FARMINGTON -- The same company that installed infields for Baum Stadium and Bogle Park at the University of Arkansas will come in and replace infields at the Farmington Sports Complex.
"Since day one, the number one complaint has been the dirt," Jenna Swain, parks and recreation director, told the Farmington City Council last week. "It's pretty much rock and pea gravel. We can't get rid of it. It's a continuous problem and takes us six hours a day to prep the fields."
Swain said the ballpark, which just finished its third summer ball season, has lost teams that did not want to return to play in Farmington because of the condition of the fields.
Swain and Mayor Ernie Penn explained the need to replace the fields to aldermen at their Sept. 8 meeting. They discussed problems with the dirt and also the danger to ballplayers in playing on rocky infields.
"When we built the complex, we got inferior materials," Penn said, admitting the city was in a hurry to finish the ball fields in time for the 2012 ball season. "Basically, we didn't do a good job. And it's caused a problem."
Council members voted to waive state requirements to bid the project and approved a proposal from Southern Athletics Inc., of Columbia, Tenn., to replace the fields for a total cost of $122,895, including labor and materials.
Workers will remove two inches of the current dirt and replace it with three inches of softball or baseball mix and a field conditioner. In all, 840 tons of infield mix will be brought into the park. Another 12 tons of field conditioner will be added to all fields. The cost of the materials is $85,320.
The cost to install the new dirt will be $37,575. River City Athletic Fields of Soddy Daisy, Tenn., will install the new material.
"It's a lot of money and I'm not making light of it," Penn told council members. "But we need to invest in that park."
When the work is finished, he said the ballpark would be "state of the art," adding, "It's a big investment and once installed, we will have a great facility with minimum maintenance."
Swain said other cities have used the same company for their ballparks, including Conway, Benton, Bryant and Burns Park in North Little Rock.
Penn said the city proposes to pay for the project initially using $106,000 from selling land at Creekside Park to Kum & Go and the balance from reserves.
The city will turn around and replace the Creekside Park money with revenues collected from a special 1-cent sales tax to construct the sports complex and pay off a $1.75-million bond issue. The city will make its last bond payment in December and the Council approved an ordinance to abolish the special 1-cent tax at the end of the year.
Penn explained that sales tax revenue is distributed by the state two months in arrears, which means taxes collected from the ballpark sales tax in November and December will be distributed in January and February 2015. The bond issue ordinance allows the city to use this extra money as long as it goes to the ballpark. Penn estimated the city would receive $80,000-$100,000 and this money will be used to replace the Creekside Park money. The city's Parks and Recreation Committee is looking at several ideas to improve the city park.
Penn said the city plans to close the sports complex for about three months, from November to mid-February, to replace the infields and work on several maintenance projects.
In other action, the City Council voted 6-2 to rezone .353 acres at 403 S. Hunter St., from Residential-1 to Residential-Office as requested by Keith Marrs with Eagle Holdings. Council members Keith Lipford and Sherry Matthews voted against the rezoning request. The person interested in purchasing the house wants to use it for a pest control business.
Lipford said his concerns were the same ones he expressed last month. He said he was not opposed to the particular company but did not want to approve allowing a business in a residential area.
"I think we're setting a precedent for other ROs to go in residential zones," Lipford said, adding, "I think it's a slippery slope."
The council also approved an ordinance to provide design standards for multi-family developments. This was passed with an emergency clause so the standards will go into effect immediately.
General News on 09/17/2014