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GoogleThe council will vote this week on spending an estimated $64,500 to replace field lighting poles.
A number of concerned parents of players attended the study session to express their support. Schools, adult teams and other leagues use the fields for both practice and tournaments.
City manager Ed Craig said the wooden poles at Jerry Naron Field, installed in 1976, are rotten and were declared dangerous by representatives of Shelbyville Power.
The cost for the utility to take down the poles would be an estimated $9,100. The fixtures would be removed and salvaged and the pole would be cut off 8 feet above ground level to keep all the electrical wiring in place for future improvements.
"This is something we need to do," Craig said, stating that Jerry Naron Field would remain unlit.
But Eugene Ray Field has the same problem with four of the wooden poles, while the four existing metal poles are fine. However, all of the poles will require new lighting fixtures.
Assistant Director of Park & Athletic Leagues Bryan Dial had a lighting study done on the large field and Craig said the amount of illumination is important because people have filed lawsuits against cities when injuries were sustained where fields were not adequately lit.
The council looked at four different replacement options before favoring the third estimate at $64,500.
That option would have Shelbyville Power removing four damaged 85-foot infield wooden poles from Eugene Ray Field, as well as the lighting fixtures, and would transfer all the overhead primary, secondary conductors, transformers and hardware to four new 70-foot metal poles.
The city utility would then install 54 1,500-watt fixtures on all eight poles and upgrade overhead transformers to handle the additional lighting load by adding two new 25 KVA transformers while using the existing 50 KVA transformers removed from Jerry Naron Field.
Another similar option would have cost an estimated $100,400 for the instillation of underground conductors.
A fourth option would have employed the company Musco to install the metal poles and underground secondary conductors, but while the company warranties its work for 25 years, the estimated cost was in the $150,000 range.
Councilman Al Stephenson pointed out that with the bad economy now, wooden poles would be much cheaper, but Dial said that wooden poles could not be sanctioned since the law changed in 1996. The current poles at the fields were grandfathered in, Dial explained.
Craig added the difference between wooden and metal poles is about $800.
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Maybe they wouldn't need the lights as much if the leagues didn't play so many games. 10 year olds should not be playing 30 games. With pre-season, regular season and post-season, my child played 32 games. One of my son's games didn't get started until 8:30pm on a school night. More Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon games would help also.
Come on people there are more kids playing soccer in bedford county than any other sport. Be happy with what you have,four fields, lighting,practice fields,etc. Soccer has nothing come on mr dial and the council wake up!!!!!!!!.
There was not a Post-Season tournament last year.
The lights are for the Babe Ruth Fields, where 13 and up play. Harris Middle, Legion, and High Schools play games on these fields. I believe the issue is with safety. These age groups throw and hit pretty hard. Watch a high school kid get hit with a 85mph fastball or a 14 year old by a wild pitch, safety precautions are important.
The only reason there was no post season was due to all the rain outs that started to run into travel ball. They can still reduce the games. It's almost like the adults want all the games to be played more than the kids do.
soccer kid - "Be happy with what you have" ???
Did you actually read the article?
"City manager Ed Craig said the wooden poles at Jerry Naron Field, installed in 1976, are rotten and were declared dangerous by representatives of Shelbyville Power."
"the amount of illumination is important because people have filed lawsuits against cities when injuries were sustained where fields were not adequately lit."
We're not talking about throwing money away; we're talking about having a safe and legal environment and saving the city from a law suit exposure. Soccer has no relevance to this particular problem.
And soccerkid is correct. There are more kids playing soccer and the fields they are forced to practice on are dangerous. Just step in a gopherhole in the river bottom. I've done it may times while the kids were trying to practice.
Right now, there is no money for things like this. If the lights cost too much, then they will have to cut the seasons and play during the day. The highschools all have lighted fields, so they don't need to play at the park. HMS can play at SCHS.
And if the coaches want new lighting on the fields at the park, then those business men can put up their own money and donate the lights. They can try to raise the money to support the league. That's what we did when I played Little League in Shelbyville.
But..... The City of Shelbyville let the park slide. They added a skateboard park that is just ripe for a lawsuit as soon as some kid gets REALLY hurt. I wonder what that skateboard park cost anyway. It was only built because one park board member had a son that wanted it. Just go and see the punks that hang out there and the language they use. I refuse to let my son around them and the park isn't even supervising those kids.
Easton... there would be no grounds for a lawsuit if they take the poles down and only play during the day.
Has any one looked at the soccer fields lately? The Baseball association has just about all they could ever want or need, and the soccer association has very little. It would be so nice to see the soccer association get a complex sometime in the new future.
What is wrong with sun lighted games ??
$65 thousand in expenses would be avoided. Plus of course the COST of the power to run the lights.
Any potential legal action for 'poor' lighting would become non existent !
I agree with you sameoldstory... they took away one of our better soccer fields to put that liability skate board park there. They want to fix the lighting for base ball and dont even put grass seed on the existing soccer sand lots to be prepared for the upcoming year. What if the soccer association wants lights so that they could play soccer games at night......but MR. Dial is alllll about baseball and no other sport seems to exist to him.
