NEVERSINK — The Town Board of Neversink talked of cleaning others garbarge at the Neversink Fire District soccer field during their regular meeting Wednesday, June 12.

Head of the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) program, Joan Mingo, acknowledged concerns from the community about AYSO having to take care of the garbage and the bathrooms.

“We’re a little different than little league,” explained Mingo. “We don’t have, like with the concession, the amount of garbage and things like that.”

She stated that last year, there was a “little bit of confusion” because there was a party right at the time that AYSO started.

“When I got there, there were piñatas, juice boxes, aluminum trays, beer cans, all shoved into one garbage,” recalled Mingo. They were told that they needed to take care of the mess.

Councilman Richard Coombe Jr. told Rubik that since AYSO is using the park, he feels that they should be responsible for cleanup.

“I don’t think it’s going to hurt you to empty the garbage cans and check out the bathrooms. If there is a mess, please clean it up,” stated Coombe. “I mean, you guys are primarily going to be there most of the time.”

Rubik didn’t disagree with that request, and said he has no issue with that when it comes to the times they’re using the park.

“The park is open to the general public, so we’re only using it certain times and I will ensure that the bathrooms are checked prior to our use and after our use,” assured Rubik. “I can’t gurantee how the park’s going to be used at 11 in the morning on a Monday. That’s not us.”

Coombe said he believes that if the hypothetical mess is left from 11 a.m. to when they get there, that’s how they ended up in the situation where they were cleaning up last time.

There also started to be bees there, which was a concern to her because people in general might have a bee allergy.

“I am adamant and strong about taking care of the fields, closing the gates, picking up your garbage,” stated Mingo.“Teach your kids this as well.”

She said that she sent Supervisor Chris Mathews a picture of what she had to clean up.

Brandon Rubik, who is expected to take over AYSO soon from Mingo, agreed with the sentiment. He stated that they’re looking to be as collaborative as possible. He acknowledged that AYSO is a little smaller than the little league.

“Right now, it is Joan and I and a couple of other people who are really trying to get this program stronger and built up,” stated Rubik. “When you add extraneous situations such as the one with the bathroom or additional garbage detail...it makes it harder to get people committed to helping us.

“We’re just looking for collaboration with the town to hopefully hold up our end of the deal but also feel like we’re working together on keeping the park in good shape.”

Councilman Scott Grey agreed that he believes the reality is that they spend close to $1.8 million on that park and that the park is a “tremendous gift to the community”.

“From my perspective, the community organizations need to give back,” explained Grey. “If it doesn’t work, to me it’s very simple. If we can’t cut the grass or we can’t take care of the garbage, we can charge rent.”

He reasoned and understood that the Town had to take care of it. He stated that if they assume more burden at no charge to other organizations, he wasn’t sure that was a fair trade at the end of the day.

“It can’t all become the burden of the municipality, and that’s what we’re pushing back against,” said Grey.