Cuba Youth Football Treasurer Aimee Jones-Halbert addressed the Cuba Board of Aldermen on behalf of the program during citizen participation on Feb. 17 to provide clarity on the Hood Park concession stand issues.

When clearing out the concession stand and storage facilities at Hood Park, Cuba Youth Football took a lot of items, including a Pepsi cooler, sink, cabinets and the clicker to the scoreboard, Cyndi Mercer, former Cuba Parks and Recreation Board member, alleged on Feb. 19 to the Parks and Recreation Board. Jones-Halbert confirmed the group took their equipment, but said nothing was installed permanently.

“A new organization was granted use of the concession stand and field located at Hood Park. Both storage sheds, the grounds and concession stand were cleared out Jan. 18, 2026; all equipment, gear and content stored in the concession stand were relocated,” Jones-Halbert said. “All items relocated were purchased, donated or sponsored to the football program; most being transferred from Cuba Youth Football League in 2022. Nothing relocated was installed or permanently fixed to the building or grounds.”

Even though they did not receive the contract to use Hood Park, Cuba Youth Football remains an active organization, and plans to use the relocated items to “continue to support our organization and kids.”

Mercer said no information was provided to the Crawford County Youth Football program to inform them that so much equipment would be unavailable.

“Right now, they’re going to operate a concession stand, starting this week, with nothing there, not even a sink, no cabinets no anything,” Mercer said. “And even if things get donated, we have to set a precedent for the community where things just can’t be taken without conversations (with) the city.”

No action was taken by the board regarding this issue.

Ryan Okenfuss, Crawford County R-2 Athletics Director, asked the board through email to approve the Spring Service Day at Hood Park. It would allow a small group of upper-class students to go to Hood Park from 8 to 11:30 a.m. on March 10 to clean and tidy the park. The motion passed with a 6-0 vote.

Appointments were approved for the Airport Committee with a 6-0 vote. Jim Smith, Darren Heaton and Jim Gaddis were appointed with a May 4, 2026, term expiration. Richard Cole and John Fester were also appointed with a May 3, 2027, term expiration.

A motion was also passed to advertise for bids for the Airport Hangar project, because they need to be able to approve one in time to meet grant deadlines.

Alderman Ward 2 Pitts Lesesne and Alderman Ward 3 Jeff Bouse gave the Natural Gas Committee update, during which they explained that they have been having some problems with the trainees.

“Matt (Pigg, natural gas supervisor) told me two different scenarios that happened, making him doubt if they were ready,” Lesesne said.

Bouse mentioned that trainees shouldn’t go on calls by themselves if they’re not properly trained, and that Pigg should be on every call they go on.

“We could end up with something horrible happening, and it can happen real easy with gas,” Bouse said. 

Lesesne brought up an example of one of the trainees attempting to put a second meter on a house because the first one didn’t work.

As their supervisor, Mayor Kevin Copling said he would talk to Pigg.

In addition, a motion was made to put the natural gas committee’s 2001 Ford F350 up for bid for $2,000 with a 6-0 vote.

In other business, Cierra Kitchen, Crawford County Youth Football president, asked the board for approval to make repairs to the concession stands in Hood Park since it’s city property. They also wanted permission to install some donated cabinets, countertops and slack wall panels, as well as a kitchen and utility sink. In addition, they want to paint the walls of the concession stand, pressure wash and paint the goal post and metal covers that go over the windows. The motion was approved with a 6-0 vote.

Bill No. 2206 was also passed and became General Ordinance No. 1247 with a 6-0 vote. It changed the time limit for citizen participation from two minutes to three.