BELLEFONTE — Bellefonte Borough Council voted to waive the rental fee for Governor’s Park Baseball Field for the 9th Annual Dylan Crunick Memorial Charity Baseball Tournament, despite questions about whether the request aligned with borough policy.

The fee waiver for the Aug. 9-10 tournament was approved in a 7-2 vote, even though the event’s organizing nonprofit was believed to not meet the borough’s requirements for such waivers.

According to borough code, park rental fees can only be waived for nonprofit organizations based within the Borough of Bellefonte.

“This is a nonprofit that is located outside the boundaries of Bellefonte,” said Councilwoman Joanne Tosti-Vasey, raising concerns during the discussion.

The annual Dylan Crunick Memorial Charity Baseball Tournament benefits the DC8 Fund, which provides scholarships for local graduates and supports research and awareness efforts for childhood cancer. The fund was established by Crunick’s parents in his honor after he passed away in 2014 at age 15 from an aggressive form of childhood cancer.

Information on the charity’s website appears to indicate it is based in Canandaigua, N.Y. However, according to the IRS Tax Exempt Organization database, the DC8 Fund’s principal mailing address is listed as 241 Reichenbaugh Lane in Bellefonte, while the Canandaigua address is associated with the organization’s principal officer, Kristen Crunick.

“It is not a Bellefonte based nonprofit, although the people who started it were from here at one point,” said Tosti-Vasey, who acknowledged she was unable to locate the organization on the IRS website to verify her claims.

“We should not be granting a fee waiver for this fundraising event because this would violate the borough’s nonprofit policies,” she said, under the impression the nonprofit was based in New York.

“I will once again strongly urge the fee be waived,” said Mayor Gene “Buddy” Johnson. “The Crunicks continue to be an integral part of our community, and Dylan was a strong member of our community before losing his battle with cancer. One hundred percent of the proceeds of this tournament go to childhood cancer research, and it is an event that brings in hundreds if not thousands of people from all over to our community to support their effort to honor the memory of their son and raise money for childhood cancer.”

Councilmembers Doug Johnson and Kent Bernier noted that the waiver had been approved in previous years without issue. Bernier, council’s former president, said the waiver had been approved unanimously for the past four years.

“I think this is a great thing, and I can’t imagine what this family went through.” said Council President Barbara Dann. “I support everything they’re doing, but when we refer to the ordinance… I agree with Joanne that they don’t meet that criteria, and we do have a fee schedule and a baseball field to take care of.”

Tournament organizers requested that all borough-related fees be waived; however, according to borough code, only the rental fee can be waived. Users of the field are still required to pay the administrative fee and damage deposit.

“I think I could see questioning this if it was money raised for themselves, but since it’s going to charity, I think we should consider that in our decision,” said Councilwoman Rita Purnell.

At their May 21 meeting, the council denied a similar request from a nonprofit youth baseball team to waive the rental fee for its upcoming fundraising tournament scheduled for July 26 and 27. The motion failed in a close, 5-4 vote, primarily because the team was not based within Bellefonte Borough limits. In that instance, the funds were intended to support team development and provide players with opportunities for competition and community engagement.

Ultimately, Dann and Tosti-Vasey voted against the fee waiver, while Councilmembers Randy Brachbill, Deb Cleeton, Shawna McKean, Johanna Sedgwick, Bernier, Johnson and Purnell voted in favor.