Rotary Park fields may become restricted

Staff writer

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After years of repairing damaged fields at Rotary Park, Roosevelt County Little League (RCLL) is looking into restricting field use to preserve the work done during each season.

RCLL President Stephen Swift brought his concerns about the fields the city council’s attention during the March 17 council meeting and asked for a solution to prevent the fields from being damaged during the off season.

Swift said the league is working with city officials to find a remedy that would restrict the use of the fields to only those using the facilities for baseball and other city league sports like pee-wee football and soccer.

“We’re not looking to close the fields to everyone, just restrict the use to the field’s intended purpose,” Swift said.

According to Swift, park users frequently use the fields for softball practices, dog walking, and riding bicycles during the off season. He said use during the off season causes damage to the infields that the league has to repair before each little league baseball season.

Swift said RCLL has invested more than $10,000 dollars in donations and registration fees into Rotary Park fields one and two over the past three years for repairs and upgrades in addition to the work the city puts into the fields during the spring and summer.

“Our ultimate goal is to preserve the work and investments that have been put into the fields,” Swift said.

Swift said the league has paid to replace sod in the outfields and pour concrete in the dugouts in 2014 and 2015. He said thousands of volunteer hours have been logged fixing the damaged fields over the past three years.

The league was approved for its exclusive use agreement with the city during the March 17 council meeting. The agreement, which is renewed annually, closes the fields April 1 through July 31 for the Little League season.

Roosevelt County Little League parent and a neighbor to Rotary Park, Marissa Hyde, said she understands the league’s desire to restrict use of the fields year round, but isn’t sure how Rotary Park users would feel if the policy went into effect.

“I understand why they would want to (restrict use of the fields), but at the same time it’s a place for kids to play that gets used year round,” Hyde said.

Swift said he has been talking with members of the city’s Recreation Advisory Board and City Manager Sam Standefer to find a solution that will address everyone’s concerns.

Standefer said the city is exploring options on how to regulate the use of the fields. He said any plan city officials come up with will go into effect for all of the city’s parks and fields.

Swift and Standefer said a key system could be a viable solution to restrict use of the fields and keep them open to the public. Citizens would check out a key from the city to use a field after agreeing to use the park for its intended use.

“The biggest thing is we need a responsible party,” Standefer said of the city’s potential plans to regulate use of ball fields.

Standefer said the plan will also address public use of resources at the city’s parks like electricity and water.

“We are looking into how regulate and help people use resources at the parks,” Standefer said.

Hyde said any plan the city uses should include parks that are unlocked for unrestricted use year round.

“It’s a hard problem to solve,” Hyde said. “It’s going to be kind of a bummer for people that like to use the fields.”

Standefer said he and city officials will monitor the use of the city’s parks and fields to help formulate a solution.

“The plan would be to watch them (the fields) over the course of the summer to figure out what’s best for the community,” Standefer said.