Boys and girls in Safford aged 10-11 will be hitting the hardwood starting Dec. 6 because the Safford Junior Basketball League will continue to receive a donation from the city of Safford.

An agenda item was brought to the council at its Nov. 10 meeting after confusion arose between Vice Mayor Jason Kouts and League Director and former Councilor Ed Ragland about who will run the league .

Ragland spoke during the public comment section of the meeting and described how he and other teachers from Lafe Nelson Elementary School began the league with a three-day tournament for fifth- and sixth-grade boys in 1976. He said the league quickly evolved to include girls and has grown to 16 teams, with 182 youths signed up this year. He said he had spoken with Kouts, who has been a volunteer coach with the league, about possibly taking over the directorship of the league. Ragland said he decided to continue as director and conveyed that message to Kouts.

“When I saw Mr. Kouts’ agenda item, I was taken aback,” Ragland said. “I called him, and he said it was time for me to pass the torch. . . I only see one problem, gentlemen, this is not a city league.”

During comment on the agenda item, Kouts said Ragland asked him to take over and walked him through the process via e-mail starting in April. He said Ragland asked to meet with the City Council, so he put the item on the agenda.

“Since then, Mr. Ragland has changed his mind, and he wishes to stay as the director,” Kouts said. “I do appreciate Mr. Ragland’s years as the director to this league, and I think you do a fabulous job of it. So (at) this time, I ask this item to be removed (from) the agenda.”

League operations are assisted by a $3,000 donation from the city of Safford. Ragland reported he deposited more than $1,200 into the league’s fund this year as well. That money came from various places, including a $10 sign-up fee per child.

Interim City Manager David Kincaid said the city has budgeted $3,500 for the league this year and confirmed that $1,260 in other funds were deposited by Ragland.

The agenda item was withdrawn, and the council made no decision to alter its support of the league.

Ragland said Kouts and his wife, Maria, have been a great help to the league, donating their time to coach and put on referee clinics.

“I think he and I got some wires crossed here as to how we were going to do this,” he said.

The School District waives the fees for the use of the facilities, and insurance falls under the city’s umbrella of protection.

In other council news:

• Kincaid reported the city does not have the adequate right-of-way easements along Lone Star Road for its sewer project. The project would alleviate an over-capacity situation Downtown and eliminate a lift station, according to Kincaid. He said he and city staff will be working with the residents on Lone Star Road to correct the situation and is hopeful they will realize how beneficial it would be to the city.

• The council unanimously approved awarding a bid to furnish and construct a 2 million-gallon Hillcrest water storage tank to the Natgun Corpora-tion for $1,009,660. Kincaid said Natgun was the lowest bidder and that the bid is approximately $400,000 under the city’s original engineer estimate.

The Hillcrest tank is the first of three water storage tanks necessary to be operational before the city can take its 10 million-gallon tank offline for repair.