MYA Contract on the Table at Tonight's Town Council Meeting

The Merrimack Town Council will meet tonight with members from the Merrimack Youth Association executive board to pass along a three-year contract for the youth sports association to sign in order for the town to release funding that was allotted in this year's budget.

The contract includes a demand for an audit of the entire MYA program after it recently learned of a criminal investigation that was conducted in 2012 into the possibility of embezzlement of funds from the Merrimack Youth Baseball program by its former treasurer.

Town Councilors have spoken out in recent weeks about the inconsistencies in bookkeeping in the baseball program and some have even called for the resignation of the board director, Terry Benhardt, in light of what happened.

On Wednesday afternoon, Council Vice Chairman David Yakuboff said there will not be negotiations made between the Town Council and the MYA tonight. The Council provided details of a contract to the MYA in late May and they will discuss that contract during the meeting. They will make any changes they believe necessary, if needed, and vote on final language. That contract will then be presented to the MYA to sign.

Yakuboff said there has been a lot of public input on local news organizations that reported the investigation and the Council's desire for an audit of the program, and numerous comments have been made that the focus should be on the kids.

He said he agreed that the program is there for the kids, and they aren't trying to hurt the program, but this contract is a necessary element for the town to give the organization the money that was budgeted this year.

“Does that mean we will keep the kids off the fields or won't let them play games? No. It means they aren't going to get the town funding if they aren't willing to sign the contract,” Yakuboff said.

Last year's investigation turned up evidence that money was not being accounted for properly in the youth baseball program. According to the reports from the Merrimack Police Department, The MYB treasurer would keep large amounts of cash at his house and use personal and sponsorship checks to file with the bank, according to the report. In one instance, deposit slips reviewed online showed $664.25, $775 and $800 deposits did not contain cash, but were made using sponsorship checks.

According to the police report, it appeared the person would go through the checks written to MYB and look for check amounts that would add up to similar amounts of money as the cash from the concession stands, then deposit the checks and then, allegedly, "pocket the excess cash."

In an interview with Merrimack Patch last month, Benhardt said when the error or book-keeping incongruity was discovered, his organization reached out to the police for an inquiry.

"As soon as we saw it, we acted on it," he said. "I don't think there was an intent to embezzle."

Benhardt said he does not believe there is any money unaccounted for, but if there is, it is below $100.

Merrimack Police started investigating in June of 2012. In a November 2012 letter, Assistant County Attorney Nicole Thorspecken explained that the case was brought to her office's for possible prosecution, which would not be proceeding.

The person "likely withheld some money from MYB, however, proving that he intentionally stole the money (or had the intent to permanently deprive MYB of the money) will be difficult," she wrote.

Yakuboff said at the time that the Council was livid that money wasn't being kept track of properly and that there didn't seem to be anyone who thought it was worth deeper investigation.

Yakuboff said the council is willing to support youth association sports program in town, so long as there are proper fiscal controls in place.

Benhardt has said the board has every intention of signing the contract.

In a phone interview on June 19, Benhardt said the board met on June 13 to discuss the contract and he believes concerns have been addressed.

“We have no trouble with the audit, no outstanding issues at this point,” Benhardt said.

Benhardt also said he hadn't read or heard that there were Councilors who wanted him to step down, but that he didn't have any intention of doing so at this point in time.

The MYA holds elections for its executive board, he said, and if members don't want him to be president of the board, they don't have to vote for him, he said.

“There's no animosity on our side,” Benhardt said. “We're just looking at moving forward.”