St. Mary’s volunteer leagues press county to use player fees and state grant for field repairs; board forms ad hoc committee

LEXINGTON PARK, Md. — Youth baseball and softball leaders urged the St. Mary’s County Board of Recreation and Parks at its December meeting to invest more of the money collected from players and a newly allocated state grant into improving and maintaining local ballfields, saying volunteers now shoulder much of the work that county crews should do.

League representatives told the board they collectively spend tens of thousands of volunteer hours each year preparing and repairing fields and asked that Parks & Recreation use existing per-player fees and the state grant to fund full-time field maintenance. The board voted to appoint a 2–3 member ad hoc committee from the advisory board to meet with league representatives and department staff to provide input for the county’s five-year Land Preservation, Parks and Recreation (LPPRP) plan.

The case for more maintenance

“58,000 hours a year … 8,000 hours a year our volunteers collectively spend devoting to preparing the fields for practices and games,” RJ Bean, president of St. Mary’s Little League, told the board. Bean and other speakers said much of that time—an estimated 8,000 hours—goes to readying fields for play: raking, resetting bases, removing anchors, and dragging infields.

Ryan Raven, a travel-baseball representative, told the board that a $5 player fee instituted in fiscal 2019 generated roughly $60,000 in the example he cited and asked that money be spent on field improvements. “We’re here tonight to ask for that money to be spent on our athletic fields,” Raven said.

Volunteers described safety problems they said stem from vehicle access, dogs on fields and missing field hardware. “The only county in the State of Maryland that will allow this,” Bean said of volunteers using full-size trucks on fields to drag and maintain them, saying other counties require parks staff perform that work.

State grant and planned upgrades

Arthur Shepherd, director of Recreation and Parks, told the board the department applied for and received state Program Open Space funding that resulted in $539,000 being allocated for ballfield renovations. Shepherd said the approved plan covers work at 19 fields across eight county locations and includes infield grading, pitcher’s mounds, base resets, infield mix, irrigation, dugout cleanup and accessibility (ADA) improvements. Shepherd noted the plan includes an ADA/accessibility line item of about $69,000.

Shepherd also warned the board that the state grant has spending timelines and said some elements of the approved list have limited flexibility because the funding has been approved by Maryland’s Board of Public Works.

Board action and next steps

After extended discussion, the board approved a motion to create a 2–3 member ad hoc committee of advisory-board members to meet with designated league representatives and Parks & Recreation staff to refine priorities for the LPPRP five-year plan and to advise on how field-upgrade funds and ongoing maintenance could be handled. The motion passed on a voice vote.

Board members and league leaders said the committee should explore how per-player fees, department staffing and other funding sources can be used to maintain upgraded fields long-term. League representatives emphasized that capital upgrades without a funded maintenance plan would likely deteriorate and return volunteers to the same cycle of repairs.

Votes at a glance

- Approval of minutes, meeting of November 2021 — approved (motion and second recorded; voice vote: aye). - Motion to form a 2–3 member advisory committee of board members to meet with league representatives and Recreation & Parks staff to provide input for the five-year LPPRP on ballfield priorities — approved (motion made, seconded; voice vote: aye). - Election of officers for 2022: Fred Parker elected chair, Chandra elected co-chair — approved by voice votes.

Why it matters

League leaders said hundreds to thousands of county youth play baseball and softball and said improved fields affect safety, player development and volunteers’ ability to support programs. The state grant funds provide a one-time capital investment; league leaders and several board members said those upgrades should be paired with a sustainable operations plan so the county does not repeatedly reconstruct degraded fields.

What’s next

The board directed Recreation and Parks Director Arthur Shepherd to report back with an analysis of options, timelines and estimated costs for staffing and maintenance needs. The ad hoc committee will arrange meetings with league representatives and staff and update the full board on its findings; board members suggested a likely timeline that could include presentations as early as February depending on holiday scheduling and budget timing.

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