St. Albert will spend up to $30,000 to repair a local baseball diamond after an official set parts of it on fire, say councillors.
City council unanimously agreed Monday to draw up to $30,000 from its stabilization reserve to pay for the restoration of the mosquito baseball diamond in Legion Memorial Park. That diamond has been closed since July after a groundskeeper set diesel and gasoline fires to dry out the bases and pitcher's mound. The diamond is leased and maintained by the St. Albert Minor Baseball Association (SAMBA).
Fire-drying is a practice that baseball teams used to use throughout Alberta, said Mayor Nolan Crouse in an interview, and SAMBA should not be punished for it. "That [groundskeeper] didn't do anything that he thought was inappropriate," he said.
SAMBA has not offered to fundraise to pay for the repairs, Crouse said, which he said should be paid for by the public anyway. "This is public property. Let's repair public property and make sure kids can play ball."
Insurance problem
City contractors removed about 15 tonnes of fuel-contaminated soil from the mosquito diamond in the wake of the fire, according to a report to council. The park's other three diamonds were temporarily closed when tests found they were also contaminated by fuel.
Although SAMBA is obliged to have $5 million in property damage insurance, city manager Bill Holtby told council that insurance was not available in cases of environmental contamination. "I don't know if you could get insurance for an incident such as this." The city is now reviewing the insurance requirements of all the community groups it works with to make sure they are adequate.
The $30,000 will cover the cost of removing and replacing the contaminated soil at the mosquito diamond, said community and protective services general manager Chris Jardine. SAMBA would pay for the sod and provide the labour. "This is a good learning experience we can use as an example of thinking about what you do before you do it."
Players happy
This is a huge move on the part of the city, said Kurtus Millar, city resident and coach of the St. Albert Tigers. "If SAMBA had to cover all that cost, the [player] fees would be so high next year that we'd lose kids," he said. "They basically saved that diamond and age group."
SAMBA president Ed Ewasiuk said he was very pleased to hear council's decision. "It gives us hope." He hoped to start working on the diamond this month so it could be ready for the spring.
The club probably could have fixed the diamond without the city's support, Ewasiuk said, but it would have delayed the start of next year's season for a few months and forced some teams to temporarily move out of town. "The city just doesn't have any other facility that meets provincial standards."
The city would likely complete tests on the other diamonds this fall to determine if they need any further remediation, said city environmental manager Leah Jackson in an interview. "We will make sure the site is cleaned up."
A further report on the cleanup is expected for the Jan. 24, 2011 council meeting.
