Syracuse May Turn Vega Field Into Municipal Ball Park
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By John DeGroff-
Jack Birch, representing the local Kiwanis Club, and park superintendent Chad Jonsson, presented the council with a plan for using the Vega Field facility.[[In-content Ad]]"I was approached ... that the school may be interested in relinquishing the ownership of Vega Field," Jonsson said. "Basically, the school doesn't use it for any of their purposes any more. The Kiwanis use it for practices for their Little League program, we use it for our softball program, and hold some special events there. Basically, we turn the water on and turn the water off, haul things down for them, but the school is doing the mowing and paying the bills."
Jonsson went on to say that when Wawasee School Corp. originally considered Vega Field as the site for the new bus facility, they found it to be inadequate for that purpose. That was the deciding factor for the school to consider selling off the site.
"This is a unique, sort of disadvantageous situation for the town," said Birch. "There aren't many other municipal ball fields that the town has. We have a lease with St. Andrews for that field, and we have an agreement with the high school to use their fields when they're available after the high school season is over. This really creates problems for our league.
"We've always used Vega Field for practice for the last several years. But if there's an opportunity to get space where we can provide an athletic field, we're all in favor of it."
Jonsson stated the park board was also in favor of possibly acquiring the field.
According to Birch, the Kiwanis would have no trouble fundraising, and would begin looking into any grant money that might be available for the project. He also stated that with needed improvements, the entire process of acquiring the site and turning it into an athletic park could take up to five years.
The council expressed interest in pursuing the project, and Council President Cassie Cowan and council member Bill Musser volunteered to begin meeting with school officials in regard to the project.
The council adopted an ordinance establishing a two-hour parking limit.
Cowan read a proclamation recognizing the Syracuse-Turkey Creek Township Public Library on the library's 100th anniversary.
The first library board meeting was held Oct. 24, 1908. The library was open to the public Feb. 12, 1909, housed in the school building. The present library was built in 1915, with several expansions taking place throughout the years.
The council discussed several new laws that have been passed by the state legislature, which will come into effect July 1.
Of immediate interest to some residents of Syracuse is the law making the use of golf carts on city streets illegal. However, a provision within the law allows for municipalities to adopt their own ordinances in regard to golf carts, within certain safety guidelines.
Town Marshal Tony Ciriello provided the council with the wording in the law, and offered some recommendations for the council to consider should they decide to adopt such an ordinance. The only action taken on the matter was to study the information provided by Ciriello and discuss an ordinance at a later date.
Another new law states that municipalities have to publicly advertise their budgets by Aug. 2 and again Aug. 9. This means that for Syracuse, the July meeting will be used to discuss the budget for the next year, with a special meeting to be held July 14.
In financial matters, the council paid claims for June 2009 in the amount of $428,307.85; approved $19,794 to Federal Signal Safety and Security Systems for the purchase of an emergency warning siren; approved the purchase of 50 new water meters from Utility Supply for $50,000; extended the maintenance contract with Tabel Brothers for work on the town hall for another three years; and agreed to a pay-off from Turkey Creek Township of $59,171.51 owed for the treatment of storm water run-off, to be paid over a period of 21 months. In regard to this, the council also discussed the necessity to renegotiate the contract between Syracuse and the township.
Town council members are Brian Woody, Musser, Larry Siegel, Cowan and Paul Stoelting.
Jack Birch, representing the local Kiwanis Club, and park superintendent Chad Jonsson, presented the council with a plan for using the Vega Field facility.[[In-content Ad]]"I was approached ... that the school may be interested in relinquishing the ownership of Vega Field," Jonsson said. "Basically, the school doesn't use it for any of their purposes any more. The Kiwanis use it for practices for their Little League program, we use it for our softball program, and hold some special events there. Basically, we turn the water on and turn the water off, haul things down for them, but the school is doing the mowing and paying the bills."
Jonsson went on to say that when Wawasee School Corp. originally considered Vega Field as the site for the new bus facility, they found it to be inadequate for that purpose. That was the deciding factor for the school to consider selling off the site.
"This is a unique, sort of disadvantageous situation for the town," said Birch. "There aren't many other municipal ball fields that the town has. We have a lease with St. Andrews for that field, and we have an agreement with the high school to use their fields when they're available after the high school season is over. This really creates problems for our league.
"We've always used Vega Field for practice for the last several years. But if there's an opportunity to get space where we can provide an athletic field, we're all in favor of it."
Jonsson stated the park board was also in favor of possibly acquiring the field.
According to Birch, the Kiwanis would have no trouble fundraising, and would begin looking into any grant money that might be available for the project. He also stated that with needed improvements, the entire process of acquiring the site and turning it into an athletic park could take up to five years.
The council expressed interest in pursuing the project, and Council President Cassie Cowan and council member Bill Musser volunteered to begin meeting with school officials in regard to the project.
The council adopted an ordinance establishing a two-hour parking limit.
Cowan read a proclamation recognizing the Syracuse-Turkey Creek Township Public Library on the library's 100th anniversary.
The first library board meeting was held Oct. 24, 1908. The library was open to the public Feb. 12, 1909, housed in the school building. The present library was built in 1915, with several expansions taking place throughout the years.
The council discussed several new laws that have been passed by the state legislature, which will come into effect July 1.
Of immediate interest to some residents of Syracuse is the law making the use of golf carts on city streets illegal. However, a provision within the law allows for municipalities to adopt their own ordinances in regard to golf carts, within certain safety guidelines.
Town Marshal Tony Ciriello provided the council with the wording in the law, and offered some recommendations for the council to consider should they decide to adopt such an ordinance. The only action taken on the matter was to study the information provided by Ciriello and discuss an ordinance at a later date.
Another new law states that municipalities have to publicly advertise their budgets by Aug. 2 and again Aug. 9. This means that for Syracuse, the July meeting will be used to discuss the budget for the next year, with a special meeting to be held July 14.
In financial matters, the council paid claims for June 2009 in the amount of $428,307.85; approved $19,794 to Federal Signal Safety and Security Systems for the purchase of an emergency warning siren; approved the purchase of 50 new water meters from Utility Supply for $50,000; extended the maintenance contract with Tabel Brothers for work on the town hall for another three years; and agreed to a pay-off from Turkey Creek Township of $59,171.51 owed for the treatment of storm water run-off, to be paid over a period of 21 months. In regard to this, the council also discussed the necessity to renegotiate the contract between Syracuse and the township.
Town council members are Brian Woody, Musser, Larry Siegel, Cowan and Paul Stoelting.
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