Soccer group makes pitch for new field complex

A proposal by a group to develop district-owned land for a new $4 million sports complex, including four regulation soccer fields, met with mixed reaction at Monday’s meeting of the Medford School Board.

Jeff Long and Andy Rudolph of Medford Area Youth Soccer Association (MAYSA) came to the meeting seeking the board’s permission to start fundraising to develop the area between Medford Area Elementary School and CTH Q for a soccer and other sports complex that depending on configuration could include four soccer fields and two baseball fields as well as a trail for cross country events. Included in the preliminary plans were large parking areas, a concession stand and bathroom facilities. The group has a five year goal to get the work done.

“Youth sports in this community is huge,” Long said, noting that this is the 20th year of having soccer in Medford. They want to bring full tournaments to the community similar to ones the Medford traveling soccer team has won at Appleton and Stevens Point in recent weeks. He said in order for this to happen they would need four more regulation fields. Currently both junior varsity and varsity games are played on the field turf at Raider Field.

According to Long the first step will be to have the parcel leveled and the ground work done. He estimated this to be about $1.2 million. There will also be costs to install the sod fields and placing the infrastructure.

While proposing to raise funds through grants and donations, Long said the lawn mowing and maintenance of the facility would fall onto the school district in the future. The school would also have ultimate control over the property since it will continue to be owned by the district. The proposal called for the entirety of the parcel to be developed for the sports fields. The parcel is currently being used for hay which is used for feed for the animals in the school’s agricultural program.

Board president Dave Fleegel said the land was purchased in order to provide opportunities for the district, but that there were no firm plans for it. He said if the elementary school ever needed to expand, it would provide space to do so.

Long said the ideas for how the field space could be developed were very fluid. “There is tons of room for change,” he said.

Board member John Zuleger noted that if the district ever got to the point of needing the space to build a new school all the fields would be sod and asphalt. “They get tilled up all the time,” he said.

Board member Brian Hallgren cautioned that when people give money to a project, they would want to see it last for a while. Hallgren praised the work done by the group so far, but said that since the district didn’t have a vision for the property, he questioned how the board could either commit to the project or say no at this time.

Long said their goal would be to get the permission from the district to move forward with the idea and then start writing for a $1.5 million grant to help with the groundwork. He said they would also be talking with other groups and see what kind of buy-in they would have for their needs and then making a community appeal.

“I am all for anything that is good for the community,” said board member Don Everhard, noting the district is still paying for that land. He noted the district doesn’t have the money to fix the buildings it already has and was hesitant to incur more costs for the ongoing maintenance. Everhard suggested the district has the potential to sell part or all of the property in the future to gain additional revenue.

Zuleger noted that any development of the parcel including leveling it, would just add value to the land if the decision was ever made to sell it. “The fact that it is flat isn’t going to make it worth any less,” he said.

Long said that they would want to have a somewhat solidified plan before going to potential donors.

“How long do we wait before we do something with it?” asked board member Cheryl Wibben noting that any talk of a new school would be 15 to 20 years away.

District administrator Pat Sullivan said there is a definite need for the field space and said Medford is lacking in that area compared to other schools its size. He supported allowing the soccer group to test the water and see what could be raised. He said his vision for that property always included some sort of athletic field facility. Fleegel said while he thought it would be a great addition to the community, he did not see having new fields as something that was a definite need.

Hallgren suggested the board not make a firm decision at the meeting and instead come back in a month after the soccer folks have had a chance to formally meet with groups from other sports to have a cohesive plan. He said this would give them the opportunity to have more backing for it as well as have an opportunity for public input between now and the next meeting.

Board member Paul Dixon supported allowing the group to move ahead with their fundraising efforts and give them a year to report back to the school district on their efforts. He made that as a motion with Wibben seconding it. In further discussion board member Steve Deml expressed concern about jumping into a fundraiser without a firm plan in place. “It is a touch early for fundraising without a direction,” he said.

“We need to have a plan to send to investors/donors,” Long said of the need to have a commitment to a plan before they start fundraising in earnest. He said at this point it is a lot of “blue sky.”

In the vote, board members rejected Dixon’s motion to grant permission at this time, and instead directed Sullivan and representatives from the high school sports to meet with Long and other interested stakeholders to bring it back to the July 19 board meeting for further review.