Ideas Floated to Improve, Light Vets Field; 'Temporary' Request for 10 P.M. Lighting at Stevens Made

Ongoing construction for the school district's continues to force village baseball and softball leagues into a precarious position, further limiting what was already a state of slim pickens for facilities.

Sports groups and advisory boards are asking the village consider improvements to the small baseball diamond on Veterans Field (next to the ) after the council should it not sign off on allowing games at Stevens Field to go to 10 p.m., a ruling the council seems likely to cast on April 13.

But they're also asking for the lights to remain at 10 p.m. at Stevens in the interim, which is because of a direct result of loss of another field, and is further asking the council to consider putting lights up at the southeast section of Veterans Field, nearest to the residential area.

Councilwoman Bernadette Walsh informed the council in her committee report that the school board decided to begin earlier than had been anticipated, eliminating another field for baseball and softball, less than a year after the referendum work removed the field at B.F. for a track.

The Fields Committee had originally proposed increasing the allowed light time at Stevens and Stadium Field to mitigate some of the issues with a for the Ridgewood Baseball and Softball Association (RBSA), which the school board signed off on but the council seems unimpressed with. With even fewer fields now, more solutions are needed.

Lights at Vets Field?

"One of the things they [the Fields Committee] wanted us to discuss was perhaps putting lights up at Veterans Field so that in the future, we would be able to use Veterans Field more and be able to take some of the burden off the high school Stadium [field] and Stevens Field," Walsh said.

The committee was interested in lighting the southeast corner, nearest to the homes in the area. "This is in its infancy," she said, adding, "There is no proposal," but merely a discussion point right now.

Throughout the much of the discussion, the mayor's head remained sloped in his hand, an indication he was not thrilled with the many of the ideas floated. Various giggles could be heard from the audience as Walsh explained why the field use for baseball grew even more limited, another casualty of referendum work, though one expected to be temporary.

"I can understand Vets Field," the mayor said of lights. "The problem I have is if it's the diamond by the pump house, first of all it's the closest to the residential area, second of all there's no parking on Warren Street."

The mayor suggested instead using the opposite end of the Veterans Field facility, closest to Linwood should a light be considered.

Temporary 10 p.m. lighting at Stevens?

"As a result of the lack of additional fields, the request is made that Stevens Field be able to be lit to the 10 p.m. time frame if it [the fields use policy] is not approved by us for the short term through August 1st," Walsh said.

The RBSA and proponents of greater field use have said kids will suffer with less time to play and fewer games could be scheduled.

The group appears to have the most to lose and previous media reports have noted the RBSA might withhold funding it had pledged to cover part of the cost of the $525,000 high school lights should it not get the time it needs to schedule its games.

The council did not address the possibility of temporary 10 p.m. end times at Stevens on Wednesday night.

It will render its judgment as to the revised fields use policy on Wednesday, April 13. If it does not sign off on the policy, 9:00 p.m. light times will remain. The council had discussed the Fields Committee exploring improving existing fields while investigating using fields outside of town. "Dig deep," the mayor said in the previous meeting.

Still, the council seemed pleased with at least one idea brought to the table on Wednesday.

Improvement to Vets southeast

Ed Seavers, member of the Fields Committee and head scheduler for games, told the village council that unlike previously thought, the 60-foot diamond could house larger kids, giving the baseball organization increased flexibility if minor improvements could be made.

Joined by Parks & Rec Director Tim Cronin, also a member of the Fields Committee, Seavers explained the benefit of the move to improve the small diamond at Vets.

"We thought for years we couldn't put much there because of the size. A couple years ago we put up a fence for the high school games and the RBSA games at Vets southeast and we realized, 'You know what – we really do have a decent amount of room there.'"

The field had been used in the past for first and second grade baseball as well as Ponytail softball in third and fourth grade, Seavers said.

"If we can improve it . . . we can use it up to Little League minors, age eleven, and any level of softball."

While the field has "always been used" and at capacity, Seavers said "it just doesn't have flexibility," which would change should improvements be made.

Two games will be able to be played at the same time, Seavers said when asked by Councilman Stephen Wellinghorst.

"I think this is an excellent use of the existing fields," Wellinghorst remarked. Walsh chimed in, saying she thought it was "great".

Improvements include adding a backstop akin to the one on the larger field at Vets, as well as moving one of the light poles for the Shell, which is right by one of the foul lines. The Kasschau Shell Committee, Cronin said, is willing to relocate the pole. The field area would also have to be re-graded to mitigate flooding issues.

The games would not interfere with the Band Shell, which holds concerts in the summer on Tuesdays and Thursday nights, after the regular season ends on June 15, Seavers said. Summer would not have games scheduld on those evenings, Seavers added.

Councilman Paul Aronsohn asked Seavers if the prospective improvements made at Vets would have any impact on the lighting at Stevens Field.

"This is a field that was already in use 100 percent of the time," Seavers said, adding that it just adds flexibility for scheduling.

The size of the field will remain at 60 feet, Cronin said.

The RBSA said it would cover the full cost–just north of $33,000–and while the council didn't vote to approve the measure, none of the members said they had any problem with it when asked by Mayor Killion. It will likely be approved next Wednesday at the Village Council's public meeting as a donation.