President of the Emmaus Youth Association Tom Ashleman attended the Sept. 17 Emmaus Borough Council meeting to address concerns.

“There’s been challenges from the EYA perspective about our relationship with the borough,” Ashleman said. “Rather than that continue to fester and get worse, our approach is that we want to be very upfront and honest with the borough and talk a little bit about what our views were.”

Ashleman said he wanted to speak at the council meeting in order to make sure the issues were visible for everyone.

Ashleman said it boiled down to three main issues, with the number one concern being the borough renting out the fields to outside third party organizations. He stated in the past year or so, it has “become almost unbearable” for them to maintain a youth association schedule because the fields have been rented out almost every weekend by outside organizations.

“That’s caused us substantial challenges both on a scheduling standpoint, from a field maintenance standpoint, from an accountability standpoint and from a maintenance standpoint as we do a lot of maintenance to the fields as well,” Ashleman said.

He said their second concern was field maintenance, which he noted he has been working with Borough Manager Shane Pepe on fixing some of the issues. He said one of the main concerns they need to work on is leveling the fields for safety.

The final thing he mentioned was EYA receives no monetary support from the borough and everyone working for the organization is 100 percent volunteer.

“It would be nice if we could get schedules early in the year so that we could plug them in,” Pepe said.

Pepe said every time someone wants to book a field, staff has to go on the EYA website to figure out if there are any games.

He noted he gets schedules ahead of time from other organizations such as the United States Specialty Sports Association, who has already given the borough their schedule for spring. Pepe did say he understands there are challenges with making schedules so far in advance. Pepe suggested EYA give them what their typical schedules would look like so the borough can block out weekends.

On the borough’s end, Pepe said they should work on putting field bookings online so everyone can see them to make it easier.

As far as field leveling, Pepe said that would cost thousands of dollars as there are multiple fields that have issues. “That’s not something that will have a short-term fix by any means,” he said.

In regard to monetary support, Pepe said the youth association is receiving it in many different forms.

“Every time you turn those lights on there’s a cost,” Pepe stated. “Every time my guys go there and take care of the dirt, the water on the field, mow the grass, that’s a $41,000 contract to mow grass, that’s taxpayer money.”

Councilman Roy Anders, who is also currently serving as the EYA vice president, noted he has asked Ashleman several times to come to committee meetings to express EYA’s concerns and Ashleman has declined the invitations each time.

Council told Ashleman to come to the next parks and recreation committee meeting, where they will have much more time to go through everything in detail and hopefully come to some agreements.

In other business, the 2017 Emmaus Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to Alan M. Hawman.

“The annual Emmaus Borough Volunteer of the Year Award was created to recognize an outstanding community volunteer whose unselfish and dedicated service to Emmaus has made a significant difference in the community,” Councilwoman, and former recipient of the award, Terri Sorg-McManamon said.

Hawman opened his architectural practice in Emmaus in 1977 and a keen interest in building led to a partnership with a construction company that same year. The firm is still in business today and specializes in projects regarding historic structures as well as offering services and consultations to owners and contractors on technical and building code issues.

Hawman is called the “unofficial architectural historian of Emmaus” and is a lifetime member of the Friends of 1803 House, where he has served as president, treasurer and director. He is one of the group’s representatives with the Emmaus Heritage Alliance where he unofficially chairs the Emmaus Heritage Festival committee. He also chairs the Emmaus Design Challenge Grant Committee and sits on the borough’s building board of appeals as a volunteer.

Sorg-McManamon said he has donated countless hours and expertise to the Emmaus Historical Society, especially when they were in the process of new building renovations and porch restorations.

“If you ask Alan, he’ll tell you he loves Emmaus and the atmosphere of the borough most, and he’s happy to do what he can to help,” Sorg-McManamon said.

The Volunteer of the Year Award was started in 2005 and is funded by the Emmaus Commemorative Gardens Foundation.