The Walker County Commission approved a recreation agreement with the city of Rossville, but some taxpayers still have questions about the municipality’s recreation programs.
The city must still approve the deal, which will be the final step in the reworking of Rossville’s recreation operations. The commission gave its OK Thursday.
In early June, the city suspended its agreement with a nonprofit organization tasked with managing recreation at the county-owned Rossville Athletic Center and the city-owned Rossville ball field on Ellis Road after questions were raised about the nonprofit’s insurance coverage and for-profit use of public property.
The municipality tasked a city employee with managing its recreation program after previous management was dismissed, but Rossville still needed to formalize an agreement with the county to use its athletic center on Williams Avenue.
“We’re hoping everything goes well,” Rossville Mayor Hal Gray said in a phone call.
He said he has been in negotiations with the county about the agreement but doesn’t know if any changes were made because he didn’t see the commission meeting’s livestream or attend the meeting.
The agreement states that the county will pay for utilities at the Rossville Athletic Center, Gray said, while the city will handle landscaping and expenses. The city will also handle cleaning and supplies at the athletic center, according to the agreement, and run its concession stand.
AGREEMENT DISCUSSION
During debate before voting on the agreement, Commissioner Mark Askew said he would like to see more regular financial reports from the city instead of the quarterly reporting first proposed. Shannon Whitfield, commission chair, agreed, and the deal was changed to require twice-monthly financial reports from the city.
(READ MORE: Rossville suspends recreation program)
Also in the agreement, the county reserved use of the athletic center as a voting precinct and emergency shelter.
Commissioner Robert Stultz said the county pays utilities at all of its recreation centers, so the agreement with Rossville isn’t unique.
Commissioner Robert Blakemore said there are a lot of children in his district, which includes Rossville, who can’t afford to pay for sports and could need scholarships to play. He abstained from voting but expressed support for the agreement.
Blakemore is Rossville’s public works director, and his wife, Courtney Blakemore, ran the recreation nonprofit recently dismissed by the city. He also hosted for-profit softball tournaments at Rossville’s ball field, but at the time said he maintained the field in his free time and his tournaments were a successful tourism draw for the city.
Besides the change to the financial reporting schedule, the only other change to the agreement made by the county commission was a start date updated to Aug. 12.
Jonathan Lassetter, Rossville city council member and mayor pro tem, said the agreement would be voted on at the Aug. 12 city council meeting. In a text message, he said he was satisfied with the agreement but has only one vote.
No other city council members returned an emailed request for comment.
At the commission meeting, Askew said he wants a representative from the city to attend a commission meeting to discuss any needed adjustments
TAXPAYER INPUT
Speaking at Thursday’s commission meeting, Scott McNabb said he didn’t get a response from any of the commissioners about his questions at the previous commission meeting, and that concerned him.
He said he wanted to know who was keeping profits from regular events hosted at Rossville’s athletic center.
In a text message, he said he lives just south of Rossville’s city limits.
Responding to Jamie Hulsey, who Thursday also asked about events at the athletic center, Askew said the county is operating under its existing agreement with the city until the new deal is approved.
Hulsey, a resident of Kensington, said, based on his research, the city doesn’t know where the money is going, and Askew said he would find out who was profiting off those events.
Speaking at a commission meeting earlier this month, Melissa Hulsey said she would like to see a full audit of the Rossville Recreation Association, the nonprofit that previously ran Rossville’s recreation programs, and the Southern Softball Association, Robert Blakemore’s softball tournament organization, to end speculation about both entities’ finances.
Melissa Hulsey also lives in the Kensington area of the county.
Jay Tankersly, a resident of Chickamauga, said at a commission meeting earlier this month that the children of Rossville have a high rate of poverty, referencing a statistic that nearly 90% of the students at Stone Creek and Rossville elementary schools are on free or reduced lunch.
He said he thinks Rossville has been mismanaged, and the city needs more community investment because many of its children are disadvantaged.
“We need to put our disagreements aside and get the kids back on track in that community,” he said.
Contact Andrew Wilkins at awilkins@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.