A proposed deal to exchange city-owned baseball and softball fields at Pauls Valley’s Wacker Park for two former elementary school sites owned by the Pauls Valley school district is still in limbo, after representatives from both sides held their first public discussion on the matter during a special meeting of Pauls Valley’s City Council Jan. 26.
During the meeting, Pauls Valley City Manager Lee Litterell told council members he was approached by Pauls Valley Superintendent Mike Martin regarding the property swap, and the two have had several informal conversations about the matter over the last year.
The school district is interested in obtaining the ball fields so they can make needed repairs and improvements to the facilities, which are used primarily by the school district. The district is offering the Jackson and Jefferson Elementary School properties to the city in return. The school buildings on those properties were demolished last year, after the district’s elementary age students were moved to the newly constructed Pauls Valley Elementary School.
Pauls Valley Board of Education members Richelle Humphrey and Joe Don Looney were present to represent the district for Martin, who was out of town and unable to attend the meeting.
Looney told city council members the school district can’t legally put any money into the ball field property if they don’t own it. The facility needs new bathrooms and locker rooms, and the district would like to add new field lighting and batting cages.
“Right now, it’s in shambles. I don’t know if you guys have looked at it,” Looney said.
He said if the exchange is approved, the school district intends to continue to make the property available for city use as needed, including for things like youth sports and summer leagues.
“It will be great, not just for the schools, but it will also be a great asset to the city,” Looney said.
Vice Mayor Bonnie Meisel said she has concerns about relinquishing the ball fields because of their location in Wacker Park.
“I’m not willing to give up a part of the city park, that’s where I’m coming from,” Meisel said.
Looney and council member Jonathan Grimmett both pointed out the football stadium, which is also located in Wacker Park, was owned by the city previously and now belongs to the school district.
“We’ve been able to invest in it and the community itself, really,” Looney said. “And that’s what we would like to do with the softball and baseball fields.”
Board of education member Richelle Humphrey said, “We just want something safe for our children to play in. It’s up to you all. We just need to know for future planning. We can’t continue to let our kids be in that area if it’s not going to have improvements. So, we need to put it in our longterm planning to go ahead and build new softball and baseball fields.”
Grimmett asked if the school district has asked the city to make repairs to the baseball field.
“I’ve never seen anything in the way of a request for anything to be fixed,” Grimmett said, acknowledging he’s only been on the council for the last year and a half or so.
Looney said in last twenty years there have been two or three requests.
Grimmett agreed the repairs are needed.
“As far as fixing it, there’s no doubt. It is embarrassing, it is dangerous, and it is falling apart,” he said. “That’s the question before us. We need to fix it, or we need to swap it.”
Humphrey said the school district is more than happy for the city to keep the property and make the repairs themselves. The repairs just need to be made.
Mayor Jocelyn Rushing said, “I agree wholeheartedly, and have said it for a couple of years now, either we fix it, or we do it so it can be fixed. And I’m not opposed to either way, but it needs to be fixed. And if the city can’t afford to fix it then the swap would be the thing to do so it could be repaired.”
Meisel pointed out one of the barriers to making repairs to the ball field is that the city is currently facing the prospect of spending $4.5 million to repair the spillway at the old city lake, as well as levee repairs on Pine Street, estimated at $1 million, and repairs to city water towers.
Grimmett asked if a joint ownership situation might be possible. City attorney Jay Carleton said it is possible on the city’s side but added that the impediments to co-ownership are less legal and more practical in nature. He said it’s not as simple of a solution as it might appear on the surface.
Looney said the school board would have to consult their attorney with the Oklahoma State School Board Association to see if such an arrangement is even possible on their end.
Litterell said there is a disparity in the appraised values of the properties being considered for exchange. The former school sites, in their cleared states, have been appraised at between $100,000 and $125,000 depending on zoning. The ball fields have an appraised value of $185,000, according to Litterell.
He said he would like to see the school sites bladed to remove rubble leftover from the demolition of the buildings, and for rye grass to be planted on the sites. He said the work could be done to make up the difference in value.
Litterell said the city has spoken to several housing developers, who might be interested in building on the Jackson school site.
“We don’t know when we can put money into that baseball field. So, it does need to be improved. I’m a sports guy, I think baseball fields ought to look like pieces of artwork,” Litterell said. “I don’t have the sentimental value that others in the room do, and I’m not trying to shortchange that. But from the city’s standpoint, we’re making progress on that area of the neighborhood of Jackson Elementary to eventually put a housing addition in there. So that’s where I stand as the city manager, for what it’s worth.”
Grimmett suggested tabling the item until the next City Council meeting, to allow time for the school district to explore the joint ownership option, for any council members who would like to view current conditions at the ball field to do so, and to allow council member Chip Pearson, who was not at the Jan. 26 meeting, to be present for a vote on the item.
“It’s an important enough decision that Chip needs to be here. So, I would like to table, and we’ll talk about it—in whatever forum—if we need to put it on the agenda and talk about it in executive session so we can have some sort of dialogue and plan as to how to go forward,” Grimmett said.
The City Council’s next regular meeting is set for Feb. 14.