(2/24) In February, the Catoctin Mountain Fútbol Club, a youth soccer club based in Emmitsburg, requested to turn "field one", a baseball field in E. Eugene Myers Community Park, into a soccer field.

The club is in its second year with a large uptick in membership. "We were very optimistic at the beginning thinking that we were going to have a certain number of players, which was like 30 or 40 for our first season," said David Ventura, the club’s Coaching Director. "We ended up having over 100." He said that when the club opened registration for this season, on day one the registration numbers were up 70% compared to last year.

Commissioner Amy Pollitt asked if the club would be able to work within the space the Town was providing if they intended to grow even more. Ventura assured the Council that they did not want to grow too big and lose focus on their core values. "We want to have a great program for the Emmitsburg community," he said.

One concern from Commissioners was the ability of baseball and soccer to co-exist. Commissioner Jim Hoover asked what the impact on baseball would be for them to lose a field to soccer. Town Manager Cathy Willets assured the Council she has been in contact with the various baseball clubs, and they were accommodating to the change of use request. She said field one was the least used last year. With the conversion of field one, baseball would still have four fields between E. Eugene Myers Community Park and Memorial Park at their disposal.

The Fútbol Club will be absorbing the cost of the conversion which will include removing the pitcher's mound and installing grass. One requirement made by Council was, if the Fútbol Club ever opted to leave the Town for whatever reason then they would be financially responsible for converting the soccer field back into a baseball field. "We are hoping to grow in the community," said Ventura. "We are looking for a long-term home."

The conversion was approved by Council unanimously. Ventura also mentioned the club was actively looking for field use at other locations, including Mother Seton Catholic School.

2025-2027 pool contract bid approved

Also up for discussion in February, was the bid for the 2025-2027 pool maintenance contract. Emmitsburg has used the same company for many years, however when the time came to renew, they declined, claiming staffing issues as the reason why.

After the Town put the bid request out in December, they received two bids in January. Review of the two bids determined that PMI Pool Management was the lower bid compared to USA Pool Management. Town Manager Cathy Willets said Town Staff recommended accepting the bid from PMI for $89,577 a year for three years, an increase of $10,365 compared to the $79,212 the Town paid the previous year.

PMI uses a different system than the Town’s previous pool management company; they will invoice the Town for the actual hours worked versus a monthly flat rate. "This is why," explained Willets, "the price is an estimate." "We estimated about $89,000," she said. "It could be more; it could be less. It depends on the season that we have." She said Town Staff looked at a max estimate of $101,837 if the pool remains open and fully staffed all season.

The contract would include a max of four lifeguards and one gate attendant. It covers all maintenance (cleaning, chemicals, opening and closing of the pool), all emergency repairs, all aspects of management and required personnel training. Last year, the pool brought in about $42,000 from admission sales and season passes. The PMI bid was approved by the Council.