BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
County Commission Chairman Danny Riddick’s proposal for a recreation program that would bring youth sports back to Bradford received praise but failed to achieve immediate buy-in because of the cost.
The plan calls for the county commission and Tourist Development Council to match the $150,000 the city of Starke currently spends on the upkeep of its recreational facilities on Edwards Road and Thomas Street. TDC’s contribution would be spent on facilities, while the city and county would fund operations, including hiring a recreation director and assistant.
Riddick has been meeting with several current and past leaders involved with recreation, some appearing for the presentation. They included Sheriff Gordon Smith, who called youth activities Crime Prevention 101. Riddick echoed that, saying sports are good for the confidence and character of kids and the adults who volunteer their time to coach and mentor them. Just like jobs and a thriving economy, a great parks and recreation program improves the quality of life for residents, he said.
Riddick demonstrated the enthusiasm for recreation listing some of the ongoing activities. Bradford Youth Athletics Inc. provides fall and spring baseball for approximately 200 boys and girls. Braxton Britt has brought Southeastern Fastpitch softball tournaments to Edwards Road, filling hotels and restaurants. Bradford Schools Athletic Director Sampson Jackson, with the help of other coaches and community leaders like Alica McMillian, led a basketball program at BHS for first- through sixth-graders which drew 95 participants in its first year. They didn’t have all the answers, Jackson said, they just knew they had to get started.
One of the players, a 7-year-old named Weston, told commissioners he had an amazing experience playing basketball.
“I learned so much, and I got better at playing basketball because of Coach Sampson and the other coaches,” he said. “It was fun to see my friends and play together.”
Weston said he doesn’t always get to see and play with his friends when he goes to Keystone Heights to play soccer and flag football.
“It’s a lot of fun, but it would be more fun if I had my friends from school to play with,” he said.
Jackson picked up on that plea.
“Our hope is just that we can provide the resources that we need and provide the opportunities that we need, so that our kids that are growing up together can literally grow up together,” he said.
Riddick provided an overview of programs that are drawing kids from Bradford as well as the city of Starke facilities that could be hosting those sports. There have been recent improvements, including a new football field. Some modifications, such as fencing and additional restrooms, are still needed.
“The city of Starke has awesome facilities. We just got to put it to work,” he said, also speaking of the possibilities the county-owned fairgrounds offers for flag football or soccer.
Riddick asserted that a well-run program — which would also include input from a recreation board made up of city and county leaders — would be self-sustaining through fees, concessions sales, sponsorships and grants, but he called for a two-year commitment of funding from the city and county to get them there.
“We’ve come together on some other projects, and they’re working very well. And we need to do something for this, for our children,” he said.
Starke’s full commission has not heard the presentation, but the $150,000 commitment won’t cost them more than they currently spend if they agree to join with county. Where the county would get its $150,000 was an issue.
Commissioner Diane Andrews felt the partnership could be another one of the positive changes she sees making a difference in Bradford County.
“It is going to cost us, but sometimes it’s hard to put a number on something this important,” she said.
Commissioner Carolyn Spooner said the county’s children are worth the money, but she was cautious about committing to that amount until the commission was further along planning its budget for next year.
Clerk Denny Thompson reminded the board that it just spent $1.7 million purchasing the fairgrounds “for our kids,” and Commissioner Chris Dougherty took the counterargument from there.
“Get your umbrellas out, because I’m all rain on the parade right now,” he said.
While saying he fully supported youth recreation, Dougherty said the county tends to “spend to save instead of save to spend.” They are looking at funding the fire department with a fire assessment fee — but only 50% of that budget — and they haven’t been able to roll back the property tax rate. The county just sent $3.5 million of the money promised to Starke for its utility extension. Combined with the money spent on the fairgrounds, that’s more than $5 million that is no longer in the bank earning interest revenue for the county, he said.
Thompson added to that any additional spending that will be needed for the fairgrounds (including the cost of hiring a fair manager) and the increase in the fire department budget to fund new employees for the Brooker Fire Station next year.
“We don’t even have a fire assessment yet,” he said. “I just want you all to remember the financial situation that we’re in right now. It’s devastating,” he said.
Spooner said if money for recreation is not in the budget, they need to plan for it.
“If we’re still in the throes of trying to figure our budget out now and how we’re going to maintain ourselves without an undue hardship on the community, we need to walk it through a little more in terms of the details. But I think it’s an excellent idea, and I think we should pursue it, but not make that decision until we have all those details worked out,” she said.
Dougherty thanked Riddick and the others for the presentation, but — short of finding spending to cut from the budget — he said now was not the right time.
Riddick said he intends to move forward with his presentation to the city of Starke in two weeks and bring that board’s decision back to the next county commission meeting.
“I’ll just be honest with you, if we can’t come up with $150,000 a year for recreation for our kids, the county’s already broke,” he said, fearing the idea would be tabled for years.
Dougherty and Spooner tried to reassure him that the support for recreation was there if they can find the funding.
