ITID Board Schedules Workshop To Focus On Fresh Direction For Youth Sports

After some 30 years of providing supervised sports competition for thousands of youngsters in and around the Acreage/Loxahatchee area, the Acreage Athletic League is on the brink of losing its status as the provider of such services within the Indian Trail Improvement District.

At their Wednesday, Dec. 18 meeting, the ITID Board of Supervisors declined to schedule a workshop with AAL representatives to discuss continuing the organization’s long-held service provider agreement (SPA).

Supervisor Betty Argue made a motion that the twice-postponed workshop be held, but it died for lack of a second.

The fact that the motion did not get a second “should speak volumes” about how four of the board’s five members currently view the AAL, said Supervisor Patricia Farrell, who has been a critic of the organization since her election in 2022.

Instead, the board voted 5-0 to hold a general workshop on Monday, Jan. 13 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the future of youth sports in the district.

The SPA between ITID and the AAL expired Nov. 15. However, according to the Acreage Baseball Facebook page, registration is underway for the spring season that is scheduled to begin March 1.

Neither AAL President Wendy Rojas-Tirado nor longtime marketing director Daniel Duncan responded to calls and e-mails requesting comment. While Rojas-Tirado and Duncan continue to be listed on the AAL web site as members of the executive board, their positions within the group — and that of its other six members — are no longer indicated.

Tim Opfer, who has been with the AAL as a football coach for some five years, did reach out to the Town-Crier on Tuesday. He said that he and three other individuals were appointed to the executive board in November, doubling its size. Their exact roles and titles will be determined at the January executive board meeting.

“I think we came to realize that there were not enough hands [on the executive board] to do the work… and some things slipped through the cracks,” said Opfer, who was brought aboard to improve communications with ITID, AAL parents and the public. “But it’s easy to look at one or two negative things and not see all of the successes that the AAL has had through years.”

He said the focus should remain on the children.

“There have been hundreds and hundreds and thousands of kids who have been served by these programs, and they deserve to continue to be served,” Opfer said.

Argue told the board that the AAL has been the victim of “false accusations over and over and over again.”

“We’re not the arbiter of any complaints that the parents have,” she said.

However, Farrell told the board that the complaints regarding the handling of some of the league’s finances have moved beyond spats among parents and into the realm of law enforcement.

Farrell recounted a complaint made to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office in April. It alleged as much as $37,000 in fraudulent activity involving the baseball program and a member of the executive board, she said.

According to a PBSO report obtained by the Town-Crier, the complainant Geoff Grafton, a certified public accountant and the AAL’s treasurer, offered no actionable evidence to support the allegations, thus no further investigation ensued nor were any charges filed. The PBSO officer did, however, suggest a forensic audit of all AAL accounts.

Farrell said that to her knowledge, no such audit took place. Grafton could not be reached for comment.

“A lot of cleanup is needed in [the AAL],” said Farrell, “before we should even think as a board that we would want them to represent us in a service provider agreement to put on sports on our fields.”

Farrell said this week that she is unsure what shape a revamped Acreage athletic program would look like and is eager to hear ideas from residents at the January workshop. She said it could be separate independent sports leagues, another umbrella organization, the district or the AAL, “if they can come together and fix whatever it is that’s wrong.”

Much of the controversy stems from Farrell’s requests to see certain AAL documents that she said have not been forthcoming. ITID officials also have told AAL leadership they needed to file new or updated incorporation documents with the state. AAL officials have said the documents have been properly filed; ITID officials say they have seen no proof of that on the state’s official web sites, where such updates are posted.

Asked if he believes the rift with ITID can be mended, Opfer said, “I certainly hope so. We’ve had a beneficial relationship for a long time. We have an obligation to the kids to figure it out with ITID.”

The AAL was founded by area residents in 1993 and incorporated in 1995. Before the current controversies, it had grown into a thriving nonprofit organization representing more than 2,000 registered athletes from The Acreage and surrounding communities.

In other business:

• The supervisors unanimously chose Elizbeth Accomando to serve another year as ITID president. The special governmental district oversees roads, drainage and parks across an area of 110 square miles. Farrell was chosen to continue as vice president.

Supervisor Richard Vassalotti II, who was sworn-in earlier in the meeting, was selected as treasurer. He defeated former Supervisor Keith Jordano to claim Seat 2 in November. Argue, who was elected to her third term in November, retained the secretary position, and Supervisor Michael Johnson was again named assistant secretary.

• The board also voted on a number of committee and oversight appointments. Most appointments went through unanimously. The only controversial appointment was the naming of Accomando to oversee district ligation, which mainly consists of its years-long battle with Minto Communities USA and the neighboring Seminole Improvement District over access to ITID roads.

In May, ITID won a final circuit court judgment declaring that Minto, the primary developer of the nearby City of Westlake, and SID cannot connect to ITID roads without permission.

Minto and SID are appealing that decision.

Argue has been the driving force behind the district’s legal battles with the developer. She nominated herself to the oversight position and was seconded by Johnson. However, the motion was defeated 3-2 with Vassalotti casting the deciding vote. Accomando was then appointed 4-1, with Argue casting the lone no vote.

Argue was, however, appointed to chair the Equestrian Trails Committee, the creation of which she championed. Farrell was appointed vice chair.