Belpre officials outline short-term field use agreement as parks plan progresses

At a meeting of the Belpre City Council, council members and city staff discussed extensive maintenance needs at four small community baseball fields and agreed to begin drafting a short-term field-use agreement to allow play while the city develops a larger park plan.

City staff said the baseball group's leadership has largely turned over and that the organization sent a 15-item wishlist seeking support for repairs, maintenance, porta-johns, signage and concession operations. Chris Barringer, a streets-department employee who also maintains city parks, toured the fields with a baseball group representative, Mr. Henderson, and reported missing gates, failing netting, rotten wood, broken dugout doors, leaning posts and drainage that leaves standing water near at least one dugout. Backstops on two fields were described as "way, way too heavy and in too much disrepair" and likely will need replacement.

Staff said some bleachers were removed last year after the city's insurance carrier identified them as a liability. The concession building was described as unlikely to pass a modern food-inspection standard without significant work; staff suggested initial vending-machine or prepackaged-food setups rather than full food service. The group reported that past fundraising—largely concession revenue—once produced roughly $10,000 to $15,000 a year, money that historically covered routine field upkeep but not major capital repairs. Staff estimated the capital cost to build a structure similar to the older concession stand could be large (one speaker cited a figure of about $67,000), and said the city does not have funds committed for that work now.

Council members and staff described an informal pattern in recent years of the local baseball organization subletting field use to other teams (one named group was described in the meeting as the "Blender Hat Bears") without a formal city use agreement. Staff recommended a written field-use agreement that would clarify maintenance responsibilities, allowable subletting, supervision and safety expectations. The mayor and other participants said they expect any short-term agreement to be limited in duration and tied to outcomes from the citywide park planning process so that long-term decisions align with the park plan.

Other items discussed included possible volunteer labor (including student volunteer hours coordinated with school officials), coordination with the high school on limited prepackaged concessions and bathroom access, and reconstituting a parks board or committee to help steer improvements. Staff said they could not find older formal agreements in city records and noted a historically recorded long-term lease involving the Civitan organization and a local baseball/softball association; whether that lease still exists or affects current city responsibilities was described as uncertain and would require follow-up.

Direction given in the meeting called for city staff to draft a field-use agreement outlining what the city is willing to provide (for example, limited mowing of infields or removal of immediate safety hazards) and what the baseball organization must do to maintain safe operations. Staff said they would collaborate with the mayor and consult the law director to prepare the draft. Council members also recommended condemning or limiting use of field elements that pose immediate safety risks until repairs occur.

No formal vote or ordinance was recorded on the record provided. Staff will return with a proposed field-use agreement and follow-up information on registrations, volunteer commitments and any applicable leases or recorded documents.