Commission approves concept for Little League batting-cage expansion but staff warns methane testing and remediation could delay work

The El Segundo Recreation and Parks Commission on July 19 approved the concept of a privately funded expansion of the batting cages at George Brett Field but was warned that environmental testing and potential remediation could delay any work.

The commission voted to approve the concept plan after hearing from Ted Hart, president of El Segundo Little League, who said the league would fund the work and requested an expanded footprint and a permanent metal roof. "2026 was a historic year for El Segundo Little League, our highest enrollment in league history," Hart said, noting "we had over 491 registered players," and urging the commission to allow the league to add a third batting tunnel and expand the existing footprint 20 feet to the east.

Why it matters: the proposal would create a long-lived, donor-funded facility for youth sports and could affect scheduling for other park users. Staff told commissioners the project must follow the city's athletic field facility allocation policy and go through the capital improvement project (CIP) process, including government bidding and public-works oversight.

Linnea, a parks staff member who presented the request, told the commission the project sits on public land and "will have to go through the CIP project." She warned that, because of the site's proximity to a landfill boundary, "the methane testing alone is a year worth of testing," and that geotechnical and LEA (local enforcement agency) reviews could be required before construction. "It isn't something that we can just come up with as a design tomorrow and break ground on," Linnea said.

Commissioners pressed staff on scope and risk, asking who would own design documents and whether the city could be exposed to remediation costs if contamination is found. Linnea said engineering and bidding would be managed by public works; construction would follow standard procurement and the league expects to reimburse or fund costs, but staff did not promise any specific financial protections for the city.

One commissioner noted potential noise and neighbor impacts from an expanded, covered facility and asked whether mitigation options would be available. Linnea said staff "will certainly look into it." Commissioners also discussed whether the league's current practical priority for cage scheduling would become a formalized reservation right; staff said field allocation policy currently prioritizes groups with higher resident participation but does not automatically confer new, exclusive rights based solely on private funding.

A procedural note: Commissioner Jamin Griffiths stated he would recuse himself from the vote because he currently serves on the Little League board ("As a current board member with Little League, my term ends at the end of the month, so I'm gonna recuse myself from voting in this."). The motion to approve the concept passed on a voice vote with four yeses and one recusal (tally recorded as 4 yes, 0 no, 0 abstain, 1 recused).

Next steps: staff said, if the commission supports the concept, the department will coordinate with public works to add the project to the CIP, pursue required environmental and geotechnical testing and then proceed through bidding and final design. Commissioners cautioned that remediation needs discovered during testing could substantially change timeline and cost and that achieving construction before the next Little League season is unlikely.

The commission did not approve specific design documents, permits or construction contracts; it approved the concept and asked staff to pursue next-stage reviews and CIP inclusion.