Wagner council approves temporary youth-sports use agreement, terminates athletic-fields director post after months of dispute

The Wagner City Council voted April 7 to allow the Wagoner Youth Football Association (WYFA) to operate the city's baseball and softball fields under a use agreement that runs through June 2, with the council requiring proof of liability insurance and a plan to secure 501(c)(3) status as conditions of continued operation.

The agreement followed lengthy public and council debate about scheduling conflicts, enforcement of rules on public park land, insurance coverage and the league's corporate status. Councilors also approved a separate resolution terminating the city position titled director of athletic fields.

Council members repeatedly said the dispute had roots in long-running tensions among rec leagues, travel/tournament teams and WYFA over priority use and field maintenance. WYFA leaders, coaches and the city's scheduling staff described breakdowns in enforcement and phone-based scheduling disputes that commissioners said had created a 'circus' for staff.

James, representing WYFA, said the league intended to make fields available to nonleague teams for practice, would prioritize league games and would require tournament teams to carry insurance or sign waivers. 'We're going to try to get everyone on there at a fair amount of time,' James said, adding WYFA would ask outside tournament teams to provide proof of team insurance.

Beth, the city scheduler who has handled field assignments, told councilors she had received repeated calls and that enforcing rules had been difficult when teams refused to move to alternate fields. She said the scheduling process currently takes minutes for a request, but handling complaints could take hours and escalate into arguments.

City leaders and WYFA debated whether a league-run model would allow on-the-ground enforcement where the city could not remove people from a public park. City Attorney comments on the record explained that leasing or a use agreement changes the legal status of the ball fields and could give the league more authority to enforce rules on the leased area.

After discussion, councilors adopted a motion to allow WYFA to run the sports complex under a use agreement through June 2, with the written contract to specify that the league must maintain liability insurance and that, if WYFA had not secured its 501(c)(3) status and adequate insurance by the council's June meeting, the agreement would terminate on June 2. Councilors said they would require a 30-day written notice to terminate if conditions were not met.

Roll-call votes recorded at the meeting showed the council approved the motion. Multiple councilors also raised the need to fix legal language in the draft contract'noting the document had been assembled from templates and required revision to add the city as a named additional insured and to clarify indemnification language.

In a separate vote that followed the WYFA discussion, the council adopted a resolution eliminating the city's director of athletic fields position. Councilors said the vote reflected a reorganization tied to the new agreement and to reduce overlap with volunteer or league-run management. Beth confirmed during the meeting she would no longer be responsible for scheduling after the council's immediate action.

The council and WYFA leaders agreed to keep lines of communication open. Several councilors said they favored the overall goal of getting more kids on the fields while protecting city finances and limiting legal risk.

The use agreement is limited in duration and contingent on the insurance and nonprofit status steps, and the council said it would revisit the arrangement if WYFA could not meet conditions by the June meeting.

Provenance

topicintro: block_id:3800.915_local_start:0_local_end:145_evidence_excerpt:"Item number 9. Consider entering into a use agreement with the Wagoner Youth Football Association concerning the use of baseball and softball fields in Maple And Redwood Parks or take other action." tc_start: "01:03:20" reason_code:"topicintro"

topfinish: block_id:6855.5703_local_start:0_local_end:120_evidence_excerpt:"Please call the roll... Abernathy? Yes. Wagner? Yes. Sampson? Yes. North? Yes... Item number 10, consider adoption of a resolution terminating the position of director of athletic fields or take other action." tc_end:"02:00:55" reason_code:"topicfinish"