Quincy Park Board to consider more turf ballfields

QUINCY — Traveling youth sports is a big business that Quincy has been mostly left out of for many years, primarily due to a lack of facilities.

But some would like to see Quincy play catch-up and are willing to put their own money behind it.

Darin Dodd of QTown Tournaments spoke during the public comment section of Wednesday night’s Quincy Park District Board of Commissioners meeting and offered to put up $100,000 to install artificial surfaces at two ballfields located at the old Wavering Pool complex.

Dodd said he is willing pay the Park District $10,000 annually for 10 years toward the project. He also said he has had conversations with city officials who would possibility contribute $300,000 in money of the City’s BET on Q fund that is fueled by the Food and Beverage Tax. Holly Cain of the Quincy Convention and Visitors Bureau (QACVB) was also at the meeting and said her organization would add another $10,000.

Park District Executive Director Rome Frericks said he was aware of Dodd’s conversations with the city and added that the Park District would also put $166,000 toward the fields, for a total of $576,000. Frericks said the estimated cost is $566,000.

Dodd said city officials told him he needed “skin in the game” in order to secure the funding, even though QTown Tournaments has already paid the Park District more than $31,000 to lease ballfields for tournaments over the past two years. Cain also pointed out that youth sports events have had an economic impact of nearly $2 million to the city over the last year with participants coming in from out of town to stay in local hotels and eat at local restaurants.

QTown Tournaments has utilized the fields that already have turf for baseball and softball tournaments at the Moorman-Wavering Complex. Frericks said these fields would primarily be for softball as well as baseball for kids 10 and under. Along with the turf, the fences would also be raised as they are currently at 150 feet and can’t go much farther back due to trees on Field #2 and a hill behind left field at Field #1.

Dodd is proposing charging an entry fee for all spectators who want to attend the games at his events. That is a standard practice at youth sports events nationwide.

Commissioner Patti McGlothlin said she wanted to know if the Park District would have a say in what Dodd charged for spectators, saying she has experienced high prices while following her grandchildren around the midwest to watch them play sports.

Commissioner Alan Hickman said he and his family usually pay $25 to go watch their kids play basketball and said he believed it was worth it to “watch ball all day.”

Commissioner John Frankenhoff said the Park District has never dictated what event fees are when private entities lease space from them, citing The Avenue of Lights and Farmer’s Market as two examples.

There was no action taken on the issue and Park Board President Jarid Jones asked Frericks to gather more information to present at the August meeting.

Commissioners approved an agreement to allow the Quincy Area Convention and Visitors’ Bureau to work with a company to install a kiosk at Quincy Bay that would hold paddle boards and kayaks.

Cain said the company, Rent.Fun, would install the system that would allow card swipes to pay for renting the equipment, with QACVB and the company sharing the profits and assuming the liability for the equipment.

Frankenhoff, while driving his point home about micromanaging potential venders, asked Cain if the Park District could set the price of the rentals. She said the fees were locked in the contract with Rent.Fun.

The Park Board voted down a plan to put a gravel parking lot near Westview Park at 30th and Harrison. The lot was to be located near the 12th Hole tee box and to the southeast of the park.

Carol Holtgraber, who lives just to the east of Westview Park, spoke against the plan, saying it would create dust and more traffic behind her house.

The idea was to alleviate the parking congestion along Harrison when people utilize the park as it can cause blind spots when drivers attempt to turn east onto Harrison from South 30th Street.

The plan, which had a cost of $16,975, was defeated 4-2, with Frankenhoff, McGlothlin, Hickman, and Mark Philpot opposing and Jones and Commissioner Barb Holthaus supporting.

The Park Board went into executive session to interview candidates to fill the vacancy left by Jeff VanCamp’s resignation. After about 90 minutes of interviews, the board selected Trent Lyons to fill the seat. Lyons works for Kohl Wholesale.

Jones swore in Lyons Wednesday night, making his appointment effective immediately.