City to waive $35,000 lease fee for ballpark vendor

With projects underway at the Gladewater Youth Baseball & Softball Complex, council members on Sept. 21 opted to waive the annual lease fee for the facility. The city’s elected officials went into closed session to meet with their ballpark lessee during the council’s regular September session last week. They returned and approved two actions related to the complex.
In the first motion from councilman Kevin Clark, the council members amended the operation agreement for the facility to reflect a payment due date of Sept. 15 each year from Michael Holochuck, General Manager for Marucci Elite East Texas, who has 10-year lease on the community baseball/softball complex on Lee Street.
The second motion after the ‘executive session’ waived this year’s $35,000 annual payment in lieu of a Nov. 1 completion date for work on the parking lot with a bullpen planned for next year.
“We are foregoing this year’s annual payment in lieu of Marucci completing the lower parking lot on the west side,” Mayor Scott Owens detailed, “and also constructing the bullpen he’s given us a diagram on by March 2024.”
Both motions received unanimous 6-0 approval with councilwoman Brandy Flanagan abstaining.
According to Gladewater City Manager Charlie Smith, “They made a stipulation in the original contract that if he went in and put turf down we would waive the $35,000 that first year. He hasn’t done the turf yet because that’s such an expense, but he’s going to do the parking lot and the bullpen by March and the city will waive this year’s $35,000 fee.”