, arguing that
the process shouldn't take that long
and wants it addressed before moving
forward.
“I am mad at myself for not catching
it earlier,” Day said. “Four years seems
like an awfully long time.”
Walker pushed back against Day's
comments in a phone interview with
the Keizertimes.
“There is not enough time to make
sudoku
he believed the proper changes were
made.
“I'm good with the contract. I just
think there are some changes that need
to be made,” Day said. “I feel like we are
trying to slap it together.”
Keizer Mayor Cathy Clark gave
resounding support towards For the
Love of the Game and shared her
thoughts why having them manage
bo o o s
b a o ppen
Keizer Little League Park would be a
better option than if the park was run
by the city.
“They are a professional organiza-
tion that knows what baseball and soft-
ball fi elds can look like and
should look like, and have
the professional expertise
to deliver that. That is why
I have been very much in
favor of contracting with
an organization like For
the Love of the Game, to be
able to bring that level of
service that the city cannot
currently provide, and cer-
tainly not with out current
staffi ng levels,” she said.
Walker said that For the
Love of the Game is more
than willing to work with
city staff to make tweaks to
the contract, but hopes that
the council will approach
their fi nal decision with
more urgency.
File
“Hopefully it will be
passed in a timely manner.
We will make adjustments to the con-
tract to make the council more comfort-
able,” Walker said. “But there is a ton of
winterization to do. The longer we wait
the tougher it gets.”
Questions or concerns? Contact the
reporter via email: news@keizertimes.com
When They Do, Call Us
503.884.9681
h
brainfood
sudoku answers pg A9
do things. But I appreciate what the
council is doing, making sure they are
dotting their i's and crossing their t's.
It's a shame that we couldn't get started,
but everyone needs to be on the same
page,” Mickey Walker said.
“It felt like there was a lot of
nitpicking,” Keizer Baseball and
Softball President Michael Bays
added.
While several youth base-
ball offi cials have shared hesi-
tancy with the city partnering
with For the Love of the Game,
Bays showed his support for the
Walkers during the public com-
ment portion of the meeting.
“As president of Keizer
Baseball, I totally support the
Walkers. I believe they do good
things for this community,”
Bays said. “I think it would be a
really positive move forward for
this city.”
Councilor Ross Day was the
one who initially pointed out
his concerns with the contract
in the meeting, citing that the
current language isn't clear if the man-
ager of the park is responsible for cap-
ital improvements made to the park
or if that responsibility falls on the
city. One of Day's main grievances on
the topic was that the park is not ADA
(Americans with Disabilities Act) com-
pliant and the contract made no men-
tion of addressing that situation.
“That is a diffi cult facility to provide
appropriate, legal, usable, handicap
access,” Keizer Public Works Director
Bill Lawyer said in response to Day.
Making the entire park ADA accessible
would cost around $500,000 according
to Lawyer.
Councilor Elizabeth Smith has had
similar sentiments to Day in regards to
how capital improvements to the park
would be handled.
“We don't want to unduly burden
For the Love of the Game for capital
improvements that may be more neces-
sarily the (belong to) the city. We have
to have some clarifi cation there,” Smith
said. “I defi nitely don't want them to
sign a contract that could leave them
wide open for something like a lawsuit.”
Councilor Roland Herrera stated
that he wasn't ready to move forward
with the contract, but didn't state a spe-
cifi c reason as to why.
“I don't know why I just have this
feeling that we need to pause and do
this right,” Herrera said. “I am guilty of
not following this as closely as I should
have. I had some medical issues for like
a year-and-a-half. I didn't follow it until
the last couple weeks.”
The comment from Herrera drew the
ire of Bays, who believed that Herrera
should have been more prepared before
the meeting.
“I thought that was disturbing.
Public offi cials should be able to do
their job. If they continue to drag this
out, the kids are going to be ones who
suff er,” Bays said in a phone call with
the Keizertimes.
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