By TARA HETTINGER
Tara.Hettinger@newsandtribune.com
August 27, 2008 10:36 am
—
The New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated School Corp. board is researching choices for the future New Albany High School freshman baseball field.
The board met for nearly two hours Tuesday afternoon in a special session to discuss that topic, along with new school board goals and the take-home vehicle policy.
Some of the possible sites explored during the meeting include areas at Billy Herman Park, Mount Tabor Elementary School and Prosser School of Technology.
Though the first option is the cheapest — and would be the quickest one to complete — many school board members expressed concerns over it being flooded for parts of the season.
The Mount Tabor option is cheaper than Prosser, as it would replace two Little League fields into one baseball field.
However, that would leave the Little League teams without a place to play.
“Right or wrong, it’s been there a very long time,” NA-FC Schools Superintendent Dennis Brooks said of allowing the Little League teams to play on the fields. He added he believes it has been allowed since the 1970s.
Brooks said changing that would cause the corporation to deal with those relationships.
“Isn’t our concern for New Albany High School baseball?” asked Lee Ann Wiseheart, school board member, though no one answered.
Rebecca Gardenour, vice president of the board, said she believes it would be wrong to ask the groups who have been there so long to go elsewhere. But she said she does want to see insurance agreements, to make sure the corporation is not liable in case any injuries are incurred during Little League practices and games.
Wiseheart agreed she doesn’t want to have to “boot” anyone, and said she wants to start a community conversation on how everyone can work together to achieve the goal of building a new field — including fundraising options.
Gardenour said large amounts of money are paid for other sports within the corporation, for things such as new fields, so why not spend the same amount on baseball.
The board also talked about using the existing main baseball field at Mount Tabor Elementary — which is different than the two Little League fields — although that projected cost is not listed in the report on potential field options presented to the board in May.
Don Unruh, athletic director at NAHS, said revamping the existing field for future use is necessary since the conditions are deteriorating. He also said there isn’t room for additions, such as batting cages, at that site.
The baseball field at Mount Tabor is being used now by the freshman and varsity teams. Brooks said sharing the field causes practices to run late, sometimes past 9:30 p.m. However, he said the arrangement can be continued for a couple years if necessary.
Brooks proposed using one of the sites at Prosser and building the field in stages. That way, it could be set up for varsity baseball and the freshmen could have the existing field at Mount Tabor.
“It’s time we do something,” board member Don Sakel said. “I think we need a plan and do it.”
Brooks said he and Bill Wiseheart, director of facilities, will gather more details and present them to the board at a future meeting, likely sometime in October.
ALSO AT THE MEETING
• The board discussed the corporation’s take-home vehicle policy. Members asked that more data be presented to them before they vote on it, such as the amount paid in gas and mileage saved by allowing people to take the corporation’s vehicles home. Brooks said he believes the next draft of this policy will be before the board Sept. 8.
• The board also discussed the wording of its proposed new school board goals. Those goals were developed during the board’s retreat this summer.
• This meeting was a discussion-only session and no final action was taken.
BY THE NUMBERS
These are the NAHS freshman baseball field options the NA-FC board heard Tuesday:
BILLY HERMAN FIELD
• Initial cost: $15,000
• Annual Cost: $976
• Advantages: Lowest initial cost and operating costs, short construction time and funding in place
• Disadvantages: Field is in a floodplain
MOUNT TABOR ELEMENTARY
(combining the two Little League fields into one baseball field)
• Initial cost: $130,000 (no lights)
• Annual Cost: $2,500
• Advantages: Low initial cost because of existing baseball fields, water and electric available on field, existing concession and restroom facilities and parking available
• Disadvantages: Used by Little League for decades
PROSSER SCHOOL OF TECHNOLOGY
Option 1 (adjacent to existing soccer field):
• Initial cost: $140,000 (no lights)
• Annual Cost: $2,500
• Advantages: Use of existing concession and restroom facilities, along with parking
• Disadvantages: Field slopes slightly, the pond will require additional funds to fill in, distance from concession/restroom building and fencing between soccer and baseball fields needed to prevent traffic on soccer field
Option 2 (Sunset Drive):
• Initial cost: $155,000 (no lights)
• Annual Cost: $2,500
• Advantages: Will make use of property in floodway, less disruptive to other activities
• Disadvantages: Field slopes slightly, requiring some additional funds to level and no concessions or restroom facility, which will require portable concessions and toilets
• Other parks researched but not available include: Bicknell Park, Binford Park, Cannon Acres Park, Joe Kraft Park and Sam Peden Community Park.
— Information courtesy of a report prepared for the school board by Bill Wiseheart, director of facilities,
in May.
IF YOU GO
• The next regular school board meeting is set for Sept. 8.
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