An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) to the School Department (#300) in the amount of $44,296.32 for the purchase of athletic equipment.

Transcript (~4 min @ 2:18:20)

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▶ 2:18:06 Speaker 2: Vice Chair Vanderberg? Yes. Councilor Chen? Yes. Councilor Finocchiaro? Yes. Councilor Karamcheti? Yes. Councilor Kowal? Councilor Obremski? Councilor Park? Councilor Williams? President Freeman? Yes. Chair Romanul? Yes.

▶ 2:18:20 Devin Romanul: All in favor. All right. All in favor. We will report that out to our next full council meeting. Our penultimate item this evening, item number 2026-1174, an appropriation from free cash to the school department in the amount of $44,296.32 for the purchase of athletic equipment.

▶ 2:18:36 Speaker 9: So, thank you. Yes, this is our final request tonight. Two pieces here for the athletic department. Similar to the band uniforms, we're looking for replacement uniforms for girls and boys lacrosse, boys basketball. Number of different things factor into that. The age of the uniform. For sports like hockey, lacrosse, football, high impact sports, the uniforms are damaged. They get stained with grass stains, and so they need to be sent out to repair. So, at a certain level, it's a return on investment. Should we be repairing old uniforms? And these are the next in the wear and tear department to be replaced. Basketball similarly. And when we can, for the basketball uniforms, we do tend to recycle them, so they would be handed down to the JV level, to use there. But it's similar. There's a wear and tear through the laundering. Melrose is red and white colors, and the white tends to yellow. So it's just to let the students have uniforms that are going to let them compete at a varsity level. And then the scores table, the Melrose scores table at the gym is very small right now. The memo from Mr. Fulfery says it's about 25 years old as well. And so that is up for replacement, and this would now facilitate the number of people that are on hand to facilitate and score varsity games in our gym.

▶ 2:20:00 Devin Romanul: Terrific. Up first I have Councilor Finocchiaro.

▶ 2:20:02 Cal Finocchiaro: Thank you. I was happy to see this had come across, much like the band uniforms. I think that we have excellent sports programs. People pay a lot into the user fee, and these kids deserve good looking uniforms. Make them proud going toThe other schools where they play. I feel like it's a good representation of our school, and I'm happy to see this, like I said, in addition to the band uniforms. Thank you. So, make a motion to recommend.

▶ 2:20:34 Devin Romanul: Second. Second. Motion to recommend by Councilor Finocchiaro, seconded by Councilor Karamcheti. On discussion by Councilor Williams.

▶ 2:20:42 Ryan Williams: Thanks. Just for a point of clarity on this, I can't tell looking at the request whether we're spending $4,000 on uniforms and $40,000 on a table, or what. So it would be helpful if you're going to blend... I don't like blended appropriation requests where it's like, "We're going to buy all these things, and here's the total line item," because it feels like I'm at a car dealership. But if you're going to do it, it would be great to have like, "And the cost of this will be X, and the cost of this will be Y," just so we know we can sort of think about what we're-

▶ 2:21:12 Speaker 9: Understood. Thank you. It's about 50/50. It's about $21,000 for the table and then about 23 for the

▶ 2:21:17 Ryan Williams: uniforms. I don't know what a score table is, but I'm going to trust everybody that you guys do.

▶ 2:21:21 Speaker 1: Councilor Chen.

▶ 2:21:22 Jason Chen: Mr. Fogarty explained that a scoring table is the digital table with the scoring numbers that people sit behind and then record official stats and project the clock. And so they do cost around- Like a control board? Yes. Correct. And so it is about 15 to $20,000. Okay. All right. And then the rest of it does add up. You've got home and away uniforms for- Yes ... for JV teams and varsity teams.

▶ 2:21:45 Speaker 1: Perfect. President Freeman.

▶ 2:21:46 Bradley Freeman: Yeah, thank you. Just another question on the table. Is this table going to be available for groups that rent out the gym? I know we have a lot of rec teams and travel teams that use the gym on weekends, which brings revenue into the city. Would they be able to utilize this table as well?

▶ 2:22:03 Speaker 9: I can find out from Mr. Fogarty if that's something that we do allow the rental groups to use. I'm sorry, I apologize, I don't know that. No, no, that's okay. But I can find that information out for you.

▶ 2:22:09 Bradley Freeman: Yeah, and I appreciate that, but I know from other groups that do rent it out, a lot of times they're not able to utilize the scoreboard, which is something I think that should come along with the rental. And I would encourage the scorer's table to be available as well. So if you can find that out, that'd be great. Sure. Thank you.

▶ 2:22:23 Devin Romanul: Any other colleagues on discussion? With motion on the floor, Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll?

▶ 2:22:28 Speaker 2: Vice Chair Vandiver? Yes. Councilor Chen. Yes. Councilor Finocchiaro. Yes. Councilor Karamcheti. Yes. Councilor Kowal. Yes. Councilor Abramsky. Yes. Councilor Park. Yes. Councilor Williams. Yes. President Freeman. Yes. Chair Romanul.