Tuesday, March 7, 2023

CBCA Master Use Agreement - Bocce Ball Committe

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Capos: (From the CBCA Bocce Committee.)

This is one of those infrequent times we feel the need to reach out to all players.  This is important.  So we appreciate you sending this to your respective Spring, Summer and/or Fall League teammates (and apologize as some of you will get multiple copies of this email).  This concerns an item on the agenda of the Tuesday March 7 meeting of the Clayton City Council at 7:00.  We know its short notice but only found out about what is below this past Friday afternoon.

The Clayton Business & Community Association (CBCA) operates and maintains the Ipsen Family Bocce Park and runs the Clayton Bocce League.  In other words, bocce is not a City of Clayton function or sponsored activity.

CBCA also puts on the Art & Wine Festival, BBQ Cook-Off, Oktoberfest and Tea With Mrs. Claus.  None of these are City of Clayton functions.

CBCA is an all-volunteer non-profit corporation.  We are an IRS approved 501(c)(3) charity.  Our members donate thousands of hours a year to put on these events.  Our community contributes hundreds of volunteers, who in turn contribute thousands of hours, annually to help us put on these events.
 
The profits from these events are invested back into this community by the CBCA in the form of grants.  Our members vote on who is awarded grants.  Since its inception in 1984, CBCA has donated well over $1 million for school supplies, sports equipment, college scholarships, event scholarships, local theater, arts, and food and clothing to those in need, to name just a few.  Those groups who receive grants help us put on the events that generate the profits to donate to these groups.  This partnership has worked very well over the years.  It is part of what makes this community a place people want to live in and raise a family.

CBCA has also donated thousands of dollars for civic improvements through the City of Clayton, in the form of grants to the City of Clayton and the Clayton Police Department.

The festivals CBCA puts on require city permits for the use of city property and to pay for city services.  Since 2008, CBCA and the City have been working under the terms of a publicly approved Master Use Agreement.  The Master Use Agreement governs how and where CBCA can hold its events, what permits and fees it is charged (and in some instances permits that are waived), insurance requirements, and how much CBCA will pay for "City direct support costs" (primarily police department overtime).  CBCA pays 50% of the estimated cost before the event and, upon invoicing from the city, the balance after the event.

Without warning, the mayor has put on the agenda for the Tuesday, March 7, city council meeting an "action item" (Item 8 (a)) titled:  Consider Termination of Clayton Business and Community Association Master Use Agreement.  The stated purpose is to discuss "the merits of continuing this agreement." 

What the city has in mind is unclear.  This is not about increased permit fees.  This does not appear to be an attempt to renegotiate the Master Use Agreement.  Is this about raising more money from local nonprofits to help the city make ends meet?  Is this about making our events prohibitively expensive to put on?  Preclude certain events altogether?  Whatever it is has the potential to significantly impact what CBCA and its many volunteers do in order for CBCA to continue to deliver on its simply stated motto:  "For The Good Of The Clayton Community."

The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 7 at Hoyer Hall (Clayton Community Library).  Feel free to show up in person and speak up! 
     
You may be asking after reading this:  What does this mean for bocce?  The answer is nothing for now, and we don't know for the future.  But it bears a reminder that bocce happens in Clayton not because the City of Clayton deemed it so, but because of the hard work and financial commitment of the private sector (the Ipsen family) and the community (CBCA).
  
Thank you.
 
CBCA Bocce Committee

We appreciate you for reading this article.

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