Marathon delays decision on ballfield charges
By Kevin O’Brien
Baseball and softball teams in Marathon City are likely to be charged some type of fee for using the village’s ballfields in the future, but exactly how much still needs to be determined.
Village board members last week tabled a discussion on whether to start charging for the use of its new three-diamond ballpark on the east side of the village and for the ballfield at Veterans Park. Village administrator Steve Cherek agreed to speak to local baseball and softball team leaders before the board’s next meeting in February.
The issue was first discussed at the board’s December meeting, but trustees held off on making a decision so that Cherek could come up with annual cost estimates for running the fields and get examples of fees charged by other communities.
Board members seemed to generally agree that the village needs to charge something in order to recoup its costs for running the facilities, but they were unsure how those fees should be structured. With the new ballpark scheduled to start hosting games later this year, the village’s total costs for running the ballfields is estimated to be nearly $47,000 per year, according to numbers provided by Cherek.
For Veterans Park, which has always been free to use, Cherek used previous years’ budget expenses to calculate an estimated operating cost of about $18,700 per year. That number includes $2,000 for electricity, $1,100 for water and sewer, $1,250 for bathroom supplies, $2,500 for miscellaneous items and $9,700 for village employee wages.
Cherek used those numbers as a baseline for estimating the cost of the new ballpark, which has three times the number of fields, more lighting and an estimated $19,000 worth of man hours that will need to be spent each year to keep it maintained. Added together, the estimated annual expenses come in just under $28,000.
Board members discussed a variety of ways for collecting fees, such as signing lease agreements with individual teams or clubs who want to use the fields on a regular basis. They also talked about charging for hosting tournaments, but that raised concerns about scheduling conflicts.
Cherek said one way to handle the fees would be to sign lease agreements with local groups, spelling out how much they would pay the village and for how many games or practices per year. Those groups would then be able to host tournaments at the park and charge teams whatever they wanted.
Outside groups that want to host a tournament at the ballpark would be charged based on another set of fees, he said. When asked, Cherek said he has a received a phone call from one outside group asking about having a tournament in Marathon.
Village president Kurt Handrick said the board needs to do whatever it can to attract outside groups to use the facility for tournaments.
“That was a big selling point that people were being told – that it was going to bring in all these tournaments from out of town,” he said.
However, with all of the local groups using the fields, Cherek said he wasn’t sure how many open weekends will be available for outside tournaments.
Trustee Kevin Sorenson suggested that the village start off by charging a per-game fee to play on the fields to figure out what the usage is like before asking groups to sign leases.
“After a year or two, we’ll know what kind of revenue we’ve generated and how many games there were,” he said. Also, the true cost of running the facility won’t be known until after a couple of seasons, Cherek added.
Trustee Connie Ruplinger said the goal should be to make sure that taxpayers are not the only ones paying for maintaining the ballfields.
“I don’t care how you set it up, just as long as we’re not subsidizing the whole thing,” she told Cherek.
Based on his initial conversations with local youth teams, Cherek said they were expecting to continue using the fields for free just as they had been doing with Veterans Park.
“They were very shocked to even hear that fees were being brought up,” he said.
Trustee Barb Parlier noted that the costs of the new ballpark are an added expense for the village, whereas the costs for maintaining Veterans Park have been covered by the budget for years.
“Eventually the old park is going to go away, right?” Parlier asked.
Until just a few years ago, though, Handrick said the American Legion owned and operated Veterans Park, with field maintenance help from the high school, so it’s only been a village expense for about five years. Handrick said some clubs have expressed interest in entering into a longterm lease agreement for Veterans Park, which would shift the maintenance costs to those groups.
The board also reviewed how much other communities charge for their ballfields. According to numbers collected by Cherek, Edgar charges outside teams $100 per day, plus $35 per field, to use its facilities. Another nearby park is Marathon County’s Sunnyvale, which costs $30 per field for games or practices, plus $10 per hour to cover lighting costs. To host a tournament there, the hourly fee rises to $28 per person to cover the cost of labor and equipment.
Trustee Mark Ahrens said the board needs to make sure the village’s new ballpark is an affordable option for teams.
“I don’t think the people who donated to that field out there are going to want to see it fall on its face if we charge ridiculous amounts,” he said, noting the village still has a lot of work to do to make sure the fields are in good shape. “It needs to be set up for success.”
In a related matter, the board met in closed session to discuss contract negotiations with the Marathon School District, which will be using one of the new fields for high school softball games. No action was taken in open session.
Other business
■ After meeting in closed session with attorney Shane Vanderwaal, the board voted to accept a $24,721 offer from KC Industries, subject to a settlement agreement that will be provided to the board next month. Trustees previously voted to pursue legal action against the company after the village spent $34,248 trying unsuccessfully to get its faulty fluoride treatment system to work. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services also provided close to $26,000 in grant money for the tablet-based system to be installed. Cherek said the village is not expected to reimburse the DHS for the grant money as long as the utility resumes fluoridating its water using its previous treatment method. No action was taken on resuming water fluoridation.
■ The board voted to repeal a section of the village ordinances that allowed property owners to store up to two unlicensed motor vehicles, snowmobiles, ATVs and boats outside. Trustees originally considered removing just motor vehicles from the list of unlicensed items allowed outside, but they ultimately agreed to allow nothing unlicensed or unregistered to be kept outdoors.
■ The board amended the village ordinance dealing with alcohol carryout hours, officially allowing beer to be sold for off-site consumption until midnight, which matches what the state allows. The ordinance had previously said that all carryout alcohol sales were prohibited after 9 p.m., but it was changed so that the earlier time only applies to liquor.
■ Trustees discussed the possibility of allowing storage containers to be used, either temporarily or permanently, in certain parts of the village. Vanderwaal said the question is really a zoning issue, so the board held off on making any decisions until he and Cherek could investigate the topic further and come back with recommendations.
NEW BALLPARK - Back in September, members of the Marathon City Village Board toured the new ballpark east of CTH NN, which includes three fields and a concession building with second-floor pressbox. Village officials are now discussing how much to charge for using the fields.
STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