I have been a "baseball mom" for several years. I know that the baseball league at the park has a substantial amount of money in their fund. Why not use that money to off set this cost. There are hundreds of people who come to the games and have to pay for admission, not to mention the sky high prices at the concession stand- where is all of that money going to??? I would think that by the time this money is added to the registration fee and sponsor fee- there should be more than enough money for lights!!
There are those who want more games and those that complain about the amount of games. Most people work and most children can not drive, so I think it would be a little hard to have all games during the daylight hours. Most players and coaches enjoy the fact that they get to play more games. If you have ten teams in an age group, and only play each team once, you will have nine games. That is hardly allowing for children to develop the basic skills. I would say that the amount of games were sufficient since Bedford County Baseball teams took first and second place in every age group in the TYBA State Tournament. The baseball league only charges $1.00 for admission, and most people walk by and never pay. The league paid for the paint for all the fields at HV last year as well as the fence around the bleachers, also background checks were required of all coaches and assistant coaches, safety is always a major concern. The league also buys seed, turf, and conditioner for the fields. Sanction fees, insurance, equipment such as balls $28.00 a dozen, uniforms, umpires, scorekeepers, etc. must also be paid for by league funds. It seems to me that there are coaches and many others that work very hard so these children can have a nice and safe environment in which to play baseball. I also think it would be pretty for Harris to have games on the High School fields since the High School practices and play games on the High School fields. In other words, when it comes down to it, the children 4 or 14 need to be safe. I agree there is a need for soccer fields, there has always been, I do not think this is about soccer vs baseball. Baseball will begin soon and players need to be safe.
Some of you think Harris should play at Central. I checked the High School schedule and in a 7 week span the Eagles play a total of 32 games. Between the Varsity, Jr. Varsity and the Freshman team it averages out to 18 free days at Central field. Take out Sundays and it leaves 11. Harris cannot play there. I agree with Easton this is not a battle of baseball vs. soccer.
I would guess that many of the soccer players come from illegal aliens. Maybe if they paid there taxes like the rest of us you would have plenty for fields.
I'm not saying there is no need for soccer fields. If someone wanted to raise or push for money to complete this project i would give it my full support. I just have a problem with people who want to take from someone else to fill their own needs. Don't use a problem with baseball to fulfill your own agenda. Don't steal from baseball to fix your own problem. Fight your fight with out taking from the needs of other projects.
I never said it was about soccer vs baseball. All i ever said was its about time somebody,mr dial, city council,etc needs to start thinking about the 1000 kids in bedford county that play soccer.
It was supposed to say pretty hard for them to play on HS fields, the HS team will be on the fields unless there is an away game.
No money for extra lighting. If its needed, then Bedford County Baseball can provide. And maybe the "aged out wannan bees" that play in the adult league can foot the bill for their use of the fields as well. The schools need to pay a higher fee to use the fields.
As for not playing during the day, that's what we did in minor league baseball.
Actually,as far as Bedford County Baseball is concerned the older age groups, 13&up, usually have 4 to 5 teams so the older age groups that actually use the Babe Ruth Fields could easily play their games during the day, but of course that would not help them get used to playing under the lights, which they would be required to do once they reach High School. Im still sure that children age 13-15 can not drive and they would have to wait till their parents were home from work to drive them to games, which may be in the afternoon, which is close to dusk, which is close to dark, which requires lights to see. The games will be on the same fields as always, with lights, because ages 4-12 play on the small fields and adult softball fields, not the Babe Ruth fields, which are the fields that need lighting improvement.
Tournaments are also played on these fields.This generates money for the county. Teams come in from out of town and stay in hotels and spend money in the places around town.
At least you have a place to have tournaments to raise money. Soccer is not even allowed to use the rec center,for which us tax payers are paying for.Come on people help the 1000 kids in bedford county that play soccer.
To sameoldstory:
You said "The schools need to pay a higher fee to use the fields."
Since our tax money supports our schools, how does it make sense to charge them to play? You don't want to use tax money to fix lights but you want to use tax money for the schools to play. If you play during the day you will still have to pay someone to take down the existing lights and poles for safety reasons. That's only a true savings of $55,400.
One last thing. Since Harris School uses this field for home games they have the opportunity to host the conference tournament. They will benefit from the gate and concession money to help run their program; which will save tax money in the long run. This small upgrade now will actually save us many tax dollars in the long run.
A one time cost of taking down the lights as opposed to a re-occurding cost of lighted fields is not bad. As for the schools, HMS sits right beside SCHS and they can arrange the schedule to use that field. Cascade and Unionville have fields, so there is no need for those schools to use the park.
While we are at it.... we do pay for those fields, so why not start playing some rec league games at Liberty, Cascade, Unionville and SCHS?
Bottom line is.... Bedford County Baseball has gotten a free ride for a LONG time. Low playing fees and control of the fields. If they still want to play, then they can come up with the funds to light the fields and play for the lighting when they schedule night games. They still can reduce the number of games to fit into the schedule.
There is no way Harris could get their games in on the the High School Fields. Liberty, Community, Cascade, all have Middle School and High School teams. These teams practice or play games pretty much every night of the week. Bedford County Baseball games will not be affected by the light issue.
Here is an idea....why doesn't the city get rid of some of the pathetic excuses they call "cops" and use their salary to fund the lights, something that will ACTUALLY BENEFIT the community. I can think of 2 useless pieces of crap they could fire.