The Cape Old Timer S Softball League

THE CAPE OLD TIMER’S SOFTBALL LEAGUE

Minutes of the Board meeting May 26, 2010

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Rocco Annesi, Jack Carey, Jim Harrington, Ed Mahan,

Bill Prodgers, Rich Sullivan, Fred Tirrell, and Commissioner Van Khachadoorian

BOARD MEMBER(S) ABSENT: Dick Connolly

Meeting called to order at 9:00 AM

The Commissioner wanted it noted in the minutes how much he appreciated the work of the League Presidents for all the time and energy they put into developing the rosters. As we now know the rosters are still not set, because of people dropping out and other circumstances; however, they are being tweaked and will soon be set.

The Commissioner also announced that he received a phone call from Dennis –Yarmouth School officials requesting that the league keep players off Ezra Baker Field until 3:30 PM and to also keep cars out of the parking lot until the buses are gone.

Thus games at Baker will start at 4:00 PM until school is out in late June.

We want to congratulate the 70’s Travel team who played in Branford, CT. They went 5-0 (in the Major’s Division) to win the Championship. Rich Sullivan pointed out that the press coverage often does mention the fact that the travel team players are members of the Cape Old-timer’s Softball League.

The Commissioner stated that we will not follow the agenda exactly, but will jump around because there are some issues we can clean up very quickly.

League Matters:

2. Water installation at Potter/Memorial Fields: Report – Van Khachadoorian

Talked to the Water Department about hooking into the Whitehouse Field pump. They said there is not enough pressure
Water Dept. said that the best option is to run a water line from the top of the road down the path to the fields
Harwich Rec. Commission supports this concept, but want a schematic of the plan
The Commissioner recommends the Board’s support of this plan, but to cap expenses at $5000
Anything like this must first go before the Town and then to the Board of Selectmen and they approve the project as a gift, then the town will maintain it
Rocco asked if there would be a lock box (yes) and do we pay for the water (no). Would it be cheaper to have a water tanker come in?
Jim Harrington felt that we should table this item, because we have not come to any agreement with the Rec. Commission regarding the league use (i.e. Primary users) of Memorial Field
Rocco Annesi made a motion to table this issue, motion was seconded - vote was taken, it was unanimous to table issue

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3. Honor Maynard Simpson’s memory: Report –Van Khachadoorian

The Commissioner has received suggestions that the Cape Cod Classic be renamed “Maynard Simpson Memorial Cape Cod Classic”. Maynard was a former Commissioner and the founder of the Classic.

It was also suggested that the League might want to pay for the gathering that followed the funeral.
Fred Tirrell suggested that the Classic Trophy be named after Maynard.
After discussion, a motion was made by Fred Tirrell to name the Classic Trophy after Maynard Simpson. Motion was seconded and all were in favor.

6. League picnic and General Meeting: Report Van Khachadoorian

Plan was to have the General Meeting, followed by the picnic
The general meeting hall at the Harwich Community Center is already booked by some other group for July 17th
Jim DeVoe will check to see if the VFW facility is available for the general meeting on the 17th
The Presidents of Divisions I & II will organize this event with the assistance of team members.

7. Updates: Report – Van Khachadoorian

The Rec. Commission approved the completion of the yellow safety cap on the Potter Field fence
The Parking Extension for Potter/Memorial will not take place until the fall because of budget and manpower issues in the Highway Department
The Rec. Commission approved the “Steven W. Potter Memorial Softball Field” sign, all that need to happen is the approval by the Board of Selectmen…this is a gift from the league
Kelly Fields: Kelly 1 is being reconfigured by the league, home plate was off, and we need foul poles. Kelly 2 & 3 are also being reconfigured by the league and they will be available as needed
The league needs to buy a “drag” for Don Nolan’s tractor, we also need bat racks (that attach to the fence) and green carpet for the batter’s box and catchers area, all of which is not to exceed $1000. Jim Harrington made a motion to accept the above “needs” Motion was seconded by FredTirrell. Vote taken was unanimous
Pool Player list – there are enough pool players for divisions I,II & III but we are in need of more players for division IV
Insurance Policy for the Board is due – cost is $696. This is for the Board only and it covers errors and omissions, this is a yearly expense
Rule Change: from Tom Burke, Rules Committee Chair “Home Rule” as it relates to Pool Player activity (Rule #5, Pg.2): “In the situation when a team has two (2) Pool Players, by rule, these players shall only play right field or catch. However, if a team has only nine (9) total players, including the two pool players – in this situation, by rule, the opposing team supplies a catcher only. The pool players will then play right and right center field only.” Motion made by Fred Prodgers to accept the above Home Rule, motion seconded by Ed Mahan, Vote taken, all approved.

