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Ione council motion to accept turf grant for Howard's Park fails after debate over outreach and agency name
Summary
At a Feb. 26 special meeting, the Ione City Council declined to approve a grant agreement to convert Howard's Park sports fields to artificial turf after members expressed concern about outreach to youth leagues and inconsistencies in the recorded grant partner name.
The Ione City Council failed to approve a grant agreement to convert the sports fields at Howard's Park to artificial turf at its special meeting Feb. 26, 2025. A council member moved to approve a grant agreement identified in the record as with "Emmler Water Agency" (also referenced once as "Amador Water Agency"); another council member seconded the motion, which failed after recorded votes produced a tie.
Council members and staff debated the proposal's merits and the process behind it. Supporters described the item as a seed-money opportunity to improve fields and to reduce future maintenance costs; opponents said the city had not sufficiently consulted Little League and girls softball groups and that questions about injuries and user preference remained unresolved.
The debate culminated in a formal motion to approve the grant agreement for conversion of Howard's Park fields to artificial turf. The motion was seconded and put to a roll-call vote. The transcript records the following votes: Council member Havelin — No; Member LeVay — No; Mitchell — Yes; Vice Mayor Veda — Yes. The motion failed. The transcript does not specify other council members' recorded votes for the item.
During discussion, speakers said staff and a person named George had developed potential improvements and that the funding represented a one-time opportunity to accept seed money for the park. Other council members and commenters said outreach to Little League and girls softball organizations had been limited, and that it was premature to proceed without further input on injuries, user preferences and program impacts.
The meeting record alternates between two names for the grant partner: "Emmler Water Agency" and "Amador Water Agency." The grant amount and funding sources were not specified in the transcript. The motion language in the record was: "approve the grant agreement with Emmler Water Agency for conversion of sports fields at Howard's Park to artificial turf." The record does not show a completed, signed agreement or subsequent implementation steps.
The council had previously gone into closed session earlier in the meeting on a separate real-property negotiation (1000 Castle Oaks Drive); the mayor stated he would recuse himself from that matter because he owns property related to the subject. After the turf vote failed, the council moved to adjourn.
Provenance: The discussion and vote on the Howard's Park turf grant appear in the meeting transcript beginning with the remarks at timestamp 4288.595 (discussion of field improvements and outreach concerns) and concluding at timestamp 4653.295 (the recorder: "Motion fails").
