CITY OF BURTON WARNS BURTON FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS: BRING BACK BALLPARK AGREEMENT, OR START PAYING FOR WATER

  

The City of Burton is putting pressure on the Burton Friends and Neighbors organization to get an agreement between the two entities finalized.

The city has been attempting to formalize an agreement with Burton Friends and Neighbors for the use of the city ballpark since this past summer.  An agreement currently does not exist to cover any possible liabilities and dictate which parties are responsible in scenarios like crime or damage. 

Mayor Karen Buck said at Tuesday’s city council meeting that the city has not heard anything from Friends and Neighbors about the agreement for several months, despite having an attorney reaching out to them regularly.  No one from the organization spoke at the meeting.

The council decided to give Friends and Neighbors until next month’s regular meeting to get an agreement back to the city.  If the city does not have it in hand at that time, it will begin charging for water used at the ballpark.  Buck revealed that, since the Friends and Neighbors account opened in May 2003, the city has covered over $23,000 in water cost.

Buck said she and Burton Utility Clerk Rachel Belvin have had difficult conversations with residents who are unable to pay their utility bills, and feel it is not fair that one of the city’s largest users of water pays nothing for it.

Councilmember Paul McLaughlin originally made a motion to have Friends and Neighbors start paying right away.  However, Councilmember Jeff Eckhardt said it would not be appropriate for the city to “come across as a bully”, while Councilmember Nathan Kalkhake said Friends and Neighbors would likely pull back if the city pushed this on them. 

Kalkhake suggested giving Friends and Neighbors until the next council meeting to bring back the ballpark agreement, which the rest of the council was agreeable to.