Board authorizes previously pledged $25,000 match for Tolleson Center field project

The board authorized staff to issue a check for up to $25,000 to match outside funding for phase 2 field improvements at the Tolleson Center, confirming a pledge the board approved at an earlier meeting.

Board members said the initial request to the board a year earlier had involved a mural project; that plan later changed and the funding request pivoted to the Tolleson Center’s back fields. A board member summarized the history: “When she originally approached the board… the proposal was the mural, but they lost some funding. That’s why that money pivoted.”

At the prior meeting the board voted to earmark up to $25,000 so the nonprofit could include the pledge in its funding packet for the external match. At this meeting staff confirmed the vote and asked for authorization to cut the previously approved check. A motion to authorize payment was seconded and approved by voice vote.

Board discussion clarified an earlier confusion over amounts: one speaker recalled an earlier figure of $2,500, but staff and minutes indicate the board approved a match “up to $25,000” in minutes from June 17, 2024; the board reiterated that $25,000 is the earmarked maximum.

The authorization instructs staff to issue funds to the entity that applied for the match so the organization can complete its phase 2 work; no additional conditions or amendments were recorded at the meeting.

No details about the exact project schedule were finalized at the meeting; staff said the matching funds would likely be processed in the summer and that the nonprofit had been told to include the board’s pledge in its packet for the external funder.