Oklahoma’s Fields of Accountability — Day 14

Sand Springs: Will Ramsey Softball, the 2024–2026 Sports Use Agreements, and the September 2026 RFP Question

Research edition and open-records tracking update: October 20, 2026
Municipality and primary facility jurisdiction: Sand Springs, Oklahoma — City of Sand Springs, City Council, Parks and Recreation; Tulsa County is the geographic county, not the governing authority for these City facilities.
Primary municipal site: Will Ramsey Softball Fields, Case Community Park, 2500 S. River City Park Road, Sand Springs, OK 74063; four lighted fields.
Community-based program identified by the City: Sand Springs Softball Association. Separate program: Sand Springs Youth Baseball at Jerry Adair Baseball Fields.
Public-record decision window: 2015–2026; strongest dated governing documents are March 2, 2015, December 18, 2023, and August 18, 2026.
Historical tournament-data window: 2003–2025, 22 seasons represented under the exact dataset label “Sand Springs Softball Complex.” This does not establish continuous operation every year or certify that each historical row occurred on today’s four Will Ramsey fields.
Series sequence: Tulsa; Chickasha; Shawnee; Choctaw; Moore; McLoud; Edmond; Muskogee; Ardmore; Bartlesville; Broken Arrow; Jenks; Bixby; Sand Springs.

The central question: A city can provide fields, mowing, parking and lighting while community sports associations provide coaches, schedules and competition. When the government grants a group privileged use of taxpayer-supported facilities, which agreements and operating records allow parents and residents to evaluate affordability, opportunity and lasting public benefit?

Executive findings

1. City jurisdiction is documented; a county address is not county control. Sand Springs’ Parks and Recreation directory places the four lighted Will Ramsey Softball fields at Case Community Park and calls the Sand Springs Softball Association the home organization. The City explains that youth-sports groups operating within the park receive “privileged use” in exchange for providing youth programming. The related Jerry Adair baseball site serves another named community organization, Sand Springs Youth Baseball. These are municipal program arrangements; the City’s location in Tulsa County does not turn them into Tulsa County Board of County Commissioners leases. S1 S2

2. The City has a documented history of governing-body action on use agreements. On March 2, 2015, the Park Advisory Board recorded approval of baseball, soccer and softball use agreements, with Cathy Burdge moving, Patty Dixon seconding and a 4–0–0 vote. That is an advisory-board record, not the executed lease text or automatically a vote of the elected Council. Separately, December 18, 2023 City Council minutes approved the 2024–2026 Sports Use Agreement for Sand Springs Youth Baseball and the corresponding 2024–2026 Sports Use Agreement for Sand Springs Softball Association, among other consent items. The approval shows governance action, not the contents or compliance results of unseen signed instruments. S3 S4 S5

3. The December 2023 approval had a recorded motion and collective vote. Vice Mayor Beau Wilson moved to approve consent items 6A–6N and Councilor Matt Barnett seconded; the package included both sports-use agreements and an $84,000 agreement with APAC/Dunham’s Asphalt Services for paving the softball parking-lot area. The minutes report a 7–0–0 Council vote. Those individual acts (motion and second) are different from the collective Council approval and from later staff, operator or procurement decisions. A voted project agreement is not identical to final cash paid or completed construction. S5

4. The historical tournament research is substantial, but its location and money must be qualified. The internal September 20, 2026 Hidden Valley/USSSA facility inventory reports 201 historical event identifiers, 497 division-level records, 3,503 cumulative team entries, $612,925 calculated team-entry fees, 8,480 modeled minimum games and 15,150 modeled officiating assignments under the exact label “Sand Springs Softball Complex.” This label carries the same street address as Will Ramsey; however, historical classifications include baseball as well as softball, especially in older years. Without original event schedules and field assignments, this is facility-label-associated activity, not verified play on one of Will Ramsey’s current four fields. The dollars are neither municipal deposits nor verified receipts of the present softball association. R1

