Upon Further Review: Woodbury To Reconsider Write-off For Sports Foundation

After hearing from the co-president of the Woodbury Sports Foundation and studying the original agreement, the city council will reconsider forgiving approximately $5,000 the group owes the city.

Last week, the Woodbury City Council , pulling that item from the consent agenda for further discussion. Following a Sept. 21 workshop, it seems that the measure will go before the council for another vote next week.

In reviewing the original agreement—which had the Woodbury Sports Foundation pay the city for locker rooms for —questions arose about how much was owed, ranging from $4,400 to $7,307, depending on how the language is interpreted and how the interest would be calculated.

The principle, about $20,000, was paid, and the remaining debt is interest. (If the debt in such situations is less than $5,000, staff can write it off on an administrative level, though City Administrator Clint Gridley said these are rare cases.)

The city has not contacted Woodbury Sports Foundation board members about the debt since 2008, Mayor Mary Giuliani Stephens said, adding that she would support writing off the debt.

Councilwoman Amy Scoggins said there seemed to be confusion on both sides.

“It doesn’t seem like anybody was intentionally trying to stiff us,” she said.

Gridley said staff tried to secure the money several times, but when the Woodbury Sports Foundation functionally dissolved, it became difficult to collect.

An option for the city would be to “consider it imperfect and paid,” he said.

When the Woodbury Sports Foundation went through restructuring a few years ago, new board members didn’t know they still owed the city money, said Laura Kallman, co-president of the organization.

If asked to, the group would work to pay off the debt, she said.

Still, Councilman Christopher Burns seemed leery of letting the Woodbury Sports Foundation out of the obligation, but noted that it will be put to vote next week. He also said the city should require personal guarantees from individuals in the future in similar instances.

Councilman Paul Rebholz agreed, and said the city should treat such situations as a “business transaction.” He added that there’s a lot of goodwill built up between the city and youth athletics groups, and isn’t sure it’s worth the staff time to pursue the matter further.