By Forrest Adams

A $600,000 partnership between School District 112 and the city of Chanhassen received council approval Monday night.

The partnership calls for the construction of a baseball/softball complex with a covered grandstand and field lights at new Chanhassen High School.

The lone dissenting vote came from councilor Vicki Ernst, who raised numerous objections that she said were based on correspondence between her and Chanhassen residents.

At the meeting to express their approval of the partnership, a handful of Chanhassen residents told members of the council they fully support the partnership. Among them was ****** Mingo, a 52-year Chanhassen resident and former member of the Chanhassen Redbirds.

“I’ve looked at the layout. I just think we’d be foolish to ever turn that down - $600,000 that we’re worried about. If we go and wait and do it later on and build it ourselves, it’s going to cost us a couple million dollars.”

Former Park Commissioner Jan Lash of Chanhassen was also enthusiastic about the partnership. “I am here to voice my support for this,” she told councilors. “I really feel strongly that anytime we can get an opportunity like this that we can get a huge bang for the buck… I think it’s a win-win situation for the school district, as well as the residents.”

Resident Lyndell Frey, a youth baseball coach, was at the meeting to learn more.

“I love baseball. I’ve played baseball my whole life. I have a son who plays with the 8-year-olds in the Chanhassen Athletic Association. I hope someday he plays on the fields we’re talking about,” he told the council.

The new field will be built to the specifications that it can serve as home field for a town baseball team. Currently there is no town team, but Mingo expressed confidence to city councilors that he’d be able to put together a team within a year.

After the meeting, the former amateur catcher and third baseman was pleased with the vote.

“I think it’s going to be a great facility,” Mingo said. “One thing I didn’t bring up is that we could co-host the state tourney, like they’re doing this year in Shakopee (and Chaska), and bring more people into our hotels.”

The council met in a work session June 23 with School District Superintendent Dave Jennings, at which time they said they approved of the partnership. Previously, they did not support it, saying it didn’t really meet the city’s needs, and besides that there wasn’t support from the parks and recreation commission or the community at large. The deal they didn’t support only involved use of the softball/baseball complex. Jennings expanded the deal to give the city a second position behind school district activities for use of all the outdoor playing fields, which include baseball diamonds, softball diamonds, soccer fields, football stadium and practice fields at the school.

Among Ernst’s concerns was whether there really is a need for more playing fields in the city, how much value the city would receive for its $600,000 investment and the potential use of alcohol by spectators at the fields.

Joint partnership

“Do the city taxpayers already have the right to use these fields without spending $600,000?” Ernst asked City Manager Todd Gerhardt. “Quite frankly, with the state of the economy, in my mind, doing what is right for the city, I look at it as a nice to have, rather than a need.”

Through this partnership the city of Chanhassen would gain priority scheduling on the fields after school district activities are scheduled, and this status would be unchanged for a minimum of 30 years. Without the partnership, Chanhassen residents and athletics would join a pool of other District 112 users from Victoria, Carver and Chaska, he said. Gerhardt answered by saying it’s a very similar agreement to the one that the city of Chaska entered into with School District 112 when they donated parkland to the development of the new high school in Chaska. Proposed baseball field: Chanhassen High School Baseball Field

 The city and school district have agreements at Chanhassen Elementary and City Center Park and Bluff Creek Elementary and Chanhassen Recreation Center. The agreement does not include the school’s indoor facilities. It is only for the outdoor facilities. The school district would be responsible for maintenance at the fields. Additions to the baseball/softball complex, such as a concession stand or pitching machine, would be paid for in the future by one of the entities, both, or outside organizations.

Cost

Todd Hoffman, director of Chanhassen Parks and Recreation, reviewed benefits of the deal.

The $600,000 in city money would come from the city’s park dedication fund, which is running a $3.5 million surplus. Park dedication money is used for park improvements. The money is collected at the time of building permit activity in the community. The funds accumulate specifically for this sort of opportunity, said Hoffman, adding they grow by about $500,000 to $1 million per year. He said spending $600,000 would make good economic sense for the city.

“Currently, for a [new] reasonable-sized athletic complex, we think that would take $7 million to $10 million dollars in acquisition and development costs,” he added. “This seems like a much more reasonable approach.”

In the past, there have been discussions about converting the Lake Susan ball field into a field that could be used by a town team. However, converting the Lake Susan ball field into a comparable field to what is planned at Chanhassen High School would likely cost more than $1 million, officials estimate. In order to update the field at Lake Susan, the city would need to eliminate the tennis courts, Hoffman said.

Scheduling

 Ball field scheduling is tight right now, Hoffman said, adding that the demand for athletic fields has grown significantly since the city last built ball fields at Bandimere Community Park (9405 Great Plains Blvd.) in 1998. He expects that trend to continue, adding urgency to the acquisition of new land for ball fields.

“We need more. This will allow us to put more kids on the fields; more adults on the fields,” Hoffman said.

Beverages

With regard to serving alcohol, Gerhardt said it would need to be approved by the school district on a case-by-case basis. It would be allowed only in conjunction with events involving adult softball and baseball games.