Today, the City of Guelph will release the proposed 2012 Operating Budget. As part of the budget, there is a proposed rate increase that will affect most of our facility and sports field users. For most ice and sport field users this would mean a 3% increase over the 2011 rates.

City Council will consider the budget submission over the next few weeks, and final deliberations will take place on December 7, 2011.

As part of that process, there is a Council meeting scheduled on November 23, 2011 at which Council will hear public delegations related to the proposed Budget. If you wish to be a delegation for that meeting, please send an e-mail to clerks@guelph.ca.

If you have further questions about the 2012 Proposed Operating Budget and the impact on rates, please contact Bob Burchett. Bob is the General Manager, Parks and Recreation Programming & Facilities and can be reached at (519) 822-1260 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (519) 822-1260      end_of_the_skype_highlighting ext 2664 or Bob.Burchett@guelph.ca.

Sincerely,

Kelley McAlpine
Supervisor I Facility Booking & Program Registration
Administration & Customer Service I Community and Social Services
City of Guelph I “The City that makes a difference”
T 519-822-1260 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              519-822-1260      end_of_the_skype_highlighting x 2667 F 519-763-9240
E kelley.mcalpine@guelph.ca

Diamond notes:
Only third base had the plug in although there were 3 more plugs sitting at the first base side of the infield.

We (both teams) could not find the location of second base.

The 2 posts for first base could not be found. I went and checked for spares at GG5/6 and finding none, we made do.

Game was played without any significant incidents caused by unanchored bases.

And this:

It appears the city or someone has destroyed our in ground anchors.

From what I understand GG4 is a gong show.

Gg7 might be missing 3rd base anchor.

Anyone know of others?

The League Executives are out there doing what they can to repair these (3rd on GG7 and 2nd on GG4 have both been replaced – but 3rd on GG7 was missing again last night) but they need your help. If you come across any situations such as these, PLEASE let us know (game reports to Statsman also go to the league presidents).

We can’t keep on top of repairs if we don’t know that there’s a problem!

If you are caught with a rolled bat you will be suspended for a minimum of 1 year – along with your team rep.

I think the people using these altered bats have no concept of sportsmanship, safety or fair play. These bats are dangerous and they negate our insurance in the process. The people who need to enhance their performance with altered equipment disgust me as they walk around our park acting like they are great hitters when it is just their rolled bat talking.

If you can’t beat my team fairly, then don’t beat us at all. If you can,I will be the first to congratulate you.

PUT THE ROLLED BATS AWAY AND PLAY THE GAME THE RIGHT WAY!!!!

Brian McMullen

I was thinking that prior to the season starting, it might be prudent for both leagues to remind teams about some proper diamond maintenance. It would also be good for the new teams to know. I know last year there were a few times where we were digging for 15 minutes trying to find the base hole locations.

On setup:

Put base plugs by the fence where they can easily be found.

Chalk the lines.

Try to clear out any water.

On game completion:

Bring bases and magnets back to appropriate storage locations (diamond 7 equipment can be stored in the green box on 7).

Put plugs back in.

Turn off lights.

Lock up shed if you’re the last team to leave.

Also, it might be nice to have a contact number made available to everyone for the umpire-in-chief. If you recall, we had to supply our own ump in the playoffs last year because ours never showed up and we couldn’t get a volunteer. No one, including other umps, really knew who to contact or who was supposed to be scheduled.

Thanks,
Jeff Donkersgoed (Long Shots)

The Exec was at the diamonds on Sunday where we met a representative from the City of Guelph (yes, at 1:00pm on a Sunday), and we discussed the status of the diamonds and planned maintenance for this year. We also dug out ALL of the base holes and have placed caps in the holes – as we do every year prior to the season starting.

Please continue to replace the caps after every game in an effort to minimize the setup time for the next team.

If there is ever an issue with not being able to locate the base holes, please let a member of the exec know ASAP and we will have it located as soon as we can … we have it down to a science and can locate them fairly easily now.

The Umpire-in-Chief is Dwayne Scott and can be reached via e-mail at dewyscott21 at yahoo.ca. He will be sure to provide everyone with a phone number that he can be reached at if an umpire does not show, OR of the protocol that we should follow in such a situation.

And finally, if you have any ball related questions, please do not hesitate to contact your exec – that’s what we’re here for.

Date: February 23, 2011

Attendance: 27 of 31 teams were represented.
Absent: Thunder, New Elite Team (Greg), DDG, Lyon Financial

Constitutional Proposals

(deferred from AGM)

Suspensions

Proposed: GTCSPL and RCMSPL will honor each other’s player suspensions.

Detail:

• If a player is suspended from RCMSPL play for a set period of time, he will be suspended from GTCSPL play until such suspension has been fully served – and vice versa. Any player who knowingly disobeys this rule will receive further suspension.
• This further includes honoring NSA, SPO & SPN suspensions. This is an insurance liability and no exception will be made.
• Any suspensions handed out by RCMSPL will be conveyed to NSA, SPO & SPN in order to make them aware of the suspension and the details surrounding it.

Discussion:

• It would be unfair to be suspended from league play when suspended from Tournament play and vice versa.
• Insurance concern – if a player is suspended from an NSA Tournament, are there any insurance issues we need to worry about?
• Dwayne Scott – we had approximately 5 circumstances in Coed where a player was ejected and did not serve the 1 additional game that is stated in their constitution. The 2 leagues are separate but any ejection needs to be communicated to the UIC.

Issue deferred to determine Insurance ramifications. Next Meeting.

Result:

• If you are suspended from NSA by NSA then RCMSPL will honor that suspension.
• If you are suspended from RCMSPL but not from NSA it will have no effect outside of RCMSPL.

Bat Protest Policy

Proposed: Let’s form a Committee to reword the existing policy.

Executive proposal: 2 year suspension for owner of illegal or altered bat and disciplinary action in regards to the coach and the person swinging the bat at the time of the protest to be determined by a committee.

Discussion:

• Reviewed Exec’s proposal.
• In tourny play they often have a compression tester. For the $600 investment this would be for the league, it would be more direct and with less administrative costs.

A Committee has been formed with representaion from all divisions and they will work through email and conversation to revise our existing policy.

Result:

• We reviewed the correspondence from NSA Canada and the bat manufacturer concerning the protested bat (handout at meeting).
• While NSA Canada was not prepared to issue any suspensions, RCMSPL has documented League based sanctions as a result of owning/swinging a bat deemed to be illegal, as well as to the Coach of the offending players. While this sanction policy is new, RCMSPL has decided to impose the approved suspensions on the offending parties retroactive to include this latest illegal bat.
• The new Bat Protest Policy and Sanctions have been appended to the Constitution.

Financial Report

We reviewed our Proposed Budget for the 2011 season. Our preseason budget allows for a loss on the season of just over $1900 (attributed to our Opening Tournament). Our current financial picture allows us the luxury of maintaining league fees at the same rate as last season while still rewarding returning teams with a credit.

Opening Tournament

Date: May 6th and 7th.

Note: The format has been changed to Friday night and all day Saturday. This is to accommodate Mother’s Day falling on the Sunday of this weekend. We are unable to get on the fields any earlier and the diamonds are not available for any other weekends close to this time.

Future Dates

Meeting – March 23

50% of league fees due.

Meeting – April 27

Balance of league fees due.

May 2 – Opening Day