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Updates continued:

Some of the roster issues we experienced this year were the result of those players who were assigned to a team and then left the league, following are the numbers:

Div.I – 16 left, Div.II – 17 left, Div. III – 10 left and Div. IV – 19 left

Questions have been raised about games being scheduled on Friday and Saturday. Friday was supposed to be used for make-up games. With the loss of use of Lassie I & II and limited use of Townhouse, Sandy Pond, Flax and even Potter (until 7/1) scheduling had to be revised. Rich Sullivan and Ed Mahan suggested the league re-look at field’s we formerly usedthat might be available to us (at least as back-up), fields such as VFW, Brewster, and Orleans.
Rocco Annesi will Chair the Field expansion committee (at the suggestion of Jack Carey)
We will look at the results of the committee’s work, and if there are other fields available, we will put it out to the league members to see if they are willing to drive to other locations

Approval of minutes of the April 21, 2010 Board meeting. Motion made to approve the minutes as written. Motion seconded, and unanimous vote to accept.

Treasures Report: Jack Carey

No formal report today; there was budgetary expenditures for hats, sox, and umpire uniforms.

4. Uniforms and Sponsors: Report – Jim DeVoe

The Underground Bakery team was disbanded, so we will send $300 back to the sponsor.
JT’s was also disbanded and will be refunded $300
All sox and hats have been handed out
22 Sponsors have paid

1. Please refer to Agenda item #1: (a) the league needs determine if it is to expand the number of teams or cap the number of team and (b) commitment of players. As you read agenda item #1 you will note that the Commissioner purposed a couple of possible solutions.

After lengthy discussion the Board determined that it was essential to answer a basic philosophical question: “who are we?” In order to determine the direction of the league, it was decided to hold a full Board Retreat with some of the following considerations:

Who are we – recreational or competitive
Facilities (fields)
Expand or cap league numbers
Age structure – leave/reconfigure
Commitment – how to encourage it (e.g. advanced payment/registration)

President’s Reports:

Division I – Ed Mahan related the experience & issues of creating a 6th team, scrambling the teams, and ultimately disbanding the 6th team.

Division II – Jim DeVoe felt that the biggest issue was the scheduling of games Friday & Sat. He and Dick Larned are re-looking at this.

We also have the objective to get to 13 players on each team

Division III – Fred Tirrell said that the major complaint from managers is lack of parity. One team is not very good and they wanted to quite. The Commissions suggested that they play a cycle and then determine the configuration of that team.

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Rocco Annesi made a motion to reconsider the vote taken on 4/21 regarding 4 players who wanted to stay in Div. III. This would help the parity of Div. III

No second of the motion a vote does not carry.

Division IV – Dick Connolly was absent

5. Memorandum of Agreement and field maintenance proposal for Memorial Field.- Jim Harrington reporting:

The two most important parts of this MOA are

We have exclusive use of Memorial
We will never be charge a user fee

In exchange for these two requests we would do all the maintenance on the field (except cut the grass).

The word ‘exclusive use” was an objection by the rec. commission. So the word, primary user” was put in, and that was OK. However, someone suggested that the MOU be sent to Town Council. A redrafted agreement from town Council was received and there was:

No provision in there that stated that we would never pay a user fee, yet it didn’t say that we would.
5 Year term was OK.
They put in that we do not have exclusive use, they say that this is a “non-exclusive agreement and that the Town reserved the right to license the premises to any other entities’”

There is a lot of pressure on the Recreation Commission to bring in revenue, so this may be behind the push to not let us be primary users, the Town wants to change us a user fee.

When negotiating with the commissions keep this in mind.

The Maintenance Plan for Senior Softball Field was presented and the quote was $5,400.

Other Business:

Rich Sullivan suggested

Put Agenda on website

Put minutes on website

This may help quell rumors and make the league more transparent

Meeting Adjourned at 11:50 AM

Submitted by Judy Kennedy, Recording Secretary