09-06-2023 Meeting Minutes RABPerson County Recreation Advisory Board
Minutes
Date: 09.06.2023
Time: 5:30pm
Facilitator: Kirby Rebirth
In Attendance: Donald Long, Charlie Palmer, Froncello Bumpass, Kirk Redman,
Tabitha George, Stephen Vaughan(phone), Jermaine Wallace
Absent: Brandon Vernon, Carl Smith
Staff: John Hill, Chasity McCurdy, Jennifer Teasley
Guest: Robbie Honeycutt, PCLL President
At 5:30p, Chairman Donald Long called the meeting to order. He welcomed
everyone and asked everyone to stand for the pledge of allegiance.
Public Comment: No one signed up for public comment
Approval of Minutes: Donald Long asked for a motion to approve the August
minutes. Froncello made a motion to approve, Kirk seconded the motion. The
motion was approved.
New Business: PCLL President, Robbie Honeycutt
Robbie Honeycutt stated that they have advertised for openings for board members
that will be held September 20th starting at 6:00 at the County Auditorium. He shared
the high participation this year for the Spring season and would like to see the District
6 tournament to be held here. He explained his understanding of the PCLL role with
Person County Recreation, Arts and Parks Department. He stated that a decision has
not been made on whether they will become a subcommittee under the RAB until
after the new board is seated. He is looking for guidance for the future.
Stephen Vaughan asked Robbie how were they going to gain back their non-profit
status. Robbie replied that he and Christy Bray have tried to contact our CPA and
they are not getting a reply back. He has sent an email to the District about using the
general exemption with Little League and have not received an answer.
Donald Long asked Robbie how do they address people who have made donations to
the PCLL who believe they have a tax deduction but they actually do not, since you
are not a nonprofit. Robbie was under the impression since the county held funds in
the pass-through account, that the individual can claim it as a deduction. John Hill
clarified that is incorrect, that the funds are PCLL money, not the County’s. We are
not using the funds, we are holding it for the entity, until we write a check back to the
entity. We can provide receipts to PCLL for donations that have come in.
Donald asked if PCLL know how much funding and sponsorships you have received
for the Spring season. He did not and would find out and let him know.
Donald mentioned the behavior of board members causing disruptions in the regular
season and what are the plans to address them. Robbie said the regular season did not
have any issues, it was the All-Star season that issues. The PCLL does not have
disciplinary power right now and hopes to address this in the future. For All-Stars, we
did a try out and had evaluators that are not coaches or board members, to keep it fair
for everyone.
John gave his perspective, the PCLL board is divided. He was asked to help them
remove a child from a team. John said they could not do that and the PCLL board
should have made a decision to remove the board member who was being disruptive.
Kirk asked about if they have enough board members and Robbie said they have the
minimum of 7.
John brought up that some board members have been in contact with our staff that
was not professional. For example, at a recent draft for 8U, a comment was made
from a coach directly to staff, that our staff works for them. They work for Chasity
McCurdy and our staff should not have to tolerate comments like that.
Kyle Roberson asked permission to address the board in reference to John’s
statement. John gave permission for him to speak. Mr. Roberson spoke of
Constitution and Freedom of Speech. Stated he felt our staff are public servants and,
in his opinion, work for him. Ask why we have security at meetings and why not at all
the games? Ask why we have old equipment. Asked why we lost good people in the
athletic department. Ask why we do not have representation on the board for
athletics. He believes we are losing families to travel ball programs. He wants to have
a man to man conversation with John at some point. John said his door is always
open.
Stephen and Donald chimed in and tried to get us back on track of the meeting.
John stated we have to look at trends when making statements about participation
numbers in sports. The athletic department operated the league for the PCLL, so all
the credit cannot go to PCLL for growth.
Kirk asked if the new board will be able to take the coach part out of it when making
decisions. Robbie said that as for himself, will not coach.
Donald stated that you can take credit for PCLL numbers without taking blame for
people leaving going to travel programs. The Recreation department is run by
professional people. At the August meeting, he was adamant about deciding about
PCLL becoming a subcommittee of the RAB. Here we are and a decision was not
made. There is an issue with the lost of the 501C3 and something has happened if the
CPA is not calling you back. He read over the MOU with the Recreation department
and the roles of PCLL. One is fundraising, so if you need money to better the
program, you should be fundraising. There was too much of negative talk on
Facebook as well. There needs to be structure and need for accountability. Donald
made a motion to dissolve the MOU with PCLL.
Robbie would like to wait until September 20, but Donald said he expected a decision
tonight. Stephen shared his thoughts on the situation. John said if PCLL wants to be
sustainable, you should become a subcommittee. He explained the budget for the
Sportsplex and cost sharing that PCLL is responsible for.
Donald and Stephen withdrew their motions. Robbie will call a meeting for a vote
next Wednesday and let us know right after the vote.
Old Business: County Farm and Grant Update
John said the County was awarded the PARTF grant for $360,000 and will be
applying for the LWCF to add to the pot. We got our SHPO Review as well. We are
waiting on two permits and hope to have a ground breaking on October 21 at 10am
followed by a tour.
Stephen spoke about the committee for trails that will provide guidance on trail
building. If any board members would like to be on this board, let him know.
Committee Reports:
Athletics- Chasity reported that two vacancies in Athletics. Alex Scruggs and
Shannon Becker have joined the team fulltime. Soccer started this week and Adult
soccer starts this weekend. Youth basketball registration begins next week and Adult
basketball will be starting soon. Football was cancelled due to low participation. They
will do more outreach for next year.
Arts- Froncello gave everyone a copy of the 2023-2024 program guide.
Facilities- Tabitha asked about paving at Hurdle Mills? She said there are elderly
people who use the park who could benefit from paved parking.
Friends of the Parks – Stephen reported that they are doing a 5K at Mayo Park
called Mayo Ween on October 28 to benefit Cry Freedom Missions. He received
$7000 form TDA.
Advisory Board Items: Nothing to report
Chairperson Items: Nothing to report
Director’s Items: Nothing to report
Adjourn- Meeting adjourned at 7:20pm
Next Meeting – October 4, 2023