5. Public investment is recorded, but project phases must not be double-counted. The City reported voters approved four 2022 general-obligation bond propositions, including $3.775 million citywide for parks improvements and enhancements. That figure covers citywide parks, not Will Ramsey alone. The City’s projects page subsequently described new field backstop fencing and lighting repairs at Case Community Park and completion of parking lots serving BMX and Will Ramsey. The December 2023 Council consent package additionally included the $84,000 softball parking paving agreement; municipal bills reported early 2024 include softball lighting materials. These are different record categories — voter authorization, described project status, contract approval and payables — not one additive park expenditure total. S5 S6 S7 S8

6. The next contracting cycle was under public discussion in 2026. In August 18, 2026 City Council/Municipal Authority minutes, City Manager Michael S. Carter gave an information-only update on user agreements for softball, baseball and concessions, saying requests for proposals were due September 10, 2026. That is evidence of a solicitation process under way — not a verified award, rejection of any organization, contract breach, cancellation or replacement of the 2024–2026 agreements. The eventual proposals, staff recommendation, votes and signed agreements require separate verification. S11

The public facility, its operator and the limits of the site identification

The City’s Will Ramsey Softball description lists 2500 S. River City Park Road, four lighted softball fields, bleachers, restrooms, concession amenities and a playground. Those amenities matter for recreational and competitive play, parent access, coaching, umpiring and tournaments. The municipal site explicitly connects the softball association to this facility. S2

The City’s youth-sports page separately lists Jerry Adair Baseball Fields and Sand Springs Youth Baseball. Both appear among user groups within Case Community Park, but they should not be collapsed into a single operator or presumed to operate under identical contract language. Different groups can have different fees, insurance, seasons, field priorities and maintenance responsibilities. The City’s published privileged-use description is evidence of a public policy model; standing alone it is not a signed lease, not proof of exclusivity on every date, and not an explanation of cash transfers. S1

For geographic reporting in the larger Oklahoma dataset, we assign an event to the county containing its verified primary facility. A multi-location tournament listing does not justify allocating every team or dollar to Sand Springs. Exact-label matching is used here to avoid adding events held or jointly listed in other jurisdictions. The Sand Springs Softball Complex dataset address matches the current Will Ramsey address, which is a strong lead; the older mixed baseball/softball entries make complete identity and historical field allocation a verification task. R1

Chronology: who acted, on what record, and what remains unknown

Municipal references: S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S10 S11.

What the 2015 and 2023 approval records demonstrate — and what they cannot tell us

The Park Advisory Board’s recorded 4–0–0 vote on March 2, 2015 establishes that baseball, soccer and softball use agreements were presented and approved by that board. The City describes this appointed board as advising the elected Council on parks. Thus, the 2015 motion should be characterized accurately as Park Advisory Board action, not mislabeled as a 2015 City Council adoption or evidence that any later lease clause remained unchanged. The 2015 minutes do not reproduce the full legal instruments. S3 S4

The December 18, 2023 Council action is a stronger and more specific governing-body record for a later time period. The Council expressly included 2024–2026 Sports Use Agreements for Sand Springs Youth Baseball and Sand Springs Softball Association. These are distinct listed counterparties. The consent vote was approved 7–0. Beau Wilson is connected through the recorded motion; Matt Barnett through the recorded second. The collective Council voted on the package — not necessarily after line-by-line public debate on each agreement, and not as a guarantee that all proposed operating conditions were achieved. S5

What would the signed documents add? The controlling use period, renewal rights, priority between recreation and tournaments, field-preparation obligations, utility allocations, gate admission and concessions rights, insurance and indemnification, accessibility, complaint handling, financial reporting, assignment/subletting, fee schedules, termination, and remedies for unfulfilled obligations. None of these contractual terms should be invented from the phrase “privileged use” or from a meeting’s one-line consent agenda description.

