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By J.R. TIDWELL / Editor

GeriLynn Vowell and Anna Atcheson were two of the guest speakers welcomed to the fore by the Maplesville Town Council during its meeting on Aug. 12.

Vowell said she recently took over duties as secretary/treasurer for Maplesville’s Pee Wee youth football league, and she came to the Council with requests for aid.

Vowell spoke of inadequate equipment that had not been properly recertified in years and other areas in which the league needed help with.

Vowell said mismanagement in the past had left the league in bad financial standing.

“We charge $150 per kid to join, and all but $2 of that goes to equipment and insurance,” she said.

Vowell said there is no money left over to pay things like the fees of the officials and utilities.

The Maplesville Council went into executive session after hearing from Vowell and emerged around 20 minutes later with a plan of action.

Mayor W.C. Hayes told Vowell and Atcheson that the town would loan the league $3,500 and give the entity a year to pay it back in order to help pay for new equipment and other costs.

Hayes said the town would cover the cost of utilities for three months at the smaller park, while the town would assume the cost of the larger facility since it was their own utilities.

The vote on these items was unanimous.

“This is a start,” Hayes said.

He told Vowell that the Council expected proper accountability with the funds, and they would invite her to return in three months to check the league’s status.

Vowell said she had an offer from an accountant in Clanton who would volunteer to keep the league’s books, so that accountability should not be difficult to attain.

Vowell told the Council she was open to any suggestions where improvements could be made to the league, and Hayes said he and the Council would continue to look into things in the future.