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3 <br /> SportsPlex motto is family, fun, fitness. She said in her family they teach that they can do what <br /> they can to make things right. She asked the commissioners to consider if the SportsPlex values <br /> still align with the values of families in Orange County. <br /> Mark Bedell said he is a board member for the Hillsborough Hogs. He said youth hockey <br /> is a growing sport and the Hogs have guaranteed that any child, regardless of income and ability, <br /> would have access to the sport. He said that RFP manages the Sportsplex and said that the Hogs <br /> will not have access to the ice. He said that RFP does not have the staff to manage that program <br /> and they are seeking volunteers but there is already an organization that runs youth hockey <br /> without paid staff. He said that the Hogs have already been using scheduled time from the RFP <br /> and all they are asking for is the ability to run the same program as last season. <br /> Abby Ambrozic said she is 16 years old and has played hockey for the Hogs since she <br /> was 8 years old. She said that she is confident, brave, and strong because of her experience with <br /> the Hogs. She said that Hogs hockey is like a family. She said having the option of affordable <br /> hockey so close to home is something she is grateful for. She said they are asking for support to <br /> help keep Hogs hockey a lively organization. She thanked all of the families and said that she <br /> hopes they can play another season together. <br /> Mary Lawrence read a letter from the Collins Creek/Bingham Woods/Orange Grove <br /> community thanking the Board for taking the time to visit their community and listen to their <br /> concerns. She said the community was happy to hear that the OWASA property was no longer <br /> under consideration by the county to be used for a recycling center. She gave copies of the letter <br /> to the Clerk to the Board for distribution to the Board of Commissioners. <br /> Commissioner McKee arrived at 7:24 p.m. <br /> Leslie Grother showed the Board a picture her son drew in support of the Hillsborough <br /> Hogs. She read a portion of a letter/e-mail from Kristin Burrows, which had previously been sent <br /> to the Board of Commissioners: <br /> "I hope you will consider whether RFP's statements can be trusted and will question what their <br /> motivations are. <br /> As one example, the Amendment adds that RFP shall offer travel level youth sports leagues, but <br /> also that those travel youth leagues/team shall not supplant OR REDUCE ACCESS by house/rec <br /> level youth leagues or team. It would be hard to accomplish both of those requirements when <br /> adding a new travel hockey program (unless other ice programs or activities are reduced). The <br /> Carolina Thunder travel hockey program did, in fact, reduce access to ice time for the Hogs. Yet, <br /> in an effort to work with RFP and the Carolina Thunder, the Hogs proposed ways to accommodate <br /> ice time for both programs by reducing some of their ice time requests for the coming season. <br /> John Stock and RFP then used that good-faith compromise proposal against the Hogs without <br /> proper context, and implied and misrepresented that the Hogs were creating issues of access to <br /> the sport; these statements were made to the Board in an email dated March 6, 2024, trying to <br /> justify their actions. A public-private partnership requires trust and, in my opinion, cannot and <br /> should not survive such a shameful display of dishonesty... <br /> I have reviewed the contract and know you will need the opinion of the County Attorney and <br /> possibly outside attorneys, but there is certainly an argument that there's a distinction between <br /> the "day-to-day operations" of scheduling ice time (or pool time or court time) for various groups <br /> and customers and suddenly telling a local non-profit youth organization, who has been a long- <br /> time customer interwoven in the history of the Sportsplex, that they will be proactively and <br /> explicitly denied access to their community facility. How does RFP's ousting of the Hogs fulfill the <br /> contract's stated purposes of managing the facility'in the county's best interest'and the`cultivation <br /> of broad community support?' <br /> ...Do the new hockey programs fall under Section 2.3(c) as an additional service that requires <br /> county approval? Did RFP present a proposal to the county regarding starting a new hockey <br />