The City’s FY2025 Master Fee Schedule is a municipal revenue document, but it does not substitute for a sport-specific executed agreement or reveal every facility-use price through the material examined. In particular, no verified per-game baseball/softball rental rate can be stated here on the current record. Whether the community group pays nominal rent, annual rent, in-kind maintenance or different event fees must be established with the signed agreements and financial accounts. S9

Historical USSSA/Hidden Valley activity: verified extraction boundaries

The research inventory contains the following exact facility-label results, drawn from the September 20, 2026 workbook prepared using the AIUSSSA - HVIOG 9-20-2026.csv research baseline. Event identifiers are dataset IDs after removing division suffixes; these are not separate days of play. Division-level rows are records and should not be described as a verified count of distinct age divisions. Teams reflect cumulative entries, not unique clubs or players. The model’s games and officials are estimated scheduling/staffing units, not audited field logs or individual workers. R1

For perspective, recent annual rows show changes in the dataset’s recorded event mix, not in verified operator performance or completed City attendance:

Do not equate a dip in listed event entries with fewer children participating in the city’s local league. The dataset is selective for covered tournament activity; it does not constitute a local participation census, regular-season schedule, financial statement or comprehensive survey. An event might also move to a different label, organization, season or venue. R1

Related names we deliberately did not merge

Those amounts must not be added automatically to the $612,925 Will Ramsey-correlated softball-label total. Multi-venue tournament rows naming Sand Springs plus another city also require primary-facility verification and are excluded from this exact-label aggregation. Facility location, sport classification, division count and revenue recipient each need separate proof. S1 R1

Public money: four different evidence types

Voter authorization. The City’s FY2022 annual report identifies voter passage, on June 28, 2022, of four general-obligation bond propositions totaling $15,725,000, including $3,775,000 identified for parks improvements and enhancements. These are citywide bond-authorized amounts and do not assign $3.775 million to Will Ramsey or establish a spent-to-date cost. S6

Approved municipal contract. The December 18, 2023 Council consent agenda contains an $84,000 agreement with APAC/Dunham’s Asphalt Services for softball parking-lot-area paving. That is a Council approval of a named agreement, not evidence the entire sum was paid or the final project had no change orders. It appears in the same 7–0 package as the sports-use agreements, but the contractor is not thereby the named youth softball operator. S5

Municipal accounts payable / equipment. A January 22, 2024 municipal meeting packet includes an itemized bills register with softball-light-related items of $3,980.41, $4,160.00, and $151,800.00; their mathematical sum is $159,940.41. Treat this as the register’s reported line items, not independently confirmed check clearings, final lighting installation cost, or a sum necessarily additional to another total contract. Verify the purchase orders, corresponding check register, appropriation and any contractor payment history. S8

City project-status narrative. The City’s public-project page reports backstop fencing and lighting repairs at Case Community Park and two parking lots completed at the BMX and Will Ramsey Youth Softball complexes; other park improvements and field grading were described at different planning/bidding stages. This is a City-reported delivery status, not a complete schedule of work or expenditure ledger. Some status language is explicitly framed around 2025, so it should not be treated as a live October 2026 certificate of completion for additional planned work. S7

These rows are not an additive cash balance, and none should be described as “profits,” a City subsidy received by a specific association, or a tax return without supporting accounts.

The September 2026 contracting question

The August 18, 2026 official meeting minutes report City Manager Michael S. Carter updated the Council/Authority about user agreements for softball, baseball and concessions, with requests for proposals due September 10, 2026. The minutes expressly classify the surrounding presentation as informational only. Council was not recorded as selecting an operator in that item. S11

That difference is essential to sound municipal research. A public notice may precede a submission deadline; a deadline may precede evaluation; an administrative recommendation may precede Council action; only an appropriate approved and signed instrument establishes final legal terms. At this stage the available materials do not authenticate who submitted, who was chosen, what minimum qualifications were used, what financial terms were negotiated, or how incumbent volunteers and recreational leagues would be protected during a potential transition.

A focused records inquiry would seek the published RFP (including amendments), notice and posting records, all responsive submissions to the extent public under state law, scoring criteria, staff/committee recommendation, legal review, relevant Council/Authority agenda and minutes, signed 2027 agreement(s), and a public implementation timetable. A formal Open Records Act request was subsequently submitted on October 20, 2026; see the submission and tracking section. No City denial or response is documented in the supplied record.

