MOUNT VERNON — Howard Youth League officials and the Knox County commissioners want improved communication about activity at the Howard ball fields.
The Howard Youth League uses county property for its baseball, softball, and, formerly, football programs. The fields are in the protected area surrounding the county’s well field on Pipesville Road.
One point of contention is a fence the county recently installed around the well field.
The fence company parked its equipment in the main parking lot for nine days, which required the league to cancel an adult fundraising softball tournament. Additionally, HYL board member Erin Cochran said league officials could not retrieve balls the adults hit over the fence.
Officials are also concerned about the barbed wire at the top of the fence. Cochran said that while the league encourages parents to monitor their children, “you always have that one kid that sneaks away.”
The commissioners said they did not know the date of the installation or that it would interfere with an HYL event, pointing out they do not receive game schedules. They noted that the barbed wire reinforces the point that no one is to be inside the fenced area.
Additionally, the commissioners were unaware adults played on the field and said that over the years, the league built structures and added fields without first notifying the county.
“As the owner of the property, do you think that that would have been courtesy, too?” Commissioner Thom Collier asked.
Practice football field
Referencing complaints that the fence took away the football practice field, Collier said, “We’ve never had an agreement with them [for football]. We never gave it to them in the first place.”
HYL President Jared Stein acknowledged league officials knew the county planned to install the fence but said they had no timeline. The timing pressured the school district to develop an immediate Plan B.
Parents who work at the water department informed league officials it was installed.
“That’s wild to me. Why didn’t we get informed? I mean, we were planning on using that same field for football up until the fence was put up,” he said. “I think that’s probably where the frustration comes from from parents.”
Collier said vandalism and trash left on the well heads are ongoing issues.
“I’ve been out there when we’ve had to send people out to get mattresses and couches and trash and things from areas people shouldn’t have been in,” he said. “I’m not saying it was anybody associated with the ball fields. But it’s stuff that’s happening that we have to manage.
“The wellheads are too important and too expensive to leave that to chance,” he continued. “We see things all across the nation and get notices about threats of all types. We want to make sure that our water sources are protected.
“So to be chastised for not thinking about a group that’s using it without permission when we put up a fence, or telling them in advance, I take a little offense, too.”
Protecting the well field
Stein said public parks on well fields are “not a new thing.”
“It depends on where the water is,” County Water & Wastewater Superintendent Jeff Pickrell responded.
“We are extremely shallow. Our water table is about 7 feet below the surface. So that makes a huge difference in the activities allowed in those wellhead protection plans as opposed to some of the others that may be 130 feet down.”
Pickrell said a car leaking oil, for example, would be less likely to contaminate a deeper aquifer.
“Ours is extremely vulnerable for contamination. That’s the reason why we chose to put the fence where we did, to protect those two wells out there,” he explained.
Pickrell noted the well field is the county’s only source of water.
“We cannot connect to Mount Vernon. We can’t connect to Danville. So what do we do when we have contaminated well fields?” he asked.
A long-term lease for the Howard Youth League
The current lease between the county and HYL is one year, on the advice of the county prosecutor. Cochran said when HYL applies for grants, the typical lease required is five years.
“I’ve been on the nonprofit side and fundraising, and people aren’t wanting to donate right now because they don’t know where we’re headed,” Cochran said. “But these grants are just sitting in a bank, and nobody’s tapping them.”
“Being just a nonprofit, we entirely self-fund everything,” Stein said. “That’s a massive cost on a shoestring budget, and I can’t stress that enough. So, we never have funds to do any of the things that we need to do to make things safe for our kids.
“That’s why I’d love to explore being a park because in Mount Vernon, the city employees mow and weed eat and sometimes even chalk their lines for them.”
Collier said that unlike Mount Vernon and other communities, the county does not have a parks department that operates recreational parks and programs.
“The park district, which is a totally separate entity, is for the trails and walking paths, like a tourist park,” he explained. “There aren’t any recreational programs.”
Commissioner Teresa Bemiller said if the county extends the lease, it will still require league compliance if the county or Ohio EPA needs or restricts the land.
Collier noted the OEPA could come in tomorrow and restrict usage.
“I think that’s one of the reasons we’ve talked about the year lease, because the more settled in everybody gets, the harder it is when it happens. And it could happen,” he said.
Moving forward, both parties agreed they want to meet annually and keep communication lines open.
About the Howard Youth League
Stein said 1,298 youths participated in the Howard Youth League last year, with more coming for scrimmages and travel ball associations. Counting the middle school program within a two- or three-county radius, he said easily 1,400 kids played at the fields.
County and surrounding schools, including West Holmes, Cardington, and Mount Gilead, have played around 300 games since March.
