Apartment in clubhouse
is approved 'in concept'

Sac Bee Excloo


MARYSVILLE 9/18/02 (YSN) - The Marysville City Council went the Phantom of the Opera one better Tuesday by approving "in concept" the charming notion that Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox General Manager Scott Blackwood should live in the team clubhouse at Bryant Field.

Police Chief Mike Boyd told the council that costly break-ins by burglars and vandals merited having someone reside in the stadium, especially during the long off-season from April to September.

Blackwood lives in Susanville and commutes to Marysville where he says n a small room, he told reporters.

To create living quarters for Blackwood, the city must bring part of the clubhouse up to residential building codes, which means putting in a fire wall, a window, some fire alarms and other , Boyd said.

While the proposal calls for Blackwood to live in the clubhouse "part-time" in the off-season, it would realistically mean Blackwood would also live there during he season, City Administrator Steve Casey said.

After unanimously approving the project conceptually, the council asked Casey to report back on the cost before it gave final approval. What Blackwood would have to pay in rent, if anything, was another issue he would have to explore, Casey said.

In the past, the city has sometimes approved commercial-residential mixed uses such as this, but not often. City Councilman Jim Kitchen said after his favorable vote that the council might now also entertain similar proposals from private citizens.

Blackwood was absent from the meeting, and could not be be located for further comment.