Patrick Smeraldo of Collaborative Children's Solutions will speak at Monday's City Council meeting as City Comptroller Erica Thomas and former City Council member Tom Nelson look on.
During the Jamestown City Council's April voting session, the council approved collecting fees for use of city parks by traveling teams.
Under the resolution approved by the council, fees for traveling baseball and softball teams would be $125 per game, including practice time, $200 per team for adult flag football and $200 per team for adult softball teams. These changes are expected to take effect in March 2019. May 1st.
Before the resolution was approved, City Councilman Joseph Paternini (Bergman 4th Ward) proposed a resolution to reflect and provide greater clarity on the cost of individual pricing for each team. I asked for a slight modification. Specifically, the fees will be changed as follows. They will be set up for each team for each game. This amendment was also approved.
Before the vote was taken, Patrick Smeraldo, a city resident and owner of Collaborative Children's Solutions, addressed the City Council in support of the fee.
“I saw an article this morning about baseball and field rental fees and was a little upset,” Smeraldo said. “I don't have a problem with that. In fact, it affects me too. My son plays on a team that plays on those fields. I don't think his team or I, the parent, can come up with that money. You have to. There's nothing wrong with that.”
Smeraldo went on to say that while having free use of the fields has been a luxury in recent years, the city has a promise to fulfill. He said he doesn't think it's an exorbitant amount of money to ask, adding that he doesn't think people understand how the city's departmental structure works.
“For example, around 1986 or 1985, I worked for the Park Service while I was in college, and there were about 45 people in the Park Service at that time,” Smeraldo said. “I think there are about 17 people now.”
Mr. Smeraldo said St. Patrick's Day, Easter Egg Hunt, Memorial Day, Christmas in July, Summer Wellness Fair, County Festival, Gus Mucker, Labor Day, Halloween, He listed a list of events that took place last year, including the Christmas parade, and said these were: All events are handled by the Parks Department, which is a lot for 17 people. He added several other items the department is responsible for, such as field maintenance that occurs during off-hours and incurs costs over time.
“The city shouldn't have to put up with that,” Smeraldo said. “That's the reality. I don't know if the travel ball club, all the coaches, the kids live in the city, but that's where we are in the city.”
Smeraldo's company, Collaborative Children's Solutions, hosts and is responsible for several events in the city, but he said the events are not city events and he has to pay extra for certain ones. said. He went on to say the city has other concerns.
“The city has dealt with two violent crimes against young children in the last week, so are we worried about fees?” Smeraldo said. “That's crazy. Eat another bake sale and cough. Let's do what we have to do. This is a city, and that's the price of doing business.”
Smeraldo said all employees in every department give “everything they have” to the city, including “countless hours,” and are then subjected to “social media brutality.” , said this is also ridiculous.
In addition to the fees, the City Council also approved resolutions to subsidize the Prendergast Landing project, allow police and fire department personnel to participate in training, and end the Department of Public Works' hiring freeze.
