Official wants more info on sports league budgets Furnish the numbers or pay your own bills, administrator says BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer Show me the money.Brick Township Admin-istrator Scott A. Pezarras wants all sports organizations in town that benefit from township money to provide documentation about how they do business. Pezarras made the announcement at the Jan. 23 Township Council meeting. "I've always been concerned about the finances of the organizations we support," he said. "I've asked the mayor and council to stand behind me by asking for reports on an annual basis." At the very least, sports organizations should be providing copies of their proposed budgets for the year and income and expense statements, Pezarras said. "Somebody has to be tracking what they take in," he said. Pezarras also wants copies of organizations' year-end bank statements. It's documentation the township doesn't receive very often, he said. "If that's going to be the case, we are going to tell them we can't support your organization," he said, as the audience applauded. "If you are not cooperating with us, we are not going to cooperate with you. Provide the documentation. Otherwise, here's your bills for your complex." The township pays for maintenance of sports facilities and fields, most capital improvements and utilities, Pezarras said Monday. "We are building the actual improvements, so the fields are built by us, the concession stands are built by us, the press boxes are built by us," he said. The Brick Dragons football organization is "pretty much the only organization" that furnishes financial information each year, Pezarras said. Council President Stephen C. Acropolis supports the idea. "You have a business administrator here who is an accountability guy," Acropolis said at the meeting. "He came to us and suggested it. I know they (sports organizations) handle four or five hundred thousand a year." Acropolis plans to discuss the matter at a meeting this week about the soon-to-be-created Brick Recreation Advisory Committee. "There may be some boilerplate bylaws we would like to see some sports organizations institute," he said. One resident, a soccer coach, suggested that the township run the sports leagues, a suggestion both Pezarras and Acropolis said wouldn't work. The township's recreational infrastructure could not support that, Pezarras said. "We don't have the field space, nor do we have the land to purchase them," he said. "We don't have the infrastructure to put those kids in practice fields and game field situations. As it is now, it's really, really tight." The township pays for lights and maintenance on the fields, which are township-owned, Acropolis said. "We have to protect the town's assets," he said after the meeting. "We have the best- run [sports] organizations in the state of New Jersey. Does that mean there isn't room for improvement? No." Each sports league has its own separate bylaws and board of directors, said Acropolis, who is a past president of the Brick Hockey Club. "I think I have a unique eye for this kind of stuff," he said. "I was involved in so many sports my kids played. I know what I'm talking about when it comes to recreation." The new recreation advisory committee will include members of various sports organizations. Meetings will be held monthly or quarterly, he said. Committee members will discuss capital projects, use of fields, by-laws and a number of other different topics, Acropolis said. The township has spent "millions and millions" allocated to various sports organizations in town, Acropolis said. "If you keep if you keep kids involved in things like athletics, they are not robbing your house," he said. "Brick has always been an active, athletic town when it came to keeping our kids busy. That's a positive thing."