How Public Decisions Shape a Healthy Community-Based Program

Affordability — contract terms become family prices only through evidence. A public diamond can save families the cost of privately acquiring and maintaining land, lighting and bathrooms. But a privileged-use policy alone does not establish registration affordability. Compare verified recreational registration rates, tournament charges, equipment requirements, scholarship eligibility, umpire costs, refund protections and travel expenses. Ask which expenses the City absorbs and which the sports association carries. Financial assistance should be measured by applications and awards in aggregate, without exposing children’s information. S1 S5

Local-league stability — transparent renewals protect seasons. A 2024–2026 agreement term gives a research-defined horizon, but not the substance of renewal rights or any extension. A clearly communicated 2026–2027 procurement sequence can preserve spring registration, volunteers, coaches, uniform purchases, sponsorships and playing schedules. No outcome is assumed about the 2026 RFP; the actual communications and signed replacement arrangements should be inspected. S5 S11

Volunteers — a civic asset, not a substitute for accountability. Community sport relies on coaches, field-prep crews, scorekeepers, administrators and parents. The City’s FY2022 parks report shows public maintenance work alongside user-group programs, illustrating shared stewardship. Contract terms should identify who provides lining, dragging, restroom cleaning, trash, insurance, equipment and grievance channels; reliable roles help prevent volunteer exhaustion. The number or demographic profile of Sand Springs volunteers has not been independently verified. S6

Equitable access — what “privileged” means should be readable. Privileged program use can be reasonable where the operator provides a community service. Equity still depends on fair and published rules for neighborhood recreational teams, girls’ softball, special-needs/adaptive participation, independent groups, visiting tournaments, practice slots, cancellations and accommodations. Inspect the scheduling hierarchy rather than inferring de facto exclusivity from the City’s website language. The four Will Ramsey fields should be assessed on accessible times and family cost, not merely the number of tournaments. S1 S2

Transparency — publish the bargain and the annual results. At a minimum the community should be able to review current signed use agreements, field calendars, user rates, insurance obligations, maintenance costs, complaint procedure, annual participation totals and City contributions. An operator can protect private player information while reporting aggregate affordability and opportunity measures. A public meeting vote is a starting point, not a substitute for executed terms or monitoring. S5

Reinvestment — distinguish capital, maintenance and transfers. The voters’ bond authorization, an $84,000 paving approval, bills related to lighting and the City’s narrative of completed lots are distinct evidence streams. Tracking project IDs, appropriations, encumbrances, invoices, asset ownership and future replacement reserves determines what actually improved. Crediting the same lighting pole expense twice would exaggerate public investment; ignoring in-kind mowing and upkeep would understate it. S5 S6 S7 S8

Competition — tournaments and neighborhood play are not opposites. Visiting tournaments can create room, food, lodging and retail activity, while travel-event blocks can reduce desirable weekend slots for local recreational teams. Neither benefit nor harm is automatically established by the tournament dataset. Report actual resident field hours, event allocations, gate fees, cancellation rates, neighborhood-team access and documented local spending before drawing conclusions. The FY2022 report offers an unverified whole-park vehicle-traffic estimate at peak activity; that number cannot be converted to unique athletes, a tournament headcount or sales-tax receipts. S6 R1

Player development — count pathways, not just transactions. Useful measures include returning recreational players, affordable entry for beginners, practice time, responsible coaching, age-appropriate competition, officiating quality, safety, softball-to-school pathways, and opportunities for children with disabilities. The model’s 3,503 team entries cannot establish how many unique local children had those opportunities. A community league may be performing valuable work never captured in tournament listings. R1

Sustainability — annual review makes the system durable. Lights, fences, drainage, parking, restrooms and fields require replacement budgets. Public programming also needs stable coaches, insurance, safe playing surfaces, clear succession rules and a practical transition protocol when an operating agreement expires. A public annual dashboard should show field availability, participation, scholarship access, actual maintenance spending and facility condition, alongside tournament volume. A 2026 procurement can be evaluated on those measurable public benefits without presuming the eventual outcome. S7 S11

