A dispute that sprouted over grass cutting at Lark Park in Chatham has come to an end.
The disagreement between the municipality and Jason Reynolds came to Chatham-Kent council on May 10, 2021 and as a result, municipal staff were directed to work with groups using Lark Park to identify levels of service for field maintenance, league needs, and viability.
Jason Reynolds who operates the Chatham-Kent Kids Flag Football League -- and had been warned to stop cutting the grass at the park over liability concerns -- said even though he did meet with municipal staff and negotiated a solution, he still feels disappointed with the outcome.
"We talked for a few months and we negotiated but at the end of the day, nothing changed as far as what the city was willing to do for us or give to us," the league operator said.
A report prepared for council on June 16, stated two online meetings and one on-site meeting was held with Reynolds to review the issues discussed at the May 10 council meeting. It also noted that "Lark Park is currently cut at an A+ level comprising 22 cuts per season" and that "the flag football convenor agreed that the service level... was acceptable."
The report also stated that both parties agreed to have the flag football league move to an alternative site at St. Clair College's Thames Campus in Chatham going forward.
"Even though I'm not happy with how this played out in the end, the most important thing for me is that the kids are able to play football and this is what they are doing," said Reynolds.
As of Wednesday morning, Reynolds still owed the municipality $5,197 "for park use in 2019 and 2020" and municipal officials said that will be collected through a payment plan. If Reynolds is not able to pay the fees, he will not be able to book additional dates as per the municipality's "Sport Field Policy".
"I tried to negotiate the outstanding fee," said Reynolds. "I stressed to the council that we were all in on fighting those fines, we don't feel they were justified. As much as I wanted to fight this down to the wire, I couldn't, because it jeopardized the kids being able to start playing football on time."
In order to address some other concerns that were raised about activities at Lark Park as part of a community survey that took place from May 21 - June 3, 2021, the municipality will also be putting up some additional signage to make sure the public is well aware of the appropriate uses of the park.
Several complaints were made to the municipality for issues including: public urination on the fences, alcoholic beverage consumption by adults, smoking, late night loitering after games, lack of stoop and scoop, and people practicing golf chipping.