Vale group sets its sight on field complex
Tentative plan calls for a $900,000 project
By Katie Pizza
Argus Observer
Wednesday, April 15, 2009 10:16 AM PDT
Vale — Vale residents might be batting up to a new sports complex — at least if a town subcommittee is able to implement its “dream” detailed at a Vale City Council meeting Tuesday night.
Harry Chamberlain, a member of a parks and recreation sub-committee designed to work on a plan to create a $927,215 sports complex near Lagoon Drive in Vale, said playing fields are needed in the area.
“This time of year, we’re just trying to find a place for our kids to play,” he said.
He said Vale currently has one softball field at the high school, with high school students taking priority on use, and a local baseball field, which he said has seen better days.
“We talked about wants and needs, and we came up with a dream,” he said.
This dream, he said, includes four fields, with bricked dugouts and a central concession stand in the middle of the complex — which Chamberlain said could function as both baseball and softball fields since there would not be a raised pitcher’s mound.
“It’s very much, I don’t want to say copied, but it’s very much like the Caldwell field that was built a few years ago,” he said.
He said the “top-of-the-line” complex will include bathrooms, scoreboards and chain-link fencing around all the fields.
Chamberlain said the dream has evolved over several years.
“We had to decided where we wanted to put it,” he said.
The subcommittee presented the council with a map detailing a 10-acre city-owned parcel near Lagoon Drive.
“At first the whole committee said ‘By the lagoon?’ But I think it’s a nice location. You don’t even notice the lagoon,” he said.
He said he would need the city’s support for the committee to submit a letter to the Major League Baseball’s Baseball Tomorrow Fund which funds the creation of fields in an effort to promote baseball and softball.
Chamberlain said the group has estimated around $392,235 will be donated labor and equipment— with $524,980 left to be funded.
According to the Baseball Tomorrow Fund, it awards an average of 40 grants per year totaling more than $1.5 million annually — with the average grant amount approximately $50,000.
Chamberlain said he did not believe the Baseball Tomorrow Fund would have a problem with the $927,215 total — since the fund has also created fields in New York, Philadelphia and Boston.
However, the subcommittee also presented a smaller-scale complex in an effort to make their dream a reality. The second idea, which the sub-committee dubbed a “bare bones” complex, does not have paved parking areas, bathrooms. The bare-bones concept has only chain-link fencing around the dugout areas and does not have a building in the middle of the fields.
“We’d have to bring in portable bathrooms,” he said.
The simplified project is estimated to cost around $417,115 — with $249,465 of that in donated labor and equipment.
Another donation mentioned by the committee is the currently city-owned 10 acre parcel. Both complex plans include the city donating the land for the fields — at a cost of $140,000.
Vale City Manager Brent Barton said the Vale Public Works Committee has not seen the entire plan.
Vale Council member Brad Williams said he believed the committee should submit the plan to the Vale Public Works Committee Monday. Williams said he did not think it would be a good idea to build such an expensive structure and “have it smell terrible.”
Vale City Attorney Larry Sullivan also said he believed Malheur County Economic Development Director Jim Jensen should weigh in on the plan, since the current acreage is designated as commercial.
Barton said the complex will be brought up again at the council’s next meeting.
—Topic: The council discussed installing two manholes at C and D Streets at the Barlow Addition as well as extending 160 feet of water line down C Street.
—Action: The council approved the $6,820 project.
—Background: Currently, the only manhole is at the corner of the street, which impedes access to the line. Barton said the new manholes would need to be added before any potential street resurfacing.
—Topic: Idaho Asphalt offered a price for oil used in chip-sealing.
—Action: The council locked in that price of $535 per ton, with that amount not to exceed 20 tons.
—Background: The council needs to lock in that price before approving a Public Works proposal to resurface Viking Drive and Yakima Street from A Street to C Street. This plan would include a scrub coat and resurface, with the second part of the plan to chip-seal over the top.
The oil cost is for that chip-seal.
—Topic: The council planned to hear from Randy Seals, a candidate for the currently-vacant council position, after he did not arrive to the last council meeting until after it had adjourned.
—Action: The council approved Seals for the slot, a term which will end December 2010.
—Background: The council seat was vacated by former Vale Councilman Michael Bannon in September. Bannon said he could no longer serve on the council because of health issues.
Two other candidates were in the running for the position — Rusty Stretch and John Girvin.
