Community Field seeks additional funding from Burlington for maintenance/groundskeeper

The Burlington Baseball Association is seeking an additional $18,715 annually from the city in an effort to bring back one of three positions that were cut after the Burlington Bees lost their Minor League Baseball affiliation in 2020.

Burlington now contributes $628.50 per month for 10 months each year for maintenance costs of the city-owned facility that is leased by the Burlington Baseball Association, which manages the Bees. That amount has not changed since 1972.

Addressing the Burlington City Council Monday, Tad Lowery, general manager of the Bees, requested that the monthly maintenance contribution be increased to $2,500, which would amount to a total of $25,000 per year, "a good portion" of which would go toward hiring a full-time maintenance and groundskeeping worker.

"With inflation over the course of 50 years, we feel that's a reasonable amount," Lowery said.

The Burlington Baseball Association cut its maintenance position, along with two full-time sales and operations employees, after a particularly troublesome year for Burlington baseball.

In 2019, the Bees saw an 11% gate increase from the 2018 season, as well as a 16.2% increase in store sales and a 23.7% increase in concessions sales. That October, however, the team learned it was among 42 teams facing potential elimination from Minor League Baseball.

In the face of that possibility, Bees staff were determined to make the 2020 season one to remember. They increased promotional nights, service industry nights and were on track to exceed advertising and sales projections from 2019.

Then came COVID-19, and in March 2020, Minor League Baseball announced a delay to the start of the season. That June, it was announced that Major League Baseball would not provide its minor-league affiliates with players for 2020, thus canceling the season for all minor-league teams and leaving the Bees without a constant revenue stream for 18 months.

The loss of income totaled $661,000, according to a presentation prepared for the council by Jill Mason, assistant general manager for the Bees.

"That was a huge, huge impact in just that year-over-year income," Lowery said.

That December, the Bees lost their minor-league affiliation, ending its 58-year run in the Midwest League.

More: Bees lose Minor League Baseball affiliation, but baseball will be back in Burlington

"As everyone knows, what has happened in the past really affected the Burlington Bees," Scott Zaiser, president of the Burlington Bees board, told the council. "First of all, we had COVID, and then we lost our minor-league affiliation with the Angels, so we had to scramble."

The Bees joined the Prospect League in 2021, and while attendance increased by 10% from 2019 to 2021 and another 11% from 2021 to 2022, the Bees played only 30 games, down from the 70 home games they would have had were they still in the minor leagues.

Per-person spending also has increased, Zaiser said, from about $2 per person to between $6 and $7 per person, and community events, such as the Lions Club’s Oktoberfest, also help to generate some revenue. Southeastern Community College and high school teams also utilize the field for games.

“We’ve tried to do a lot of things to bring additional events, additional baseball events and other non-baseball events to host at the facility to keep it open and keep it as an asset to the community,” Lowery said. “It adds (to) and enhances the living experiences here.”

However, Lowery said the loss of the 2020 season coupled with 40 fewer home games per season continue to have “a large impact on our revenue. We’ve cut staff down to a bare minimum.”

"Right now, it's a staff of two basically," Zaiser said. "What we really want to add this year is a full-time groundskeeper/maintenance person because we have a minor league-affiliated baseball complex that we want to maintain, and what we've done in the past two years is we've tried to maintain it with coaches."

Lowery said building maintenance, such as cleaning and repairs, is too much for Mason and him to take on in addition to their other responsibilities. SCC and Prospect League coaches have been doing field work such as mowing and keeping the infield and mound in playing condition.

"Their job is to coach," Zaiser said. "Their job is not to maintain our field, and what we're looking for is some help sometime in the future on maintaining this groundskeeper/maintenance person."

Dave Walker, who served as president of the Bees from the mid-1980s until about five years ago, also spoke in support of the increased contribution.

"All I can say is I think it's an important adjunct to the city," Walker said. "The city has always supported the Bees and hopefully that will continue and we'll have some quality entertainment each and every summer."

Burlington Mayor Jon Billups said he values the organization but cautioned Lowery that he was uncertain whether the city can afford the amount requested.

He took on a more optimistic tone after City Manager Chad Bird pointed out that the final payment has been made on a Vision Iowa loan or bond that had been used for improvements to Community Field, which will free up funds that already were being spent on the stadium.

"Because we retired that loan, it sounds like the cash flow will probably be there to be able to meet some of that request," said councilman Matt Rinker, who serves on the Bees board.

Rinker also suggested the council craft a policy to provide annual increases in contributions to Community Field's maintenance costs to keep up with inflation.

Councilman Robert Critser suggested that the Community Field maintenance and groundskeeper have some overlap with Parks and Recreation so both the city and Community Field benefit from the increased investment.

Bird said he will draft a staff report on details, dates and amounts, and recommended that the conversation be taken up again through the budget process this winter.

This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Burlington City Council considers more money for Community Field