Some East Butler Baseball Association legion league players gathered for a game and found themselves locked out of the borough complex. August 2023 Submitted photo

East Butler Borough Council approved a request Thursday, Nov. 9, allowing the East Butler Baseball Association to conduct an inventory at the borough’s baseball fields.

According to borough solicitor Thomas Smith, the association will be given access to the complex on Saturday, Nov. 11, at 1 p.m. to help determine the ownership of items stored in its sheds.

Smith shared the agreement with the Butler Eagle, as well as his correspondence with association solicitor Brian Farrington.

“In return, I ask that EBBA provide me with a copy of the completed inventory and a separate list of the items that EBBA is claiming ownership over by (Nov. 24),” Smith wrote to Farrington.

The agreement follows a council vote Monday to keep the association locked out of the field for the 2024 season.

The lockout began in early August and will continue until at least Dec. 31, 2024 — unless the association reopens negotiations on a contract for use of the fields.

At the Nov. 6 meeting, Kevin Hesidenz, council president, said the youth baseball association had not provided appropriate documentation to the borough, including child clearances and financial statements.

In an email to Smith on Nov. 8, Farrington said he had attached the appropriate clearances for the association.

Borough representatives are to be on-site during Saturday’s inventory, according to Smith.

He said council would review the inventory and include the association’s request to remove claimed items on the borough’s Dec. 4 meeting agenda.

“Council will review the removal list on a case-by-case basis,” Smith wrote. “I would like to have a resolution approving the transfer of the items to the EBBA.”