Trustees fear lease with come with consequences

With negotiations for signing a lease transferring management of the Olney baseball-softball complex from the city of Olney to the Olney Independent School District, OISD Trustees fear it may have unforeseen consequences.

During the OISD Board of Trustees monthly meeting last Monday, trustees expressed their concerns that voters may reject the $5.5 million bond for high school renovations in reciprocity for signing the lease, which would result in locking down the baseball field and prevent public access to the field.

“These are the same people we are fixing to ask for all this money for renovations,” Trustee Len Bernhardt said. “We going to say, well, you've had this public field that you've had tournaments and fundraisers for years and years and now we're going to fix up and lock the gate. Look at it, but don't touch.”

The district's bid for taking control of the lease has paralleled its intentions to place the $4.5 million bond on the May ballot. As the city solidified plans for the high school, which include plans to maximize space within the campus, add classrooms and improve sight lines for security. School officials had bandied the idea of using funds from the bond to make improvements to the ball fields but quelled those talks in recent months fearing potential high school construct cost overruns may negate any leftover funds.

Greg Roach, OISD superintendent, brought up the idea of ballpark improvements in December when talks of signing a lease with the city began.

“We need a lot of work done on the restrooms. We need a new concession stand,” Roach said. “The softball field needs a press box. There is work to be done on the fences. The baseball field needs a new backstop. There are also some bigger things we can work on ... We’re going to have to have a scoreboard sooner than later, on both fields.”

As part of the improvements, the school district would lock down the baseball and softball field in order prolong the life of any future improvements.

“After we put all the money into it, we need to control the bathrooms, the facilities and the fields, I agree with that,” Board Vice President Chance Fite said.

Although initially opposed to leasing the field because it would restrict public access to a field originally constructed to serve the public Olney City Councilman Andrew McPhie seems to have softened his tone and said negotiations with the school district have made progress.

“As long as the public has access to the majority of it, it seems pretty good,” McPhie said.

The city council will meet Monday, but it is not known whether the city will discuss the baseball-softball complex lease.