Sports
Council Looks to Tanners Lake Baseball Field for Potential Lighting
Council members said they want to keep considering the Skyview Community School site, however the project could be cost prohibitive in the near-term.
After much talk of adding lighted ball fields at , the City of Oakdale is turning focus to lighting the baseball field at .
The Oakdale City Council asked staff to research both options, at a workshop meeting Tuesday, however the funds available for the project, slated for 2012, fall below the estimate of $480,000 to light the property on the east side of Skyview.
“The question would be do we go to Tanners and get it done, or do we figure out a lease-to-buy program over here,” at Skyview, said Mayor Carmen Sarrack.
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Lighting the Tanners Lake field would cost $170,000 to $180,000 and adding a grass infield would cost $20,000, said Parks and Recreation Director Bruce Anderson.
Oakdale Athletic Association leaders are calling for more fields and lighting because their numbers of participants are increasing and fall sports, especially, have trouble practicing because it gets dark soon after they get access to the fields at 6 p.m., said parent Cory Lynch.
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Lynch said he thinks lighting the Tanners Lake baseball field would provide enough extra practice space for the OAA to get by for a few years because the outfield could be used for two soccer fields.
“I would be coming back to whine a few years down the road,” Lynch said, “but maybe I would have time to eventually raise money.”
City Council Member Lori Pulkrabek said she likes that the city owns the Tanners Lake property, as opposed to the Skyview property, which lies in Lake Elmo and is owned by District 622.
“It’s nice to have the control when you’re putting so much money in it,” she said.
Both council members Kent Dotas and Stan Karwoski said they don’t want the city to miss out on the opportunity offered by the larger space at Skyview, which Dotas said is underutilized.
“If this could be really explored, just explored … and just see what we can come up with creative financing,” Karwoski said. “And if it doesn’t work, then we’ve looked at it as much as we can and we’ve got to cut bait.”