To all citizens of Nebraska City and the surrounding areas, this is a message that concerns Nebraska City Youth Soccer. Please read. Dear Nebraska City Area Economic Development Board of Directors, Regarding the meeting on October 28, 2014 with Nebraska City Youth Soccer, NCAEDC, NCPS, Mayor Hobbie and the City of Nebraska City, I would like to apologize for letting my emotions get the better of me. I am very passionate about both our city and the youth of this city. So, let me explain in clear terms why we as well as each of you should be upset. Regarding Red Fox Run we knew that the land was “for sale” however, we were never told the land was being shopped and we certainly were never told the land is being sold. As Mrs. Shrader clearly stated it is your land and you do have the right to sell it if you so choose; but that is not the issue. We are in our 15th year of youth soccer and in case you were unaware we do not seek funds from the City, Schools or Economic Development. We have been perfectly happy to work to provide the youth of our great town an outlet to build and sharpen their skills, both physically and mentally. The issue lies solely with Mrs. Shrader and her NCAEDC Board. Now some of you may be shocked or upset after reading this, and may even take issue with me firing such an accusation at you, but the day you voted to sell the property the soccer fields are located on, you lost the right to be upset. Now let’s discuss Mrs. Shrader’s actions/ethics and how this was in my opinion very unprofessionally handled. As I stated above, we have been at the current location for over a decade and have always worked with the school to upkeep the fields. Sometime between the end of our Spring season and beginning of the Fall season of 2013 Mrs. Shraeder was informed by Dr. Edwards that the school board had voted to no longer do the maintenance on the field. Unfortunately, Mrs. Shrader did not feel this warranted a phone call or e-mail. When we approached Dr. Edwards on the situation he informed us of the vote and decision. He also informed us that he had given Mrs. Shrader adequate time to notify us to make the necessary arrangements. We were only 2 weeks out from our first game of the season when she acknowledged she had been notified. The school did step up and help us take care of the fields through the end of our fall season and to her credit Mrs. Shrader was able to schedule a meeting with Dr. Edwards and our board along with herself on March 28th of the following year where it became official that the school would step away from maintaining the property. Now here’s where it gets interesting. During all of the above both Mrs. Shrader and the NCAEDC had already voted and decided to sell the land surrounding the soccer fields for $1,717.90 PER ACRE!! (Please see attached “2013 Sell”) As if that were not INSANE enough Mrs. Shrader and the NCAEDC board then had the brilliant foresight to grant a “First Right of Refusal” on the soccer fields to the buyer. Best of all, to paint a pretty picture or to misdirect the citizens of our community Mrs. Shrader on behalf of NCAEDC offered the following statements in an interview with the Nebraska City News-Press on April 12th, 2013 (ncnewspress/article/20130412/News/130419981)- “EDC director Stephanie Shrader said the fields will remain” and that “Our Group is committed to preserving the soccer fields for as long as the community needs them.” We would find out in our meeting on October 28th (over 2 ½ years after the deal was originally struck) as Mayor Jack Hobbie so eloquently stated, “they had determined the land was not as valuable as it was first thought and so they decided to purchase land north of Nebraska City and move on after owning the current property for 40 years with no real progress.” Moving on should include at least a little consideration of our youth and all that would have taken was a phone call. So here we are today and what is done is done, or again as Mayor Hobbie would state “We recognize things were not handled right, but we need to move on and find a solution.” No, Mayor Hobbie, I do not agree that it is that simple! Especially after I inquired to the level of NCAEDC’s support and was informed it would go as far as helping us look for another viable property; in layman’s terms ZILCH. After reviewing the community members who make up the NCAECD board, it astounded me that these individuals could be so careless when it came to the youth of our city. In my eyes this is nothing short of a slap in the face to our youth. Many things have been taken away or lost and we are constantly searching for positive activities for them and in my opinion sports has always been a steadfast option…..until yesterday. I tried to ask a couple very simple questions of Mrs. Shrader and that was “How did we get here?” and “Were we, NCYS ever even considered by NCAEDC to purchase this land?” To this question Stephanie could not offer even the simplest of answers, Yes or No. And with a portion of her board in attendance it made things that much worse, no one could answer. At this point I did let my emotions get the better of me and as stated before I apologize, not for my actions, but because I feel I let my board and the 300+ kids who play soccer down. I guess in the end I have one last question, would it have been too much to ask for a phone call? Lastly, yes Mayor Hobbie, to confirm your assumption some of us at that table were in fact hurt; it’s just a shame for this community that you were not one of them. Sincerely, Shane R. Allgood Vice President NC Youth Soccer (402) 306-9154 srallgood79@gmail
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 21:42:59 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015