It was the summer of 2008 when the City Council designated 150 acres in northern Tracy near the old Holly Sugar plant as the spot it would use to build fields for young baseball, softball, soccer and football players in town.
The deal then was that the city would spend nearly $11 million it had set aside for the fields to lay water and sewer pipes and build storm drains, parking lots and roads, while seven youth leagues in town would build the fields and maintain them.
That’s still the deal — it’s just taking longer than those involved would like to get signatures on the dotted line. Officials from seven leagues and city administrators have been talking for more than a year now without an agreement.
City officials would like the leagues to get together and form a single umbrella group to negotiate. Chris Hewitt, president of Tracy Little League and a key figure in talks with the city, says the leagues want that, too.
It’s just much more complicated than people thought it might be, Hewitt and others said.
All the leagues have boards whose volunteer members are fairly transient, staying on for a year or two and leaving when their kids move up to the next level of competition.
The city and leagues want to avoid a scenario in which the high turnover of new board members hampers any long-term commitments made between the city and sports leagues.
Hewitt is an example himself. He’s been in Little League eight years, a board member for six and president for three — but this is his last year on the board.
He’s agreed to act as an adviser to the Little League board once he leaves to help drive construction of new fields, a relationship he said that has now been written into the league’s bylaws.
“That’s the type of commitment that other leagues have to make,” Hewitt said.
Churchill says that at this point, it looks as though the city will have separate agreements with all seven leagues, though when is still unclear.
The city wants to take bids on the design of the fields by April, have leagues begin to build fields next year and have teams playing ball two years from now.
Hewitt says leagues like his have already built fields in some cases and maintain them all, so they’ve proven they can do that.
But the city and the leagues are still haggling over the details of who will be responsible for what, such as water and utilities, as well as other costs.
Tracy Little League has a budget of about $140,000 a year, money it uses to rent and maintain six baseball diamonds. It will have to raise money to build new fields in northern Tracy, and Hewitt imagines it’s likely the Little League would build six fields over a period of a few years, as money from fundraisers becomes available. It might be the same for other leagues, too.
Churchill said that if no agreements with leagues come soon, the city might have to make some unilateral decisions about the fields’ design and consider building them itself.
“We made a commitment,” Churchill said. “We’re going to deliver.”
http://www.mantecabulletin.com/news/article/12560/
When I played little leauges they had real baseball diamonds. One reason is for safety. Not just because it was fenced off, but concession stands help so you don't get dehydration, sun stroke, and heat exhaustion. For practice we sometimes used a field. Two or three games in one area with only cones is a problem. Also a parking nightmare. I think it would be worth the effort.
I agree. Its absurd that kids should be expected to go get a permit just to play in our parks. If kids in the nearby neighborhoods could just wander over and play a game we probably would not have so many issues with bored kids destroying property.
RedHotChiliPeppers,
I don't see the issue. All the kids need is a piece of grass. If the adult field is somehow oversize then hold two or three kids games in that area. Just lay down some cones or tape or something to mark the boundaries. These are kids games, not an olympic sport. They don't need marked boundaries layed out to the nearest inch per some regulation.
"We hardly need more sports fields. I would estimate that 3/4 of the time when I drive by the massive sports complex on 11th stret it is empty."
Sadly they are empty because they require permits to use. Kids cant go play in our school fields and the nice fields. Non competative city soccer leagues cant practice on them. Only organized and funded leagues can use them paying substancial fees for access.
Just the other day the police blotter led with a call to the police to go deal with what was called "an ongoing problem" with some folks playing soccer on a field.
It would be nice to have some public fields for kids to play that did not require permits. Maybe if we kept the kids busy in sports they would have less time for hanging out, smoking, tagging and eventually gang banging.
Ten ro twenty years ago there was less demand for sports parks. These fields were based on 25 year projections. The shulte site didn't waste money they are still waiting for your congressman to ease restrictions on that site. The federal restriction was that it be used for recreational use. I guessing that will take time.
http://www.mantecabulletin.com/news/article/12482/
As usual Tracy relies on the tired old tactics of the past. The leagues are good at building fields because they had to in order to have them. The City failed to provide them. Are they telling the leagues that they don't have enough money? Because 11 million dollars should buy more than infrastructure. Plus the 4 million they wasted on the dangerous Antenna Farm site.
I'm pretty sure that property is owned by the city so they won't have to spend millions to acquire the property. The real point is this story is not a farmland issue. If people want to sway this into some kinda ag-lands struggle, they will have to look elsewhere.
Those four softball fields on eleventh street are a different sized field. They have games in the aferrnoons / evenings in the summer times. Those larger fields are for adult leagues.
Right now is not the time for the city to be tossing around money. The waterpark is another massive waste of taxpayer money. If people want a waterpark let the users pay for it. Don't make very taxpayer, half of whom will never use it, pay for it.
Are you trying to be cute again or, just stupid is as stupid does?
I hope you know who bought the property.
The sports fields will not displace farmlands. Holly sugar used to have a factory there, but that's all gone. The property was sold off long ago.
You should keep doing stories about sports fields and stay away from selling produce. The produce you collect might have Med Fly contamination, all we need is to start another Med Fly crisis in this state.
Your idea is a silly, Ive's Tolbert and Tucker dream. Cheap homes and cheap contaminated produce. Where is your head. The next thing we know you will growing "WEED".
You say you hate chemicals, ask the agriculture department about your concern and they will shut you down.
If they won't I will try, it's pay back time sir.
Thank you for your hard work and efforts at the Monte Vista school and the new fields if you build it they will come. In this case many families for generations to come. Hope these hardworking parents continue their efforts to build a lasting legacy to their hard work and efforts.