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Field 5, near the Senior Center, will receive repairs so that the senior softball teams can resume playing games there next year.
Yahoola Creek Park is getting a major face lift in the form of $109,000 worth of repairs to five different ballfields.
The request from County staff was approved unanimously by the Lumpkin County Board of Commissioners at their March 19 regular session.
Fields 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10 will all receive repairs, but a large chunk of the expenditure, $70,000, will be spent on rehabilitating Field 5.
That particular field came to the attention of the commissioners when resident Frank Pelligrino commented at the board’s February meeting that his senior softball teams would be relocating their practices and games to White County due to the unsafe playing conditions.
Pelligrino returned to the podium at the conclusion of the last regular meeting, but this time his comment was positive.
“I wanted to thank you guys for approving the money for the field repairs, and we’re excited about coming back to play ball in Lumpkin County next year,” Pelligrino told the board.
Pelligrino’s remark was a marked turnaround from his comment at the February meeting, where he was highly critical of the conditions on Field 5.
“I’ve lived in Lumpkin County for 20 years; I retired up here and I love it. It’s a beautiful community,” Pelligrino began.
He prefaced his remarks by saying that he has been playing senior softball for more than 10 years on two different teams: a 58-and-older team and a 68-and-older team.
“We travel and we play against teams from Lake Keowee, Franklin, Blairsville, Rabun County, Gainesville and Greenville, but we don’t go to Greenville. We play them in Clayton. We use Field 5, which is right next to the Senior Center on Mechanicsville Road. And we practice there pretty much year-round if the weather’s good. We play home games there during our regular season, April to September, and this year we’re slated to play 16 home games.”
Pelligrino said the senior teams are proud of Dahlonega, and want opposing teams to leave with a favorable impression of the town.
“And that brings me to the issue at hand: Field 5. It’s not only aesthetically bad, it’s just plain old dangerous,” Pelligrino told the board.
“The infield’s uneven, patchy grass in the outfield causes treacherous hops. And I know anybody could get a bad hop on a good field, so that happens. But it happens more than not on our field. After a rain, the ant beds in the outfield are awful.”
Pelligrino said last season, one of the players fell into an ant bed in the outfield while diving for a ball and had a severe allergic reaction.
“I know some of you may not want to hear, but we are moving our home games this year to White County because the field is so bad. We hope this gives Lumpkin a season to renovate, or at least fix the playing surface.”
He said the teams would prefer to remain in Lumpkin to benefit local businesses.
“This is the worst field in the circuit. And I’m sorry to have to tell you that,” Pelligrino concluded.
Dockery thanked him for his comment and said the board would follow up on his complaint.
“We certainly owe you an answer,” he told Pelligrino.
TEST RUN
By the following month’s work session, County staff had already prepared a request for board consideration regarding the ballfields.
“Staff recommends improvement to all fields listed due to conditions and safety concerns,” stated the agenda item description, adding that “due to high demand the use of our fields will only increase.”
After reading the item aloud, Dockery asked for discussion from the board.
Commissioner Dr. Bobby Mayfield asked for clarification on the list of improvements.
“What came on our radar last meeting was Field 5 is in pretty bad shape. What it says here is “Strip the outfield on Field 5. Install five loads of sand and grade outfield. Is that going to do away with all the fire ant mounds and holes and everything else?” Mayfield asked.
“Yes sir, that’s correct,” replied Parks & Recreation Manager Tim Towe before Dockery jumped in.
“When I look at this, you’re looking at basically $109,000 to refurbish those fields. I guess, number one, is this a reoccurring expense, or are the fields in the shape they’re in because of the lack of maintenance. I mean, are we going to be looking at $109,000 five years from now?” Dockery asked.
“Chairman, I think you hit the nail on the head. I think we’ve got to do a better job of maintaining our fields from a staff standpoint once we get the fields where we want them to be,” Towe responded.
“I would say if we got these upgrades, you’re looking at further down the road, maybe 18 years, for a major upgrade like this in the future,” he added.
Mayfield said that following Pelligrino’s initial appeal he personally went out to Field 5 to take a look for himself.
“There’s holes all over the place, it’s uneven. I used to be a ballplayer, and when you’re chasing a ball you’re looking at the ball. You’re not looking at the ground. So I did my little simulation. I went hauling through there and didn’t make it 10 yards before I tripped and probably embarrassed myself … I think it’s a safety hazard the way it is,” he said.
Dockery reiterated his desire for a specific plan to address long term care of the fields.
“I think what’s realistic is for you to come up with a maintenance schedule for how you’re going to maintain the field once the taxpayers invest $109,000,” he said.
Towe said he would submit a plan to the County.
Dockery also took note of the projected budget impact, which listed the project as an ‘unbudgeted expense.’
“So how do we pay for it?” he inquired of staff.
“Commissioners, ya’ll had set aside some funds for improvements to fields 4 and 6 previously: $291,000. We have since received a grant for turfing those fields, so that frees up the $291,000 that you previously set aside that you could choose to use to improve the fields that are on the staff analysis,” replied Finance Director Abby Branan.
DECISION TIME
At the board’s March regular session, the recommendation came up for a vote from the commissioners.
“Do I have a desire of the board?” asked Dockery.
Mayfield motioned to approve funding for all the work listed, and Commissioner Tucker Green seconded.
The board then voted unanimously in favor of the proposal.
Afterwards, County Manager Alan Ours clarified that a $2,815,318 Department of Housing and Development Grant that The Nugget reported on last year will still be used to combine two Yahoola Creek baseball fields into a multipurpose artificial turf field and covert a second soccer field into a multipurpose artificial field.
“The turf grant is for the large multi-purpose field and fields 4 & 6. Cost estimates and final design for the turf grant are still being finalized. What the board voted on earlier this week is totally separate from the turf grant,” Ours said.