Decision-level discipline: Cathy Burdge’s 2015 motion and Patty Dixon’s second are individual documented actions; the resulting 4–0 approval was a Park Advisory Board action. Beau Wilson’s 2023 motion and Matt Barnett’s second were individual recorded Council actions; the 7–0 approval was a collective elected-government decision. City Manager Carter’s 2026 RFP update is a documented administrative information report, not an award or personal rule violation. Bond passage reflects voter authorization; rising maintenance costs, volunteer dependence and limited field capacity are structural conditions, not an individual’s demonstrated wrongdoing. S4 S5 S6 S11

Evidence classification: what is fact, what is calculation, and what remains unanswered

Documented facts. The City lists Will Ramsey as home to Sand Springs Softball Association and describes privileged user-group access. The Park Advisory Board recorded a 2015 agreement vote. The City Council approved named 2024–2026 youth baseball and softball agreements and an $84,000 softball parking arrangement in December 2023. Its annual report and project page describe parks operations and improvements. The August 2026 Council record provides a September 10 proposal deadline. S1 S2 S4 S5 S6 S7 S11

Calculations. The research inventory’s $612,925 team-entry figure and 8,480 / 15,150 game/official values come from modeling and source-event entries, not municipal auditing. The $159,940.41 lighting subtotal is the arithmetic sum of three reported invoice lines, not a separately verified completed project. S8 R1

Reported claims and proposals. The City’s project page describes completed and proposed work at specified publication stages. An administrative update says a new RFP was due; it does not certify its result. The FY2022 department’s park-wide vehicle-volume estimate and tourism rationale are municipal narrative, not audited economic-impact conclusions. S6 S7 S11

Allegations. This installment makes no allegation of fraud, corruption, unlawful privatization, personal enrichment or wrongdoing against City officials, public employees, the softball/baseball associations, vendors or tournament directors. The assembled evidence does not establish those conclusions.

Unanswered questions. What do the signed 2024–2026 agreements actually require? How are public fields scheduled? What did each party pay, and what did families pay? How are scholarships, concessions, rental receipts and umpiring coordinated? Were 2025/2026 inspections or financial reports required? What did the September 2026 RFP result in? Which historical tournament records belong at Will Ramsey as opposed to adjacent or other fields?

Provisional conclusion. Sand Springs offers a documented and potentially measurable model of public fields plus community sports associations, accompanied by public capital investment and an active contracting cycle. The best accountability test is the executed agreements, dated field calendars, audited municipal cost records, group-level aggregate participation information and procurement outcome, not assumptions about misconduct or a simplistic total of tournament revenue.

Records Still Needed

1. Executed and complete 2024–2026 sports-use agreements for Sand Springs Softball Association and Sand Springs Youth Baseball, with signatures, attachments, maps, permitted events, rates, renewal/termination and amendments.
2. Historical agreements and council approvals, 2015–2023, including the versions approved by the Park Advisory Board on March 2, 2015, and any later renewals, Council ratification, and legal descriptions.
3. Complete 2026 RFP and bid file for softball, baseball and concessions: public notices, requirements, September 10 submission record, all legally releasable proposals, evaluation scoring, recommendations, discussions and conflict-of-interest disclosures where maintained.
4. 2026–2027 governing actions and executed successors, including the precise motion/vote for any selected association/vendor and the signed agreements; if still under consideration, status and public meeting dates.
5. Field calendars and actual usage for 2021–2026: youth recreational vs travel/tournament allocations, hourly field priorities, practice hours, cancellations, special events, exemptions and public reservations.
6. Participant affordability and equitable-access evidence: annual registration schedules, scholarships in aggregate, volunteer participation, disability accommodations, gate fees, umpire payments, concessions prices and complaint/appeal processes.
7. 2022 GO-bond and capital project accounting: project allocations, appropriations, issued bonds, $84,000 parking contract, original bids, change orders, inspection and acceptance, cleared payments, $159,940.41 lighting-related payables, all overlapping lighting contractor awards, and physical asset inventory.
8. Facility operations and maintenance accounts: City and association contributions, utilities, restrooms, mowing, drainage, field preparation, lighting, insurance, capital reserves and in-kind maintenance logs.
9. Agreements with tournament operators and vendors, including facility rental/sublease rights, concessions arrangements, gate revenue, deposit/refund terms, waivers, and actual settlement statements identifying the recipient of every revenue stream.
10. Original tournament/field allocation records for the September 20, 2026 Hidden Valley rows: age divisions, field assignments, 2003–2016 baseball-labelled events, aliases, multi-city events, primary host county and event fees; reconcile with the association’s own calendar before adding related labels.
11. Any available audit or year-end review on sports-use compliance, facility income/expenditures and sponsorships, separated by municipal public accounts and private organizations’ finances.

