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reluctant. We would be seen as the big town."
• Then the discussion centered around the complex itself. Kurth said it would take $12,000 to replace the backstop and another $13,000 to replace the outfield fence. He said the state has been after Groton to host a state tournament, but the condition of the ballpark is no where near state tournament condition. In addition, there would need to be more than a committee of two to run the tournament.
• Later in the meeting when the council talked about the budget, Councilman David McGannon said he took a tour of

the facility on Monday. "The ballpark is in terrible condition. The sidewalk is waiting for an accident to happen. The paint is falling off by the handfuls. The bleacher seats are totally shot. The concession stand needs new shingles. We need to spruce up the place."
• That brought up discussion on the budget. McGannon said, "People think we don't put any money in the budget for baseball. We had $5,000 in the budget this year and not one penny was spent." After further discussion, the council decided to increase the baseball budget to $10,000 for next year to start doing some maintenance work. The baseball complex was built in 1995. The last time Groton has hosted a state tournament was in 2002 and 2004. McGannon said he hopes the baseball group can raise funds for the big ticket item like the backstop and the fence.
• The Trinity Episcopal Church, a historic church in Groton, has an unknown future. The church is owned by the Brown County Historical Society and they no longer want to put any funds into the church. In a letter to the city, the historical society asked the city if they would be interested in taking it over. The council decided that they don't have the funds to do the necessary repairs at the church and that perhaps the church would be better off in a different location, such as Wylie Park in Aberdeen. That means the church could be going down the road to a new home.
• The Festival of Bands is coming to Groton. The date is set for October 11 as 11

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