The Burlington City Council is still undecided about an increase in the amount of financial support it provides the Burlington Bees on a monthly basis.
The city owns Community Field where the Bees and provides financial support for the maintenance of the ballpark in the form of payments of $6,285 spread out over 10 months but recently the team has proposed increasing the amount of financial assistance by about $20,000 a year.
“Staff is in discussion with bees management team but has yet to develop any final recommendations,” City Manager Chad Bird told the council in a memo in their packet.
According to Bird the city has owned the ballpark since 1997 and the city maintains a contract with the Bees for use of the field. The city works with the Bees on three-year contracts, which include options for a three year extension. Bird said this is done because longer contracts require public hearings, but a shorter contract is a choice the city council could make. The current Bee’s Contract is set to expire in June.
Under the current iteration, the city pays utilities for Community Field as well the monthly payments, which together add up to between $40,000 and $50,000 per year. There is also $50,000 set aside each year for capitol improvement projects at Community Field, a commitment the city has made since 2012.
Back in October Bee’s general manager Tad Lowary came to the city council requesting the city increase its annual payment to the Bees to $25,000 per year. He said when the Burlington Bees was cut from the minor leagues in 2021 there was a major loss of revenue. Eventually, the Bees were able to become part of the Prospect League which brought baseball back to Burlington but it still cut the Bee’s season in half, playing about 30 games compared to the 70 games they saw in the years they were a minor league team.
With that loss of revenue came cutting several positions, one of which was the maintenance position. The Bees would like to use the increase in revenue to hire the position back. Lowry told the council in October current staff have tried to keep up with maintenance but they have other positions and a dedicated maintenance staffer is required to keep the facility in proper shape.
Councilman Matt Rinker, who serves as the city’s representative on the board of the Burlington Bees said maintenance continues to be one of the most important topics when it comes to the Bees. It is also important to remember, Rinker said, that the Bees faced several difficult years in a row
“COVID-19 was not kind to the Bees, restructuring of Minor League Baseball was not kind to the bees,” Rinker said.
In theory, the city could provide maintenance service to Community Field free of charge since it is a city-owned facility. However, Bird said the city staff that would provide the service are already busy taking care of other city facilities and simply do not have the time.
While it would be increase in the amount of fiscal assistance the city gives the Bees directly, after some research Bird it’s not actually an increase in what the city already pays out. In 2011 the city council took out a $700,000 general obligation bond to help refinance debt for the Burlington Bees. However, that bond is set to be paid off at the end of the fiscal year, saving the city close to $65,000 next year.
“We have the capacity to accommodate their request,” Bird told the council.
For the time being Bird said he would continue to negotiate with the Bees and hopes to have a recommendation to the council during budget season so the council will be able to have a decision made by the time budget season is finished.
