On Friday, Union County Judge Mike Loftin attended his first El Dorado-Union County Recreation Complex Board meeting in about two years.
Loftin told board members that he did not intend for his extended absence to imply that the county did not support the facility and its operations.
Rather, he was frustrated with the slow pace at which the complex board seemed to be moving to find ways to boost revenue at the facility and help narrow the income-expenditure gap at the complex.
City and county officials hashed out that issue and others during a specially called meeting, agreeing that the conversation was long overdue.
The group picked up where it left off two years ago when the quorum court voted to cap its annual contribution to the complex budget and to no longer split any budget overages with the city of El Dorado.
The city owns the complex property, which is located just outside city limits on Champagnolle Road.
The city and county previously shared pro rata expenses for the complex as part of longstanding agreement that dated back to the 1990s.
The complex was built in 1984.
The quorum reached its decision end of the agreement in 2016, following a series of meetings in which questions, concerns and grievances were lodged between the El Dorado City Council, quorum court and complex board about some of the operations at the complex.
On Friday, the complex board sought clear up issues and questions that arose during a regular meeting on Aug. 3.
Dugouts
While reviewing the financial statements on Aug. 3, several board members questioned an expenditure of $9,853 for the installation of new roofs for eight dugouts on four older fields at the complex.
Board members said the cost seemed steep for the work that was performed by Long’s Roofing and Sheet Metal and that they did not sign off on the expenditure.
They also pointed out that the materials for the project had already been purchased out of the complex’s 2017 budget.
On Friday, Dianne Hammond, vice-chairman of the complex board and a member of the El Dorado City Council, said the board understood that the work would be done in-kind by either the city or county.
Robert Edmonds, El Dorado director of public works, previously said the city would perform the work.
Hammond and board member Will Crowder, who also serves on the quorum court, said the new roofing panels were installed on rotted wood in the old dugouts.
“Those wooden shingles were supposed to come off and the framework built to put the panels on. Those panels were put on rotted wood,” she said.
Added Crowder, “The rotted wood will eat out those panels.”
Greg Harrison, board chairman and also a member of the quorum court, said he accepted responsibility for the situation, noting that he spoke with Loftin about the project several times because the materials were purchased nearly a year ago and had been in storage.
Hammond said she and her husband Rick have experience working with the roofing panels and offered to show county employees how to properly install them, but they did not get a response.
“We can salvage and remove the panels and do in-kind work to fix it, but the problem I have is, here, we’ve spent $10,000 on labor that we weren’t aware of,” Hammond said, adding that angle iron that had been purchased was to have been used to build the frames for the roofing panels.
Loftin said county employees were not experienced with such work, and after receiving several calls from Harrison and other board members, Loftin called in Long’s.
He voiced frustration about “too many chiefs” overseeing complex operations.
“You’ve got two employees out there that work for me (the county). It’s managed by the Boys and Girls Club (of El Dorado), and you’ve got the city council, the quorum court and the board making decisions,” Loftin said.
“We’ve got a manager and a governing board here. That’s the process we’re trying to funnel everything through,” Crowder explained.
Board members said any issues regarding the complex should first be presented to the manager, the Boys and Girls Club.
Referring to the club’s executive director, David Lee, who was in the audience, Hammond said, “If there’s a problem, then he’ll bring it to us.”
“I’ll go out there and take a look at it, but y’all can take care of getting the roof fixed,” Loftin said.
Commitment from the county
Loftin said he would prefer that the county not be involved in the operations of the complex.
“I’d like to see us just write a check at the first of the year toward the operations of the complex,” he said. “I think that streamlines all these different meetings and all these different entities that have a hand in this thing. It causes confusion.”
He then turned toward the Boys and Girls Club, saying that part of its management agreement with the city was to find ways to increase revenue, notably through concessions and by booking more tournaments.
”I know that complex is not going to make a profit, but that thing has got to start helping itself on its own budget,” Loftin said. “I don’t want to speak for the quorum court, but I think the feeling is we’ve been throwing money down a black hole since 1985.”
Board members are exploring options for concessions, which is now contracted with a monthly rental rate of $315.
Harrison agreed that concessions are a key moneymaker for such facilities.
He and other board members pointed to a master improvement and expansion plan that has been on the table for the complex since 2014 and tweaked earlier this year.
Harrison said it is difficult to book more and larger tournaments due to a lack of needed facilities, such as a 350-foot baseball field for older teens, in addition to the existing El Dorado High School baseball field.
The master plan addresses some of those issues, and Harrison said the board, with the help of ETC Engineers and Architects, Inc., is pursuing a state, matching grant of up to $250,000 that would help to add restrooms, concessions and fencing for the two south fields at the complex.
Board member Avo Vartenian also stressed the importance of converting the complex into a multi-purpose facility that includes soccer fields, which, he said, would also help to increase revenue.
Improving the parking lot would help modernize the complex and make it more competitive in a region where cities are building and improving such facilities, Harrison said.
Loftin and Mayor Frank Hash inquired about the cost to add amenities to the two south fields, completing plans to build two adjacent fields on the south end and building soccer fields.
Both said the work would be the minimum effort that could be made to help bring in additional revenue to the complex.
Vartenian said the cost of the soccer fields would be minimal.
Referring to the master plan, Harrison said the cost of two new youth fields on the south end is estimated at $635,000.
If the matching grant is approved, Loftin said the $500,000 could be added to the figure.
Acknowledging Loftin’s concerns, Hash said the group could pursue “all the bells and whistles” — such as a splash pad — of the master plan in the future, but to help cover the “minimum items,” the board could present a funding request to the El Dorado Works Board.
The EWB administers the city’s one-cent sales tax for economic development.
There has also been discussion about pursing a bond issue in the future, with the El Dorado Parks and Playgrounds at the helm.
But, Hash said the city could tap into the El Dorado Works tax to handle more immediate work.
Board members asked for a commitment from the county to revise its agreement to share expenses for the complex.
Loftin said that completing the four fields on the south end, building the soccer fields and working with the city to improve parking at the complex would bode favorably with the quorum court.
“The quorum court wants to see the income increase out there before committing to a $5, $6 million master plan,” Loftin said. “Because the bigger it gets, the more it’s going to cost to operate. If we can’t increase revenue with what we’ve got now, how are we going to offset a bigger budget?” he continued. “This ‘build it and they will come’ is not going to work today.”
Tia Lyons may be contacted at 870-862-6611 or by email at [email protected].