Public-record request posture: A formal request was emailed October 20, 2026, supported by the signed City form and four-page Attachment A. The tracking section records the submission; receipt acknowledgment, records production and any determination remain unverified.

Right of Response

The City of Sand Springs City Clerk, City Manager’s Office, Parks and Recreation, Sand Springs Softball Association, Sand Springs Youth Baseball, relevant parks-user groups, the APAC/Dunham’s Asphalt Services contracting entity, and any future RFP applicants or awarded operators are invited to supply dated documents or corrections. Relevant evidence would include signed agreement terms, fee schedules, field-calendar priorities, public-access practices, capital project closeout, construction invoices, aggregate youth participation and the outcome of the September 2026 RFP. All substantive responses should be published with attribution, dates and supporting primary records after verification. No organization is described as having declined comment because this research does not establish that a specific request for comment was delivered to it.

Source register, research baseline and methodology

[S1] City of Sand Springs — Youth Sports and Facilities; privileged-use policy and listed groups. Open source

[S2] City of Sand Springs — Will Ramsey Softball facility listing and four-field description. Open source

[S3] City of Sand Springs — Park Advisory Board jurisdiction and recommendations. Open source

[S4] Sand Springs Park Advisory Board minutes, March 2, 2015, Item 6, use agreements and recorded vote. Open source

[S5] Sand Springs City Council minutes, December 18, 2023, Consent Agenda items 6G–6I and council vote. Open source

[S6] City of Sand Springs FY2022 Annual Report; parks operations, city clerk, bond authorizations and public-use context. Open source

[S7] City of Sand Springs — Current City Projects / Parks and Trails 2022 GO-bond project descriptions. Open source

[S8] City Council January 22, 2024 minutes with municipal payables/bill register related to softball lights. Open source

[S9] City of Sand Springs FY2025 Master Fee Schedule, adopted via municipal resolution. Open source

[S10] City Council / Municipal Authority August 19, 2025 public-works agenda, sports-fields project discussion. Open source

[S11] City Council / Municipal Authority minutes August 18, 2026, page 4, users agreements and RFP status. Open source

[S12] Official Sand Springs Agenda Center — agendas/minutes search and subsequent decisions. Open source

[S13] Baseball Heaven — Sand Springs Sports Facility historical research, broader context (non-municipal source). Open source

[R1] Internal research baseline: HVIOG_9-20-2026_Sports_Facilities_Inventory.xlsx — sheets Facility Master Inventory, Facility by Year, and Methodology & Notes. Workbook identifies source AIUSSSA - HVIOG 9-20-2026.csv (Sept. 20, 2026). Association is based on exact facility-name matching. Source dataset is not a City payment ledger; tournament identifiers may be de-suffixed by division; division records are not necessarily unique age brackets; model games/officials are estimates. The City-address correlation is a lead pending event-field assignment verification. The separately published Sand Springs citywide study S13 can have higher totals because it may include other facility names and different aggregation rules — do not silently combine totals.

Editorial principle: A documented approval is not an executed contract; an RFP is not an award; an authorized bond is not a paid invoice; a financial model is not a bank receipt; absence of a record in our current research is not proof the record never existed.

Following the money. Following the facilities. Following the decisions. Following the public record.